Migrating To An All-In-One Solution… How Do We Get There?
By Tim Passios,
Director of Product Management, Interactive Intelligence
Q: The all-in-one contact center solution is definitely the way to go for the future
of my contact center. But I’ve got a problem that’s stopping me in my
tracks. How do we move from a traditional multi-point communications
system to an all-in-one solution and still protect our IT investment?
A:This question comes courtesy of a CIO who approached me a year ago at
the Gartner IT Symposium, and also from a contact center manager I spoke with at TMC’s ITEXPO West in Los
Angeles this past September.
In the CIO’s case, he literally showed me a
diagram of his organization’s contact center architecture
and couldn’t stress enough the number of
systems it consisted of. IVRs, ACDs, call recorders,
a WFM system — you name it, there was
a box for it, and the gentleman was more than
willing to explain why each system was necessary
and what specific business process it supported.
“It looks as if you have everything you
need,” I told him.
“Yes, we do,” he said. “But this system is
extremely complex, and the administration
and energy costs alone are more prohibitive
than I care to admit. In my mind, we need
to simplify the whole thing, but I’m honestly
not sure what our options are because we’re so
limited right now by expenses and budgets.”
It was the same story from the contact center
manager I met, who oversaw 1,500 agents
along with tons of legacy equipment. She
attended a presentation I gave in which one
of the principal points was that all-in-one communications
platforms and application suites
will replace a majority of multi-point solutions
within the next few years.
“I totally applaud the all-in-one movement,”
she let me know. “The thing is, we have so
many systems from different vendors that
are so tightly integrated… I can’t get approval
from upper management to make the
move because they think it would be disruptive
and too expensive. And even if I did get
the OK, I wouldn’t know where to start.”
Trust me. I’ve heard from a lot of CIOs and
contact center managers who feel trapped by
the mixed bag of technology they have to work
with — and who are frustrated by it. I also
usually hear a common refrain of dichotomy
among such decision-makers:
“Ripping and replacing an entire IT infrastructure
of multiple systems isn’t feasible,
yet the only way to get to an all-in-one solution
is a matter of all-or-nothing.”
This simply isn’t true.
The biggest benefit of things like open software
architectures, IP networks and SIP is that
they’ve led to a broader path of integration for
business communications. And totally unlike
the heydays of legacy systems and vendor
lock-ins, an open approach gives organizations
more flexibility than they sometimes realize.
Organizations can integrate with more
back-end systems and business applications.
They can close the gap between a contact
center and the rest of their enterprise. They
can even migrate an installed multi-point
hardware system to an all-in-one all-software
platform piece by piece, as needed, to shelter
the investment they’ve made in each system.
(Yes, this is a shameless plug. Our all-in-one
Interaction Center Platform technology was
developed using an open software approach
in 1994 and architected for SIP in 2002. All
along, our platform has allowed Interactive
Intelligence customers to integrate with existing
IT frameworks, email platforms, databases,
applications, CRM packages, speech engines,
web servers and other business communications
systems, most recently Microsoft’s Office
Communications Server 2007.)
“Okay, show me how to do that without
ripping and replacing our current systems.”
Two keys here:
Planning. Start with a detailed assessment of
your existing technology — much like the
CIO who approached me with his contact
center’s architecture diagram. Determine
each system’s status, the function(s) it serves,
and what you wish to accomplish by moving
it and other systems to an all-in-one solution.
Less equipment and complexity? Lower
energy costs? Central administration? Planning
also includes doing your homework
to find a solution that will deliver on your
overall objectives now and for the future.
Take incremental steps to the total move.
Ease migration by replacing only one multipoint
component at a time, or perhaps a few
at a time. By design, all-in-one application
suites allow a contact center to “turn
on” only those applications it needs, when
needed, such as ACD, IVR, voice mail, etc.
Consider this scenario for planning and
making incremental moves:
• Pinpoint an event that triggers the need
for a new system, say an IVR reaching
end-of-life status.
• Identify an all-in-one platform that allows
you to replace your IVR with like or better
functionality. Make sure the platform (and
vendor) will support subsequent growth with
standards-based integration to handle all the
applications your contact center requires.
• As other triggers occur — needs for advanced
ACD features, outbound dialing,
a new voice mail system, etc. — look to
the all-in-one platform you invested in
for your IVR. As mentioned, a key benefit
of software-based all-in-one platforms
is that features are available and easily
activated via a simple licensing process.
• In time, move the rest of your multi-point
system functions and applications to the allin-
one platform in a “natural” progression.
Migration complete, investments protected,
less complexity, central admin…and upper
management applauds you for the lower costs.
Tim Passios is Director of Solutions Marketing
for Interactive Intelligence, Inc. For more
information, contact Interactive Intelligence at
[email protected] or (317) 872-3000.
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