December 1997

BY STEVE FRANCIS, ENHANCED SYSTEMS

Voice processing, which encompasses everything from voice mail and automated attendant capabilities to interactive voice response (IVR) and unified messaging, is widely accepted as a requirement in today’s fast-paced business communications landscape. The new demands of computer-telephony integration (CTI) have expanded to the point that the traditional PC- and DOS based operating system is collapsing under the pressure for greater capabilities, increased speed, a growing number of voice ports, and expanding hours of voice storage.

Windows NT is a multitasking, multi-threaded operating system providing four major enhancements for the voice-processing platform. First, it has grabbed the attention of the development community. It has extensive capability, is reliable with a mission critical design, and it supports a dynamic graphical user interface (GUI) appropriate for messaging applications. Secondly, it is scalable and therefore can manage multiple CPUs, expanded memory, disk capacity, port count, and application count. Third, it allows multiple applications to co-exist or cooperate. And finally, it has extensive capability for networking with other interfaces and systems. For a voice processing platform, Windows NT facilitates the application in five primary ways:

• It uses space more efficiently.
• It adds functionality.
• It is friendlier.
• It interfaces with other applications.
• It can network.

SCALABILITY
Larger PC-based voice mail systems and networks are possible due to NT’s scalability. Currently installed systems with as many as 90 ports still have significant expansion possibilities. But scalability alone is not the real benefit: The ability to scale up to large systems economically is the true advantage. A 90-port Windows NT system costs only a fraction of a large, proprietary system. Voice storage hours are limited only by the size of the hard disk drive, making hundreds of voice storage hours simultaneously possible and affordable on a voice mail system.

OPTIONS
Greater capability in the platform allows a single system to provide more options, which meets more diverse voice processing requirements. Increased feature options support continued productivity improvements and enhance communications. An excellent example is unified messaging and call control, which are both multimedia presentations of voice processing at the desktop.

Unified Messaging
Unified messaging consolidates email, fax mail, and voice mail into a single desktop screen, typically as part of an e-mail application such as Microsoft Exchange. By implementing a unified messaging system, the user now has the ability to manage all forms of messages in a consistent method. Voice, fax, and e-mail messages are identified, allowing the user to make decisions about what to review, the order in which to review the messages, and the appropriate response method. Voice or fax mail requiring future action can be annotated and saved or forwarded, just like email. Messages can be accessed remotely and saved to the hard drive of a laptop for future action as well.

Call Control
Call control is to auto attendant as unified messaging is to voice mail. It is also a multimedia presentation at the desktop, but shows real-time call information, which enables screening or redirection. The user now has options to answer the call, redirect the call, send the call to voice mail, and listen to the message as it is recorded, as well as implement these decisions by simply pointing and clicking or dragging and dropping.

USER INTERFACE
Windows NT’s GUI provides a consistent and friendly interface that makes installation and system administration easier than with previous systems. This is a great benefit for both the installer and system manager. The GUI also supports unified messaging and call control, which makes using the system intuitive and more direct. This allows the desktop user to take full advantage of the system’s increased capability.

MULTIPLE APPLICATION SUPPORT
The ability of Windows NT to support interfaces with other applications is a tremendous enhancement to the interactive voice response module. Independent applications can share data locally or via an RS-232 connection. The voice processing system can take control of another application or can be controlled by the application.

NETWORKING
System networking may be the most significant benefit of NT. Historically, voice mail networking was inefficient, slow, and limited in its capability. Today, the number of systems that can be networked is essentially limitless, and the functionality over the network is seamless. Systems can share data with other applications using TCP/IP, ODBC, or APIs. Messages are delivered from one system to the next over the network just as though the systems were in the same room, creating a distributed voice-processing environment.

CONCLUSION
Voice processing using Windows NT has just begun to develop real enhancements to its applications. Over the next several years we can expect some significant advances in capabilities and integration issues, which will create totally new voice processing applications. The key for developers, marketers, and users alike is to recognize voice processing as a tool to enhance communications effectiveness in all its forms.

Steve Francis is vice president of marketing with Enhanced Systems, a subsidiary of Vodavi Technology, Inc. Vodavi is a provider of voice, data, and video communications solutions. The company develops and markets a complete line of voice processing and IVR systems and software. Their NTbased platforms support networking applications, Internet fax delivery, and unified messaging capabilities. For more information, visit the com-panies’ Web sites at www.esisys.com or www.vodavi.com

Don’t purchase a 56K modem until you are clear on these two points:

1. Make sure you know which 56K standard your local Internet Service Provider supports. Whatever modem you buy should conform to that standard.

Some ISPs claim they support both standards. Don’t be fooled. To our knowledge, there is no modem on the market that can connect using K56 Flex or X2, depending on which type of modem is connecting/dialing into it. The best an ISP can do is purchase modems with firmware which can be updated without having to pop in new firmware chips. Then, when a 56K standard is ratified by the ITU, whether the standard is X2, K56Flex, or some hybrid, the ISP can quickly upgrade their modem banks by simply uploading the latest firmware. This is what an ISP means when it claims to support both X2 and K56Flex.

2. Make sure you buy a 56K modem that has softwareupgradeable firmware. Avoid modems requiring “chip swaps” to accomplish upgrades. Here’s how an upgrade should work: You go to your modem manufacturer’s Web site, download the firmware of any newly ratified 56K standard, and upgrade your modem then and there. All at once, you’ll start using your modem to its fullest potential. Who wants to wait for a new chip to be mailed to you so you can surf the Internet at nearISDN speeds? (Certainly not us.) So, make sure you go with modems with soft-wareupgradeable firmware.