Modern technology stack drives faster Call Center Software development

Modern contact center platforms are built on top of powerful technology stack. The underlying stack makes it simpler for the developers of call center software to focus on the building functionality around the two main aspects of voice customer contact, namely the Dialer and the ACD Engine. I am not ignoring the growth in the use of social media and chat within inbound centers for live customer contact. A good ACD should treat be able to all media types and queue them in a similar fashion using skills based routing and queue prioritization.

A look at the modern technology stack available for a contact center platform reveals the extent to which technology stack can impact the architecture of the platform. Operating systems like Linux with its networking tool-sets make it is possible to offer a distributed setup labelled as the Cloud Contact Center. Both the machine and human resources associated with such an operation can be distributed. The growth of VoIP and proliferation of SIP has taken the mystery out of telecom turn-ups and inter-connectivity. The availability of MySQL and Apache has revolutionized database and Web driven interface. Above all, the advent of a powerful hybrid PBX in the form of Asterisk has taken over the complete burden of the underlying telephony platform.

Now, the developers of Call Center Software have only to focus on the functional aspect of Dialer and ACD engine development. It is granted that the expectation from the end-user is a lot higher but this is more due to the maturity of the customer contact center operations as well as the economic pressures of productivity. The availability of feature-rich call center software for Asterisk telephony driven by the technology stack on Linux, MySQL and Apache has contributed greatly to the growth of Cloud and VoIP.

Web services API for Integrating into a Dialer and ACD software

Dialer and ACD are an integral part of every customer contact operation. Contact Centers require an ACD to control and manage incoming call flow. They may require a Dialer to perform List based dialing in predictive, preview or progressive mode.

Asterisk is a well know hybrid PBX ideally suited for building Customer Contact Technology Platform. Q-Suite is the leading Contact Center ACD and Dialer software suite for Asterisk. Q-Suite can be deployed at-premise or in the Cloud and, can be used for an enterprise or as a multi-tenant platform.

Organizations may have existing applications and CRM as a part of their business operations and may require integration with Q-Suite ACD and Dialer database and software to easily move data in and out of the contact center suite in real-time.

Q-Suite 5.5 offers a Web Services API to allow external applications to effectively automate different aspects of the contact center operations. Q-suite Web Services API brings immediate benefit by simplifying access to Campaign Services, Lead management, Reporting and Data Transfer. Marketing campaigns using Q-Suite’s Predictive, Preview or Progressive Dialing modes can use real-time lead insertion and extraction web services, for immediate dialing and status integration into CRM applications. Inbound ACD Web services can provide Live Agent stats, Live Queue stats, Live Call flow stats and Call details. It can also provide real-time floor information for Live Dashboards and Workforce management.

These Web Services API, in conjunction with Q-Suite’s extensive API for CTI Integration, provide external applications with a comprehensive library that allows complete integration of the advanced ACD and Dialer functionality available for Asterisk.

Importance of Simplified API for CRM integration to ACD and Dialer

CRM drives sales by providing centralized customer and lead management with instant access to the history of each customer and prospect. Most CRM software offer up to date customer history on demand with access through the Web or desktop application. The power of lead management and CRM can be amplified by integration to a Dialer platform to improve efficiency and productivity. Most Dialers provide for different modes of dialing like Predictive, Preview and Progressive. ACD integration to CRM allows better management of incoming calls. The most important aspect of setting up CRM integration is the ability of Dialer and ACD software to work seamlessly with the CRM.

It is critical to review the API available for the integration of Dialer/ACD system to understand how well it can work with any CRM. There will be some overlap in functionality like real-time and historical management information between CRM and the Dialer/ACD platform.

Typically the API for integration of a Dialer/ACD platform with any CRM should present three broad sets of methods. The first set of API methods cover setup and account management of the sales or customer service workforce so that they can be setup using the existing CRM user management information without duplication. The second set of methods within the API for CRM integration will cover the requirements of the day to day management. The third set of methods will be CRM specific custom requirements. These are custom methods added by the Dialer/ACD software developers to address specific CRM needs.

The benefits of a successful integration of an ACD and Dialer software to a given CRM platform provides faster access and better customer reach thus differentiating the company in competitive situations.

Social Networking, Contact Center operations and Customer Satisfaction

You guessed it right. The new buzz in marketing is "Social Networking". It is interesting to see how technology providers are pursuing this buzz. We recently had Salesforce announcing acquisition of Radian6 to monitor, analyze and engage in social media conversations within its CRM platform. Now Cisco has released a self-commisioned whitepaper on next generation contact centers conducted by Forrester. It mentions customer dissatisfaction as a key finding. We all deal with customer service for services like banking, insurance, phone plans, cable and internet. I have left out many more services. The general perception is that customers are left unsatisfied while dealing with customer service contact centers to resolve outstanding issues.

What can we do about it? This white paper talks about opening new channels of communication through social networking tools. I would rather that organizations setting up customer contact centers take some time to analyze the root cause of this less than stellar customer satisfaction.

Contact centers are the first level of interaction with the organization for most customers. Customer service representatives cannot resolve issues if they are saddled with many broken processes in the back-end. They should not be used as a buffering layer to shield management and process inadequacies. Companies should market products and services after installing adequate processes in place to handle all the customer service interactions.

Modern day contact center technology platforms come with very good tools for CTI integration to CRM, ERP and other customer applications driving the business. Contact centers running with good Dialer and ACD software can effectively integrate to all Web based and proprietary solutions in the back-end. It is not more and different channel types but effective processes that will ensure success of customer service. Front end call center representatives cannot be effective with broken back-end processes. Unhappy customers will eventually move on and the cost of bringing new customers might prove to be more expensive.

Convergence of Dialers, Cloud Setup and CRM Integration

Quite an interesting phenomenon is unfolding with the convergence of CRM (Customer Relationship Management), Cloud Setup and Dialer technology. As we all know, CRM is the heartbeat of any sales team. CRM software provides significant edge for sales operation to scale. Similarly Web and IP connectivity form the information superhighway connecting all the major data centers around the globe in this phenomenon called "Cloud". This is seen in the growth and availability of reliable Data Centers around the world. Phone service is more important than ever because of the proliferation of Web and Online business that has changed the way commerce is carried out. Because of this, Dialers have become the engine for driving for customer contact.

Let us look at this convergence in little more detail. Dialers are a part of every modern contact center. Integrating CRM and Dialer drives efficiency of customer contact. There is some degree of duplication between the record keeping functionality of a CRM software and that of a Contact Center Software. Therefore the level of integration between a CRM and a Dialer is dictated by the requirements of the operation. Since both are database driven, there is a compelling need to keep the Dialer and the CRM databases synchronized.

Cloud setup makes it easy for running geographically distributed operations. It also allows on-demand growth in data centers and reduces the need for large capital expense. Availability of sophisticated PBX along with ACD and Dialer software has driven the build out of Cloud based CRM and Dialer platforms. This especially true with Asterisk, the leading hybrid PBX. Q-Suite, a feature rich multi-tenant contact center software for Asterisk provides a viable option for CRM integration to Dialer whether in Cloud or on premise.

Customer contact centers in Cloud

Cloud is well known now. Considering the fact that Cloud used to called Co-location sites or data centers, what is different about it now? Well, the infrastructure and bandwidth has become more powerful and reliable, at the same time less inexpensive. Also "Cloud" is a neat single word to explain it all nicely.

Cloud for data is one thing and Cloud for voice is an all together different matter. The infrastructure and bandwidth considerations become paramount in planning for setting up voice communication services in the Cloud. Proliferation of SIP (VoIP) is the key driver in the move towards Cloud based infrastructure for Customer Contact centers. There is also the availability of robust and powerful ACD and Dialer software to drive customer contact services is the Cloud. At Indosoft, we have been in the fore front deploying Cloud based contact centers as early as 2007 in Europe and Australia. Now we have a world-wide presence and with the availability of excellent infrastructure, the march towards Cloud contact center services continues.

Use of Outbound Dialer in Collections

Delinquent customers impact profitability and therefore increase the cost of doing business. Collections are a process of debt recovery with challenging conditions where efficiency of contact matters. Most collections and recoveries mechanism depend on efficient dialers to automate the process of customer contact. Dialer is the most important component of a debt recovery and collections contact center. The Dialer refers to the overall dialing system and should offer advanced dialing features capable of running multiple concurrent outbound campaigns in both Predictive and non-Predictive dialing modes. Collections and Debt recovery requires account code dialing where every account has multiple phone contacts. Another key component to successful outreach programs is the ability to blend with inbound calling.

A Predictive dialer should be self-pacing and efficient in order to increase agent talk time. Other key features to look for in a high-quality dialer are Concurrent Dialing, Individual Pacing Setup and Drop Rate Controls.

Indosoft offers Q-Suite, an ACD and Dialer software for Asterisk. Q-Suite offers a predictive dialer for Asterisk with precision controls for outbound campaigns to maximize productivity. Its Concurrent Dialer, Individual Pacing Setup, Drop Rate Controls, and Self-Pacing algorithm with multiple concurrent dialers enable call center floor managers to achieve the dynamics required for profitability.

Asterisk, the leading hybrid telephony switch is uniquely beneficial as a contact center technology platform for Collections and Recovery. The underlying telephony switch usually a large portion of the initial cost for contact center, comes at no cost because Asterisk is a proven, open source, next-generation switch. Therefore, a Collections and Recovery call center that utilizes Asterisk is capable of delivering an immediate cost savings.