BRIDGEWATER, N.J. -- Businesses and consumers making toll-free phone calls to get the latest information on Brother's line of office products will receive faster and more reliable service, thanks to a $6 million networking services contract between Brother International Corp. and AT&T.

The three-year contract covers an extensive technology upgrade plus a portfolio of data and voice services integrating five Brother locations -- four call centers in the United States and its corporate headquarters in Bridgewater, N.J. It extends and expands an existing agreement between the two companies.

Brother will upgrade its networking infrastructure by migrating to AT&T's network-based Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IP VPN) service to connect its call centers and headquarters location.   With voice and data traffic routed over AT&T's VPN, Brother's call center agents and staff gain secure high-speed online access to the company's inventory, product distribution and SAP applications, as well as customer records. 

AT&T also supports Brother's call centers with toll-free services and call center solutions. By integrating AT&T's toll-free advanced features with VPN technology, incoming calls are automatically routed to the best available call center resource, given current conditions. AT&T's advanced features also recognize repeat callers, so Brother's call center agents gain immediate access to these customer records, providing callers with faster service.

"We know a customer's initial contact with a customer service representative can tremendously influence their impression of the entire company, so we want to make that first point-of-contact a pleasant experience," said Dennis J. Upton, chief information officer. "With AT&T's help, we will handle more calls faster and more efficiently by reducing hold times and giving our call center agents real-time access to the information our customers need."

Brother International's services are integrated through AT&T OneNet® Service, which consolidates networking services into a single contract, with discounts across all services. In addition, through the AT&T BusinessDirect® portal, Brother International gains online access to tools that provide near-real-time reports on network performance and direct access to AT&T's ordering, status, inventory and trouble management systems. 

About Brother

Bridgewater, New Jersey is the corporate headquarters for Brother in the Americas, from Canada to South America and has fully integrated sales, marketing, services, manufacturing, research and development capabilities, located here in the U.S.  In addition to its headquarters, Brother has facilities in California, Massachusetts, Tennessee, as well as subsidiaries in Ohio, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Mexico.