Hughes Network Systems announced Tuesday that it has entered into a three-year contract with Amerada Hess Corporation to upgrade its existing HNS satellite network to a Direcway broadband satellite solution. Direcway will enable Amerada Hess to:
- provide real-time pricing and inventory updates to stores;
- process credit authorizations;
- perform sales polling; and
- provide intranet and email.
HNS will be supplying Amerada Hess with its new generation DW4030 broadband satellite terminals that incorporate an integrated serial appliance.
These terminals provide continued support of existing serial-based, credit processing networks, while upgrading throughput and performance for new browser-based, back-office applications.
The ability to support both high bandwidth and low speed, serial applications in the same terminal was a key factor in the decision to choose a Direcway solution.
“Amerada Hess has been a satisfied customer of HNS’ since 1999,” said John McManus, manager, Retail Information Systems at Amerada Hess. “We were pleased that HNS had a solution for us as we implement our new point-of-sale system, which requires true broadband capability.”
“It’s a testament to the quality of HNS’ products and technology, as well as to our customer service team, that Amerada Hess has decided on a Direcway broadband solution,” said Harry George, vice president, North American sales at HNS.
“We are confident that Direcway will be a key success factor in Amerada Hess’ broadband initiatives.”
Rollout of Direcway to Hess’ 800 locations commences immediately and is being mapped to the new point-of-sale rollout, with completion targeted in second quarter of 2005.
