Transcript Why IP in the Contact Center?

Strategic
Planning
Why IP in the
Contact Center
Agenda
 What is IP
 What is an IP Contact Center
 What made it possible
 Differences: Non-IP and IP CC
 Main Benefits of an IP CC
 Important Considerations
 Justifying the Investment
 Reducing the Investment
What is IP (or TCP/IP)
 Stands for Internet Protocol
 Used for communicating data across a packet-switched
internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP)
 Resulted from work done by DARPA in the early 1970s
 March 1982, US Department of Defense adopted it as
the standard for all military computer networking
 Build to: Be the host to be responsible on reliability & be
able to join almost any network together
 Uses encapsulation abstracting protocols and services
 This encapsulation embeds any application protocol
What is an IP Contact Center
 All systems / IT solutions involved in the Contact Center
use TCP/IP as the protocol to intercommunicate,
becoming the unique “carrier” for any type of transaction
or media (data, voice or even video):
 TCP/IP is adapted end to end
 Multi-Site intercommunication only through Data Links
 PSTN interconnection done via TDM or IP
What made it possible:
 The flexibility & reliability of TCPI/IP protocol not
enough…
 In conjunction with other factors and technology was
crucial:
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Telecom Data Networks evolution
More powerful equipment
Codecs: less bandwidth utilization
VoIP application layer protocols standardization
 Today everybody agrees VoIP is a mature technology
 But… relays on a network, which must fulfill the
requirements!!!
Analyzing a Non-IP Contact Center
ROUTER & FIREWALLS
APP. SERVERS
VOICE
DATA
CLIENTS
PBX
IVR
RECORD
CTI
PHYSICALLY DEPENDANT
SWITCHING & DATA CABLING
VOICE CABLING
PCs
ANALOG / DIGITAL PHONES
SYSTEMS SEGREGATION
REQUIRED
• Higher Complexity
• Higher Cost
AGENTS
• Less Dynamic
Non-IP Multi-Site Contact Center
VOICE LINKS
DATA LINKS
PSTN
011001
010010
101000
Internet
PSTN
011001
010010
101000
Internet
IP Contact Center
ROUTER & FIREWALLS
APP. SERVERS
VOICE
DATA
CLIENTS
PBX
IVR
RECORD
CTI
PHYSICALLY INDEPENDANT
SWITCHING & DATA CABLING
PCs AND IP SOFTPHONE OR IP HARDPHONE (1 CABLE)
AGENTS
SYSTEMS CONSOLIDATION
FEASABLE
• Lower Complexity
• Lower Cost
• Very Dynamic
IP Multi-Site Contact Center
PRIMARY
BACKUP
Optional
011001
010010
101000
PSTN
PSTN
Internet
Internet
IP
WAN
Optional
011001
010010
101000
Main Benefits
 Reduced Costs
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Management fees (single ACD)
Carrier costs
Systems and applications costs (fewer needed)
Less Power needed (more Green)
Less Bandwidth required
 Extends contact center technology cost effectively to multiple
locations
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Branch offices
Satellite offices
Retail locations
Remote or at-home agents
 Optimizes Agent usage/productivity
 Routes each transaction to the most appropriate agent independent of their
physical location
 Facilitates the standardization of service quality
 Provides a single unified view of contact center operations
Important Considerations
 Important up-front investment needed
 Migration might be complex
 Needed an stable network (LAN / WAN)
 Requires skilled Data Network personnel
• MIGRATION MIGHT NOT BE COST EFFECTIVE FOR ORGANIZATIONS WITH A SINGLE
SITE WHICH IS VERY STATIC
• MIGRATION IT IS COST EFFECTIVE IN A MULTI-SITE AND DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENT,
AND MOST WHEN THE ORGANIZATION HAS MORE SITES AND REQUIRES HIGHER
DYNAMISM
Justifying the Investment (measurable)
 Cost Reduction:
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Links migration (reducing links = lower monthly cost)
Power consumption (less systems = lower monthly cost)
Less equipment (less maintenance = lower monthly / yearly cost)
Less space / facilities for IT equipment (lower monthly cost)
Less UPS and Cooling Equipment needed
Only needed one Ethernet cable for the PC and the Phone
 Productivity Increase:
 Better Agent Utilization (reduces operation expenses)
Justifying the Investment (difficult to quantify)
 More Dynamic and flexible:
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Operation
Implementation
Support
Bandwidth reservation aligned to needs
 Simplified IT support and administration
 Unified reporting and monitoring
 Important drivers:
 TDM based PBX assets might be already depreciated or requires forced
upgrade to keep them on a supported version
 Some services only viable in time and cost if VoIP is used
Reducing the Up-Front Investment
 Open Source as an alternative
 Cheaper Phone terminals
 Non PoE Ethernet Switches can stay
 Outsource more than just the Data Links
Thanks!
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USA
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