CONTACT CENTER

TECHNOLOGY
Key technologies for today's
contact centers include:
Communications Web services
Computer telephony (CT)
High-speed Ethernet
Internet Protocol (IP)
Speech
Multimedia
Wireless and mobility

Communications Web Services
Communications Web Services (CWS) is the
provisioning of communications services so that
they can be controlled and managed by Web-
style applications. CWS provides voice and
speech integration to an enterprise's existing
data infrastructure. This architecture enables
channel consistency, allowing applications to
"see" relevant information from databases and
allowing customers to interact with the contact
center through a variety of voice and data
channels.
High-Speed Ethernet
As contact center applications become
increasingly sophisticated, it is important
to consider the demands that innovations
such as video will place on the network
infrastructure. High-speed technologies
such as 10 Gigabyte Ethernet can provide
the underlying infrastructure for high
bandwidth requirements.
Internet Protocol (IP)
IP allows packetized voice to travel over a data network
such as a LAN or WAN. Contact centers are deploying
IP systems due to its capabilities:

Support for remote agents, such as agents working from home,
who need access to the same telephony and data resources as
they would have in an office.
Distributed or multi-site contact centers operating as one virtual
center with calls and data seamlessly routed between locations.
Multi-media contact centers where systems and agents handle
both telephone calls and contacts from faxes, email, and Web
communications. For example, a "click-to-talk" application lets an
agent and Web user talk while jointly browsing Web pages.
Total cost of ownership benefits are derived from being able to
maintain a single network with simplified centralized
administration.

Internet Protocol (IP)
Multi-media contact centers where systems
and agents handle both telephone calls and
contacts from faxes, email, and Web
communications. For example, a "click-to-talk"
application lets an agent and Web user talk
while jointly browsing Web pages.
Total cost of ownership benefits are derived
from being able to maintain a single network
with simplified centralized administration.

Speech
The most natural way to communicate is through
speech - the human voice. Dramatic advances in
automatic speech recognition (ASR) and text-to-
speech (TTS) technologies are driving an
evolution in IVR and messaging applications.
Speech-enabled IVRs let callers navigate
through speech commands, freeing them from
lengthy menus and repetitive touchtone inputs to
process transactions. Benefits to contact centers
include improved service, improved agent
productivity, and reduced long-distance costs
through faster transactions and information
retrieval.
Multimedia
Customers expect to access information and
process transactions through the media
channels of their choice. Wireless connectivity
through mobile phones, personal digital
assistance (PDAs), and laptops provide new
options for consumers to connect with
corporations. Contact centers are deploying
universal queuing applications to manage voice
and data contacts from all media channels
through a centralized queuing engine, saving
agent time and providing customized service
with a more satisfying user and agent
experience.
Wireless and Mobility
Contact center customers demand anywhere,
anytime access and the ability to use a variety of
wireless PCs, PDAs, and mobile phones to
communicate with enterprises. Wireless is one
of the largest trends in telecommunications. The
rapid adoption of Wi-Fi technology, as shown by
the proliferation of mobile technology from Intel,
is ushering in new contact center applications
requiring messaging, collaboration, and
multimedia for wireless devices. Wireless
broadband technology such as WiMAX will offer
the ability to communicate, transmit video, and
provide interaction in a wireless environment.
CTI (Computer Telephony
Integration)
Call Center Technologys computer-telephony
integration (CTI) connects your voice and data
world, ensuring agents instantly get the
customer specific information they need to
effectively assist callers. By integrating caller
information with your back office data systems,
Call Center Technology can be used to
authenticate and prioritize callers, route to the
most appropriate agent, automatically populate
the agents screen with critical call information
and much more. Dont forget, CTI is not used
just for the agent, but also improves caller
interactions with IVR and other technologies.
IVR (Interactive Voice Response)
The interactive voice response system allows
you to improve your operations efficiency by
applying self service applications. IVR can be
used to conduct the customers entire
transaction, or capturing a portion or all of the
callers information, then passing the caller and
the collected information to an available agent.
In either case, an IVR can be used to solve a
range of challenges, from reducing agent talk
time to sending repeat callers to their prior
agents.
ACD (Automatic Call Distributor)
Call Center Technologys Automated Call
Distribution (ACD) is the electronic heart of
the call center. From your desktop, you
have a rich feature set including ad-hoc,
and historical reporting information,
creating and monitoring real-time key
performance indicators, agent adds and
deletes, agent skill set modifications,
routing configuration, IVR design, and
much more.
Monitoring
Call Center Technology monitoring of agents can be
monitored in a number of ways to help improve not only
the agent but the call center performance. Management
and Supervisors will have several monitoring tools at
their finger tips such as, call recording (on-demand, all
the time, sampling etc), agent extension outbound
dialing, random or rules based sampled post-call
surveys, and how about being able to monitor remotely.
Monitoring can also be done by your clients through
client call monitoring. With these tools you will be able to
provide your callers the service they need and want, and
provide an every increasing product for your clients.
Contact Center Infrastructure
What is CRM?
Customer Relationship Management, or CRM, is
a business strategy designed to improve
profitability, revenue, and customer satisfaction.
It consists of software, services, and a new way
of thinking to improve profitability, revenue, and
customer satisfaction. How? By helping
organizations of every size identify the right
customers, acquire more of the right customers
faster, and retain the right customers longer.
What is CRM?
CRM typically involves centralizing all
customer data and automating much of
the tedious work in managing sales,
marketing, and customer service so that
professionals can spend more time
helping their customers become more
successful and less time on administrative
tasks.
CRM has been proven to:
Help organizations close more deals faster
Do a better job in segmenting and
reaching their target audiences
Dramatically improve customer
satisfaction and loyalty by delivering
superior service