17 Distributed Contact Centre

Progressive evolution of voice services in the VoIP area led in the previous years to the idea of implementing IP telephony in the CESNET2 network and organising the necessary support for its users. The particular aim of this project was to pilot a new voice service - a contact centre. As a technology for this pilot test we chose the solution offered by Cisco Systems, which is a part of the modular product named Cisco Architecture for Voice, Video and Integrated Data (AVVID). We decided to deploy the contact centre in a fully redundant configuration consisting of at least two nodes. The project prepared the scene for a broad utilisation of IP-only voice services in the CESNET2 network. We are now able to support each CESNET member who wants to implement an infrastructure for such voice service.

17.1 Characteristics of the System

IP Contact Centre (IPCC) is a modular set of products, which are used either stand-alone or as an integrated system providing all necessary functions of a contact centre based on specific user requirements. It is also possible to extend the system by including new functions like output modification, monitoring and archiving call details, charging and CRM. The administrator of contact centre can effectively manage the entire system and modify promptly its configuration according to the actual needs.

The basis for the IPCC is the Intelligent Contact Management Server (ICM), the control and monitoring component of the contact centre. This product has the following functions:

monitoring and control of peripherals (ACD, IVR and other communications channels)
human resources monitoring, i.e., management of operators and supervisors, which ensures an efficient distribution of incoming calls among them.
definition of conditions that express relationships between the consumer and service provider.
consolidation of data about the operation of whole contact centre.

Figure 17.1: Logical scheme of call centre structure

ICM system allows to build large-scale solutions with the possibility of using different peripherals. The peripherals are controlled through the Peripheral Gateways (PG), which communicate with the ICM core through a protocol based on the CSTA standard and with each peripheral through a proprietary protocol. If necessary, interfaces for new peripherals or communication channels can be easily implemented. Another integral parts of the IPCC are a software phone exchange Cisco CallManager (CCM) and a system for automatic communication with the customer - Interactive Voice Response server (IP IVR).

The key benefit of contact centres based on IP and VoIP lies in their flexibility - their set-up is relatively simple and they can also easily be integrated in the operational environment of the application at hand. The specific advantages are:

easy implementation of new customised operator workplaces.
possibility of distributing one contact centre over more locations with centralised control, using just the existing network infrastructure.
effective possibility of using home-based operators.
new options of voice and data integration in operators' applications.
the administration and development of a complete solution can be entrusted to the consumer.

ICM guarantees routing of incoming and outgoing contacts to operators who have the most relevant information with respect to customer and contact characteristics, such as:

way of contact - by phone, e-mail etc.
origin of contact - e.g., phone number of the caller, address of the e-mail sender, web page
contact place - called phone numbers, URL web pages visited by the client, e-mail address of the receiver
duration of contact
information about the client (area of interests etc.) obtained from e.g., DTMF choice at the IVR system, text of an e-mail or data entered to web forms.
information extracted from the existing customer databases that are available to the contact centre.
number of calls being currently served by the operators.

Call routing rules are defined in a graphical user interface by means of block diagrams and then fine-tuned off-line by internal ICM components. Only afterwards they are activated for the operations in real time.

IP contact centre enables the concept of Computer Telephony Integration (CTI), i.e., the possibility of integrating telephony and contact centre management with existing external applications. To this end, the applications must be equipped with the CTI application interface. IPCC offers several solutions starting from ready-to-run applications through development environment to third-party solutions integrated by leading manufacturers of CRM systems.

Apart from the phone contacts, IPCC supports other communication channels like e-mail or interactive communication via web pages. In the latter case, the Peripheral Gateway (PG) assigns the contact an appropriate application.

Cisco E-mail Manager (CeM) is a module capable of handling large volumes of e-mails. It is implemented as an e-mail client communicating with mail servers through SMTP, POP3 or IMAP4 protocols. CeM analyses incoming e-mails and classifies them according to set of predefined rules. The operators than process the categorised e-mails in a web application. For example, they can answer an e-mail using one of standard templates, access the archive of previous e-mails, forward the e-mail to other operators for further processing (including internal comments) and so on.

Cisco Collaboration Server (CCS) supports the interactive communication between contacts and operators by providing a guided web browsing. The CCS can also use common web technologies for complementing the phone communication by visual presentation means. The communicating parties can thus exchange or share information in many different forms:

cross-sharing of web pages - customers can send selected pages or automatically follow the navigation through web pages by the partner.
cross-sharing of forms - e.g., the operator can help to the customer with filling in difficult parts of an order and the customer can just supply his or her personal data.
text-based conversation (chat).
virtual table for drawing diagrams and writing text.
sharing the window of an arbitrary application with other parties, including the possibility of keyboard and mouse sharing.

The CCS can also be coupled with the traditional voice operation of the contact centre. For example, the client can use a simple web form to request a voice call-back from the contact centre. The IP contact centre then mediates a phone call between an operator and the customer. Both participants can then communicate by voice as well as by web page sharing.

17.2 Changes in system configuration

The contact centre is configured as a full redundant system of two branch points. One branch point is in Prague (CESNET) and the other in Ostrava (VSB-TUO). The Prague CCM is set up as a publisher and the one in Ostrava as a subscriber (back-up server). During 2003 we upgraded the the whole contact centre to new versions - CCM 3.3 and ICM 5.0. While doing the upgrade, we again have to cope with the complexity of system configuration, where software components from Cisco Systems must cooperate properly with the underlying Microsoft Windows 2000 operating system. We had to lead extensive consultations with the vendor of the IPCC in order to resolve these difficulties.

In the second half of 2003, the second PG within the ICM component was put into operation. This PG supports the CEM and CCS applications. Under this setup we tested the co-operation with voice recording service of Kerio Voice Mail. Everything worked without any complications and the voicemail system was able to access all mailboxes. However, during this test we found out that the Gatekeeper control component (GK) must be configured in the GRC mode. Currently only gk-ext.cesnet.cz can be configured this way.

Figure 17.2: Simple script editing in IPCC

During 2003 we also tested different types of phone sets and and their compatibility with CCM. These tests resulted in the purchase of IP phones Cisco 7940. These phones support both the Skinny Station protocol and the SIP protocol. The current operating version of the CCM does not support the SIP protocol. Consequently, we intend to launch the new version 4.0. during next year. The new version will support all VoIP protocols we need for both operational and testing purposes.

We also bought Welltech LanPhone 101 phones for H.323 testing. These phones can communicate from a private network through a NAT device. Another useful feature offered by some IP phones, for example Cisco 7920, is the WiFi support. We tested their compatibility with the whole CCM system. In all tested cases the IP phones worked flawlessly within the whole system and it is thus possible to use them in a production environment. As a consequence of further developments in IP telephony we expect to see a number of new manufacturers of phone's components in the near future. As a result, more compatibility tests may be necessary for ensuring that the new phone set can be integrated into our system and our IP network. To enable better mobility of our customers, we also test the access to the CCM using software applications like SoftPhone.

All phones we purchased were distributed to the operating staff in PoPs of the CESNET2 network in order to help reduce the cost of network administration.

For calling through CCM, we acquired a public prefix from the GTS operator. The format of the prefix is 234 680 xxx. This step enables us to create conditions for opening the CESNET contact centre to the public telephone network. This step also rectified the previous interim solution, which utilised internal phone numbers of VSB-TUO for the contact centre. The assigned number space is divided in accord with the rest of voice service in the CESNET2 network as follows:

234 680 1xx - for contact centre needs, call distribution and information services
234 680 [2-4]xx - for connecting Call Manager phone sets
234 680 5xx - available for CESNET videoconferences
234 680 [8-9]xx - SIP testing

This allocation is already in use and all phones registered to each CCM were assigned a branch line following the rules. The same holds for lines that are being tested for the needs of the contact centre and individual information services. The whole system of redundant CCM, which has undergone a detailed testing, is now ready to accommodate CCM systems of CESNET members. In the first half of 2004 we intend to start a pilot project investigating a setup in which the central CCM system will be the head of subordinated CCM systems operated by selected CESNET members. In the context of this project we intend to submit an application to the Czech Telecommunication Office in order to receive an access code into the CESNET2 network.

Figure 17.3: List of phones registered in CCM

During 2003 we managed to configure and launch new services for the users of IP phones, e.g., caller identification that provides the receiving side with auxiliary information about the caller or the phone book of Czech Telecom with flexible search capabilities.

17.3 Future aims of the project

Several tests of the system are now underway, where we adjust the routing scripts according to the suggestions of our users. The outcome should be a set of optimised scripts tailored to real operational conditions of the CESNET2 network.

We also prepare rules for service provisioning with respect to connecting terminal components (either separately or through external CCMs). This will require extensive tests of the CCM configuration under conditions that may potentially occur in real operation but cannot be simulated in advance.

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