Transcript IP Contact Center Solution

Moving to an IP Contact Center..
Are you ready?
Shelli Feigenbaum
Nortel Multimedia Applications
January 2005
1
IP for Your Contact Center?
By the end of 2003, Enterprises
were implementing IP Telephony in
9% of their call/contact centers.
That will increase by a factor of five
over the next five years, when 45%
of all call/contact centers are
projected to use IP Telephony.
2
“Prime Time” Solutions?
“Our research shows the
market for IP telephony is
picking up pace… Users
reported cost savings up to
30%, and more important, the
ability to add new,
standardized features across
entire enterprises.”
“Call centers will
purchase 30% of
all Voice over IP
products in the
next two years.”
Joan Huber, InfoTech
consultant – survey of 27
users of IP telephony
systems
International Data Company
(IDC)
3
Typical Customer Business Issues
for IP Contact Center
√
Need to capitalize on the expertise of a distributed workforce
√
Call hold times and abandoned call rates are increasing
√
Contact center is experiencing a high amount of agent turnover
√
The lack of local skilled resources make it extremely difficult to staff
adequately
√
The limited hours of service offered by the contact center are not
meeting customer needs
√
Have mobile workers and/or help desk technicians who are suffering
from low productivity.
√
Lengthy deployment schedules and implementation delays will
negatively impact business success
√
The requirement for a flexible disaster recovery or emergency
overflow plan is mounting
√
Managing a large number of moves, adds, and changes has
significantly reduced the productivity of telecom support staff
4
IP in the CC - Why the Excitement?
IP Contact Centers Solve Business Issues..
 Extend Contact Center Reach




Overcome geographical boundaries
Expand pool of available talent
Improve productivity
Increase flexibility / mobility
 Centralize Management


Manage remote agents easily
Utilize browser-based management
interface
 Consolidation


Trunks
Contact Center
 Deliver Flexible Disaster Recovery and Overflow Options
 Reduce Costs



Send calls over IP networks, bypass toll charges
Reduce number of leased lines
Converge network
5
Before Diving in, Ask Yourself…
Sample Qualifying Questions for
an IP Contact Center
√ How does your company interact with customers?
√ Do you use any call centers (contact centers)? What is their
purpose?
√ If so, how many and where are they located?
√ What types of calls are managed?
√ What are your service levels? Have you taken steps to improve
this rate?
√ Do you need to extend contact center applications to agents at
remote sites or home-based offices without incurring significant
costs?
√ What steps are you taking to control resource costs? Do you
need a solution that will enable you to improve service while
reducing operating costs?
√ What type of administrative inefficiencies do you currently
experience in terms of reporting, routing, and queues?
6
So, You’re Ready….
Keys To IP Contact Center Success
1. Understand the business drivers.
 IP in the contact center is a business decision, not a technology decision.
 Conduct a network assessment, make upgrades so your network is quality rock solid.
 Upgrade routers and switches, if needed.
 Is a separate virtual LAN for voice needed?
 Network assessments are prerequisites for most vendors.
3. Include testing initially and as an ongoing practice.
 Test VoIP quality and monitor as your network changes.
 Continually test for network vulnerabilities as you do for your data applications.
4. Take your time and choose your migration approach, applications, infrastructure
platforms and partners wisely.
5. Involve a cross-functional team in the planning and implementation.
 These applications are so important that this can't be a purely technology-driven event.
6. Keep it (relatively) simple.
 Minimize the number of vendors, the complexity of your network and the number of
technology platforms, reducing maintenance, management and support..
7. Don't be cheap.
 Make the necessary investments in redundancy, capacity, network testing, resource
training and piloting.
8. Be involved.
 Expect to be an active, hands-on participant.
 Choose your vendor carefully - pick one that understands VoIP, but don't just rely on it.
 Build an internal team that understands the network and applications well.
By Lori Bocklund, Network World, 05/10/04
7
IP Contact Centers: Remember
- Create The Right Solution For
Your Business!
 One size does not fit all
 Do NOT adopt incomplete, unproven solutions
 Don’t settle for scaled-down functionality with no advanced features
 High-value, mission critical applications require telephony-grade
or “bullet proof” reliability
 Investment protection – inter-working is critical
 Migrate to IP but minimize business disruption
 Full IP solution – integration with current network systems
Don’t let the hype be the driver towards VoIP,
let your business needs be the driver!
8
The Foundation of your IP
Contact Center:
Comprehensive Contact Center Software Should Provides:
Advanced skill-based routing
 Adaptable call routing and treatment
 Detailed and meaningful management
reports
 Graphical and customizable real-time
displays
 Easy-to-use intuitive user interface
 Expanded multimedia contact center
functionality and rich business application
integration
 Customize and personalize call handling using flexible,
rich scripting to exceed customer expectations
 Enhance the customer experience and manage calls
by caller intelligence or dynamic conditions

9
What else should I look for?

Market Leading CTI Solutions

Unified Agent Desktop
- Single agent interface for the
management of all contacts regardless
of media

Corporate Software Licensing
- Reduces cost of ownership by
centralizing control of software licensing




Integrated Outbound Campaign
Manager
Delivers the same real-time displays
and historical reporting management
tools as used for inbound calls


Scalability
Simple Report Creation
Universal Networking
- network skills-based routing,
reporting and management across a
variety of Switch platforms
Resiliency
- Local campus & geographic
redundancy with automatic or
manual fail-over
Total Cost of Ownership

10
Differentiating Characteristics
Business
Continuity
Lower
Operating
Expenses
Large Scale
Convergence
Carrier
Grade
Reliability
Unmatched
Scalability
Investment
Protection
Open
Platform
11
Protecting Your Interests
Business Value
Business
Continuity
 Continuous service for mission critical
users and applications
 Revenue retention and improved
customer satisfaction
 Disaster and emergency preparedness
 Shared network resources & applications
Solution





Geographic separation of Call servers
Emergency standalone media gateways
Applications sharing at the network edge
Dynamic traffic redirection
Phone replication across the network
12
Improving the Bottom Line
Business Value
 Eliminate reoccurring Centrex charges


Transparent user experience
Investments protection
 Simplified / consolidated managements
& administration
 Reduce Moves, Adds & Changes cost
Solution
Lower
Operating
Expenses
 Port Centrex telephones devices to
Media Gateways
 Centralized management with Integrated
Element Management System
 IP Phones supporting DHCP & self
labeling keys
13
Optimizing Resources
Business Value
Large
Scale
Convergence
 Improved employee productivity


Collaborative services
Virtual office
 Reduced network costs & real estate


Converged network for voice & Data
Consolidate nodes
Solution





Multimedia Collaboration
Unified Messaging
Flexible Media Gateway Options
Ethernet Routing Switch
VPN Router security solutions
14
Exceeding Expectations
Business Value


Carrier
Grade
Reliability


Maximum up-time assurance
Supports the most demanding requirements

Traffic loading
Meets security and defense requirements
“No sacrifice” converged solution
Solution
 Open architecture
 Complete duplication of all critical
elements
 Port level redundancy
 Geographic separation & survivability
15
Supporting Your Business
Growth
Business Value



Unmatched
Scalability
Consistent experience across the business
Reduce costs and disparate technologies
through network consolidation
Prepared to support unforeseen business
requirements

Mergers & acquisitions / expansion
Solution





Open architecture
200,000 ports supported
125,000 IP Phones*
200,000 IP trunks*
30,000 ACD agents
16
Leveraging Your Assets
Business Value
Investment
Protection
 Maximized Return on Investment with
standards based upgrades
 Allows migration at your pace where it
makes the most business sense
 Retain key assets while developing
improved business practices
Solution
Hybrid or all IP
 Investment Retention



XA-Core
Applications
Media Gateways support existing devices
17
Freedom of Choice
Business Value
Open
Platform
 Allows ease of interoperability with other
applications and services
 Supports a heterogeneous environment
 Greater flexibility and ability to provide
new revenue generating capabilities
quicker
Solution
 SIP Compliant
 Open industry standard hardware

Compact PCI processor
 Standard protocol support


H.323, H.248, SS7, SIP, MGCP etc
Key contributor to IETF and ITU
18
Implementations of our IP
Contact Center Solutions
 Customer Examples
19
“Handle Dynamic Changes.”
The Challenge
 Manage consolidated travel
reservations for client with
50,000 employees across the
U.S., Canada, the Caribbean,
and Latin America
 Handle dynamic changes in call
volumes from exponential
growth to unexpected slow
downs
 Address these issues quickly within 90 days - including
hiring additional staff and
deploying the solution
20
“Speed and Scalability
are Key Highlights”
IP Contact Center
Solution
 Extend contact center to a remote
site to cover peak periods and to
lengthen open hours:
 Uses skill based routing on
Contact Center solution to half
average call duration and
reduce number of calls
transferred
 Increases capacity
seamlessly and cost
efficiently by routing
calls to
other locations over the IP
network using the Remote
Office 9150
 Allows quick and easy
expansion or scale back
without significant costs
21
Centralize Management
Simplify Infrastructure
The Challenge


Deliver real-time contact center
statistics to 300 desktops to help
increase productivity and motivate
agents
Provide supervisors with a powerful
client solution, while reducing
maintenance costs and speeding
installation time
Deploy a flexible solution that is
easy to manage and support,
reducing the total cost of
ownership
“
One of the key advantages
with the Call Center Web
Client is the ability to
manage the application
centrally…
“

Frank Miali
Senior Network
Engineer
Pacific Life Insurance
22
Lower Cost of Ownership

Utilize a browser based thin
client management tool,
Contact Center Web Client to
deliver:

Agent Desktop Displays
offering real-time
statistics to 300 agents
located in 3 sites

New reporting capabilities
that enable report sharing
across the network,
reducing the amount of
paper copies printed

Centralized management
and support which
improves productivity and
reduces operating costs
“
. . .we were able to set-up all of our
supervisors’ agents, historical
reports and real-time display options
without visiting their desktop
computer. In addition, the amount of
client maintenance is significantly
reduced enabling our technical staff
to concentrate on more complex,
mission-critical activities.
“
The Solution
23
The Challenge
“
“
 Leading designer of openarchitecture, standard bus embedded
components and systems
 Acquired new sites through mergers
resulting in significant growth over a
short period of time
 Distributed contact center agents
across multiple sites
 Required a flexible, cost effective
solution that would accommodate fast
growth, moves, and expansion across
multiple locations
Our goal with was to link
offices, effectively track
customer interactions and
accelerate services . . .
 IP Contact Center
 Contact Center Server
 Internet Telephones
 Converged network environment
utilizing:
 Internet enabled Switches
 line cards supporting
Internet Telephones
 trunk cards for VoIP
between sites
“
. . . since we’ve had
significant growth in the
past year, we needed more
flexibility, and the Contact
Center Server and internet
phones give us the ability to
move agents quickly and
seamlessly. Having voice
and data on one network is
easier to manage and that
makes us more efficient.
“
The Solution
The Challenge
“
We wanted to open a center
where we could route calls
based on calling location,
time of day, and language.
We wanted to start with a
limited staff on limited
hours and expand as the
demand grew . . .
“
 Provide improved service to
callers seeking healthcare advice
and referrals
 Establish new contact center and
fully integrate with existing
contact center
 Centralize contact center
management
 Deliver operational simplicity and
cost savings by consolidating
voice with data over one network
 Contact Center Server
 Skill-based routing across two
call centers ensures callers
speak to the most qualified
healthcare agent on the first try
 Calls can be routed by location,
time of day and language
preference
 Remote Office 9150
 Extends all contact center
features to the remote site,
joining the two locations into
one logical group
 Managed centrally, eliminating
the need for high priced
technical support
 Combines voice, data and video
over IP
“
…it wasn’t easy finding a
solution that would fill all our
needs. Without the Remote
Office 9150, we would not have
been able to expand as flexibly
and as cost-effectively. It has
simplified the whole process
for us and has made
management a breeze. It is
rare that one can get the most
elegant and highest value
solution for the lowest cost,
but we have achieved this with
Remote Office.
“
The IP Contact Center Solution
Lead the Outsourcing
Revolution




Cost effectively manage the
varying incoming call traffic
volumes
Absorb growth of between
20% - 30% easily
Deliver the highest quality
outsourced customer
relationship management
Create a seamless virtual
contact center integrating a
variety of information
technology systems.
“
It is a highly competitive
business and our margins are
really tight… We needed to
make sure that we utilised our
assets – our people in the
most flexible and efficient
manner possible.
“
The Challenge
David Clarke
General Manager
Vertex
28
Gaining a Strong Competitive Edge
The Solution
 Create a virtual contact center to
deliver:



Improved customer service
and enhanced productivity
using skill-based routing to
make the most of multiskilled employees, reducing
attrition
New management and
reporting capabilities that
enable better business
decisions quicker to meet
clients’ business needs
“
Full range of capabilities to
home-based workers in a very
cost efficient manner to meet
client and employee needs
I believe that with our
network and the
virtualisation of our call
handling that we have a very
strong competitive edge.
And our vision is paying off.
David Clarke
General Manager
Vertex
29
Thank you
For more information Contact:
Shelli Feigenbaum
Nortel Multimedia Applications Marketing Leader
[email protected]
30