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www.voip-news.comBy Robert Poe
Given all the attention that contact centers for SMBs (small- to medium-sized businesses) have been getting lately, the timing of Siemens Communications Inc.'s latest announcement couldn't be better. The company has just introduced a contact-center application that runs on the server-based UC (unified communications) platform it released in March. That earlier introduction marked a big step toward making Siemens a software-based enterprise communications vendor. The new contact-center application makes the server platform even more useful.
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The New Platform and Application
The platform, the OpenScape Unified Communications Server, made Siemens' UC software available to run on Linux servers, so it was no longer necessary to buy Siemens hardware to get its UC technology. Simultaneous announcements introduced voice, video and UC-client applications that run on the platform. The new contact-center product extends the platform's reach to an area of crucial concern to SMBs: the efficient and professional handling of calls from existing or prospective customers.
The new application, called OpenScape Contact Center, does all the things contact-center software is supposed to do. It uses skills-based routing to get calls to agents with the right expertise. It also pops up windows that provide agents with various ways to contact each other. The application additionally lets agents detect each other's availability, and click to connect via phone, email or chat. It further lets them see how many customers are waiting in voice or chat queues, and displays data about their own call-handling performance. The application similarly provides managers with in-depth information about overall call-center performance.
The Benefits
Having the Siemens application running on the UC-server platform brings particular benefits. For example, it lets agents detect and contact non-agent support staff. "Before, the agent didn't have a view to these engineers and subject matter experts in real time," explained Paul Demopoulos, applications marketing manager with Siemens Enterprise Communications. "With unified communications, we expose the permissions-based presence of that person, who may work at home and be available by instant message. If they are available, there is instant collaboration, with one click to bridge them into the call."
The distributed software platform also makes it possible to extend the contact center geographically, an approach Siemens calls "open virtualized contact center." Users equipped with little more than the client software and a headset can work at home or anywhere else they can get a secure broadband connection. And enterprises can easily expand their operations to multiple sites and branch offices.
Buying another new product, Siemens' Voice Portal, at the same time offers even bigger benefits. Because the portal and call-center software work together, they provide "cradle to grave" tracking of calls. That means it's possible to follow a call from the time a customer reaches the portal and presses keys or speaks phrases to negotiate a menu of choices; through the call's transfer as necessary to an agent; and to the agent's resolution of the issue or transaction. With non-integrated setups, the call-tracking systems in voice portals are separate from those in call centers.
How to Get It
Siemens is offering the call-center product in packages that contain everything needed to get started, including the UC-server platform, OpenScape Voice, UC "personal edition" client software and the call-center software itself. A configuration for 100 phones including 10 agent seats and one manager seat costs $42,500. For 100 phones including 60 agents and one manager, the tab rises to $117,500. The product will be available June 30, 2008. The Voice Portal is already available, with a 48-port setup going for $31,150.
Though the call-center packages start small, they can grow with your company. The voice and contact-center applications can expand to handle up to 100,000 voice users and 7,500 agents. That will be helpful if you’ve just gotten funding and moved out of your Stanford dorm room, since it means they'll be able to meet your UC needs for at least three or four more years.
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