VoIP Technology Shows Significant Promise For Call
Center Operations
By Michael Lemm
Before plunging into VoIP head first, it's important that businesses understand just
what they are "talking" about when they begin looking at VoIP technology for
their call center operations. Understanding these subtleties will ensure proper
planning and appropriate decisions. The first key is to realize that "VoIP" is the
basic term where cost alone seems to be the driving incentive. But IP Telephony is
so much more. Unlike VoIP lite, IP telephony is not simply about cost savings. The
benefits of IP Telephony to call center operations include rich applications,
enabling mobility, increased productivity, and enhanced business continuity.
DEFINITIONS
VoIP is the basic transport of voice in a packet form on an IP-based data network.
It is the transmission of telephony over a data network and offers little in the way of
features and functionality. IP Telephony uses VoIP but is a software application
suite offering rich feature applications. These often-modular applications lend
themselves to cost-effective integration with other applications that share the IP
network. Voice and Data Convergence may be defined as the integration of
voice and data applications in a common environment. Of particular significance is
the integration of communications applications with key business applications. The
latter are usually tied to business processes, which are central to an organization’s
operations.
IP telephony lends itself to contact centres for the ease of integration with
sophisticated multimedia applications as well as computer telephony integration,
intelligent call routing and distributed or virtual contact centre applications. The
merging of voice and data applications, such as Unified Messaging, is perhaps
indicative of where IP telephony as a voice-based application leaves off and
convergence starts.
Voice and data convergence may be construed as the coming together of voice
and data in a common environment. This simplistic definition belies the significance
of convergence. The reality is that converging voice and data enables the
integration of voice communications applications (such as teleconferencing and
speech access) with key business applications (such as sales force automation
and supply chain management). These business applications are predicated on
business processes that are the lifeblood of most organizations. By marrying these
applications on any network and on any device, the door is opened to deriving new
levels of business value.
THE PROMISE OF VoIP
In recent years the number of companies looking to up grade their call center
infrastructure via implementation of VoIP technology has grown dramatically.
Merging voice and data on a single network and deploying an IP-based contact
center platform allows companies to route calls to home and satellite offices more
efficiently. This approach is delivering on the promise of helping companies grow
their business, apply productivity enhancing applications, and expand call center
operations easily and cost effectively. Scaling for growth to new remote service
centers is a smooth transition as each is treated as an add-on node to the existing
IP network.
Companies can add remote staff to call center queues when needed and can
retain key employees by letting them work from home. The entire process can
utilize one application to manage all media for routing and reporting across agent
locations. An additional benefit is the ability to deliver business applications over
this new network when necessary.
Potential hurdles to implementing pure VoIP include preparing the network with
switch and router upgrades, replacing all the desktop phones, and upgrading
adjunct systems such as voice mail. These are not insurmountable issues and can
either be accomplished all at once (shotgun) or in a phased in approach. However
it is accomplished the business benefits far outweigh any initial challenges.
It's safe to say that the great migration to the IP contact center is well underway.
While there are many approaches, vendors and users agree that the decision is
not driven by the technology, but rather by business applications that the
technology enables. While companies may appear to take very different paths to
VoIP, each is able to make the right decision for their current and future business
needs from a myriad of solution options.
THE MIGRATION TO VoIP
In general, however, the migration is happening very slowly. Art Schoeller, an
analyst at The Yankee Group, says, "The move to IP in the contact center is
inevitable but not imminent. The transition from TDM to IP, catalyzed by Cisco, is
much like the transition from analog to digital systems, which was catalyzed by
Rolm. Like that transition over 20 years ago, this transition will take time. And this
one is more complex."
Where this transition seems to have found it's lead is among smaller business
entities. Most IP contact center installations have occurred in small to midsize
businesses (SMB). Many of these SMBs use home agents and remote offices.
SMBs tend to be more willing than larger companies to take risks, many are
growing, and they are reaping the benefits of flexibility and agility. Seeing this
untapped potential larger businesses are beginning to follow suite albeit at a
somewhat slower pace.....so far.
As of now there are fewer large installations in place, and they are generally
multisite, often with overseas positions (including outsourcers). The major system
vendors such as Avaya, Cisco, and Nortel all say they have pure IP installations of
2,000 seats or more. That's impressive...and it works. It won't be long before the
pace and numbers of installations among larger companies grows significantly.
They won't long be able to deny the benefits offered and the potential positive
impact on process and cost efficiencies.
"The industries making radical changes are the ones who are suffering the most
pain from economic and market forces, such as teleservices [outsourcers], airlines,
telecom and high-tech companies," says Lawrence Byrd, a convergence strategist
at Avaya. "These companies are seeking substantial cost savings from
infrastructure consolidation, for example reducing 30 separate [automatic call
distributors] to one or two, moving away from the complex and expensive network
routing architectures of the 1990s, and intelligently routing the right customer to
the right agent, wherever they are."
"These companies understand that they must make more significant investments in
network optimization, as well as changes to their business processes and how they
manage their people. But they are willing to do so for the payback offered. IP
telephony in the contact center is the technology enabler for such transformation,"
he says.
THE TRENDS FOR VoIP
Today, many of the large call center installations - those exceeding 200 seats - are
hybrid solutions, some sites are TDM, some are IP. Companies use IP trunking
between sites and IP to some desktops, for example, at new sites or sites where
the switch has been upgraded. The traditional PBX can serve as a gateway,
converting between TDM and IP.
Businesses with multiple locations are turning autonomous sites into satellite sites,
significantly reducing the numbers of servers, applications and licenses required
for functions such as routing, reporting, Computer Telephony Integration (CTI),
quality monitoring and workforce management.
Another trend is higher adoption rates in Europe/Middle East/Africa and Asia
Pacific. North America is generally slower to adopt IP contact center technologies
because of more conservative and risk-averse decision-makers, and more large
installed systems. However, of Cisco's 1,500 installations worldwide for example,
approximately half are in North America.
Yet another trend is for companies to adopt VoIP in the enterprise first and then in
the contact center. Gartner analyst Bern Elliot says IP system sales already have
overtaken TDM system sales for corporations, but "IP adoption in the call center
will lag." Elliot predicts that traditional TDM-based call centers will remain the
dominant architecture for new system sales in North American until mid-2006. IP-
based call center systems comprise approximately 10% of new system sales today.
LEASONS LEARNED
Businesses leery of IP contact centers typically express concerns about security,
quality, reliability and scaleability. Early implementers say they faced challenges,
primarily with quality of service, but they used assessment, configuration, testing
and monitoring to successfully address those issues. However, the rule of thumb is
that if you've done what you need to do for your network for other applications,
running phones on IP is not a leap of faith.
Many early implementers say voice is more secure and more reliable over IP than
it was in a TDM world, and the enhancements to their networks for voice also have
benefited their data applications. For example, many clearly saw the potential
benefits for growth, flexibility and disaster recovery.
When a significant disaster occurs and a business must trigger its disaster-
recovery plan, it is a relief to easily be able to add seats at other sites and reroute
calls quickly, with no effect on service. It is also reassuring when system continuity
enables the following of the rigorous security processes applied to all other
applications for your voice and call center applications.
Many companies have found that TDM is just too expensive for what they want to
do. Often they'll discover that a pure IP solution offers their company lower total
cost of ownership than TDM, with additional savings over time by avoiding
proprietary hardware. Frequently they'll also see benefits from virtual operations
across sites and CTI in hours instead of months. Also seen have been savings on
wiring, moves, adds and changes, and networking of remote locations, while
buying flexibility for the future including multimedia enhancements.
THE FUTURE
The breakthrough in adoption of IP in the contact center will occur as more
companies share evidence that it is low risk, it works, and there are quantifiable
business benefits. Any initial trepidation will soon disappear as companies
recognize that VoIP is a technology that's right for them.....and whose time has
come for the call center industry.
Tip....for assistance in finding just the right fit in a VoIP solution for your call
center operation take advantage of the FREE consultative services at
Business-VoIP-Solution.com.
Michael is the owner of FreedomFire Communications....including
DS3-Bandwidth.com. Michael also authors Broadband Nation where you're
always welcome to drop in and catch up on the latest BroadBand news, tips,
insights, and ramblings for the masses.
Center Operations
By Michael Lemm
Before plunging into VoIP head first, it's important that businesses understand just
what they are "talking" about when they begin looking at VoIP technology for
their call center operations. Understanding these subtleties will ensure proper
planning and appropriate decisions. The first key is to realize that "VoIP" is the
basic term where cost alone seems to be the driving incentive. But IP Telephony is
so much more. Unlike VoIP lite, IP telephony is not simply about cost savings. The
benefits of IP Telephony to call center operations include rich applications,
enabling mobility, increased productivity, and enhanced business continuity.
DEFINITIONS
VoIP is the basic transport of voice in a packet form on an IP-based data network.
It is the transmission of telephony over a data network and offers little in the way of
features and functionality. IP Telephony uses VoIP but is a software application
suite offering rich feature applications. These often-modular applications lend
themselves to cost-effective integration with other applications that share the IP
network. Voice and Data Convergence may be defined as the integration of
voice and data applications in a common environment. Of particular significance is
the integration of communications applications with key business applications. The
latter are usually tied to business processes, which are central to an organization’s
operations.
IP telephony lends itself to contact centres for the ease of integration with
sophisticated multimedia applications as well as computer telephony integration,
intelligent call routing and distributed or virtual contact centre applications. The
merging of voice and data applications, such as Unified Messaging, is perhaps
indicative of where IP telephony as a voice-based application leaves off and
convergence starts.
Voice and data convergence may be construed as the coming together of voice
and data in a common environment. This simplistic definition belies the significance
of convergence. The reality is that converging voice and data enables the
integration of voice communications applications (such as teleconferencing and
speech access) with key business applications (such as sales force automation
and supply chain management). These business applications are predicated on
business processes that are the lifeblood of most organizations. By marrying these
applications on any network and on any device, the door is opened to deriving new
levels of business value.
THE PROMISE OF VoIP
In recent years the number of companies looking to up grade their call center
infrastructure via implementation of VoIP technology has grown dramatically.
Merging voice and data on a single network and deploying an IP-based contact
center platform allows companies to route calls to home and satellite offices more
efficiently. This approach is delivering on the promise of helping companies grow
their business, apply productivity enhancing applications, and expand call center
operations easily and cost effectively. Scaling for growth to new remote service
centers is a smooth transition as each is treated as an add-on node to the existing
IP network.
Companies can add remote staff to call center queues when needed and can
retain key employees by letting them work from home. The entire process can
utilize one application to manage all media for routing and reporting across agent
locations. An additional benefit is the ability to deliver business applications over
this new network when necessary.
Potential hurdles to implementing pure VoIP include preparing the network with
switch and router upgrades, replacing all the desktop phones, and upgrading
adjunct systems such as voice mail. These are not insurmountable issues and can
either be accomplished all at once (shotgun) or in a phased in approach. However
it is accomplished the business benefits far outweigh any initial challenges.
It's safe to say that the great migration to the IP contact center is well underway.
While there are many approaches, vendors and users agree that the decision is
not driven by the technology, but rather by business applications that the
technology enables. While companies may appear to take very different paths to
VoIP, each is able to make the right decision for their current and future business
needs from a myriad of solution options.
THE MIGRATION TO VoIP
In general, however, the migration is happening very slowly. Art Schoeller, an
analyst at The Yankee Group, says, "The move to IP in the contact center is
inevitable but not imminent. The transition from TDM to IP, catalyzed by Cisco, is
much like the transition from analog to digital systems, which was catalyzed by
Rolm. Like that transition over 20 years ago, this transition will take time. And this
one is more complex."
Where this transition seems to have found it's lead is among smaller business
entities. Most IP contact center installations have occurred in small to midsize
businesses (SMB). Many of these SMBs use home agents and remote offices.
SMBs tend to be more willing than larger companies to take risks, many are
growing, and they are reaping the benefits of flexibility and agility. Seeing this
untapped potential larger businesses are beginning to follow suite albeit at a
somewhat slower pace.....so far.
As of now there are fewer large installations in place, and they are generally
multisite, often with overseas positions (including outsourcers). The major system
vendors such as Avaya, Cisco, and Nortel all say they have pure IP installations of
2,000 seats or more. That's impressive...and it works. It won't be long before the
pace and numbers of installations among larger companies grows significantly.
They won't long be able to deny the benefits offered and the potential positive
impact on process and cost efficiencies.
"The industries making radical changes are the ones who are suffering the most
pain from economic and market forces, such as teleservices [outsourcers], airlines,
telecom and high-tech companies," says Lawrence Byrd, a convergence strategist
at Avaya. "These companies are seeking substantial cost savings from
infrastructure consolidation, for example reducing 30 separate [automatic call
distributors] to one or two, moving away from the complex and expensive network
routing architectures of the 1990s, and intelligently routing the right customer to
the right agent, wherever they are."
"These companies understand that they must make more significant investments in
network optimization, as well as changes to their business processes and how they
manage their people. But they are willing to do so for the payback offered. IP
telephony in the contact center is the technology enabler for such transformation,"
he says.
THE TRENDS FOR VoIP
Today, many of the large call center installations - those exceeding 200 seats - are
hybrid solutions, some sites are TDM, some are IP. Companies use IP trunking
between sites and IP to some desktops, for example, at new sites or sites where
the switch has been upgraded. The traditional PBX can serve as a gateway,
converting between TDM and IP.
Businesses with multiple locations are turning autonomous sites into satellite sites,
significantly reducing the numbers of servers, applications and licenses required
for functions such as routing, reporting, Computer Telephony Integration (CTI),
quality monitoring and workforce management.
Another trend is higher adoption rates in Europe/Middle East/Africa and Asia
Pacific. North America is generally slower to adopt IP contact center technologies
because of more conservative and risk-averse decision-makers, and more large
installed systems. However, of Cisco's 1,500 installations worldwide for example,
approximately half are in North America.
Yet another trend is for companies to adopt VoIP in the enterprise first and then in
the contact center. Gartner analyst Bern Elliot says IP system sales already have
overtaken TDM system sales for corporations, but "IP adoption in the call center
will lag." Elliot predicts that traditional TDM-based call centers will remain the
dominant architecture for new system sales in North American until mid-2006. IP-
based call center systems comprise approximately 10% of new system sales today.
LEASONS LEARNED
Businesses leery of IP contact centers typically express concerns about security,
quality, reliability and scaleability. Early implementers say they faced challenges,
primarily with quality of service, but they used assessment, configuration, testing
and monitoring to successfully address those issues. However, the rule of thumb is
that if you've done what you need to do for your network for other applications,
running phones on IP is not a leap of faith.
Many early implementers say voice is more secure and more reliable over IP than
it was in a TDM world, and the enhancements to their networks for voice also have
benefited their data applications. For example, many clearly saw the potential
benefits for growth, flexibility and disaster recovery.
When a significant disaster occurs and a business must trigger its disaster-
recovery plan, it is a relief to easily be able to add seats at other sites and reroute
calls quickly, with no effect on service. It is also reassuring when system continuity
enables the following of the rigorous security processes applied to all other
applications for your voice and call center applications.
Many companies have found that TDM is just too expensive for what they want to
do. Often they'll discover that a pure IP solution offers their company lower total
cost of ownership than TDM, with additional savings over time by avoiding
proprietary hardware. Frequently they'll also see benefits from virtual operations
across sites and CTI in hours instead of months. Also seen have been savings on
wiring, moves, adds and changes, and networking of remote locations, while
buying flexibility for the future including multimedia enhancements.
THE FUTURE
The breakthrough in adoption of IP in the contact center will occur as more
companies share evidence that it is low risk, it works, and there are quantifiable
business benefits. Any initial trepidation will soon disappear as companies
recognize that VoIP is a technology that's right for them.....and whose time has
come for the call center industry.
Tip....for assistance in finding just the right fit in a VoIP solution for your call
center operation take advantage of the FREE consultative services at
Business-VoIP-Solution.com.
Michael is the owner of FreedomFire Communications....including
DS3-Bandwidth.com. Michael also authors Broadband Nation where you're
always welcome to drop in and catch up on the latest BroadBand news, tips,
insights, and ramblings for the masses.
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