Transcript Building the Right IP Call Center Strategy

Building the Right IP Call
Center Strategy
Joe McFadden
Vice President, Marketing, Nuasis
IP Urban Legends
Fact or Fiction?
Fiction
Fact
“Voice Quality is not Business
Ready”
VoIP on a managed network with
QoS is business quality; VoIP on
the open Internet may not be
“My network isn’t ready for
VoIP”
Enterprise routers are typically
enabled with QoS and only need
to be configured for it
“VoIP solutions aren’t reliable”
The network needs to be reliable,
but some VoIP applications can
recover from network failures
“VoIP solutions aren’t secure”
Security can be achieved – as
part of an overall enterprise
network security strategy
The Call Center is the Killer Application
Improve customer service and reduce costs
 Customer access to
the right agents
anywhere
 Agent access to the
right information for
first contact resolution
 Quick, consistent
response levels for
email / web contacts as
well as phone calls
Customer
Service
 Labor costs and
turnover continue to
be priority issues
Operating
Costs
 Productivity gains are
increasingly difficult
to achieve
 Multiple systems and
networks are cost
prohibitive
Customer Response Management
Integration of multiple customer service models
 Customer access to
the right response
channel
 Agent access to the
right information for
first contact
resolution
 Response via phone,
email, web consistent
with customer
expectations
Deferred
Assistance
Immediate
Assistance
 Reduce the cost of
managing multiple
customer service
models
 Drive customers to selfservice to lower labor costs
SelfService
 Improve the productivity
of agents providing live
service
Traditional Call Center Model
Vertical solutions - hardware centric - proprietary
Self-service
Call Routing
DB Access
Help desk,SFA
Application
Monolithic
Monolithic
Monolithic
Distributed
Architecture
Telephony
Telephony
Data
Data
Proprietary
Proprietary
Generic
Generic
IVR
ACD
CTI
CRM
Network
HW Platform
Traditional Call Centers
Two networks – phone centric and expensive
CRM
Database
E-mail Center
WAN
Corporate LAN/WAN
WAN
DSL
Internet
CTI Hardware
and Middleware
WAN
CRM
Database
Voice Data
Integration
CTI Hardware
and Middleware
Web Collab
CTI Hardware
and Middleware
CTI Hardware
and Middleware
PSTN
ACD
ACD
ACD
ACD
Three-tier Call Center
Telephony Network
Two Approaches to IP
Source: Datamonitor
Hybrid-IP approach
A point-to-point solution that is essentially an extension of the traditional circuit-switched infrastructure.
It is classified as an IP offering through the addition of IP trunks and/or line cards.
Customer
Internet
PSTN
IP link
IP-enabled PBX/ACD
IP-enabled PBX/ACD
Pure-IP approach
An end-to-end IP solution built from the ground up with the intent that the solution will be wholly IP-based.
The technology enables intelligent routing and centralized management of multi-site centers,
while facilitating multi-channel communications over the single corporate data network.
Internet
Customer
PSTN
IP
Corporate data network
IP Network Infrastructure
Migration to IP looks familiar
CRM
Database
Internet
E-mail Center
WAN
Corporate LAN/WAN
WAN
CRM
Database
WAN
DSL
Third
CTI Hardware Integration
and Middleware
Layer
CTI Hardware
and Middleware
Web Collab
CTI Hardware
and Middleware
CTI Hardware
and Middleware
PSTN
ACD
ACD
ACD
ACD
Call Center
Telephony Network
IP Can Cut Operational Costs
Cost reduction factors and potential savings
IP network infrastructure migration factors
Potential savings*
Annual inter-site telephony charges
$
162,000
$
120,000
Assume 3 T1s per 3 sites @ $1500 per T1 per month
Annual system administration
Headcount reduction; centralized administration of 3 sites and fewer systems per site; $60K
annual salary
Annual labor costs
$ 1,800,000
Assume $40K annual per agent; 15% labor reduction by networking multiple centers together
Annual support / maintenance / license contracts
$
80,000
$
750,000
Compared against two-network systems with disparate media platforms, CTI hardware &
software, duplicate site components.
CTI application deployments
Hardware / software / professional services for CRM screen pop to agent desktop or intelligent
call routing
($250,000 per deployment)
Annual CTI application agent productivity
$ 1,200,000
Assumes 18-20 second reduced call times for 300 agents for 3 minute average call time.
Total Savings
*Potential savings based on deployment of an IP contact center system, single IP network solution vs. two-network solutions
Assumptions: three sites; 100 agents per site
$ 282,000
The Horizontal Call Center Model
Software centric – better fit for new service models
Application Layer
Self-service, contact routing and queuing, SFA,
help desk, analytics, ERP
Architecture Layer
VoiceXML, VoIP, SIP, XML, SOAP, ODBC/JDBC
Network Layer
HW Platform Layer
Business Unit
Business & IT
IP, ATM, frame, QoS, RSVP, multiple routes, TDM
Generic servers, Linux, Windows, SNMP, UPS
VoIP enables the new software-only,
horizontal application deployment model
IT
IT
Single Network IP Architecture
Software application architecture simplifies the model
Corporate LAN/WAN
PSTN
CRM
Database
Internet
IP Contact
Center &
IVR
WAN
WAN
DSL
WAN
 Phone, e-mail, web on one
platform
 CRM integration within
hours vs. weeks or months
 Agents anywhere
 Multi-site management
 Single point of admin across
multiple sites
 Consolidated reporting for all
sites and all media
IP Applications Offer More
Application migration yields largest savings
IP network infrastructure and IP application migration factors
Potential savings*
Annual inter-site telephony charges
$
162,000
$
120,000
Assume 3 T1s per 3 sites @ $1500 per T1 per month
Annual system administration
Headcount reduction; centralized administration of 3 sites and fewer systems per site; $60K annual
salary
Annual labor costs
$ 1,800,000
Assume $40K annual per agent; 15% labor reduction by networking multiple centers together
Annual support / maintenance / license contracts
$
80,000
$
750,000
Compared against two-network systems with disparate media platforms, CTI hardware & software,
duplicate site components.
CTI application deployments
Hardware / software / professional services for CRM screen pop to agent desktop or intelligent call
routing
($250,000 per deployment)
Annual CTI application agent productivity
$ 1,200,000
Assumes 18-20 second reduced call times for 300 agents for 3 minute average call time.
Total Savings
*Potential savings based on deployment of an IP contact center system, single IP network solution vs. two-network solutions
Assumptions: three sites; 100 agents per site
$ 4,112,000
Migration Paths
Where to deploy each solution
Software-only IP contact center
• Fast, low cost deployment of CTI apps
• Simplified channel integration (VoIP)
• Distributed multi-site routing (servers / software)
• Lower TCO
• Lowers the cost of telephony transport
• Leverages investment in existing CRM integrations
Application Layer
Convert TDM transport to VoIP
• Preserves investment in TDM investments
• Lowers the cost of telephony transport
• Lowers the cost of systems administration
Network Infrastructure Layer
Develop a migration strategy based on TDM
investment and the operational benefits
Creating a Migration Plan
Considerations
• Business readiness for delivery of a “consistent
customer experience”
• Network readiness for voice and critical CRM
applications
• Pure IP solution (application) vs. hybrid IP
(infrastructure)
• Ease of integration to enterprise applications
(cost of CTI)
• Complexity of user interface for agents and
administrators
• Mission critical system reliability
How Do I Get Started?
Migration typically begins with an initiative
• Business initiatives
o
o
o
o
Improved customer service
Consistent customer
experience
Multiple media channels
(voice, e-mail, Web, etc.)
Linking multiple sites
• Disaster recovery
• Line of business visibility
o
Decrease operations costs
• Outsourcing
• Offshoring
• Technology initiatives
o
o
o
o
o
Move beyond PBX call
routing
ACD replacement
IVR application
CTI Project (Screen Pop)
VoIP
Where Would I Start?
What drives the decisions?
• Application migration
o
o
o
Move a line of business that needs automation
Move a functional group that needs continuity across
locations
Move an internal functional group e.g. help desk
• Technology migration
o
o
o
ACD replacement at a site
CTI Project (Screen Pop) at a site
Replace inter-site trunking with VoIP
Making the Transformation
Sample Checklist
• Clearly define your strategy
o Match your business strategy, technology strategy, culture,
existing infrastructure, etc.
o Select the approach that fits your environment
• Understand mission critical nature of contact centers
• Prepare for change
o IT/Telecom
o Business Ops
• Collaborate in planning, design, implementation, and support
• Assess and design network infrastructure (LAN/WAN)
Next Steps
Take action based on what you have heard
• Determine how IP can make an impact for you
• Business process strategy
o
o
Budgeted projects
ROI
• Technology strategy
o
o
Architecture
Migration strategy
• Investigation
o
o
o
Network readiness
VoIP system reliability
VoIP system quality