Unofficially, “Universe” is actually CosmoCall 3.0. The new version features
multimedia-on-hold, Microsoft NetMeeting 3.0x integration, audio, video and text chat,
MSMQ support, improved e-mail routing and more. This release impressed us with its
installation process and well-designed administration and agent interfaces.
Installation
Installing the ACD server portion of Universe requires careful planning.
Administrators need to make decisions about which components to install or not to install,
whether to have multiple components on one server or whether to distribute the components,
and what degree of customization they prefer. Also, configuring agents and groups is
largely based on Windows’ own profiles, which is efficient, but requires care and
patience. Adding the “click here” button to your organization’s Web site
also requires meticulous attention to detail. Buttons can be primitive links or elaborate
images, and while the actual behind-the-scenes coding doesn’t require an expert
Webmaster, the entire process should definitely receive input from the managers of your
call center, Web site, MIS staff and telecom staff. We wouldn’t call any part of the
installation process difficult, though. It’s just complicated, and should be handled
by your more experienced people. Meanwhile, installing the agent software (and training
the agents) is a task you can delegate to any competent MIS technician. Once NT
Workstation is installed with NetMeeting, the service pack, the option pack and Outlook
98, the actual CosmoCall agent is a simple wizard installation. Add the Exchange and
CosmoCall account information, and the agent machine is ready. (Note that every agent uses
only a headset, and not a telephone. This way, all voice calls are handled the same.)
System requirements for installing Universe are lengthy, but not excessive. Recommended
for a basic setup are Windows NT Server 4.0 for the ACD component, running Microsoft IIS
version 4 with .ASP support, a Dialogic voice board (we used a D/41ESC) for the Telephone
Connection Server with 250 MB of disk space available, and Microsoft Exchange Server with
CosmoCom’s Message/E-mail Connec-tion Server. The server components can be combined
or distributed; at a minimum, the main ACD server requires 30 MB of disk space, 128 MB
RAM, the latest NT service pack and a 233 MHz Pentium or newer, as well as SQL 7.0.
Agents’ systems require Windows NT Workstation 4.0, the latest service pack, a
minimum of 166 MHz, 10 MB of disk space, Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 with Service
Pack 1 and NetMeeting 2.1 or newer (although 3.0x is recommended), DirectX and Outlook 98,
and a full-duplex headset, sound card and video camera. Minimum requirements for end users
include a 486/66 PC with 16 MB RAM, Windows 95 and Internet Explorer 4.01 with Service
Pack 1 or Netscape Navigator 3.x. However, we recommend installing the ACD and related
servers on more up-to-date systems, for example, Pentium II 450s with at least 128 MB RAM.
A nice touch is that the system includes copies of the NT and 9x option packs and service
packs, as well as Internet Explorer 5, NetMeeting 3.01, Outlook 98 and viewers for
Acrobat, PowerPoint and Word files.
Documentation
The documentation for Universe was still in an early beta form when we received
it, but it provided a decent preview of what the final version would be like. There are
several chapters, including administrator and agent installation, administrator and agent
guides, configuration planning, reports, technical requirements, third-party software and
a “what’s new” section. From what we saw, the manual still needs a lot of
work in its organization, but most major topics seem to be covered, and the conceptual and
technical explanations are clear, making good use of screen captures. Another section uses
a flow chart to explain sample installations, which will be a tremendous aid for both
decision makers and installers.
Features
There are several pieces of Universe to examine. On the administration server(s),
there is the “configurator” for setting up file locations, default call
settings, etc. There is also the administration interface, where you configure settings
for agents, groups, rules and messages, although this interface does not need to be open
for the product to work because it’s all based on Windows NT services. Also, there
are the agent interface, the end user interface and the Web integration issues.
The “Configurator” is used to set up file locations, software parameters,
etc. It is accessed through the Start menu, or through a Windows shortcut, but we’d
like to see it also be accessible through the administration interface, explained below.
Other than this minor flaw, we find this tool quite useful. Script options are set through
five menu choices. “Call Center Information” sets the suite’s IP address
and name, plus the path to your script directory. “No Agents Action” sets the
URL and message for callers to receive when they enter a hold queue. “Caller
Information” configures the caller telephone type, caller URL, Web caller initial
URL, caller message and name, caller queue, caller priority and required skills. “Web
Configuration” sets the script directory, Web caller directory and window title, an
option to always push URLs in a new window, .ASP and Java settings, the Java directory URL
and the Java window dimensions in pixels. Finally, the “Optional Parameters” tab
configures integration with other applications; up to five additional parameters can be
set here. Parameter examples include customer identifications, shopping cart
identifications, trouble tickets, order numbers, etc.
CosmoCall’s administration program is for configuring groups, agent options and
similar settings. It’s on the simpler side, with smartly arranged menu choices,
colorful icons and an uncrowded feel. Across the top, four menu choices include File, New,
Delete and Help. Below this is an 11-button toolbar, with button help, that accesses
features like log in/log out, as well as “add new” buttons for agents, teams,
skills, wrap-up/release codes, etc. The main window offers 10 options, which include:
- Personnel — Configures new agents, their groups and their skills,
- Groups — Agents grouped by topic of expertise or any other category,
- Teams — Groups of agents grouped for administrative purposes,
- Skills — For example, agents who help with troubleshooting, ordering, foreign
language customers, etc.,
- Queues — For example, queues based on caller locations, reason for calling,
priority, etc.,
- Events — This menu specifies which scripts to execute for particular events, and
lists event descriptions,
- Scripts — Specifies script names, descriptions and locations,
- Release codes — Codes and descriptions for when agents are on breaks,
- Wrap-up codes — Call results codes and descriptions,
- Connection servers — Configures settings for telephone, message and Internet chat
servers.
CosmoCall Universe’s agent interface is concise and efficient. However, we urge
system installers to provide agents with more powerful computers than are required,
because there are several instances where the software refreshes the screen, and you
don’t want to make customers wait while agents stare at an hourglass.
There are numerous customization options for the agents to configure as they like. Half
of these options are accessed through the File/Preferences menu, where agents will find
four tabs. In the General tab, there is a pointer to a dictionary/spell checker file,
which can work as agents type, as well as a feature to choose their own .WAV file for
telephony rings. Under the Chat Dialogue tab, agents can set their preferences for the
fonts, sizes, styles and colors of the text chat interface. The Agent tab holds the
settings for canned phrases (a library of commonly used phrases that the agent can push to
the caller without having to retype every time), including a path field to select your
organization’s own phrase file. Last, the Call Flow section includes settings for
“On Ring” (auto-answer, bring agent to front, show received URL), “On Call
Termination” (hide chat, ask for chat save, auto-save) and “On Pick-Up”
(send customizable hello message). Other options in this tab include a toggle for
“Ask before hang-up” and “Synchronize sent URL with caller.” There is
also a “reset to default” button, which works for all four tabs.
The second half of the customization options is under the View/Customize menu. The actual
method of customization follows the Microsoft Office convention, where the Toolbars tab is
for creating and editing, and the Tools tab is for controlling the individual toolbar
items. There is also an Options tab here, with choices for displaying larger icons,
“ScreenTips” (button help), ScreenTips with shortcut keys and three kinds of
menu animations.
Beside the normal agent options, like dial, get caller info, auto-answer, clear screen,
availability toggle, etc.; the Universe agent interface gives advanced features as well.
These include NetMeeting and URL pushing, customizable unavailable and wrap-up codes and
an excellent agent/group reporting feature that updates statistics in real-time. (Refresh
rates are adjustable in one-second intervals from 15 to 60 seconds, and reports are
provided for specific queues, groups, agents and the call center as a whole.)
Operational Testing
The experience a caller receives is a positive one. Callers using POTS enter a
traditional-sounding IVR system, which purposely does not give the caller any indication
that their call will be received in packet-form in a call center where agents don’t
even have telephones. Callers from the Web deal with a normal online ordering and product
information site, except that the site will also have a “Talk To Us” button. New
callers may need to register — a step determined by the organization being called
— and customers may be presented with system requirements. Once the actual call is
initiated and the caller is queued, the traditional concepts of “audio on hold”
can be replaced with anything from a simple “please hold” graphic to an
extremely detailed audio/video file — essentially a commercial.
For a product designed with enterprise-scale intentions, we found that CosmoCall
Universe is almost as easy to use as any standard Windows application, from its look and
feel to its menu setup to its administration and reporting features. In fact, CosmoCom
engineers have made their intentions clear, by incorporating the Windows NT user manager,
the NetMeeting 3 client and many standard Windows-like methods of task accomplishment.
Because of this tight integration, organizations using Universe will be able to support
the product among lower-level MIS personnel, which is a testament to its usability —
in the administration interface (and especially in the agent interface), the learning
curve is virtually nonexistent. The most tedious part of maintaining Universe will be
keeping its agent groups and databases up-to-date, and linking it with the ordering,
tracking or other back-end software that may already be resident at your business. Another
useful feature for an administrator is the Agent State interface, where call center
directors can see every agent’s current status and initiate NetMeeting calls to them.
For the agent, the most critical transitions for a product like Universe will be
adapting to a telephoneless workstation and, for the text calls, mastering the techniques
of writing a conversation instead of speaking one. Many of today’s call centers
already have agents who are trained to compose e-mail replies, but there are many
techniques and issues relevant to the back-and-forth of text chat that may seem unnatural
to agents who are used to speaking instead. (Speech recognition technology, if it were
fast enough and accurate enough, could ease this transition by allowing the agents to
speak the caller’s answers — instead of typing them — and inputting the
translated speech directly into the text chat window.) Agents will find it easy to use
features like URL and phrase pushing, call wrap-ups and outbound dialing and transferring. Agents will also need to be trained on NetMeeting, which is the more
difficult tool to learn.
Room For Improvement
CosmoCom seems to have designed most of the Universe features for the appropriate
user levels, but additional features could be helpful. For example, we’d like to see
tighter integration with Microsoft Outlook. We also feel that the administration
interface, the Configurator and the Agent States menu could be combined in a single
location, to make it easier for administrators to get a total picture of their system at
any time. Finally, although the documentation we reviewed was only in its beta form, there
was no indication that there might be an agent’s cheat-sheet of sorts, which would be
quite useful. A cheat-sheet in the form of an on-screen taskbar would be even more
helpful. Also, even though the user’s manual includes a chapter about integrating
Universe with other applications, there are enough issues raised for the chapter to be an
entire book of its own — for now, we’d settle for more extensive discussions of
the integration possibilities.
Conclusion
We really liked Universe. It’s clear that the designers put a fair amount of
effort into the interfaces and functionality. Because of the tight Microsoft integration
of this product, it’s a good solution for organizations that want the simplest
possible answer without having to hire a consultant and an interconnect. CosmoCom also
provided us with exceptional technical support when we needed it. All of these things
combined to make the product a worthwhile solution, and we’re confident that most of
our “Room For Improvement” issues can be fixed. Overall, this new version
deserves our Editor’s Choice award.
|
Internet Telephony Magazine
Click here to read latest issue
CUSTOMER 
Cloud Computing Magazine
Click here to read latest issue
IoT EVOLUTION MAGAZINE
