Call centers are a natural
and obvious application for CTI technology, but until recently,
computer telephony within the call center universe has focused
on such applications as delivering screen pops before the
agent took the call and employing Automatic Number Identification
(ANI) to trigger database lookups or to determine where
the call should be routed. The integration of interactive
voice response (IVR) applications brought another level
of automation to the modern call center, prompting the caller
for keypad or spoken input to activate database-driven responses.
These and other technologies are designed to reduce call-handling
times and thus increase the call handling volume of the
agent. However, shifting economies are changing the way
call centers are managed. For the CTI industry, the good
news is that those changes are also creating an expanded
new definition of computer telephony integration.
Hence the creation of ASD
softswitch. The future configuration for call centers will
consist of multiple, smaller operations distributed in strategic
geographic locations and linked through the Internet. This
distributed multi-site model will allow operators to set
up shop in regions with greater employee availability. It
avoids the turnover and resulting lower productivity problems
associated with labor-short market locations, while still
delivering the economies of scale associated with a true
centralized call center. It makes use of todays most advanced
connectivity and database technologies, and it leverages
the more flexible, open-standards CTI solutions of tomorrow.
This new approach creates, at last, the true virtual call
center of the future today. By intelligently balancing calls
among geographically distributed call centers, the virtual
call center maximizes the efficient use of all available
customer service resources. Sophisticated measurement and
analytical tools give managers both detailed and enterprise-wide
perspectives on call center activities, supporting quick
adjustments to reduce costs and improve service response. |