Bank Austria, a member of UniCredit Group and Austria’s largest financial institution, has chosen the web conferencing solution Citrix® GoToMeeting® with HDFaces™ and chat solution Citrix® GoToAssist® FastChat™ to offer online consultancy services via webcam to its customer base. “We aim to offer our customers all available communication channels to get in contact with us,” explains Roman Chromik, head of mass market at Bank Austria. “Using online meetings, our customers are able to say, ‘I would like a thorough consultation, but whenever and wherever it suits me.’”

GoToMeeting® with HDFaces™ provides the highest-resolution video conferencing quality available on the market: up to six streams are provided at a resolution of 640p x 480p each, for a total maximum resolution of 1920p x 960p. It enables a telepresence-like meeting experience, simply by using a webcam and an Internet connection.

Bank Austria will use Citrix® solutions as part of its SmartBanking strategy to consult with retail customers. As trust is the foundation for effective product sales, especially in investment consulting, only a solution with integrated video, which makes their customers feel like being in a face-to-face meeting with their bank advisor, was acceptable to the financial institution.

“The advantage of GoToMeeting is its ease of use,” says Thomas Schwella, project co-ordinator in the SmartBanking Innovation Team.. “Our customers don’t need any specific prior knowledge, no installation is required and everyone can simply join an online meeting at a click of a button. From my point of view, the user experience is great.”

Due to strict legal requirements, the security aspect was of utmost importance for Bank Austria. GoToMeeting® is one of the most secure web conferencing products available and offers a high-standard security system with true end-to-end encryption, a high-availability hosted service infrastructure and an intuitive user interface providing a maximum of confidentiality, integrity and data availability.

Bank Austria chose the Citrix® web conferencing solution due to its sophisticated security system, the innovation power of a global company and its 24/7 support. Chromik concludes: “Citrix provides very good support throughout the full decision-making process and we have appreciated their financial services experience.”