Case Study – ATM Solutions Provider Reduces Network Management Stress for Over 700 ATMs

SUMMARY

An ATM equipment and services provider needed to solve legacy connectivity issues in its ATMs and was losing time and money. After testing Cradlepoint’s COR Series solutions and NetCloud Manager, the ATM solutions provider found that Cradlepoint was the most reliable ATM communication solution for its organisation.
“If I could tell the financial services industry one thing, it would be: ‘Use Cradlepoint and replace everything else with it.’ It’s easy and it just works,” said the company’s Director of Operations.

COMPANY PROFILE

With hundreds of ATMs located across the U.S., this company is an independent services operator that focuses on providing the best possible ATM solutions with the highest level of service, at an accommodating price point for its customers.

BUSINESS NEEDS

The company was using JBM connectivity solutions in its ATMs across the United States and was struggling to get the boxes working with its machines — or keep them online. The operations team often had to drive all over the country to troubleshoot and fix equipment when they failed or needed firmware upgrades.
Once Sixnet purchased JBM, the company knew it needed to find a better solution and a more efficient way to manage its ATM network. To achieve the desired performance, the company looked to replace legacy wireless networks with more modern 4G connections and utilise cloud management.
“With Cradlepoint and NCM, I can group my routers and do an entire network firmware upgrade in five minutes… it’s a complete game-changer for how we do our jobs,”  said the Director of Operations.

SOLUTIONS

The ATM provider began testing Cradlepoint’s COR Series routers and soon realised they were more rugged and reliable than previous solutions. Once the company implemented NetCloud Manager (NCM), Cradlepoint’s network management and application platform, the company began to see true value in Cradlepoint solutions.

BENEFITS

NETWORK REDUNDANCY

Once the company installed a few locations, it began using secure WiFi coupled with cellular so the organisation could fail-back to a cellular carrier if the WiFi signal was lost, providing added redundancy and peace of mind.
“I love being able to use this application to fail-back to the carrier if the secure WiFi at a location goes down. It’s built-in redundancy that makes my job a lot easier,” said the company’s Director of Operations.

EFFICIENCY

Being able to spend more time on other operational issues besides network downtime and firmware upgrades has enabled the company’s IT team to focus on industry issues, like the mass deployment upgrade for chip readers in ATMs.
“The Cradlepoint solutions just work. Having the Cradlepoint solutions in our ATMs has changed our department’s focus. No longer are we spending all our time and efforts managing the network and updating firmware.”

NETWORK ALERTS & ANALYTICS

Proactive alerts and network analytics empower the company’s IT team with a single pane to manage their network and engage in evidence-based planning — saving time and facilitating real-time management.
“Instead of getting a phone call that an ATM is down, I get an alert straight to my inbox. Most of the time I check my email on my phone; having real-time alerts come directly to my phone is a huge benefit. I can then open NCM and see what is going on and troubleshoot the problem. I can also group routers, reconfigure them, name them to match the ATM, and track data usage.”

COST SAVINGS

After implementing Cradlepoint solutions, the company is seeing cost savings of over 75 percent in hard costs alone. “The product price point is a little bit higher than our previous solution, but when you calculate the soft costs, like our time spent managing and troubleshooting, the savings are amazing,” said the company’s Director of Operations.