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9. Computer Telephone Integration 9.1. Call centers 9.2. Web contact centers

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9.1. Call centers

Two solutions for increasing PSTN intelligence

Intelligent network (IN) – switches (SSP), SCP (databases plus control programs)

Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) - network end equipment by computer technology. CTI - utilizing computer intelligence to manage telephone calls

The CTI functions:call control, media processing, and customer data management.

Call control functions: #Call setup and release-related services such as dialing services and

screening services. #Routing-related services such as automatic attendant services and

alternative routing services. #Network interfacing services such as tone detection/generation, call

setup/release detection, and in-band signaling detection.

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CTI functions (Cntd.)Media processing: #Voice/fax processing such as voice recording/announcement, voice and fax sending, broadcasting, storing and forwarding. #DTMF (dual tone multi-frequency) digit processing, text-to-speech synthesis and speech recognition (spoken command recognition, speaker verification,…). #Call logging such as on-line recording/monitoring and call accounting.

Customer data management #Personal information management for call parties. #Using calling/called identifications to retrieve the calling/called party information from the database #The information contained in the database may include a personal phone book, schedule, customer profiles, billing records, and so on

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Call centersSimplified model of Call center concept

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People Process

External customer Internal customer Sales Force Support team Back-office Technical staff

Data Warehouse

Marketing/up-selling Technical support Product support Service support 7 x 24 support

IVR ACD

CTI

• Customer history, billing, purchases, value, profile

• Product & service information, packages, prices

• Marketing hints, reports, promotions

• Customer data updates, purchase information

•Call statistics, inquiries, etc. Info

rmat

ion

Call center concept

Call CentreTechnologies

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Structure of Call center

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• Customized Agent Desktop Applications by Customer & Call Type

• Automated Scripting of Call Handling & Wrap-up

• Flexibility to Add New Products, Services, and Customer Service Opportunities

• Scripted Cross-Selling• Legacy Integration• Billing & Meter Reading• Direct Access

Data Warehouse

Architecture of the Call center

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First and Third Party Call Control CTI configurations

LAN

PBXThird Party Call Control CTI application, e.g. Call Center (ACD)

First Party Call Control CTI application (e.g. Telephone Manager)

Call Center Agent

CTI Link

V.24 ISDN

ISDN

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NT CTI server Windows client

Proprietary TAPI service provider

Telephoneclient library

Server-basedCTI applications

First Party Call Control applications, e.g.

Communication Manager

PBX

Customer LAN

CTI Link(int. LAN)

TAPI

Microsoft’s TAPI CTI Architecture for LAN

TAPI

ISDN

LAN CardLAN Card

LAN Card

Telephone server library

TAPIService

TAPIclient manager

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Netware CTI server

CTI client

Proprietary PBX protocol converter

Telephone server NLM

Telephone server libraryservice provider

CSTA

Telephone serverlibrary service provider

Third Party Call Control CTI applications

First Party Call Control CTI applications

PBX

Customer LAN

CTI Link(int. LAN)

TSAPI

TSAPI

ISDN

Novell’s TSAPI Architecture

LAN CardLAN Card

LAN Card

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9.2. Web contact center

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Message Server

Agents

ApplicationServers

PSTN Server

Internet Call Server

ACD Server

PSTN

Web Server

Internet

IPTrunks

Message Server

AgentsAgents

ApplicationServers

PSTN Server

Internet Call Server

ACD Server

PSTNPSTN

Web Server

InternetInternet

IPTrunks

Message Server

AgentsAgents

ApplicationServers

PSTN Server

Internet Call Server

ACD Server

PSTNPSTN

Web Server

InternetInternet

IPTrunks

Message Server

AgentsAgents

ApplicationServers

PSTN Server

Internet Call Server

ACD Server

PSTNPSTN

Web Server

InternetInternet

IPTrunks

Model of Web contact center

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Simplified model of the Web contact center

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The architecture of a Web Contact Center

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Web contact center - main services • Self Service

– FAQ

– Search engine

– Natural language processing

– Virtual customer representative

• Deferred Service

– Email

– Queued web response

– Scheduled callback

– Web seminar

– Chat session

• Assisted service

– Interaction with customer service representatives (agents)

– Text chat

– Voice over web

– Video conferencing

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Self service Functionalities include FAQ, search engine, streaming video and e-Business front

end. Requests initiated by the customer or partner via the company web site will go

through the same processes within the system. The web interaction server works as

the front end of the interface, since most of the self service functionalities involves

dynamic content, the enterprise network would provide back end support. Examples of

dynamic content generation include providing sales information through the e-

business front end, and searching a knowledge base.

Deferred service Functionalities include web callback button, email, voice mail and fax. The motif of

deferred service is the capability of time shifting the request. Such a service is

scheduled, if possible, to idle agents for better load balancing. In the handling of

deferred service, the web interaction server, which is connected to the enterprise

network, will provide the customer’s context to the handling agent in a timely fashion.

The customer’s context is usually presented in a ‘screen pop’ on the agent’s terminal

when she receives a call or otherwise handles the customer request.

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Web callback button

Located on the company web page, the customer may click on it and select the type of call he desires to receive, options include call back, Internet voice call, text chat, or web collaboration. He also needs to fill in a form regarding the nature of the call, and the desired time to receive it.

The web interaction server then handles the request, and the digital ACD server handles scheduling. Upon the scheduled time of the call, the web interaction server will initiate the contact with the customer via the designated channel.

Email, voice mail and fax

Although these three channels are dissimilar in their processes, the way that agents handle them is unified. Email and voice mail are both transmitted through the internet, routed and scheduled by the digital ACD server.

The difference is that more information can be recognized in the email to facilitate skill based routing. In the non-web enabled call center, fax is handled by an entirely different process, while in the web enabled counterpart fax handling is integrated with email due to the similarity in their nature. Requests of this type will be placed in second priority queue and routed to the appropriate agent based on the required skills.

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Assisted service This type of service requires the exclusive and immediate attention of a human agent, therefore it is the most expensive and is difficult to maintain a certain level of service. The web interaction server will again show ‘screen pops’ of the context of the customer simultaneously when the connection is established. Services in this category include public switched telephone network (PSTN) calls, Internet voice calls, web seminar, IRC seminar and cooperative browsing.

PSTN calls

A call is initiated by the customer, and reaches the contact center via the PSTN network. The analogue signal is converted to an internet protocol in the gateway. Simple IVR will be used to gather information about the customer and the nature of the call at the gateway. Two pieces of important information are the calling phone number and the caller’s language preferences.

Internet voice calls

It will be handled in a very similar way as PSTN calls. Should the customer choose this option, she needs to fill in and transmit the nature of call and other information that may assist the handling. A call control applet needs to be downloaded if there isn’t already compatible software installed, which provides the call controls resembling that of a conventional phone. When the call is connected, the digital ACD server will route the call to an appropriate agent as soon as one is available. Context of the caller will be shown in a screen pop on the agent’s computer.

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Text chat, text chat master

The customer may initiate a text chat session via the call-me button, or he may summon

a text chat master during their conversation with each other. It is not uncommon for an

adept agent to handle four simultaneous text chat sessions without prolonging the

service time of each session. Upon the connection of a delayed text chat session is

established by the web interaction server, the relevant context, is displayed in a screen

pop on the selected agent’s terminal; related standard scripts are also presented to the

agent to help them efficiently answer questions during the session. In the latter case -

when an agent is summoned - relevancy is based on the keywords presented in the text

chat before the chat master is summoned.

IRC seminar

This type of seminar is similar to the text chat session, but is open to all customers or partners. The participant needs to enter a web page in the company web site, which presents them an applet that resembles an Internet relay chat (IRC) session, or ‘chat room’ in a postmodern term. The chat master will present his topic, and invite the participant’s involvement. Its form is very similar to a workshop in real life.At the scheduled time the web interaction server will begin the chat session. The responsible agent is then prompted by a screen pop with the appropriate information and deliver the seminar.

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Cooperative browsing

This is one of the most sophisticated and intimated forms of customer interaction

enabled by the web contact center. The agent and the customer will brows the company

web site in a synchronized browser. The actual steps of the browsing are also guided by

a live agent through a text or voice channel simultaneously. Before the collaborative

browsing takes place, a connection between the agent and the customer will be

established. This may be an Internet/normal voice call/text chat. The customer needs to

download a client program. The customer can use the “follow me” function to

automatically trace the steps the agent performs. The agent can help the customer to

place order or answer question, how to utilize the company web site, or promote related

product or services to the customer’s interest. When the customer clicks on “end call”,

the session ends. Web seminar

This channel is very similar to web collaboration, but the connection is one to many. It is

useful as an educational tool to teach the partners or customer how to use the e-

business front end. The participant may join into this collaboration at any time.

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Queuing model of Contact center

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Average Talk TimeThis is the total number of seconds the caller was connected to an agent. This data is available from the ACD.

Average Speed of AnswerThis is the average time it takes for the call to be picked up by the call center’s ACD. Often this isthe number of “rings” before the ACD picks up the call and distributes it either to a live agent or to an IVR. This data is available from the ACD.

Average Time in QueueThis is equal to the total time in queue to reach an agent divided by the total number of callsanswered. This data is available from the ACD.

Calls Per HourThis is the average number of calls that an agent handles per hour. This data is available from the ACD.

Hold TimeThis is the average number of seconds that a agent places a customer on hold while trying to find thecallers answer. This data is available from the ACD.

Agents’ OccupancyThis is the average time that a agents in their seat, connected to the ACD, and ready to answer callsas a percent of the total time they are at work. This data is available from the ACD.

Adherence to ScheduleThis is the average time the agent is in their seat as per the work force management schedule.

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Unified messaging

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Convergence of networks/services/ applications

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10. Convergence – Concluding remarks• Three types of separate networks are converged to the NGN#PSTN/ISDN - voice#IP network - data#Mobile network - voice• Aspects of convergence#Access – all types of media, broadband#Core networks – selection of IP as common transport technology#Services – multimedia (Triple Play)#Terminal devices – multimedia terminals• Standardization#ITU-T#IETF#ETSI#3GPP• Platforms#NGN (ITU-T)#TISPAN (ETSI)#IMS (3GPP)

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Convergence Pyramid