"Next-generation contact centers deliver services across multiple modes of communication: voice, fax, e-mail, instant messaging, web, images and video," says a white paper produced by Radisys. "Combining all these communication channels over a ubiquitous, cost-efficient IP network provides rich new features, while simultaneously lowering telecommunication costs."

The enabler is Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), a technology that converts voice into IP packets that are transmitted, alongside traditional data packets, on the IP network. The white paper explains how moving from circuit-based voice networks to VoIP technology significantly improves customer service and productivity by exploiting open computing systems, standards-based interfaces, and decomposed functional architectures.

Convedia media servers, company officials say, have been designed to enable "a wide range of applications," to keep up with how modern contact centers are changing the way many system integrators, hosted contact center service providers and independent software vendors approach their businesses.

Basically put, the Convedia Media Server is engineered to help increase efficiency by simultaneously carrying voice calls using VoIP on the same IP network, rather than the traditional approach of using separate circuit-switched networks. 

This, company officials say, allows for easy integration by using open-standards protocols, a decrease in time to market and an increase in the ability to meet future requirements with a flexible and scalable platform, as well as what they call "an ease in integration by using open-standards protocols."

It also helps reduce cost for hosted service providers, according to company officials: "RadiSys (News - Alert) Convedia media servers can offer an immediate 70-90 percent reduction in per port capital costs, equipment space and power requirements compared with any traditional circuit-based technology."

The Convedia server also introduces new features- integrating voice, data, fax, e-mail, web and video communication channels- in a unified call center infrastructure.