Wicom Communications, the leading European provider of all-IP contact center solutions and VoIP enterprise telephony software for fixed and wireless network environments, today announced that Luottokunta, Finland's nationwide credit card service company, has deployed Wicom's high-availability contact center solution. The IP-based solution features a fully redundant architecture that ensures the continuity of Luottokunta's customer service during emergencies. The solution was implemented by Wicom subsidiary Merlin Systems.

"High-quality 24-hour telephone service is a key component of our international payment and credit card services. We receive 1.5 million calls every year, ranging from reports of lost cards and requests for revocations from cardholders, to card authorization services for merchants and general customer service contacts. These services must be reliable under all conditions, and the robustness of Wicom's software was an essential criterion in our choice of system," said Mr. Petri Carpén, Deputy Managing Director, Luottokunta.

The hosted contact center solution was implemented in December 2004. The system replaces Luottokunta's traditional PBX system and covers the company's entire staff. The system has a redundant, fail-safe hardware architecture that is duplicated at two separate locations.

"A physically redundant system will continue to function without interruption even if mains power fails or if one of the data centers is destroyed. The IP-based phone and contact center solution provides clear business benefits by allowing Luottokunta's customer service professionals to focus on answering calls instead of managing the phone system," said Mr. Ilkka Kivimäki, CEO, Wicom Communications.

Credit card payments are growing strongly. Last year, the value of card payments processed by Luottokunta grew by nearly 20% to some five million euros, with over 120 million transactions processed.

"Wicom software enables us to meet current and future challenges successfully. The solution integrates seamlessly with our other systems while improving service reliability and simplifying our reporting, work shift planning, and service delivery," said Mr. Petri Carpén, Deputy Managing Director, Luottokunta.

Jointly owned by retailers and banks, Luottokunta is a credit card service company that offers services related to non-cash payment and credit card systems. In addition to issuing and managing Visa and Business Eurocard cards as well as managing their payments and cardholder programs, Luottokunta manages and develops Finland's national luncheon voucher system.

For more Information please contact:

GBC, Claire Lynch/Jaime Edmund +44 0208 322 1922 clairel@gbc.co.uk/jaimee@gbc.co.uk

About Wicom Communications Ltd
Wicom Communications is a leading European provider of all-IP contact center solutions and VoIP enterprise telephony software for fixed and wireless network environments. With Wicom software, voice and data traffic, information systems and databases are combined into a centrally managed system that allows unified queuing, prioritizing and routing of all contacts - telephone, e-mail, fax, voicemails, web-contacts, co-browsing and SMS. Currently used in 11 countries with 130+ client organizations, Wicom technology is available through selected partners throughout Europe. Gartner Inc. has ranked Wicom in the "visionaries" quadrant of its reports titled "Contact Center Infrastructure Magic Quadrant - EMEA Region" for two consecutive years. For more information, please visit www.wicom.com.

About Luottokunta
Jointly owned by retailers and banks, Luottokunta is Finland's nationwide credit card service company, offering services related to non-cash payment and credit card systems and managing and developing the national luncheon voucher system. The processing of large volumes of cards, as well as cost-efficiency and risk management enabled by the company's expertise in international credit card systems, form the basis of Luottokunta's business operations. For more information, please visit www.luottokunta.fi.