October 1998

BY PAT BRADY

Recent developments in adapting communications infrastructure and TCP/IP internet protocols to telephone call control systems are making the virtual approach a practical and affordable option for much smaller call centers and help desks. Now, almost any organization can take advantage of this technology to maximize support staff productivity while simultaneously improving customer service levels. Your communications infrastructure and TCP/IP can be used to deliver cost-effective virtual call center functionality. First, is important to know what capabilities to look for in open network call routing applications and key business issues to consider before deciding to implement your own virtual call center.

Much has been written lately about the virtues of virtual call centers. By linking dispersed locations, and even work-at-home agents, organizations can deliver consistently excellent service to customers while managing system-wide resources for maximum flexibility and efficiency. A virtual call center can route calls to the best available experts - wherever they happen to be. Locations in different time zones can be linked so customers can have access to live support 24 hours a day. Supervisors in virtual call centers can manage call flows throughout the system from a single physical location.

Despite all these advantages, there is a misconception in the marketplace that the virtual call can be difficult and expensive to implement. Certainly, the traditional approach to network routing, used by large front-line customer service and sales centers, can be costly and complex. In this scenario, network-level routing provided by a carrier is combined with additional technology to create a sophisticated architecture employing both network and premise technology to route calls.

A VIRTUAL OPEN CALL CONTROL ENVIRONMENT
TCP/IP was originally developed as a communication protocol to connect computers. Over the years, it has evolved into the basis for connecting computers through the Internet. Today, TCP/IP, in conjunction with your communications infrastructure, can deliver voice and data to agents, regardless of their location. This protocol enables each user to send or receive information from any other user with the same communication protocol. The network simply carries information from one desktop - or endpoint - to another. Computer-telephony integration (CTI) solutions that use the TCP/IP protocol gain the same openness, scalability, and interaction capabilities found on the Internet.

An organization's existing local- and wide-area networks (LANs and WANs) offer help desk managers a ready-made infrastructure for routing telephone calls to agents and servers. Wherever LANs and WANs go within an organization, telephone traffic can go, too. And, since TCP/IP is bundled with virtually all modern PC and server operating systems, you may already have the ability to deliver calls over your existing voice and data communication infrastructure. In this situation, routing occurs by passing control information over the network to both answer calls and transfer them to a particular destination. In this way, work-at-home agents with dial up modems or agents at remote sites can receive calls from any other site within the network.

The Virtual Call Center
A virtual call center, comprised of a main corporate help desk center, a smaller help desk center, and work-at-home agents, can be established for a help desk, using existing telephony and data communications infrastructure.

The infrastructure within the main center consists of a corporate PBX, a CTI server, a LAN, and agent PCs. Calls reach the CTI server through the PBX, where they are answered. Network data such as ANI and DNIS can be delivered with the call, and callers can be prompted to enter further identifying data and routing information to augment the network data. Using them as keys into enterprise databases can further leverage these data elements. For example, by identifying the caller from network data or caller-entered information, a lookup in the corporate database can help determine with whom the caller last spoke and route the caller to that same person. This is known as "data-directed routing." Agent PCs are notified of calls arriving in the CTI server by messages sent over the LAN. The calls themselves move over the PBX by a transfer from the CTI server. In this way, the PBX, LAN, server, and PCs work together to facilitate call distribution. Information from corporate databases and the corporate help desk application can be delivered over the LAN to agent desktops simultaneously.

This arrangement is the same for remote agents. Agents at remote sites can connect to the CTI server via the corporate WAN; or working at home, they can connect to the CTI server via remote dialup networking. Voice calls are transferred to the agents, regardless of where they are located, as long as they have phones with direct dial capabilities. For a call to be routed to these remote PCs, the server must dial a distinctly different dial string. This is how the PBX and PSTN are leveraged. In this model, no matter where an agent sits, he or she can always receive a call.

PREMISED-BASED SERVER APPS
With an established voice and data communication network, you have the infrastructure necessary to implement a virtual call center; however, to make such a center operational, you still must select a premise-based server application. These applications typically provide ACD-like call management capabilities and bring voice and data together at the application level. Searching through this new marketplace for the right application can be a daunting experience. As you plan for the development and implementation of a virtual call center, look for these capabilities in the applications you may be considering:

• Tolerance-to-system failures. Call routing software must be able to withstand hardware and network failures and errors from other software applications. Several techniques to look for include choosing an application that uses your communication switch's natural fault-tolerance, an N+1 configuration for quick back up, or operating on fault-tolerant hardware platforms.
• Switch independence. More than likely, your company has made a substantial investment in a telephony switch for your department. Other departments may have invested in different technologies. When looking for a premise-based server application, switch independence is an important consideration. It will leverage your current switch architecture and deliver virtual functionality.
• Intelligent call routing. Calls in your virtual call center must be routed in real-time, based on actual knowledge of agent availability, agent skills, and queuing status. The application must also be able to gather information about the call (through DNIS, IVR, or database lookup) and route it - intelligently - to the best available agent.
• Open architecture. The applications you choose must support industry-standard architectures such as Windows NT and SQL Server. They also should integrate easily with other call center applications - like the customer management software, IVR systems, and databases.
• Integration with native help desk applications. Whether you have homegrown help desk software or are using a help desk vendor's software, your call center application should integrate with it. They should be complementary for an easy-to-use interface for your agents and to facilitate faster problem resolution and support.
• Historical and real-time management reporting. While agents may sit anywhere in the virtual call center, managers must have real-time visibility into the entire network. The ability to access and combine data from multiple databases while maintaining an enterprise view of call center performance enables optimum management of agent scheduling, workflow, and volume forecasting.

Managing Multimedia - The Next Step
Making use of your existing voice and data communications infrastructure, along with selecting the best premise-based server application, will help you implement a virtual call center solution that effectively manages voice interactions. But these protocols also set the stage for the next phase of development: managing a full range of electronic interactions. As e-mail, fax, voice mail, and Web interactions mix more frequently with phone calls in the call center, a method must be found to manage and distribute them all effectively.

Virtualizing these interactions means queuing them - sometimes blending them together in the same queue - wrapping up on their disposition, and reporting on their performance. By making sure the application you choose provides a capability to manage multi-media management applications, these interactions can be prioritized and ranked in order of importance to the center and the agent's skills. Further, as the position of the interaction changes as the queue ages, quality-of-service metrics for all interaction types can be reported upon.

Many applications today tout their multimedia capabilities, but few provide the tools to manage and measure these media according to the business rules of your help desk. As the use of alternate media to phones becomes more and more prevalent, you must position your help desk to provide a consistent level of service to those who choose to use these alternate media.

ACCEPTING THE CHALLENGE
Help desks face many of the same challenges as front line sales and service call centers. Technology and cost barriers have tumbled, bringing the benefits of virtual call centers closer than ever. With the use of existing data communication infrastructure and the right premise-based server application, cost-effective solutions can be implemented with relative ease. The bigger challenge arises when considering the various business issues associated with "going virtual."

Despite these challenges, careful consideration of the issues can lead to a solid plan, which is the surest path to reaping the benefits of virtual call centers for your organization.

Patrick Brady is the CEO and Chief Technical Officer at Apropos Technology, a leading developer of client/server total call center management software (TCCM) that dramatically improves how businesses provide service. Apropos' flagship CTI product, Call Link, helps companies heighten call center productivity and customer service and reduce overall operating costs through an integrated call center management system. Call Link, developed and marketed for the small- to medium-sized call center market, enables companies to leverage their existing investments in telephone systems, networks, databases and third-party applications, including help desk, customer service, and order entry applications. For more information, contact the company at 1-877-APROPOS, or visit its Web site at www.apropos.com.