An agreement between the Brookfield, Wis.-based core processor Fiserv and the San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco will enable integrated communications capabilities for financial institutions, allowing them to execute future branch strategies including virtual interaction and a universal banker model, the companies said.

Fiserv said it plans to offer these hosted communications and infrastructure solutions through its portfolio of managed services, Sentry Performance Solutions. The portfolio includes network services, hosting services, network security services, hardware and software life cycle management, and unified communications services.

As a result of the agreement, Fiserv clients now have access to the Cisco workforce experience solution and Cisco branch solutions. The workforce experience solution allows internal teams and product specialists to interact and collaborate via advanced, unified messaging and audio, video and web meeting tools on any device and from any location.