The document discusses considerations for BroadSoft service providers regarding offering advanced interactive voice response (IVR) services through a software-as-a-service model. It outlines key issues like increased call costs, call data handling, integration with BroadSoft, redundancy, billing increments, ongoing management, and transparency. Inference Solutions is presented as an IVR partner that addresses these considerations through their browser-based Studio environment and architecture designed for BroadSoft providers.

2. [ Abstract ]
The purpose of this paper is to assist BroadSoft service providers that are
considering offering advanced IVR and speech recognition services to their
customers on their BroadWorks platform. This paper discusses the issues
associated with SaaS IVR solutions and poses some questions that should be
asked when considering which IVR vendor to partner with.
[ Table of Contents ]
Introduction...............................................................................................2
What is meant by ‘advanced’ IVR................................................................2
Things to consider.......................................................................................3
1. Increased Call & Transport Costs.................................................3
2. Handling call attached data and the Customer Experience..........4
3. Integration to the BroadSoft Telephony Platform.........................5
4. Platform Access..........................................................................5
5. Redundancy...............................................................................6
6. Billing Increments......................................................................6
7. Ongoing Management .............................................................7
8. Avoiding the ‘Black Box’............................................................8
Conclusion..................................................................................................8
Inference Solutions.....................................................................................9
In the United States....................................................................................10
In Australia..............................................................................................10
[1]

3. [ Introduction ]
It is quite common for BroadSoft service providers to be approached by customers requiring IVR
call-flows that are beyond the capabilities of the BroadSoft Auto Attendant. Failure to offer an
adequate IVR solution can lead to lost revenue, customer dissatisfaction and customer churn.
When such opportunities arise, the following options are typically considered by the service
provider:
1. Develop the capability in house and determine what skills are required to develop and
support these applications.
2. Do we deploy an on premise IVR solution and determine what the initial capital outlay will be.
3. Deploy a Software as a Service (SaaS) white label offering and determine the implications of
doing so.
This white paper will examine the options for those BroadSoft service providers that have
dismissed options 1 and 2 and are considering either how to approach option 3, or are already
using an existing SaaS IVR partner to provide these services.
[ What is meant by ‘advanced’ IVR? ]
Advanced IVR within the context of this paper descibes any IVR features and functions that cannot
be delivered by the BroadSoft Auto Attendant product. Such features could include:
• Reading back of data using text-to-speech software
• Integration to back end systems for completing database dips
• ‘Screen Popping’ of IVR data to an agent desktop
• Understanding spoken input from customers using speech recognition
• Automated outbound dialing from the BroadWorks platform using either lists or on demand
campaigns
• Reporting and analysis of call related metrics (e.g. IVR options selected)
[2]

4. [ Things to Consider ]
For those BroadSoft service providers that want to provide these services in a SaaS model, there
are a number of considerations.
1) Increased Call and Transport Costs
There are several ways in which a call might get to the IVR platform but the two most common
options are shown in the diagrams below.
Figure 1 (below) shows a typical ‘over the top’ solution. In this scenario the customer terminates
their calls to a toll free number directly onto the IVR platform. The toll free number is provided by
the IVR platform vendor. This can mean increased call costs for the customer as all of the minutes
then need to begin on the IVR platform regardless of whether they require ‘advanced’ IVR services
or just basic functions that the BroadSoft auto attendant could provide.
Figure
1
-­‐
Toll
Free
to
Call
Center
Flow
This type of solution can also put questions into the customer’s mind relating to the value the
service providers has in the overall value chain. For the service provider wishing to generate
increased revenues and margins by offering IVR services it can be difficult to articulate their value
proposition over and above just being the final destination of the call. It can also be difficult in
this scenario for a BroadSoft service provider to compete against vendors that have a combined
SaaS based IVR and call centre offering.
[3]

5. The second most common scenario (Figure 2, below) shows the call terminating on the
BroadWorks platform and then depending on the option chosen within the Auto Attendant the
call is transferred to the IVR platform for processing. A good example of this might where the
customer opts to pay a bill or obtain an account balance.
Figure
1
-­‐
Hair
Pinning
Calls
The increased costs here arise from those customers that want to speak to an operator after they
have received service from the IVR. The service provider is then required to ‘hair pin’ the call from
their BroadWorks platform to the IVR provider platform and then back again in order to speak
to an agent. This hair pinning then needs to be retained for the entire duration of the call and
increases the total cost of the transaction considerably.
2) Handling call attached data and the Customer Experience
One of the most important aspects of providing a good customer experience is that callers should
only be asked for information once. How many times have you provided information like account
numbers to an IVR only to have to repeat everything to the call centre agent once the call is
connected?
Having to do this not only causes frustration to the customer but due to the fact that the agent has
to take the time to ask for this information again, has the impact of increasing the average handle
time of the call and therefore the total cost to service the call. If the customer experience is to be a
good one it is essential that your IVR partner can provide the capability to pass any attached data
to the agent at the time the call is delivered to them.
[4]

6. 3) Integration to the BroadSoft Telephony Platform
The ability to integrate with the BroadWorks platform is an important consideration when
selecting an IVR product. A key element when deploying an IVR application is to understand
when to offer a particular service to a customer. For example, if you are offering a customer a call
back, this should only be offered when there are no agents available or the expected wait time is
too long. It is important to try and understand what is happening within the call centre prior to
passing calls through to queues, rather than just handing them off blindly.
The BroadSoft call centre software makes this information available via the XSI Event Package so
the IVR should be analysing this data prior to transferring any call to a call centre queue. Will this
integration to the BroadSoft call centre application take place? Does the partner have any experi-
ence with integration to the BroadSoft call centre solution? How much experience does the IVR
vendor have with the BroadWorks platform and how many developments have they completed?
Inference’s Studio interface has full support for XSI. Customers can create and manage XSI
subscriptions and then use subscription information within any IVR script. All events can be made
available as local variables to allow for incredibly flexible IVR interactions.
4) Platform Access
When looking at the IVR platform one should consider how access to the IVR platform is going to
be achieved. Will the call ingress and egress from your platform and will you retain call control?
Does the IVR partner have experience working with telephony service providers or is their model
direct? Do they support a ‘bring-your-own’ access model and if so, how is that achieved? Do they
have experience with service providers connecting via the public internet, point to point, peering
or cross connect or is their model always to have the call terminated on their platform?
Keeping a call on-net is vital for Service Providers as it allows them to preserve their place in the
value chain. Over-the-top providers typically erode the value of the service provider over time.
[5]

7. In addition, on-net solutions allow for simpler billing. Bills can be cut from the same CDR’s already
in use by the Service Provider.
Finally, an on-net solution allows the service provider to be selective as to when to offer IVR
functionality. When integrated with XSI, service providers can switch in IVRs when queue lengths
get to a predefined length or when an agent is unavailable.
5) Redundancy
Redundancy is a key aspect when considering any IVR offering. The question of how redundancy
will be achieved and what service level is being offered. Will redundancy be achieved by tak-
ing advantage of the group/enterprise trunk capability within your BroadWorks platform? What
will the customer experience be like in the event that a component of the solution fails? Will
redundancy require human intervention? In the event of a failure, how is the customer data
replicated and what will the impact be on the caller experience?
Inference’s SaaS platform allows providers to connect to multiple points of presence, specifying a
primary and secondary point-of-presence within a BroadWorks enterprise trunk.
In the event of a network interruption, calls are automatically routed to the secondary point-of-
presence. All customer data is automatically replicated in between the points-of-presence.
6) Billing Increments
Billing increments can have a considerable impact on managing the cost of the solution
depending on the average IVR transaction duration. In order to maintain control over costs, the
service provider should understand how IVR processing time is going to be billed and what are
the associated transport costs with SaaS offering? Is the IVR partner billing in per-second, thirty-
second or one minute increments? What is the minimum billing time on platform per call and
what is the minimum monthly spend on the platform?
[6]

8. Table 1, below, shows an example of how billing increments can have a significant impact on the
total monthly bill.
Total Cost (based on $0.06 per minute)
Call Duration Monthly Volume Per second Increments 30 seconds 60 seconds
40 seconds $1,600 $2,400 $2,400
65 seconds 40,000 $2,600 $3,600 $4,800
100 seconds $4,000 $4,800 $4,800
Table
1
-­‐
Billing
Increment
Cost
Comparison
7) Ongoing Management & Multi Tenancy
From a service provider perspective an important aspect of the solution should be whether it
supports multi-tenancy. What skills are required to develop the IVR call flows? Do technical
support teams need to learn VXML and CCXML in order to develop IVR scripts? Is integration
achieved graphically through the web interface or are programming languages required? Does
the IVR partner have a model for deploying common script templates within the service creation
environment?
Inference’s Studio environment is completely browser based and fully graphical. Our ‘no-code’
development approach means that anyone with an account is able to build IVR scripts immedi-
ately. There is no need to understand any of the under lying technologies or scripting languages.
Support for templates means that Service Providers are able to offer value added services to
their customers on day one. Whether they need a survey, an advanced auto attendant or a voice
enabled dialer - it all comes standard with Studio.
[7]

9. Studio is designed from the ground up to be multi-tenanted. A service provider can use the
supervisor mode to see what a customer sees and help troubleshoot any issues. Service providers
are also provided with their own internal use account for testing and script development.
8) Avoiding the ‘Black Box’
What reporting capability both from a billing perspective and performance perspective does your
partner offer? Is logging data easy to understand and transparent? How are Call Detail Records
calculated and can you use your own Call Detail Records to enure that your final bill to your
customer is accurate and defendable. These points can have a big impact on the amount of
administration time spent trying to work out whether the bill you have received is correct or not
and whether system performance figures are accurate.
Inference’s Studio environment allows customer to log whatever data is relevant to them. Data
can be shown in tabular form or graphically using the in built reporting. It can also be exported in
popular formats for use elsewhere.
[Conclusion]
There are a number of options that service providers have available to them in terms of providing
their customer with IVR services. By providing an ‘on net’ IVR service, the service provider is able
to deliver the most compelling value proposition to their customers. The ability for the service pro-
vider to retain call control ensures that they retain their place in that value chain and provide the
best opportunity for generating greater revenue and higher margins. By providing the opportunity
for service providers to ‘bring their own’ access, Inference Solutions ensure that service providers
are able to offer their customers fully integrated IVR services that integrate natively with their
BroadWorks platform.
[8]

10. [ Inference Solutions ]
Inference Solutions has been providing IVR services on the BroadWorks platform since the
inception of VXML processing capabilities on the Media Server in 2008. Inference understands
the BroadSoft platform and associated services in intimate detail.
Inference Studio is a service creation environment that was built with BroadSoft service providers
in mind and designed to be provided to your customers as a white label IVR service.
The architecture enables service providers to take advantage of the redundancy provided within
your enterprise/group SIP trunks and compliments your Communications as a Service offering
rather than competing with it as traditional IVR offerings will. Per second billing increments in-
sures you only pay for the time you consume on the platform and the services that you consume.
[9]

11. [ In the United States]
118a Fulton Street, #512
New York, NY 10038
Toll Free: 855 300 1219 - just say “Sales”
[ In Australia ]
Inference Solutions
Level 1, Suite 4
796 High Street
Kew, East, VIC 3102
Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Melbourne Australia, Inference has commercialized
technology built from many years of research and development in the fields of artificial intel-
ligence and machine learning. The result is a range of packaged self-service applications that
compliment and enhance Unified Communications and Call Centre offering for Service Providers.
The Inference suite of products combines our expertise in user interaction design and voice
automation to offer an innovative range of DTMF and speech enabled inbound and outbound IVR
applications for use across a range of verticals. Architectured specifically with service providers
in mind, the Inference Live platform provides a robust carrier grade platform using industry open
standards.
All our self-service applications provide compelling business cases by giving you real-time
management, operational cost reduction, measurable value through powerful analytics and a
consistent customer experience that scales. Service providers have the opportunity to on-board
new customer and increase existing ARPU by leveraging the Inference edge.
[ 10 ]