Syntegra to Roll Out Turrets to 430 Positions at Piper Jaffray

NEW YORK--Syntegra has nearly completed a $3.5 million rollout of 430 voice trading platforms to seven of US Bancorp Piper Jaffray’s trading locations throughout the country.

The project is part of a recent rollout of Syntegra’s PV405I turret with accompanying Type 98 Routing Module products to 240 positions at Piper Jaffray’s main trading site in Minneapolis (TTW, May 29).

Syntegra has also rolled out the PV405I and Type 43 Routing Module products to Piper Jaffray locations in Chicago, Denver, San Francisco and a location in New Jersey.

Syntegra says rollouts to the two remaining locations in Portland and Seattle will be completed within two months.

Tom Bongiorno, Syntegra’s account executive for the deal, says the contract, signed in September last year, involved the replacement of the bank’s old V-band trading equipment.

He says the Minneapolis location, unlike the other sites, involved moving to new premises and, by being a hub, required the Type 98 Routing Module, which provides higher bandwidth capacity than the Type 43s set up for the other sites.

"Our system has upgraded the bank from analog to digital," Bongiorno says. "It also integrates with their PBX system from Nortel, the intercom system, and the voice recording facility," he says. The PV405I, which incorporates a Motorola 68302 processing unit, connects with the Nortel PBX system via Nortel’s Meridian Customer Defined Network.

Jim Kern, Syntegra’s vice president of sales for trading room solutions, says Syntegra is currently in talks with Piper Jaffray concerning the implementation of Syntegra’s computer telephony integration software to all seven of the bank’s trading sites. At present, the bank uses a proprietary CTI application.

"We’re still in talks with them [the bank] about this," Bongiorno says, adding that he could not disclose the specific applications Piper Jaffray are considering.

"Any CTI solution that we supply to them will be designed to enhance their existing in-house system as opposed to replacing it outright," he says, noting that any such CTI incorporation into Piper Jaffray’s system will occur over the next year.

Bongiorno says Piper Jaffray has also signed a five-year systems service and support deal with Syntegra. "We are currently in negotiations regarding the placement of an on-site technical person at the Minneapolis site," says Bongiorno. "For the bank’s other sites, system’s support will be carried out by outsourced parties."

No spokesperson was available from Piper Jaffray at the time Trading Technology Week went to press.

Separately, Syntegra is to relocate its New York technical and systems support staff to Queens at the end of the year, allowing more space for its in-house and customer systems training activities.

Syntegra, which moves out of its current location at 111 8th Ave. when its lease expires in December, is to split up its technical staff from its commercial and sales teams. The commercial contingent will move to an 8,000-sq. ft. midtown location at 675 Third Ave.

The company will move its technical staff, which comprises two thirds of the New York office staff total, to 19,000 square feet of space at an ex-industrial warehouse known as The Factory, tripling the amount of space available for systems training purposes.

"The Queens site fits the image profile we’re trying to achieve," says Kern. "At the moment our offices can only fit 10-12 people at any one time for training. With the new site, we will be able to fit between 20 and 30."

Kern says the new site will also be beneficial for cost savings, recruitment and work output.

"Our current location is too cramped. By moving the technical staff to Queens, we will be saving double or triple the expenditure on real estate. Because it’s a bigger site, work efficiency ratios will go up as well--it’s the sort of environment the tech guys like to work in," says Kern.

"The new environment will be more conducive to the type of people we want to recruit," he adds, pointing out that Syntegra plans to add another 20-30 percent to its New York staff total in the near future.

Kern says Syntegra, which has been at 111 8th Ave. for about four years, will be paying $50-$60 per square foot for its new midtown location, compared to $20-$30 at The Factory.

The company has taken ten-year rent agreements with both locations.