News

Pulse's move to in-house switch is a success

October 21, 2003

HOUSTON - Pulse EFT Association says it has successfully completed the migration of its switch operations to a new in-house system.

The recent four-day migration period, the culmination of months of intense planning, preparation and testing, went smoothly, according to network President and CEO Stan Paur.

"The financial industry will benefit from this change," said Paur in a news release. "This transition insures that the financial industry will have a state-of-the-art, cost efficient network alternative to satisfy their needs."

The switch, housed in a new data center in Houston, is continuously monitored from the Pulse Command Center (PCC) where trained technical staff oversee all operations, according to the release.

A subsequent phase of the migration will be the implementation of dual, continuous processing, which will enable Pulse transactions to be processed on either of the network's Houston or Dallas platforms simultaneously. This will enable Pulse to continue processing transactions with minimal disruption in the event of a disaster at either the Houston or Dallas data centers. 

Warren Coles, Pulse's executive vice president of operations said that the new processing system features a HP NonStop server platform utilizing eFunds' Connex processing and settlement software.

In addition, a new frame relay network allows Pulse to have almost instantaneous re-routing capabilities in the event of any disruptions.

(See related stories Pulse moving switch operations in-house, with eFunds' help and Pulse enlists more partners to help move its switch in-house)