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APPLICATION STORY: Major bank likes the speed and number of ports on the AccelePort 8r 920.

August 5, 2003

In 1997, a national bank embarked on an ambitious acquisition strategy to increase its revenues by buying and reorganizing underperforming banks. By mid 1999, the bank had acquired a large number of banks and decided a company-wide technology upgrade was needed to maximize its investment. In particular, the bank wanted to install new teller terminals and a new server in every branch. They chose a major POS supplier to help them with this important upgrade.

In late 1999, systems engineers at the bank worked extensively with the POS supplier to select the best components for their new computer system. Part of this process involved selecting a serial-port expansion board to connect the teller terminals to the server. After extensive testing, engineers at the bank chose the AccelePort 8r 920 multiport serial board because it was very fast, provided just the right number of ports and had a brand name that the POS supplier and the bank could trust.

No sooner was this decision made than the POS supplier decided to get out of the banking business, passing the bank's business to a major computer manufacturer. Not surprisingly, the manufacturer decided to install new servers and terminals for the bank but wisely decided to keep the Digi board that bank engineers had already tested and approved. In early 2000, the manufacturer contacted Digi in Minneapolis for pricing on 500 AccelePort 8r 920 boards and were referred to a large Digi reseller.

In March 2000, after Digi worked diligently to meet the manufacturer's tight price and delivery schedules, the Digi reseller shipped 500 AccelePort boards to their integration facilities. After assembly, each server was shipped to a bank branch where a maximum of eight teller terminals were connected via the AccelePort 8r 920 (illustrated below). Since March 2000, the reseller has shipped an additional 20–30 AccelePort boards per quarter to the manufacturer.

Today, this bank is one of the top five banks in the U.S. and has installed about 875 AccelePort 8r 920 boards. The boards have performed flawlessly and the Digi reseller, the major computer manufacturer, and the bank are all very happy with the deal.