Solutions Fast Track
Creating Customer Contact Solutions
.. Make sure you understand the customer’s needs.
.. Provide the client with the solution that best suits these needs.
.. Make sure to stay within the Cisco recommended guidelines.
.. With the IP contact center, there are many different components. Make
sure the version numbers needed to run the solution are all compatible.
Applications are the differentiating factor for IP telephony solutions. If you have a
customer that only picks up the phone, dials a number, speaks, and then puts the
phone down, it is difficult to explain the differences between IP telephony and
traditional solutions, basically because both (at least in that scenario) do exactly
the same thing.The applications that IP telephony offers currently, as well as
some of the advantages possible in the near future, not only make applications
more advantageous than traditional solutions, but more open.We discussed how
open-based standards support has been created, and how Cisco adheres to this
through interfaces like TAPI and JTAPI, which are supported via IP telephony
solutions that allow other parties to integrate proven solutions into them.
We talked about IVR and how it can provide initial customer interaction by
providing the caller with relevant information while waiting in the queue.This
allows the caller to do self-service type queries (check their bank balance and so
on), as well as access menu-driven options which allow them to define the type
of person or department they wish to speak to.This is also in keeping with the
idea that IP telephony should be location-independent allowing administrators to
place solutions where they like, as opposed to being in a computer center.
Though platform-dependant, the system can scale up to 60 ports.
We also discussed the use of WebAttendant, a Web-based GUI, downloadable
from the CallManager Install Plug-ins screen.This software-based attendant solution
negates the need for operator consoles to have dedicated and specific handsets
they can use. Also, once again, due to the nature of IP telephony, not only
can we have many WebAttendants throughout the network, but they don’t even
need to be in the same country when answering calls.
Implementing the IP contact center solution, which is made up of several
components such as CallManager, IP-IVR, and ICM allows you to keep your
investment in existing technology while facilitating the quick deployment and
movement to IP telephony. Certain guidelines are mentioned at the beginning of
the IPCC, and these guidelines MUST be adhered to in order to succeed in
deploying the IPCC solution.
We also discussed unified messaging and how this type of solution is just
emerging, with its ability to manage all points of contact from a central space. It
allows us to listen to e-mails and view voice mails without ever having to power
up the PC. Its parent program, Unity, also permits us to scale up to 5,000 mailboxes
on a single server.
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We talked about the Personal Assistant and how it can be used to define the
rules by which you receive communications. Essentially, it allows you to use
speech recognition from any handset as well as determine whether you want to
receive calls based on a set of individual rules, and then pass these calls through to
a specified route.This then lets you be more efficient in the way you conduct
business, since you receive only the calls you want, when you want them.
Phone productivity services, meanwhile, provide you with a single access
point, via the Cisco large display phone, to look into your corporate e-mail, voice
mail and diary. If the need arises, you also have the ability to sync with your personal
contacts, once again providing a single point of contact for communication.
Finally, there is the Cisco AVVID Partner Program.This is probably the most
important point, as it gives you the ability to choose the partner with whom you
would like to integrate. Because of the nature of the CallManager and other
components, it allows you to provide a simple interface into other vendors’ solutions.
Please consult the Cisco Web site for the latest listing of supported vendors’
solutions.