PC-based solutions for small call centers will change the balance of power in call
centers, just as PC servers enabled small companies to exceed the automation levels
previously set by mainframe-equipped megacorporations. Never before in the call center
industry has the right combination of processing power and open systems come together with
support from multiple operating systems and board-level telephony component vendors.
While Novell's and AT&T's introduction of TSAPI allowed small call centers to
connect their PBXs and ACDs to PC-based servers, today's integrated solutions go much
further; typical PC-based call center solutions are now NT-based and adhere to open
standards.
Moreover, open standards, such as ODBC and ActiveX, allow the latest generation of call
center products to easily interoperate with other applications in your call center. When
purchasing such an open system, it is not uncommon to keep the front end that your agents
are currently trained on and integrate a new call center solution based on open standards
into the application. The level of integration that is possible does vary, but it is
amazing to see how well legacy and state-of-the-art systems can work together.
Buffalo International (www.predictivedialer.com
or 914-747-8500) has been advocating open call center solutions for quite some time. While
its products once focused on open predictive dialing, they have since evolved to encompass
all call center functions.
Buffalo's latest offering is its Object Telephony Server, or OTS. This natural
evolution of the open predictive dialer is powerful because it is based on open standards.
OTS allows predictive dialing, while it also supports an ACD, IVR, fax and monitoring -
all in one totally scalable, PC-based server. Lest you think that PC-based systems cannot
grow with your company, Buffalo has informed me that their system scales to 288 lines and
more. The system is based on board-level telephony components from Dialogic, which is
continuously working on new ways to stuff more lines into a PC chassis. Open networking
standards available in the PC world, such as ATM, will allow these servers to be chained
together and thus eventually yield much higher capacities than even the largest
established players. Moreover, by clustering together these chained servers, it is
possible to have redundancy built into the server chain, reducing the chance your call
center software will fail completely.
OTS, and indeed other PC-based solutions as well, can act as a PBX, making integration
that much easier. Integrating the dialer and ACD into the same package also allows for
effective call blending. OTS also allows the intelligent transferring of caller
information from the IVR to various agents. I feel this feature is priceless, as it
eliminates the need for agents to ask the caller for the same information every time a
call transfer takes place.
Buffalo also provides the ability to develop ActiveX extensions known as OTS
Extensions. Numerous extensions can be added together to develop a best-of-breed call
center system. In addition, since Buffalo sells its products through resellers, it does
not have the high overhead levels associated with maintaining a dedicated sales force in
various offices worldwide. Of course this helps keep the costs low and makes Buffalo
systems very competitive in small centers with limited budgets.
Another company in this space is Omega Systems (www.omega2010.com
or 916-635-7590). Like Buffalo, Omega has its roots in predictive dialing and was at one
time a big proponent of OS/2 Warp. Recently, Omega migrated to Windows NT, and its product
has grown to include ACD and IVR functionality as well. Based on components from Dialogic,
its product, VersaCom, is one of the few Common Object Model (COM)-based call center
programs on the market. In COM notation, an object is a piece of compiled code that
provides some service to the rest of the system. COM allows different objects to be
interfaced seamlessly with one another, regardless of programming language or application.
VersaCom is an ActiveX-based program and as such can integrate with many other ActiveX
programs on the market. ActiveX is a broad set of Internet technologies based on the COM
object model. COM is what allows ActiveX objects to interoperate across networks
(Intranets and the Internet). When COM is working across networks, it is called
Distributed COM (DCOM). VersaCom uses a Web browser interface for its clients and the
clients run on Windows NT Workstations. By adhering to ActiveX standards, VersaCom can
link to other programs that also support ActiveX. An example would be allowing agents at a
certain point in a script to bring up a Microsoft Access program and at another point, the
script could bring up an accounting program or GoldMine or a fax server program or any
other program the agent needs. Many Windows programs since 1996 are ActiveX-compliant and
will likely link to VersaCom, but you can check with your software vendor ahead of time to
learn if it is possible to upgrade.
VersaCom uses a GUI-based environment with drag-and-drop controls to program its IVR,
simplifying IVR scripting. In addition, VersaCom allows call blending, taking into account
agent talk time and slowing the predictive dialing as incoming call volume increases.
Finally, because agent monitoring is browser-based, you can manage VersaCom remotely with
any Web browser.
It's marvelous how advanced the latest generation of PC-based call center products have
become. The feature lists are quite long and the integration level is state-of-the-art. As
you can imagine, Omega and Buffalo are not the only two companies providing open PC-based
solutions. There are countless others that will receive coverage in future issues - in
fact, every call center vendor seems to have targeted the small call center, so it is
impossible to list all of the options in this column. The latest PC-based call center
products are a testament to the fact that open PC standards have rapidly migrated to the
call center. Traditional limitations of call center technology are quickly eroding and new
products with power and flexibility previously unavailable will allow call centers to run
more efficiently with less maintenance and at a lower cost.
Sincerely yours,
Rich Tehrani
Group Publisher
rtehrani@tmcnet.com
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