This document discusses how SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) is enabling the transition of contact centers from traditional digital switching platforms to IP-based solutions. SIP allows contact centers to move away from closed, proprietary systems to open standards-based environments. This provides benefits like improved agent productivity, virtualized agent resources, lower infrastructure costs, and an enhanced customer experience through innovative multimedia services. The emergence of SIP as the protocol of choice is simplifying IP communications and driving more value from IP transformation projects in contact centers.
A UCaaS/Hybrid RFP: What Can Cloud Providers Deliver?InteractiveNEC
This year's Enterprise Connect RFP workshop will be dedicated to Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) offerings, in "pure" form and in a hybrid with premises systems. Workshop leader Dave Stein of Stein Technology Group consulting will once again craft a mock RFP for communications service for a medium-sized enterprise, but this year will seek responses from UCaaS providers, so as to provide a deep dive on the state of the art in UCaaS features, functions, and pricing. Enterprise Connect Orlando 2016 attendees will receive both a detailed view on how to write an RFP for UCaaS services, and will see the responses provided by major players in this space. You'll come away from this workshop with a rich supply of documentation, as well as a detailed description and discussion that will help you understand how mature today's UCaaS services are; how they stack up against each other; to what extent they may transform your communications environment; and how providers can support migration and hybrid strategies.
UCaaS/Hybrid RFP & Review IP Telephony and Unified Communications SystemInteractiveNEC
There are significant differences in offerings from the major vendors in terms of architecture, functionality and total cost of ownership. IT organizations are encouraged to work with their business units to understand their unique requirements and to articulate these in an RFP or other formal procurement vehicle.
A UCaaS/Hybrid RFP: What Can Cloud Providers Deliver?InteractiveNEC
This year's Enterprise Connect RFP workshop will be dedicated to Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) offerings, in "pure" form and in a hybrid with premises systems. Workshop leader Dave Stein of Stein Technology Group consulting will once again craft a mock RFP for communications service for a medium-sized enterprise, but this year will seek responses from UCaaS providers, so as to provide a deep dive on the state of the art in UCaaS features, functions, and pricing. Enterprise Connect Orlando 2016 attendees will receive both a detailed view on how to write an RFP for UCaaS services, and will see the responses provided by major players in this space. You'll come away from this workshop with a rich supply of documentation, as well as a detailed description and discussion that will help you understand how mature today's UCaaS services are; how they stack up against each other; to what extent they may transform your communications environment; and how providers can support migration and hybrid strategies.
UCaaS/Hybrid RFP & Review IP Telephony and Unified Communications SystemInteractiveNEC
There are significant differences in offerings from the major vendors in terms of architecture, functionality and total cost of ownership. IT organizations are encouraged to work with their business units to understand their unique requirements and to articulate these in an RFP or other formal procurement vehicle.
Beyond trunking: The next wave of SIP transformationAvaya Inc.
The cost benefits of replacing legacy time division
multiplex (TDM) trunk circuits with Session Initiation
Protocol (SIP) trunking are substantial and well
documented. By connecting all enterprise voice,
video and data traffic to a service provider’s Internet
Protocol (IP) connection, SIP trunking can save
businesses between 20 to 50 percent over the
more expensive dedicated TDM trunks.
Vendor hype has devalued the promise of unified communications and threatens to cause confusion with the move to cloud computing. In the absence of clear and unambiguous explanations of the benefits of embarking on such projects, end users could be forgiven for thinking that these are technologies without a purpose. However, a revolution is underway, bringing with it real benefits to enterprises and to workers.
IT Services Firm Improves Data Center and Branch Performance
Sycor leverages WAAS solution to bolster central WAN security and control, restore branch application performance
From the Network to Multi-Cloud: How to Chart an Integrated StrategyXO Communications
This presentation served as a basis for the November 2013 webinar featuring David Linthicum, cloud technology expert, and Sam Koetter, Sr. Product Manager, Ethernet Services, XO Communications. The speakers discussed the emerging patterns of multi-clouds and their applications within the enterprise. They also looked at the importance of the network in support of cloud services, and why selecting the right network infrastructure is as important as selecting the right cloud providers.
Topics explored include:
• The emerging use of multi-cloud solutions and the changing network requirements around this movement
• How to define your network strategy with a cloud strategy in mind. A stepwise approach that most enterprises should follow
• How to select a strategic network partner around your multi-cloud services. What you should look for to be successful the first time
• How to create a master implementation plan and budget. A strategy to make sure both cloud and network resources will be there to support the core business.
Find out -- from cloud industry insiders -- how to navigate the confluence of network and multi-cloud solutions.
Find out more about XO's network solutions: http://bit.ly/1g6QYLr.
View the entire webinar replay on the XO Communications YouTube channel: http://youtu.be/PaGkYmFuq6k.
Beyond trunking: The next wave of SIP transformationAvaya Inc.
The cost benefits of replacing legacy time division
multiplex (TDM) trunk circuits with Session Initiation
Protocol (SIP) trunking are substantial and well
documented. By connecting all enterprise voice,
video and data traffic to a service provider’s Internet
Protocol (IP) connection, SIP trunking can save
businesses between 20 to 50 percent over the
more expensive dedicated TDM trunks.
Vendor hype has devalued the promise of unified communications and threatens to cause confusion with the move to cloud computing. In the absence of clear and unambiguous explanations of the benefits of embarking on such projects, end users could be forgiven for thinking that these are technologies without a purpose. However, a revolution is underway, bringing with it real benefits to enterprises and to workers.
IT Services Firm Improves Data Center and Branch Performance
Sycor leverages WAAS solution to bolster central WAN security and control, restore branch application performance
From the Network to Multi-Cloud: How to Chart an Integrated StrategyXO Communications
This presentation served as a basis for the November 2013 webinar featuring David Linthicum, cloud technology expert, and Sam Koetter, Sr. Product Manager, Ethernet Services, XO Communications. The speakers discussed the emerging patterns of multi-clouds and their applications within the enterprise. They also looked at the importance of the network in support of cloud services, and why selecting the right network infrastructure is as important as selecting the right cloud providers.
Topics explored include:
• The emerging use of multi-cloud solutions and the changing network requirements around this movement
• How to define your network strategy with a cloud strategy in mind. A stepwise approach that most enterprises should follow
• How to select a strategic network partner around your multi-cloud services. What you should look for to be successful the first time
• How to create a master implementation plan and budget. A strategy to make sure both cloud and network resources will be there to support the core business.
Find out -- from cloud industry insiders -- how to navigate the confluence of network and multi-cloud solutions.
Find out more about XO's network solutions: http://bit.ly/1g6QYLr.
View the entire webinar replay on the XO Communications YouTube channel: http://youtu.be/PaGkYmFuq6k.
#asksap Analytics Innovations Community Call - Take Action in 2017 with Innov...SAP Analytics
Learn more about the highly anticipated 2017 release of SAP BusinessObjects Lumira 2.0, the expanded modeling and scalable machine learning capabilities of SAP BusinessObjects Predictive Analytics 3.1, and the extended availability of SAP BusinessObjects Roambi.
In a hyperconnected economy, businesses need tools that empower employees to work together and get more done, anytime, anywhere, using the devices they prefer. SIP Trunking enhances mobility and presence, and provides end-to-end unified communications applications, among other advantages. This paper explains how companies can simplify company-wide business communications using SIP-to energize communications, productivity, collaboration, and business growth.
The telecommunications industry in China has undergone significant advancements in recent years, revolutionizing how people communicate and connect. One key technology pivotal in this transformation is Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). SIP-based communication solutions have emerged as a powerful tool for unifying connections, enabling seamless voice and multimedia communication over the Internet.
SIP, a signaling protocol for initiating, modifying, and terminating multimedia sessions, has been widely adopted in China due to its flexibility, scalability, and compatibility with various devices and networks. It is the foundation for real-time communication services, facilitating voice and video calls, instant messaging, presence information, and more.
At its core, SIP operates on a client-server model, where SIP application clients initiate and receive communication requests, while SIP servers handle call setup, termination, and other signaling functions. When a user begins a call or sends a message, SIP is responsible for locating the recipient, negotiating the session parameters, and establishing the connection. This makes SIP a fundamental component of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) systems, allowing users to make phone calls over the Internet instead of traditional telephone lines.
The evolution and impact of communication services - Metaswitch and PolycomIntegra
Metaswitch and Polycom present on the evolving foundation of communication networks at the 2014 Integra Tech Expo series.
The foundation communications networks is evolving from closed, proprietary platforms to those that are cloud-based, software-centric, and built on IP (Internet Protocol). Metaswitch and Polycom explain this important shift and the benefits they have on both the communications service providers who embrace this evolution and the businesses they serve.
The modern business owner is conscious in their search for cost efficient and flexible ways to ease their transition towards an VoIP-based communications environment. One of the most effective strategies is deployed through Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Trunking.
Blue Gradient Company Business Profile Presentation.pptxIT Company Dubai
Explore key considerations and best practices in selecting the ideal IP PBX solution for seamless communication in your organization.& quot Understand Your Business Needs:
Begin by thoroughly understanding your organization's communication requirements. Consider factors like the number of users, anticipated growth, and the specific features you need.
It is now not a question of “if” IP Telephony will be adopted but “when.” ….the key issue today is when to implement and how to manage the migration to converged networks
Pbx presentation ingate_itexpoeast2014kwader Saudi
Enhance employee productivity and reduce communication costs with feature-rich IP telephony solutions from Kwader. With our solutions, your staff can count on effective, unified communications no matter where they are.
KTC scalable IP telephony solutions offer the same high-quality communications whether your enterprise has a few or 100,000 users. Our flexible architecture design offers an unparalleled range of deployment options. Our wide range of resiliency tools minimizes costs and maximizes reliability.
ICT eGuide: Switching to cloud phones and UCaaSNiamh Hughes
Business communications systems are not just evolving, they’re being revolutionised. This guide highlights how hosted, cloud based telephony and unified communications systems offers your business competitive edge, streamlining and joining-up communications across devices. Equipping your team with the best communications tools will assist collaboration, operational flexibility, efficiency and productivity, ultimately enhancing client service levels.
Get ahead – or risk being left behind
More than half of Top 100 firms have either recently delivered or are underway with projects to implement key “foundation” technologies, demonstrating how critical IT has become to the sector. PWC Law Firms Survey Report 2019.
1. A Business White Paper
Taking a SIP:
What Executives Should Know
About IP Transformation in
the Contact Center
August 2008
2. Taking a SIP: What Executives Should Know About IP Transformation in the Contact Center
Table of Contents
3 Executive Summary
3 IP Transformation within the Contact Center
4 SIP: The Protocol of Choice
5 Enabling the Next-Generation Dynamic Contact Center
Creating a Breakthrough Customer Experience
Improving Agent Experience and Contact Center Performance
Comprehensive Operational Improvements with SIP-Enabled IP
10 The Freedom to Migrate Instead of Rip-and-Replace
11 Conclusion
12 About the Genesys IP Contact Center Solution
3. Taking a SIP: What Executives Should Know About IP Transformation in the Contact Center 3 of 12
Executive Summary
As contact centers consider migrating from traditional digital switching platforms to
IP-based solutions, there’s an exciting development that is simplifying IP communications
and extending the benefits beyond telephony network cost savings. The emergence of the
SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) open standard is speeding the adoption of IP-based solutions
and simultaneously delivering compelling business benefits and opportunities for innovation.
With SIP, contact centers are empowered to join the IP transformation — shifting from a
closed, proprietary communications infrastructure to an open, standards-based environment.
This IP transformation drives greater business value for contact centers by providing the
foundation for improving agent productivity, virtualizing agent resources, reducing infra-
structure costs and, above all, improving the customer’s experience. Through the power and
flexibility of SIP-enabled IP solutions, companies can now fully realize a customer-centric
strategy with innovative, multimedia customer service offerings as the centerpiece.
This white paper is intended for executives who are seeking to understand why SIP is a
must-have technology for the contact center today, and how SIP-enabled IP solutions can
help contact centers strategically align with the goals of the enterprise through an easily
integrated, open standards-based software approach.
IP Transformation within the Contact Center
While momentum has been building for IP-based solutions in contact centers, the floodgates
of opportunity have now been flung open with the widespread vendor adoption of open
standards such as Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). Now, it’s more efficient, cost-effective,
and beneficial than ever before to move to an IP solution. Contact centers that are poised to
replace aging time-division multiplexing (TDM) systems or deploy new systems for branch
offices or enterprise departments can now embrace the transformation to IP with greater
confidence. The resulting benefits include these powerful capabilities:
• Universal access enabling any employee, located either within the walls
of the contact center or outside (such as mobile applications for field
service, home agents, subject matter experts, or branch offices), to interact
efficiently with the company’s customers.
• Leveraging Multimedia interaction, such as instant messages, video,
presence, and Web collaboration to enhance the customer experience in
innovative ways.
4. Taking a SIP: What Executives Should Know About IP Transformation in the Contact Center 4 of 12
• Virtual Centralized Contact Center, for multi-site and remote-site
operations hosted in the corporate data center or by a managed service
provider, to increase productivity and speed deployment of new capabilities.
• Consistent application of business rules through application software
— not embedded in proprietary hardware — that controls interaction
management for voice and other communications
Source: Gartner - “Forecast: Contact Centers,Worldwide, 2002-2011” (by Drew Kraus, December 2007)
Figure 1. Total TDM vs. IP Agents Shipments, Worldwide, 2002-2011
The rise of SIP-enabled solutions brings an additional transforming benefit: the
opportunity to migrate gradually to IP by retiring the legacy ACD (automatic call
distributor) — literally unlocking it from the physical PBX and reshaping it as a flexible,
software-based application able to leverage all the capabilities of IP.
SIP: The Protocol of Choice
Why is SIP so important for IP transformation? By moving to a SIP-enabled software
solution, contact centers can begin to free themselves from proprietary hardware
constraints and costs.
When the move to IP began with digital PBXs, vendors created systems that essentially
duplicated the features traditional PBXs offered. To do this, vendors developed
proprietary protocols to address missing functionality in open standards. Then along
came SIP.
SIP (based on IETF RFC 3261) — now the protocol of choice for IP communications
— provides the richness needed to replace proprietary protocols and create a more
efficient and collaborative means of communication. With the SIP open standard,
organizations are now becoming unlocked from the constraining proprietary IP solutions.
5. Taking a SIP: What Executives Should Know About IP Transformation in the Contact Center 5 of 12
The beauty of SIP is its simplicity: it can be used for any type of communication session,
from voice to instant messaging to video or any combination of these — a session can
even be a collaborative multimedia conference call. Independent of the application
and channel, SIP is also flexible and scalable — making it perfect for deployment
in a future-proof application environment. SIP also works well with other Internet
applications because it was designed to closely resemble the HTTP and SMTP Internet
protocols, (the ones that power the Internet and e-mail).
GSN Uses SIP for PBX Migration
Global Speech Networks (GSN), based in Melbourne, Australia, works with
companies to centralize multi-site IVR operations. When the company decided
to offer a hosted contact center agent solution, it determined that SIP-enabled IP
technology was the most effective way to go.
Now GSN can offer a compelling story for prospective customers. With many digital
PBXs approaching “end of life,” GSN’s customers can use the company’s hosted
contact center solution for a phased approach to migrate away from the PBX. GSN
replaces legacy call center functionality with its SIP-enabled software-based contact
center from the “cloud.” By using SIP-enabled IP, GSN was able to dramatically
expand its market with an entirely new service.
SIP provides two overwhelming “SIP enables the power of open systems to be
advantages that contact center decision brought to the world of telecommunications,
makers need to understand. The first
particularly in the contact center. Due to the rich
is the freedom of choice in hardware
multimedia requirements, open systems allow
and software — resulting in greater
flexibility, easier integration, faster
customers to select non-proprietary hardware
deployment, and cost efficiencies. and software for queuing, routing, and applying
treatments to interactions. For these reasons, we
Second, the flexibility of SIP to handle expect SIP to emerge as the de facto standard for
much more than only voice makes enterprise IP communications.”
it a game-changing technology for — Art Schoeller, Senior Analyst, Yankee Group
contact centers. Using SIP, companies
can move beyond simply doing things
better to providing new services that
drive customer satisfaction and agent
effectiveness to entirely new levels.
6. Taking a SIP: What Executives Should Know About IP Transformation in the Contact Center 6 of 12
Enabling the Next-Generation Dynamic Contact Center
Organizations can harness the powerful multimedia, multi-channel capabilities of
SIP-enabled IP to realize a revitalized, next-generation dynamic contact center — a
contact center fully-enabled with real-time intelligence, flexibility, open applications,
and the ability to proactively respond to and take advantage of customer behavior.
Most contact centers today must manually react to external conditions, making it
difficult to respond to fluctuating traffic. For example, traffic may surge one moment,
putting great strain on resources, and then drop unpredictably the next, forcing customer
service agents to sit idle. This model puts a great burden on operations, as businesses
struggle to simultaneously optimize agent availability and task allocation, control costs,
generate revenue, and drive customer satisfaction.
A dynamic contact center is a more advanced model with built-in processes to make
proactive adjustments in real time to automatically manage fluctuating variables by
optimizing and balancing traffic, resources, and call outcomes.
IP transformation is a critical foundation for creating a dynamic contact center, allowing
companies to achieve unprecedented optimization of cost, quality, and revenue. With a
spectrum of exceptional customer services, a well-managed distributed/remote agent
workforce, and enhanced agent productivity, the SIP-enabled contact center delivers on
the customer-centric strategy central to organizations today.
Creating a Breakthrough Customer Experience
By enabling contact centers to leverage multimedia interactions as never before,
SIP-enabled IP solutions can literally transform the customer experience to improve
customer retention and set the stage for cross-selling and up-selling opportunities.
78% 82% 44%
Say contact center agents have Would do business with a Of defecting customers cite a
a significant influence on their company based on a great poor contact center experience
opinion of a company contact center experience as the sole reason
Source: Genesys Research
Figure 2. The Customer Experience is Central to Your Business
7. Taking a SIP: What Executives Should Know About IP Transformation in the Contact Center 7 of 12
GRAA Experiences Seamless Integration of Multimedia
and New Agents
Groupama Rhone Alpes Auvergne (GRAA), a division of the French insurance
conglomerate Groupama, decided to leverage SIP to incorporate multimedia
capabilities so that customers could use devices such as smartphones to interact in a
more productive manner with the contact center. The company envisioned customers
sending a picture of a car accident to their carrier from the scene or receiving an
SMS message with insurance adjuster appointment details.
At the same time, GRAA needed to incorporate 200 additional agents working
in eight new locations. Using a SIP-enabled software solution, GRAA was able
to add new agents and capabilities and begin migrating agents to an IP environment
at a significantly lower cost than if it had to purchase PBX hard phones and a
CTI-enabled PBX license. Now, GRAA plans to completely migrate to SIP-enabled
IP for all its agents.
With a SIP-enabled IP solution, contact centers can transform every customer touch-point
into an opportunity to deliver on a company’s brand promise. Multi-channel integration
means that contact centers gain the flexibility to respond to and interact with customers in
a multitude of ways, regardless of the channel in which the interaction was started. Imagine
the ability to detect the multimedia capabilities of a customer’s phone or device at the point
of contact. The agent then has the widest range of response choices available to assist the
customer: for instance, an instructional video could be sent to a video-enabled device, or
a menu of options could appear on a mobile phone as an alternative to traditional IVR.
Contact centers can use “co-browsing” or “page push” technologies to guide customers to
the information they need or to suggest a relevant product or service.
By embracing SIP/IP, contact centers can dramatically improve customer satisfaction by:
• Communicating with customers via the channel that each most prefers:
voice, e-mail, IM, chat, or video
• Leveraging presence technology to help agents resolve a customer’s issue
by instantly determining status, location, and availability of subject matter
experts
• Incorporating agents, branch employees, and experts anytime, anywhere —
irrespective of location and telephony infrastructure, enabling a dynamic
customer-centric experience
• Fully exploiting multimedia to create a blended, consistent, multi-channel
experience that better resolves customer queries and issues
8. Taking a SIP: What Executives Should Know About IP Transformation in the Contact Center 8 of 12
Improving Agent Experience and Contact Center Performance
Not only is the customer experience elevated to an all-time high, the SIP-enabled IP
solutions also give agent productivity and satisfaction a powerful boost.
For example, SIP enables contact centers to leverage universal employee access — the
ability to extend the resource pool to encompass any agent or expert. This means that
contact centers can enable branch employees, home offices, and expert agents — regard-
less of their location — to efficiently manage their time and resources, gain greater con-
trol of their ability to assist with customer service, and improve first-call resolution rates.
Figure 3 Universal Access through a SIP-Enabled Solution
Universal access also allows contact centers to more effectively manage spikes in volume
by routing certain customer calls to remote sites, which prevents customers from waiting
on hold, or even being blocked, due to single contact center saturation during the peak
hours, and results in better customer service performance.
In addition, through presence technology in SIP-enabled solutions, subject matter
experts can make themselves more available for customer contact and issue resolution,
while leveraging home-based agents lowers costs, decreases agent turnover, and ensures
greater flexibility to quickly meet fluctuations in volume.
Due to routing rules based upon criteria such as customer priority, agent skill set,
availability of experts, and other business rules that ensure intelligent use of valuable
resources, the customer is quickly put in touch with the best resource — expert, home,
or branch agent — for their specific need.
9. Taking a SIP: What Executives Should Know About IP Transformation in the Contact Center 9 of 12
Comprehensive Operational Improvements with SIP-Enabled IP
While customer service is a central benefit, deploying a SIP-enabled open IP solution
also delivers a gamut of operational improvements for the contact center due to the
creation of a simplified, flexible environment that is extensible and scalable to support
future business needs.
Companies can now consolidate contact center environments to ensure centralized
administration and improved resource virtualization. Contact centers with multiple sites
can be managed as one virtual pool of agents, which better utilizes resources, strengthens
customer service, and reduces maintenance costs. Remote agent management in such a
virtual environment also allows changes to a single agent or agent group allocation to be
made in real time without having to reprogram the switch. In addition, small remote sites
can be brought online much faster.
SIP-enabled IP also reduces the total cost of ownership as contact centers gain a greater
choice of vendors and simplified upgrades. As customer service software is separated
from proprietary communications devices, contact centers can further reduce costs by
eliminating hardware-based ACDs altogether.
Finally, SIP-enabled solutions can provide contact In cases where the entire contact
centers with more flexible, cost-effective approaches center is disrupted, software-based
to business continuity by delivering uninterrupted SIP solutions enable companies to
service levels through capabilities such as quickly reroute calls to other centers or
emergency default routing, backup and recovery
branch employees as part of a business
of established sessions, and hot standby. In the
continuity response.
event that a system goes down, the software-based
SIP solution can ensure high availability through a
back-up system that saves any calls that might be impacted. In a disaster situation where
the entire contact center is disrupted, companies have the ability to quickly reroute calls
to other centers or branch employees.
10. Taking a SIP: What Executives Should Know About IP Transformation in the Contact Center 10 of 12
The Freedom to Migrate Instead of Rip-and-Replace
The power and simplicity of the SIP open standard mean that contact centers can begin
to reap the benefits of an open IP solution without ripping out and replacing current
infrastructure — and instead migrating at a pace that suits their unique requirements. A
SIP-enabled IP contact center solution makes IP transformation feasible by integrating
with a contact center’s existing PBX infrastructure. This allows organizations to introduce
innovative contact center functions by separating the ACD from the PBX and replacing
it with a SIP-enabled solution. For contact centers not requiring advanced enterprise
telephony (such as personal voice mail), they have the option of replacing the hardware
switch entirely with a software-based switch for call
As customer service software is separated from control, routing, and management functionality. In this
proprietary communications devices, contact centers case, contact centers save costs on hardware and main-
can further reduce costs by eliminating hardware- tenance by eliminating the proprietary hardware and
based ACDs altogether. simplifying the management of the environment.
Figure 4 Genesys SIP/IP Enables Flexible Migration
As shown in Figure 4, the Genesys solution supports TDM, IP, or hybrid IP/TDM
environments and thus enables flexible migration from TDM to IP. Contact centers that
have already invested in PBX can still leverage the existing PBX infrastructure while also
implementing open standards-based IP components. In all cases, the Genesys solution
enables a single, centralized virtual contact center environment for the optimal utilization
and management of all agents as well as other resources.
11. Taking a SIP: What Executives Should Know About IP Transformation in the Contact Center 11 of 12
Replacing ACDs With Better Routing
After moving the company’s internal voice traffic to IP, a leading financial services
firm has been replacing its legacy ACDs with SIP/IP technology. In addition to
eliminating its dependency on proprietary hardware, the company needed the
ability to perform intelligent skills-based routing at the agent level — the legacy
ACD used a complicated scheme of multiple groups instead of true agent-level
skills-based routing.
By taking a pure software approach using a SIP-enabled IP solution, the company
was able to meet all of its objectives for the complete replacement of its legacy
ACD hardware. Now, instead of hardware that needs to be maintained at multiple
locations all over the country, the company relies upon a centrally-located,
SIP-enabled software solution to intelligently route calls to the best agent.
Therefore, contact centers have the following flexible options for SIP/IP adoption:
• Keep existing PBX in current site while expanding new branch offices
with SIP/IP
• Keep existing PBX in current site while provisioning remote agents in
SOHO (Small-Office-Home-Office) with SIP/IP
• Keep existing PBX in current site while adding new agents with SIP/IP at
the same site
• Keep existing PBX in current site while gradually converting some agents
with SIP/IP at the same site. Re-provision the newly idle PBX ports for
other staff in the organization
• Re-deploy PBX for internal organizational usage, while converting the
contact center into SIP/IP environment
Conclusion
With the emergence of the SIP protocol as the open standard that frees organizations
from proprietary hardware, contact centers are finally able to safely reap the extensive
business benefits of implementing open standards-based SIP/IP solutions. By leveraging
the dynamic multimedia capabilities of SIP, contact centers can seamlessly deliver
exceptional customer service and increase satisfaction, while also optimizing agent and
resource efficiency. With a dynamic contact center model, contact centers can react
faster to external conditions and respond more quickly to fluctuating variables by better
balancing traffic, resources, and call outcomes.
Companies that actively migrate toward SIP-enabled IP solutions are better prepared to
ensure universal access, allowing any employee to assist with customer service for faster
issue resolution and better business continuity through a more flexible, cost-effective,
multi-channel approach.