working on a call center architecture.....

doing some consulting work and feasability studies for a hawaii credit union that is moving to a new building. they dont have one now and i looked into VOIP thats integrated with their data center but one of my friends showed me Avays's IP Office they had insalled recently, which has 99% of the VoIP advantages at 60%-75% the cost, my jaw dropped to the floor after the 2 hour session. I'm sold. all the phones are digital, meaning $400 for a pushbutton box and nothing more, which is ridiculous. but anyways. the main router/brain box thats integrated into their network is able to control every aspect of the phone system by logging into any computer. It has an external voicemail server that can be programmed via flow charts etc, including touch tone everything. the calls can be routed any which way with many different queues and hunt groups. every phone can be programmed as desired with every feature you can think of including group paging, lockout of any numbers based on wildcards like 1-900. all realtime monitoring of every call can be done through any computer on the network that has sufficient rights. oh yeah, and it can be told to record any conversation into mp3 or wav, any time, based on set rules...eg, icoming line, operator who answers, time it takes to answer the call...etc. all programmable.

crazy i tell you, just nuts. infinite flexibility and none of the QoS or bandwidth issues to deal with like VoIP which uses standard ethernet to transfer voice data. and each voip phone needs separate power whereas all the digital phones get it from a regular digital phone line. there is a power over ethernet option, which uses the unused 3rd pair in a cat5e cable, but you need hubs and routers that support that, whcih is obviously more $$.

intrigued,
Leon.

We're using something that sounds very much like that in a national call center environment spanning several states. It works well, works with PC-based softphones as well as IP phones, routing tricks out the wazoo, same for QC recording, etc, etc.

Hmm, Hawaii you say... need any help? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

We use AVAYA phones in the call center I work out. Pretty slick system except when the voice router screws up and all we get are Windows95 calls /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

A buddy of mine runs an Avaya shop with Witness installed. Very flexible and the monitoring is amazing.

-F

Yeah, we use Witness also. Very flexible.

I too work at a call system that uses avaya. I hate the fact we hear the phone dialing and an incoming call comes in live with a bong, bong noise. Better keep the phone on mute for body functions or talking to your neighbor. When it gets too hot and heavy I put it in aux to streach or sip of fluid.

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cobb said:
I too work at a call system that uses avaya. I hate the fact we hear the phone dialing and an incoming call comes in live with a bong, bong noise. Better keep the phone on mute for body functions or talking to your neighbor. When it gets too hot and heavy I put it in aux to streach or sip of fluid.

[/ QUOTE ]

Some of Avaya's digital phones have AGC in the microphone circuit and it picks up everything. On phones that use a P10 plug adaptor, some of the P10s have a mic gain pot in the plug's base. They often ship with the gain set too high so an agent will wind up getting feedback.

I never receive the feed back, but I hate the echo like I am in a tunnel. Just have to speak louder and faster to over come it.

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cobb said:
I never receive the feed back, but I hate the echo like I am in a tunnel. Just have to speak louder and faster to over come it.

[/ QUOTE ]

There are several potential causes of echo, including network latency in VOIP systems, propagation delays across long-haul backbones, etc. If you make an extension-to-extension call do yoiu still hear the echo?

Just don't make it a dungeon call center - there are more than enough of those.

We use an older-looking Rockwell ACD system where I work. I wouldn't give it credit for being all that cutting-edge, although there's a nifty console app on the workstation that's synch'ed with the phone and can control it.

The call centers here have been completely refurbished (replaced all the old furbs - they wear out). All new carpeting and furniture. They're pretty nice now.

By dungeon I meant regressive, employee-hostile design, policies that almost guarantee customer disservice, and management that does nothing but look for excuses to fire employees; but I guess that a systems consultant isn't involved with that.

Ok, gotcha. Yup, seen those in the past. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Call another extension? You kidding me? The machine is a real slave driver. We wasted a whole day talking about use of resources, email, web, etc. Then I start work and see its nonstop call after call except for the 15 minute break I get the 4 hours I am there. Lets just say the last plac eyou find me during my break is at my desk. So much for socializing if I wanted, looking up dirty websites or sending dirty emails. See when a call rolls in, the screen pops up for your job, so what ever you were doing is blocked and you get a peek for a fraction of a second when one call transfers and the next rolls in.

Ive met some folks who have worked there for a few years and I passed my evaluation the first week I was there with above average figures and an average 313 calls in 4 hours. This is one job I would not want to work full time.

you guys are scaring me /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif

*retreats to womb in fetal position*

actually, looking for good IP-PBX vendors /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif so many choices. 3com, nortel, vocaldata, Avaya, cisco...oh the list goes on...taking recommendations. i've only personally seen Avaya IP-Office and have never actually "worked" with it, so i'll take input.

thanks for all the replies...or is it reptiles?
Leon.

I wouldn't think there would be bandwidth issues with VoIP over switched ethernet save on switch uplink trunks, which might need to be gig ethernet. QoS is something that needs to be worked out by the ethernet standards bodies, that's for sure. No need for a delay-sensitive 64kbit voice stream to be interrupted by delay-insensitive data... I guess that layer-4 aware switches could take care of that, but I hear those cost a few bucks per port, especially with PoE thrown in.

It seems that everybody and his uncle is coming out with IP softswitches these days. The Avaya platform looks good to me, especially considering that they've got the back-end integration experience with traditional big-iron switches so thery're able to pull off almost anything in terms of call center functions, statistics gathering, off-site extensions, CTI, etc. My main complaint with Avaya is that they keep juggling their pricing structure so they can find more ways to bill for the same stuff. I have no personal experience with Cisco's offerings.

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cobb said:
I was there with above average figures and an average 313 calls in 4 hours. This is one job I would not want to work full time.

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46 seconds per call? Someone needs to work on the routing routines in that call center.

-F

That's the constant battle - quality customer service versus short call durations. The goals are mutually exclusive when pressed to their practical limits.

I remember when they started measuring the AT&T Operators' call times closely back in the late 70s. That's when I first started to hear, at the end of the call, "ThankyouforcallingAT-click-." It was actually pretty consistent. I began to wonder whether if they'd changed the name of the company to AT&Click. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Never leave someone with the mindset of an accountant in charge of customer service or support. They will inevitably see it as a constant loss to be minimized rather than an essential cost of doing business. Customers really notice it when you cut back on service and support - to the point they'll turn to a competitor with better support - even if the product or service is inferior.

I think that corporate America needs to come to term with the business units that have been labeled as "cost centers." If they weren't essential to the business, they wouldn't be a part of the business, so why inflict the stigma of being a "cost center" on the people working in them? They're an integral part of the business - don't starve them of the resources they need to do their part to keep the company afloat.