Virtela Delivers Global Managed Enterprise Network Spanning More Than 300 Sites for GAB Robins

Virtela Delivers Global Managed Enterprise Network Spanning More Than 300 Sites for GAB Robins

Leading Insurance Claims Firm Migrates From Frame Relay to Virtela Broadband IP VPN; Cuts Monthly Wide Area Network Costs Over 50%

Key Network Benefits:

* Tripled network bandwidth and performance at half the cost of Frame Relay

* Smooth migration from legacy Frame & dial-up networks to broadband & SSL VPN

* Virtela Intrusion Prevention Service (IPS) blocks 100% of network attacks, boosting employee productivity

DENVER, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Virtela, a global network solutions company, today announced that GAB Robins, one of the world's leading claims services firms, is using Virtela's managed private networking services to connect more than 300 branch offices and 1,000 mobile employees worldwide. The fully-managed implementation -- which spans all 50 U.S. states and countries such as Australia, the Netherlands, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, and the U.K. -- has substantially improved GAB Robin's wide area network (WAN) bandwidth, performance and availability while cutting costs by more than 50% over a legacy Frame Relay network.

For site-to-site connectivity, GAB Robins chose to migrate from unmanaged, low-speed Frame Relay and dial-up connections to Virtela's fully managed broadband & SSL IP VPNs, achieving overall cost savings while significantly enhancing its internal and external customer service. Virtela's network-based SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) VPN provides GAB Robins professionals traveling throughout 52 countries with simple to use, secure connections into their corporate network from any Internet browser. Virtela enabled SSL remote access for 1,000 users within 48 hours of order, including all configuration and installation of equipment.

"No other provider could deliver the wealth of managed services on a worldwide basis that Virtela provides through a highly experienced single point of contact," said Thomas Broccoletti, assistant vice president of systems at GAB Robins. "Virtela's obsession with customer involvement and satisfaction has remained consistent from day one and played a major role in achieving a smooth migration and superior ongoing management. Any company that has a distributed network of offices would be wise to outsource their network in this fashion."

GAB Robins is also protected around the clock by Virtela's Managed Intrusion Prevention Service (IPS), which has proven 100% foolproof at blocking all unauthorized traffic -- both inbound and outbound -- to the corporate headquarters network. Within a two week period, for example, Virtela blocked more than 10,000 attacks destined for the GAB Robins network -- including all variants of the Slammer-Sapphire and Code Red Worms, and Netsky and MyDoom viruses -- resulting in a productivity boost now that end users are no longer hampered by these system intrusions.

"Virtela has not only protected us from thousands of infections, but their centralized control plus management of firewalls at the desktop will allow us to concentrate on other key projects," Broccoletti added. "The IPS implementation has been so successful that we're now rolling out the service to protect all of our distributed network as well."

Another reason GAB Robins chose Virtela was the ability to provide one stop shopping for implementation and management of local network access via relationships with more than 200 access providers worldwide. Virtela provides a single point of contact for management of more than 35 access providers for GAB Robins, determining the best access method available for each location (including DS3, T1, DSL, cable, ISDN and wireless). Virtela's attitude and unique scalable approach to designing and implementing IP VPNs resulted in a seamless migration of the site-to-site network within GAB Robins' six-month timeframe for completion.

Virtela's network implementation for GAB Robins enables the company to quickly and easily integrate network locations of key partners and customers. For example, when the company established strategic relationships with two major new clients, Virtela brought up connectivity to all of these partners' locations within 48 hours of order, enabling seamless access to critical networked applications.

GAB Robins has experienced many productivity benefits as a result of the migration. Remote access to the company's mission-critical web-based claims system, ACIS, has vastly improved. Previously, claims adjusters working from home over dial-up connections would log into the ACIS database every night for a lengthy upload of claims information and scanned images. With the Virtela broadband IP VPN network, the process takes just minutes and adjusters no longer need to manage their work around network performance.

Billing was also an important consideration, added Broccoletti. Rather than a receiving a stack of invoices each month that needed to be painstakingly sorted and allocated to each branch, Virtela presents one consolidated invoice summary to GAB Robins headquarters and directly bills each branch on a monthly basis, eliminating costly administrative overhead.

Finally, with its previous network carrier, GAB Robins was exposed to network downtime if there was an outage in the provider's network. Virtela insulates customers from risks associated with single network solutions by providing built in redundancy via a unique multi-carrier approach. Virtela's IP Service Fabric (IPSF(SM)) network infrastructure exploits proprietary algorithms that intelligently route customer traffic via the best-performing path over multiple Tier-1 backbones, providing the highest availability private IP network.

"GAB Robins' leadership and success in strategic network outsourcing is serving as a role model for the entire insurance industry," said Vab Goel, Virtela's Chairman and partner at Norwest Venture Partners. "As a result of their decision to outsource to Virtela, GAB Robins is benefiting from a tailored solution that best meets their stringent requirements, greatly improves their end user experience and raises the technology bar for the rest of the insurance sector."

The Virtela network also provides a ready platform for next generation applications. GAB Robins is considering exploiting Virtela's enterprise voice and videoconferencing over IP applications -- VirtelaVoice and VirtelaVideo -- for distance learning initiatives.

For more information on GAB Robins' broadband IP VPN, please visit www.virtela.net/GAB_Robins to access a detailed case study.

About GAB Robins

GAB Robins, which has affiliated operations in 52 countries, provides a comprehensive worldwide network of loss adjusting, third party administration and managed care services. With more than 4,000 employees worldwide, GAB Robins handles approximately two million claims annually, providing seamless claims services domestically and globally for the property and casualty insurance market. For more information, visit www.gabrobinsna.com.

About Virtela

Virtela Communications Inc. delivers award-winning network and security solutions to many of the world's largest and fastest-growing multinational companies. Currently serving customers across six continents, Virtela's network reach spans more than 190 countries. Virtela's unique Internet Protocol Service Fabric (IPSF(SM)) and MPLS Service Fabric (MPLS-SF(SM)) offer the foundation for delivering critical applications via the company's acclaimed service methodology, with a services suite that includes IP-based virtual private networks (VPNs), security services, Voice over IP, Video over IP, and network consulting services.

Virtela is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with a second Network Operations Center in Mumbai, India. Virtela is a privately held company funded by investors including Norwest Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates, Palomar Ventures, Symantec Corp., and Juniper Networks (NASDAQ:JNPR). For more information, please call +1 (720) 475-4000 or visit www.virtela.net.


Source: Virtela Communications Inc.

CONTACT: Jane Morrissey of Virtela Communications Inc., +1-720-475-4012,
jmorrissey@virtela.net

Web site: http://www.gabrobinsna.com/

Web site: http://www.virtela.net/GAB_Robins

Web site: http://www.virtela.net/


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