What’s exciting about computer-telephony integration (CTI) is the prospect of
consolidating all communications — data, voice, video, and fax — over a single
network. Imagine: no more unwieldy “links” between phone networks and computer
networks. Instead, all you need is a single wire for both your computer and your phone.
One means toward this kind of consolidation is the LAN-based PBX, or LAN PBX. The LAN
PBX is an integral part of the computer network, and as such, steals a march on the
traditional PBX, which typically connects to the LAN via a proprietary link. Indeed, by
eschewing the proprietary route in favor of standards-based approaches, the LAN PBX
liberates users from the traditional PBX, and lets them control telephony from the
desktop, via standard, customizable applications.
THE LAY OF THE LAN
While the charm of the LAN PBX is consolidation — of telephone and computer networks,
of disparate communications media — the LAN PBX is, itself, an expression of
diversity. LAN PBX is, in fact, an umbrella term. It encompasses both ATM PBXs and
Ethernet LAN PBXs, schemes based on entirely distinct network topologies. To make matters
a little more complicated, some people assume LAN PBX is synonymous with Ethernet LAN PBX,
since Ethernet is the de facto standard for most LANs. Even worse, there is some confusion
between LAN PBXs and PC PBXs. In a sense, LAN PBXs are PC PBXs. That is, in LAN PBXs, the
hardware and software run on PCs and perform switching on PCs.
To sort out all these confusing acronyms, we prepared Figure 1, a Venn diagram showing
where the LAN PBX, the ATM PBX, and the PC PBX stand in relationship to each other. We
don’t have strong feelings about how loosely people use the term LAN PBX; however, we
do think it would be convenient to refer to an ATM PBX in those cases where the LAN PBX is
based on ATM. A stickier issue is deciding how to distinguish between LAN PBXs and PC
PBXs. A PC PBX is a phone switch within a PC, which utilizes the network for call control
and transmitting caller ID and other call information.
However, unlike a LAN PBX, a PC PBX does not use the LAN for transmitting voice. A PC
PBX still uses the traditional phone wiring for transmitting voice, and the network wiring
for transmitting data. Thus, a PC PBX still requires two wires drawn to the desktop,
whereas a LAN PBX requires just one. Therefore, although PC-based and LAN-based PBXs have
some crossover, the PC PBX and the LAN PBX are two distinct entities.
We’re aware of vendors who are active in each of these areas. For example, PC PBX
vendors include Altigen Communications and NetPhone. (We reviewed Altigen’s Altiserv
in August 1997, and NetPhone’s
PhoneMaster in October 1997.) Also, I mentioned Selsius Systems’
Ethernet LAN PBX in my November 1997 CC: column. (Other vendors are testing Ethernet
LAN PBXs in their labs.) And now, in this article, we will take a look at a couple of ATM
PBXs.
The ATM PBXs we investigated include Sphericall, from Sphere Communications, and CCPRO,
from CellIT. While both these products provide sophisticated telephony services to the
desktop over native ATM, they differ in both target market and functionality. TWO
PRODUCTS, TWO MISSIONS A head-to-head comparison of these two products is impossible.
While there is some cross-over in market space, especially in the mid-size call center,
Sphericall and CCPRO were designed to meet the needs of different user groups.
Sphere’s product is targeted toward general business; CellIT’s CCPRO, toward
medium to large call centers. Although Sphericall lacks built-in ACD and skillsbased
routing, which are important to all call centers, the product is TAPI compliant, so
it’s very possible that thirdparty software using TAPI could provide this
functionality.
Other differences in functionality stem from Sphericall’s and CCPRO’s
divergent missions. Since CellIT targets call centers, there is little need for voice mail
for agents. Accordingly, CCPRO has no built-in voice mail system. Thus, unified messaging
is not part of CCPRO’s core functionality. Sphericall, on the other hand, does have a
builtin voice mail system, as well as support for unified messaging. (CellIT tells us they
plan to add voice mail in the next release of CCPRO, and that unified messaging is in the
works; however, these features weren’t priorities since centers seldom require them.)
Since CellIT’s product has live voice recording of phone conversations, adding a
simple voice mail system shouldn’t be that difficult.
CCPRO, as you might imagine, can handle more traffic than Sphericall. In fact, CCPRO
can achieve 60,000 busy hour calls. We should mention that even though Sphericall can
scale to 16 analog lines, you still must allocate some of those resources to your IVR or
auto-attendant. Thus, if you have a large incoming call volume, you may have to dedicate 4
to 8 ports for the auto-attendant, leaving 4 to 12 ports for outgoing calls.
CCPRO supports T1, whereas Sphericall currently supports only analog, although Sphere
claims it’s considering WAN T1 and ISDN connectivity. (Look for T1 support in version
1.3 of Sphericall.) CellIT also has more crossplatform support. Specifically, CCPRO
supports Win95, Win NT, and the different flavors of UNIX, whereas Sphericall supports
Win95 and Win NT.
Another difference between the systems is that CCPRO provides an application generator
for writing custom applications for both the client as well as the telephony server
answering the phone calls (auto-attendant/IVR). The application generator converts the
application into Java bytecode, which can then be run by any client on any operating
system.
Sphericall, on the other hand, gives you a user-friendly client GUI which doesn’t
necessarily need much customization. Sphere has designed Sphericall to have most of the
features you need built-in, such as voice mail, unified messaging, call control, call log,
Exchange phone book integration, call and line monitoring, and more. CCPRO lacks many of
these features. However, you could build them for CCPRO using the product’s
application generator.
Sphericall
Sphere Communications, Inc.
2 Energy Drive
Lake Bluff, Il. 60044
Ph: 847-247-8200; Fx: 847-247-8290
Web Site: www.spherecom.com
Pricing: CoHub — 4-port: $1,875; 8port: $2,875; 16-port: $4,125.
PhoneHub — 8-port: $2,175; 16-port: $3,125. PhoneNic — $495 per card.
One of the problems of marketing ATM PBXs is the proliferation of Ethernet networks.
Sphere has solved the problem of integrating their ATM PBX with legacy Ethernet and Token
Ring networks by the introduction of their PhoneHub product. The Sphericall PhoneHub makes
it possible to upgrade your existing Ethernet or Token Ring networks to a powerful
telephone system with auto-attendant, voice mail, unified messaging, and other CTI
features, while retaining the existing network infrastructure. Each PhoneHub brings voice
transmissions over the ATM network to up to 16 standard analog phones. These can be
standalone phones with no computers associated with them, or these phones can be logically
associated with Ethernet or Token Ring networked computers. Then, using TAPI 2.1
client/server CTI applications across the existing LAN, you can provide complete CTI
capabilities with no disruption to existing network topologies.
SOFTWARE
Sphericall’s software runs on LANs comprised of three elements: a client NIC (network
interface card), a communications server, and an ATM switch.
Client NIC
The client NIC combines a 25.6 Mbps ATM data NIC with ATM Direct technology and
voice processing hardware, terminating in an RJ-11 jack interface for a standard analog
telephone. Sphere’s ATM Direct technology converts analog voice directly to standard
53-byte ATM cells, bypassing the need for a real-time voice-carrying bus (SCSA, MVIP, and
the like). Implemented with gate arrays, codecs, embedded processors, and software, the
technology uses the quality-of-service (QoS) guarantees inherent in ATM to allow
time-sensitive voice data to use the same set of wires as delay-tolerant computer data. At
the desktop, voice is reassembled into a PCM stream and passed through a codec for
delivery to a standard analog telephone connected to the NIC’s RJ-11 jack.
Communications Server
The communications server is comprised of a Windows NT Server 4.0 and Microsoft
Exchange running over an ATM network. It includes hardware support for up to 16 analog
trunks, and combines ATM Direct technology with digital signal processing to support
tele-phonetone generation and detection, call progress, caller ID monitoring, and voice
processing. This hardware combines the functionality of trunk interface cards and voice
processing cards.
ATM Switch
All desktop ATM connections are routed to a non-blocking ATM switch which is
connected to the server. The switch supports from 4 to 24 ATM-25 ports, as well as
connectivity to Ethernet or ATM-155. Multiple switches may be stacked to increase the size
of the network.
Sphericall currently supports up to 16 incoming trunks and 100 extensions, and they are
researching expanding that capacity in future releases. Trunk lines are terminated in the
communications server, which is based on a 133 MHz Pentium with 64 megabytes of RAM and a
2 gigabyte hard drive. If the system requires more than 23 clients, then multiple ATM
switches are required. Also, connection to existing Ethernet LANs or Ethernet devices
(printers, copiers, scanners, routers) is possible by incorporating an Ethernet module in
the switch. ATM-25 only requires UTP-3 or better cable, but for future expandability to
ATM-155, UTP-5 is recommended.
FEATURES
In an operational system, incoming calls ring the telephone and new calls can be placed by
dialing from the telephone keypad. Standard features, such as hold, transfer, park,
pickup, and conference are available via the Sphericall Telephone Assistant GUI (Figure
2). Incoming calls can be monitored for caller ID information and transferred easily to an
extension in a “hot list” onscreen. Automatic dialing is based on the Exchange
Address Book. A toolbar of macro buttons allows more sophisticated call handling that
combines the playback of stored messages with call control operations. Telephone system
administration software can be run from any PC on the network or the server, using an
administrator logon. Personal calling features, such as the number of rings before
transfer to voice mail, forwarding features, and others can be set directly from each
user’s desktop. Some features of the product include:
- Voice mail integrated with Microsoft Exchange (unified messaging).
- High-quality voice reproduction.
- Operator console is easily switched to any PC on the LAN.
- Single point of responsibility for telephone and data network management and support.
- Telephone operates even if client computer is down.
- Call history with double-click callback (using caller ID info).
- Two levels of call coverage.
- Call redirection without answering.
- Calling groups – phone calls going to multiple phones.
- On-line call/line monitors.
- Night service mode — different incoming call handling, different voice prompts.
- Last number redial. Some of the more important features expected in version 1.3 (this
version was not ready when we visited them) include call conferencing, T1 with DID
support, music-on-hold, call restrictions (such as to disallow lists, toll, and outward
calling), and voice mail notification via page, fax, or system message. Sphere also
expects to have an IVR kit available in the next release.
SPHERE’S COMPONENTS
CoHub
The CoHub is an assembly consisting of an interface box to the PSTN (connecting
outside telephone lines to the system), a PCI server card, and an interconnecting cable.
In addition to providing the interface to telephone trunks, it utilizes ATM Direct
technology to convert analog voice to ATM cells (and vice versa), and provides an ATM
connection to the network.
PhoneHub
From a single ATM network connection, the PhoneHub provides a connection point
for up to 16 analog telephones.
PhoneNic
The PhoneNic is an ATM NIC (network interface card) that has been enabled for
telephony. In addition to the standard ATM network connection, it includes an RJ-11 jack
for connecting an analog telephone and an RJ-14 jack for direct connection of a headset.
These hardware components, along with Sphericall software, may be used in any combination
of the following configurations:
THE BASIC SPHERICALL SYSTEM
A Sphericall CoHub combined with the PhoneHub can be used to create a phone system with up
to 16 telephones. No ATM switch or other network component is required. ATM is used within
the Sphericall telephone system as an efficient means of delivering media streams, such as
voice, and providing the switching fabric.
All basic PBX features, including voice mail and auto-attendant, are included.
Inexpensive analog telephones are used and no desktop computers are required, thus access
is performed via touch-tone keypad commands.
THE BASIC PRODUCT — EXPANDED
With the addition of an ATM switch, the Sphericall system can be expanded to include
multiple PhoneHubs. Each PhoneHub, supporting up to 16 telephones each, requires one ATM
switch port. For example, a system of 80 phones can be configured with 5 PhoneHubs, each
connecting 16 phones. Adding telephones is simple and inexpensive: Just add the PhoneHubs
and plug in the telephones. Alternatively, or in combination with PhoneHubs, ATM client
computers can be added to the network by plugging them into available ATM switch ports.
PhoneNics installed in these ATM client computers provide RJ-11 and RJ-14 jacks for
connecting analog telephones and headsets respectively. ATM client computers are
multimedia-ready and provide integrated CTI functionality.
By overlaying a legacy Ethernet or Token Ring LAN, one can implement CTI over as many
telephones as there are legacy LAN-connected PCs. Other telephones can operate as ordinary
standalone phones using Centrexlike commands for call control.
Although up to 100 extensions are possible, Sphericall currently only supports 16
analog trunk lines per server.
THE BASIC SPHERICALL SYSTEM WITH CTI
Sphericall can provide a powerful CTI-enabled telephone system without disturbing the
legacy LAN architecture. In this implementation, voice traffic is handled over ATM to
analog phones, as mentioned previously. However, Windows-based client call control, such
as drag-and-drop transfer, phone list dialing, and voice mail, can now be controlled over
the existing Ethernet or Token Ring LAN via the client/server capabilities of TAPI 2.1.
This is an efficient solution for implementing CTI functionality with a legacy Ethernet or
Token Ring LAN using only the Sphericall CoHub, the PhoneHub, and Sphericall software.
With this configuration, users can take advantage of Sphericall’s builtin CTI
applications that provide onscreen call control such as drag-anddrop transfers, management
of multiple calls, and unified messaging using Microsoft Exchange. For CTI, any of the
PhoneHub-connected telephones can be logically associated with legacy LAN computers
running Windows NT or 95. Other PhoneHub telephones can serve as standalone phones (no
association to computers) with standard features accessible by touch-tone keypad.
SPHERICALL PURE ATM INSTALLATION
In this implementation, Sphericall uses the unique QoS guarantees of an ATM LAN to carry
high-quality voice along with data on a common set of wires to each desktop. Data and
voice are routed over the same Cat-3 (or higher) wiring, through any industrystandard ATM
switches. Voice is delivered over the ATM network utilizing ATM’s inherent
dynamically allocated virtual circuits. Data traffic is handled via standard ATM
Forumcompliant LAN emulation software. Telephony is enabled on each desktop via software
and Sphericall PhoneNics in each Windows NT or 95 client PC.
Each client PhoneNic has an industry standard RJ-11 phone jack for plugging in a common
analog telephone (including cordless models), and an RJ-14 jack for connection to an
optional headset. As with the legacy LAN implementation, Windows-based client software
controls system administration, voice mail, call handling, and other telephony functions
through easy-to-use GUI commands and menus, including online help. Unlike the legacy
implementation, ATM clients are capable of handling video traffic along with voice and
data.
SPHERICALL IN A MIXED ENVIRONMENT
Sphericall’s architecture enables users to have a mixture of ATM and existing
infrastructures, all served by the same Sphericall client/server software. For example,
one segment of a LAN — or just a single desktop — can use ATM connections for
delivery of voice and data, while other segments remain on Ethernet and existing phone
wiring serviced by the Sphericall PhoneHub. This scalable solution permits organizations
to gradually migrate their Ethernet LANs to ATM (if desired) while still enjoying the full
benefits of a client/server ATM PBX.
CCPRO
CellIT, Inc.
8600 NW 53rd Terrace, Suite 202
Miami, FL 33166
Ph: 305-639-2259; Fx: 305-639-2222
Web site: www.cellit.com
Pricing: $3,000 to $4,500 per user, depending on size of call
center.
When we visited CellIT, they demonstrated two versions of their CCPRO ATM PBX, a
Broadband version and a Narrowband version. Both are targeted to medium to large call
centers.
Traditional call centers often have many disparate systems, such as an IVR, PBX, a CTI
gateway or link, recording system, predictive dialer, and others. CellIT has answered the
call by integrating these separate systems into a much more manageable, easily
administered, and centralized system.
FEATURES
- 3-Tier client/server model.
- Linear growth supporting from 16 to Nx150 agents.
- Do Not Call exception handling.
- Real-time dynamic dialing.
- Preview, power, and predictive dialing.
- Skills-based call routing.
- Rules-based blended call queue prioritizing.
- Internet call center transactions.
- Comprehensive campaign management.
- Integrated screen and voice recording.
- Silent monitoring, coaching, and barge-in functions.
- Microsoft Windows 95 and Windows NT agents and supervisor stations.
- At home agent/supervisor support.
- Flexible, SQL-based reporting.
BCCPRO
Broadband CCPRO is a multimedia blended call center application solution. The integration
of the disparate data and voice networks significantly reduces operations, administrative
and maintenance complexity, and initial capital expenditure.
B-CCPRO gives call centers the foundation for using enhanced and future communication
services, such as interactive video, Internet telephony, advanced wireless services,
broadband carrier services, virtual call centers, and others.
NCCPRO
Narrowband CCPRO consolidates all call center functions utilizing standards-based open
architecture products from such vendors as Dialogic and Microsoft. N-CCPRO is
PBX-independent, eliminating complex integration. New applications and campaigns are
deployed in hours instead of months using NCCPRO.
CORE MODULES
CCPRO consists of six core modules: NTSwitch, CenterCord, CenterDirector, TeleVisor,
Voltage, and AMP.
NTSwitch
The NTSwitch is a high-density multimedia communications server, whose services
include: Digital T1 and ISDN network access, digital announcements, voice recording, fax,
voice mail, text-tospeech, voice recognition, and inter-active voice response (IVR).
CenterCord
This is an object-oriented system coordinator and database engine. CenterCord is
a platformindependent application engine managing agents, inbound/outbound calls, blended
campaigns, and CTI resources.
CenterDirector
System management stations for system operation, administration, and maintenance
allow floor supervisors and administrators to perform realtime monitoring and reporting of
all call center activity. CenterDirector enables agent monitoring with real-time
statistics and graphs, as well as access to the campaign manager.
TeleVisor
TeleVisor is a visual objectoriented IVR script designer. TeleVisor scripts are
port independent and can be created by any client with the appropriate authorization.
Voltage (Visual Online Total Application Generator)
Voltage encompasses a branched logic agent scripting module with order entry,
fulfillment, and business application interfaces. Visual grafting support and object
inheritance allows incredibly rapid application deployment with little, if any, programmer
assistance. The application generator creates Java code, which can then be run on any
operating system. AMP (Agent Management Platform) A Java-based agent application, AMP
provides screen-based telephony functions and screen pops. AMP interprets Voltage scripts
and participates in CCPRO’s distributed pacing algorithm. A sample call control
performing a conference call is shown in Figure 6.
We were extremely impressed by CellIT’s demonstrated ability to record phone
conversations. The product features the ability to allow/disallow beeps every 30 seconds
or so, as well as who may record conversations. It also has the capability to allow
administrators to record an agent’s phone conversations for quality assurance and
training purposes. Another impressive feature is that CellIT’s application generator
creates Java code which can be run on just about any operating system — convenient
for call centers with multiple operating systems installed.
CONCLUSION
Both Sphere and CellIT provide sophisticated telephony services to the desktop over native
ATM. In addition to supporting current LAN data protocols, each product offers the best of
both worlds: a fully configurable, powerful telephone system and a high-speed LAN.
Combining the phone network with the data network using ATM gives users and administrators
control of their telephone systems and a high-speed LAN that supports QoS for voice and
video.
Corporations that have invested in Ethernet hubs, switches, routers, and the like may
object to investing even more by purchasing ATM switches, hubs, etc. However, startup
companies that haven’t set up any kind of network, be it a computer or phone system,
may like the idea of implementing an ATM PBX solution. They could get a high-speed LAN and
a phone system all-in-one. Furthermore, corporations already running over an ATM network
would require only the software and some minimal hardware.
Both Sphericall and CCPRO do two things very well. First, they eliminate the need for
disparate systems, such as an IVR, a voice mail system, a PBX, or even an ACD. This
results in reduced costs, fewer integration hassles, and an easier administration and
reporting interface. Second, you needn’t consult a laundry list of vendors for
support, upgrades, and integration. Both of these solutions are excellent products for the
markets they each address: CellIT for the medium-to-large call center, and Sphere
Communications for the small-tomedium general businesses.
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