Case Study: Creditor Resources Inc.
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Cachelink Brings Faster Internet Access to Credit Unions
About Creditor Resources
Creditor Resources, Inc. (CRI) has served credit unions throughout North America since 1969 with
solution-based insurance programs, innovative automated systems and professional training and support.
As a leader in credit insurance for credit unions, CRI develops and delivers the products and services
credit unions need to serve members better, reduce operational costs, and compete more effectively.
CRI has helped more than 650 credit unions--with more than 2 million members--operate more efficiently
and profitably. The company has more than 200 employees and agent representatives in the United States
and Canada, who serve credit unions by providing tailor-made technology solutions as well as insurance
products and services.
Challenge:
To cost effectively increase the performance of networked PC’s in credit unions to allow employees to
more effectively use the Internet to do their jobs.
We were looking for faster access to the Internet via a T1 line but instead of spending several hundred
dollars a month, we decided to give Cachelink a try and have seen at least a 25% increase in performance."
Chuck Harlow, systems specialist, Creditor Resources Inc.
Cachelink Solution:
Cachelink software dramatically speeds access to commonly viewed Web pages by storing Web information within
your local network- a technique known as "caching". Web pages accessed by one Cachelink user are instantly
available to other Cachelink users. In addition to increasing the speed of downloading Web sites, Cachelink
also reduces traffic through the Internet connection, maximizing available bandwidth.
Solution:
Creditor Resources chose the Cachelink product because it is an easy to use, cost effective way to provide
increased Internet performance without additional hardware. The product was easily downloaded and installed
at the customer site and provided immediate increases to the users Internet and email experience.
For example, the Cachelink installation at the Dover St. Federal Credit Union consists of 13 PC’s that
are connected to the Internet via the Intel Internet Station product. Since, Cachelink has been installed,
the product has provided faster access to the sites visited by the employees at the credit unions. These
include sites that list the current automobile book values, such as WebCarbook, NADA and Edmund’s online.
Credit union employees also use the Internet to check competitive Web sites for rate and service comparisons
and conduct research on various government agency sites, such as NCUA, HUD and the Federal Reserve.
How it works:
Cachelink technology works by combining the "browser cache" (the memory computers use to download web content)
from a group of PCs into one big cache that all the members of the workgroup can share. Once this happens,
each downloaded page is accessible by anyone in the workgroup MUCH faster than if they had downloaded it themselves.
"Many credit unions can’t afford ISDN or DSL service and with the speed increase you can get from
Cachelink it’s a definite option to ISDN or DSL." Chuck Harlow, systems specialist, Creditor Resources Inc.
Bottom Line:
Creditor Resources is able to bring a unique solution to their clients by incorporating Cachelink technology
into the networks they set up and maintain. Credit union employees will be able to gain access to the
information they need faster and the wear and tear on Internet bandwidth will be greatly reduced.
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