October 1997

To: CTI Readers
Cc: Geotel Communications; Hammer Technologies; Microsoft; Onlive! Technologies; Teradyne Corporation; Xirlink
Subject: Variety-Pack CTI

BY Tom Keating

As an avid consumer (and purveyor) of CTI information, I have every opportunity to indulge my love of variety. I hope you like variety, too, since that’s what I’m serving up here. This month, my column is the literary equivalent of the variety pack, which is, as you probably know, a style of packaging often used with breakfast cereals. No big helpings here, just tidy, single-serving samples. This month, we cover Hammer’s testing system, GeoTel’s distributed call center solution, and OnLive!’s audio/video conferencing suite. Also, check out my sidebar on USB, if only to find out that techies like me are not immune to frustrating snags when experimenting with new technologies.

HAMMER’S TESTING SYSTEMIn case you are not familiar with the Hammer, here’s a description of what it can do. Basically, the Hammer has two missions:

1. Guarantee that your critical applications or systems are always up and running. The Hammer ensures that all trunks, lines, and ports in your hardware and software components are accessible to the outside world.
2. Help you develop and test CTI software applications, as well as the corresponding hardware. The Hammer verifies that both the software and the hardware perform according to your requirements and specifications. The Hammer family consists of two components: Hammer Integrated Telecommunications (IT) and Hammer Integrated Stress Generator (ISG). The Hammer ISG provides a subset of the functionality of the Hammer IT.

A single Hammer unit can generate up to 96 simultaneous analog or T-1 calls or 120 E-1 calls. The Hammer allows calls to be controlled by a single test script (or a combination of test scripts), which can be developed quickly and easily with the Hammer Visual Basic (HVB) language. The Hammer can perform load, feature, regression, as well as in-service testing of integrated telecommunications systems and services. The Hammer’s family test capabilities include voice, data, T-1, E-1, ISDN, WWW, TCP/IP, LAN/WAN, SS7, fax, speech recognition, and other related technologies. The Hammer’s testing functionality interests us the most. It is perfectly suited for use in CTI Labs for testing and reviewing CTI products. It is our intention to use the Hammer to conduct fair, objective testing of CTI products using a predefined methodology.

We expect the Hammer will be invaluable as we attempt to answer the many questions readers ask us. Such questions include: “Which is the best appgen?” “How many ports does Visual Basic scale to?” “Is UNIX better than NT for computer-telephony integration?” If you have additional questions, let us know about them. We’ll attempt to Hammer out some answers.

GEOTEL’S DISTRIBUTED CALL CENTER SOLUTION
Geotel Communications demonstrated a new release of GeoTel’s flagship software product, the Intelligent CallRouter (ICR), which is an enter-prise wide, fault-tolerant, open solution that creates a distributed call center (that is, a network of groups of geographically dispersed agents). Since the Geotel’s ICR is network independent, it doesn’t matter which network the call comes from, whether it’s AT&T’s, MCI’s, or Sprint’s network. The ICR sits at a much higher level, and can thus handle calls from any of the networks. Another unique feature GeoTel provides is its ability to connect different types of PBXs/ACDs/IVRs using its Peripheral Gateway (PG).

The ICR uses CTI and MIS links within its PG technology to gather information on callers (Figure 1). The availability of distributed data from both CTI and MIS links provides customers with data-rich CTI capabilities. Agent, call, and customer data are delivered to a server or workstation application as events occur during the life of a call. For example, preroute indications identify a caller and provide associated attributes to applications while the call is still in the public or private network — before the caller is connected to an agent or IVR resource. Additionally, call events are provided throughout all stages of the call flow, from the moment a call arrives at an answering location (ACD/PBX/IVR) until the caller hangs up.

GeoTel’s CTI strategy is to provide desktop or server applications with a rich array of enterprise-level data collected by the ICR from various telecom environments (including networks, ACDs, IVRs, and workstations) for use in triggering integrated desktop telephony applications, including screen pops and wrap-up screens. Data include specific elements such as dialed number, calling line ID, and callerentered digits (CEDs), as well as information extracted from external databases or created as a result of call routing, voice processing, and agent transactions.

In a direct desktop application environment, call-event information is delivered to the targeted desktop where and when the call is delivered. The system’s full third-party call control features allow agents and integrated desktop applications to perform tasks like transfer, conference, and divert within an enterprise framework. An intelligent network CTI strategy more effectively links the elements in a distributed call center to permit broad-based information sharing, comprehensive end-toend reporting, and the full utilization of corporate data in support of business rules and objectives.

An ICR system running GeoTel’s Enterprise CTI software can deliver call and customer transaction data to desktop and server applications. Call and transaction data can “follow” the call from VRU to agent, and from site to site, regardless of variations in switch or VRU platforms.

The main component of Enterprise CTI is the CTI Server, which runs on a GeoTel PG platform. CTI Server worksclosely with the PG, the ACD/VRU interface software, and associated ACDs to track call events, agent events, and customer transactions. In addition, CTI Server reports call events and agent work state changes as they occur through each stage of the call flow — from the moment a call arrives at an answering resource (ACD, PBX, VRU) until the caller hangs up.

As shown in Figure 1, the CTI Server forwards pre-route indications to an application server. Pre-route indications identify the caller and provide call attributes while the call is still in the pubic switched or private network (that is, before the call is connected to an agent).

The customer application shown in Figure 2 details the delivery of caller information to an agent’s desktop (note that the application uses a dedicated 56K line, which, in combination with the PG, is critical to enabling connection with multiple sites):

1. A caller dials a toll-free number to make an account inquiry.
2. The call is connected to a prompt in the network. The network VRU plays a script to collect an account number from the caller.
3. The network sends a route request to the ICR. The route request contains the dialed number (DN), the Automatic Number Identification (ANI), and the account number that was entered (CED).
4. The ICR looks up account information in an account database and processes the information to determine call routing.
5. The ICR collects the call context and instructs the network to route the call to a specific ACD. It also sends the call information to the CTI Server.
6. The PG at the ACD site recognizes the incoming call and matches the caller data with the call.
7. When the ACD selects an agent, CTI Server sends the caller information to the desktop application.
8. The business application at the desktop presents the caller information to the agent

GeoTel’s Enterprise CTI enables the ICR to deliver call-event and customerprofile data to a server or workstation application throughout the life of a call. (See the routing script editor in Figure 3, which demonstrates how easy it is to set up routing rules between multiple sites.)

Voice and data collected by an agent at the desktop can be transferred among answering resources, allowing customer and transaction data to follow a call from IVR to agent and from site to site as required.

Customers using the ICR’s net-work level CTI can leverage distributed, disparate data from any attached ICR peripheral (network, IVR, ACD, database) for use by applications. This means realtime and historical call processing, agent, and customer-segmentation data can be transferred among geographically dispersed sites, which allows customers to seamlessly, uniformly, and transparently apply their enterprise data at the point of customer transaction fulfillment — the desktop.

It would be difficult to overstate the importance of having an enterprisewide system which integrates disparate PBXs/ACDs/IVRs across several geographic areas. To appreciate the power of such a system, consider how it could help a company that outsources projects to multiple call centers. Such a company, when it came time to analyze the reports from these different call centers, would find that the reports varied in structure and order. Further, each study could differ with respect to the criteria used to define analysis. Thus, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for the company to determine which call center was most effective. With GeoTel Communications’ Peripheral Gateway, you can connect multiple call centers, no matter what types of hardware they are using, and then have one common database store. This results in one concise report, one that is much more statistically valid. GeoTel gave us one example where this capability came in handy. A client had outsourced to several call centers, each of which used its own reporting method. The client realized it was nearly impossible to compare the data between all the reports.

The client decided to install GeoTel’s product at each of the separate sites. It then uncovered, after just a few hours, great disparities between the call volumes at the different sites. One site had a particularly low call volume, as revealed by GeoTel’s real-time monitoring capability.

The client learned that there was a software setting at one of the sites which prevented call center agents from automatically entering “available” mode after hanging up the phone. The call center agents had to click on a button before they returned to “available” mode. The client was then immediately able to rectify this problem. As you can see, GeoTel’s centralized reporting and real-time monitoring of every call center site has obvious economic benefits. For more information, contact GeoTel Communications at 978-275-5100, or check out their Web site at www.geotel.com.

ONLIVE!’S AUDIO/VIDEO CONFERENCING SUITE
Recently, I had the chance to see OnLive! Technologies demonstrate LiveMeeting Suite, the first shipping server solution to enable largescale integrated audio and data conferencing (collaboration) with Microsoft NetMeeting (Figure 4). LiveMeeting Suite, developed jointly by OnLive! and DataBeam, using DataBeam’s T.120 stack, supports several standards, including H.323, G.723, and T.120. It also supports up to 100 users per server. Another Onlive! product, which is strictly audio conferencing (no data collaboration), supports up to 225 users per server, and allows for full duplex and mixed audio. (What, we wondered, is mixed audio, anyway? Well, when we saw the demo, we found out.) We were pretty impressed with the audio quality as well as the ability of the server to mix multiple voices together. More on this in a bit.

Our basic setup: We connected to a local ISP at 28.8 kbps from a laptop and used a Web browser to logon to the OnLive! Web site. From the Web site, we joined a conference room and “sat in” on a particular section. To enter, we clicked on a graphical representation of a conference room, which displays section numbers within the browser. Choosing a particular section allows you to break out into different groups. Then you can communicate privately within each group. For instance, if you were sitting in section 1, you could talk to anyone within section 1, as well as listen to the moderator, who can speak to all the sections, but who does not hear the conversations going on within the sections.

We had two people in our section (not including ourselves). We were able to speak to each other with very good sound quality at full duplex, using an Internet connection. As we were speaking, the moderator began to speak, and we could still hear the person in section 1. Basically, we were listening to three separate voices at once, hence the mixed audio as well as full-duplex capability. We haven’t seen this mixed audio capability in many other audio conferencing servers. The ones that do have it are usually limited to two or three mixed voices, while OnLive! supports dozens of speakers talking at the same time.

Both of OnLive!’s conferencing products allow you to speak naturally as though it were a POTS-based conference call; that is, you can interrupt or speak over someone. Even full-duplex Internet Telephony software packages we’ve seen can only transmit at full duplex between a maximum of two users. OnLive!’s audio conferencing server and LiveMeeting Suite supports many more than two 2 people speaking at the same time, while retaining full-duplex and mixed audio capabilities. To mute the moderator’s voice, you simply right-click on his name and choose the ignore option. This will allow you to carry on your conversation with the other people in your section without having the moderator’s voice carry over your voice.

Another nice feature is the ability to “raise your hand,” so to speak. Using the mouse, you click on a button, and that alerts the moderator that you wish to speak. The moderator can then “pass” the microphone to you, where you can then address all the sections.

Overall, we were very impressed with the sound quality, as well as the product’s reasonable price ($5,819 for a 15user license) and ease of use. For more information, give OnLive! a call at 408-617-3500 or check out the company’s Web site at www.onlive.com.

Would-Be USB

If you’ve read my column for a couple of months, you already know how excited I am about the Universal Serial Bus (USB). Well, I was so eager to get my hands on a PC with a USB on-board, I had a mail-order outfit ship me a brand-new Pentium 200MMX. However, when the unit arrived, anticipation quickly turned to frustration.

Even though I specifically told the vendor to make sure the PC was USBcompliant, and to make sure a USB bracket was in place, the vendor sent me a machine lacking a USB bracket. That’s what I get for purchasing PC clone and not a name-brand PC! I called the vendor. It took them quite a while to figure out what the heck I was talking about. Nonetheless, they finally got the point, and after a couple weeks, I finally received the USB bracket. I hooked it up to the PC. The next step was to install Windows 95. I had one copy left of Windows 95 which hadn’t been installed on a PC or registered yet. So, to save some money, I decided that this was the copy I’d use for the new machine. I told the vendor I didn’t want them to pre-install Windows 95. Well, after I installed that copy, I realized that it wasn’t the latest release of Windows 95, which I needed to make USB work. (As I stated in my column on USB, you need an OEM version OSR 2.1, which ships only with new PCs.) Oh well, what the heck. Just another two hours wasted.

Now, I thought that our MIS department had purchased some new PCs with the latest version of Microsoft Windows 95. Well, MIS didn’t have any new PCs with the latest OEM release of Windows 95 either. OK, I thought. I’ll just call the vendor where I purchased the PC, and ask them to send me the Windows 95 CDROM OSR 2.1. So I did. But, to my dismay, the vendor said, “No. I can’t send you that version of Windows 95”. “What do you mean ‘No’? I’ll pay for it.”

The vendor said, “Still can’t do it. It’s a licensing agreement with Microsoft. We got in trouble with Microsoft one time when we sent out a CD-ROM without a new PC.” “But it is a NEW PC! I just bought it! I originally wanted to save some money by not having Win95 installed, but I changed my mind. Can’t I change my mind?”

But the vendor refused to back down. I think he was more afraid of upsetting Microsoft than me. Who could blame him? I considered shipping the PC back and ordering a new one, so I could get the OSR2.1 version, but I already installed NT Server 4.0 and CenterPoint on this PC, plus a bunch of other software. I really didn’t want to pack up and ship a working PC after I had spent so much time configuring it.

To make matters worse, I had counted on using that machine to test a couple USB products. As you might suppose, these products, which include Kodak’s DVC-300 camera, will have to sit on the shelf for the time being. All these difficulties getting USB to work reminded me of my “Plug & Pray” column. (I was beginning to regret the wisecracks I had made there.) In any event, look for Kodak’s product and some other USB products in the next few issues. In the meantime, if anyone’s got a copy of OSR 2.1 they want to donate, send it my way — I promise not to tell Microsoft!