A pocket guide tobuilding effective contactcenter communicationsSecond edition

This new edition of the Pocket Guide to Building Effective ContactCenters is now updated to take into account the recent changesaffecting contact centers today, from advancements intechnology through to the challenge of increasing regulation.The booklet is designed to help contact center professionals tounderstand the issues of applying the right type of technologyaccording to the needs of their particular type of business.Produced as a reference tool for contact center managers, salesmanagers and even managing directors, the guidebook is packedfull of useful information such as the basic principles behind thetechnology, advice on improving the efficiency and ROI of youroperation, and an invaluable source of relevant trade associationsas well as comprehensive glossary of current technological andindustry standard terms.

Every business is looking to retain and increase market share.Understanding the technology that can achieve this representsthe first step.

Richard CostelloPresident, Amcat.Rcostello@amcat.com

INTRODUCTION

Contents

INTRODUCTION Page

CHAPTER ONEThe Methodology Behind Effective Customer 1Interaction Management

CHAPTER TWOIntroducing Computer Telephony Integration 4

CHAPTER THREECompleting the Contact Center Jigsaw 6

CHAPTER FOURThe Contact Center Becomes Part of the Enterprise 13

CHAPTER FIVEThe IP-enabled Contact Center 15

CHAPTER SIXContact Center Best Practice 17

CHAPTER SEVENUseful Industry Bodies & Associations 20

CHAPTER EIGHTGlossary of Terms 22

About Amcat & Contact Information 32

integrated contact center solutions combine all of the desiredcontact capabilities and functionality into a single,comprehensive, unified solution.

In the past, in order to obtain the ‘bells and whistles’ of inboundand outbound contact center functionality, it took a team of ITpersonnel working full-time to put all the pieces together. Onceset up, the long-term maintenance and upgrades required to keepeverything working could also be prohibitively time-consumingand expensive. Not only that, but ROI (Return on investment) wasmore difficult and took longer to obtain.

Today, comprehensive inbound/outbound solutions, that aretightly integrated and are virtually maintenance-free, combine allof the complex capabilities associated with contact centeroperations. Instead of depending on an IT professional ordepartment to assemble a solution that includes inbound callrouting (ACD), self-service applications (IVR), predictive dialing(outbound), reporting, recording, agent call-backs, e-mail and soon, you can purchase an integrated contact center softwaresolution. These solutions run on industry standard PC serversusing basic telephony equipment from the major suppliers, andthey are implemented in a matter of days. These systems delivermeasurable ROI, which is often seen in as little as weeks ormonths.

What is CRM?The concept of CIM is closely connected with its CRM counterpart.Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the concept ofmanaging the customer through the full lifecycle of therelationship. Key phases of the cycle include customeracquisition, customer service, proactive communication, and re-acquisition of the customer, if possible, as the cycle comes fullcircle. A company’s CRM database contains extremely valuabledata that increasingly is being shared with, and working in

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The Methodology Behind Effective CustomerInteraction Management (CIM)

High quality communication with your customers is critical to themainstay of any business and it is the call or contact center thatoften represents the epicenter of good customer relationshipmanagement. In an age where customer service is compulsoryfor a successful business, understanding how to effectivelymanage your company’s interactions with its clients andprospects has never been more important.

Discussion surrounding customer relationship management andcontact management may ultimately boil down to the basics ofdelivering good service, sound marketing principles andunderstanding your customer’s needs.

What is CIM?Customer Interaction Management (CIM) is the software ortechnology segment that drives the contact center. Whether thecontact is inbound, outbound or multi-media (e-mail, fax, SMSetc.), this software manages the client communication processthrough a virtual plethora of functions including routing the callto an appropriate agent, looking up data and recording new datato a database, reporting it and so much more. At the core of CIMis a database operation driven by Computer Telephony Integration(CTI), which we will return to in Chapter 2. CTI is the engine thatdrives and facilitates successful contacts and is created by themarriage of computers with the telephone.

CTI is the key element of contact center software, whetherdelivering great customer service or sophisticated outboundmarketing and telesales. This technology has been moreaccessible or attainable for businesses of all sizes. The new

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CHAPTER ONE

Introducing Computer Telephony Integration

This chapter explains how technology based on ComputerTelephony Integration (CTI) acts as the foundation of any well-managed contact center. The ability to effectively manage anduse data is essential to improving the productivity and efficiencyof any interaction and to reduce contact center agent transactiontime.

An integrated contact center solution using CTI provides a ‘screenpop’ on the agent’s computer display. The screen pop displayspertinent customer information along with prompts for how tomanage the call for both inbound and outbound transactions.Information for the screen pop comes from the contact centerdatabase and can also come from other enterprise sources.

The ability to quickly display existing data and to capture newcustomer data improves efficiencies in a number of ways,including:

• Allowing the agent to control the flow and pace of the contact

• Reducing talk and wrap-up time• Providing data instantly when transferring calls

between two agents

The Value of CTIWhile we have all had both good and bad experiences withcontact centers, it is likely that CTI played a role in many of thebetter experiences. A CTI-driven experience is characterised byknowledgeable agents that can anticipate, and react to yourrequests, without lengthy delays, whilst the relevant informationis retrieved.

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conjunction with, the contact center/CIM software.

How are CIM and CRM Coming Together?Contact center operations and of course, client interactions, cangreatly benefit from the information that resides in CRM systemsand company-wide databases.

For outbound calling, harnessing company-wide data is critical toenable telesales and communication campaigns to be planned sothey are based on all of the knowledge and customer data that isavailable, in real-time. For instance, contacts for a campaign canbe selected based on different criteria such as ‘existing businessrelationships’, ‘demographics’ and/or ‘best practices’. EmployingCRM principles to proactive contact, results in more effective andmeaningful outbound campaigns that are welcomed byconsumers. These customers are more likely to want what youare selling or be more open to your message.

For inbound contacts, technology that enables the agent to drawon information from enterprise database applications means thatthe length of the agent transaction is reduced leading to happiercustomers and increased ROI for the company.

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CHAPTER TWO

Completing the Contact Center Jigsaw

In chapter one and two we discussed the principles of goodservice (CRM/CIM) and the foundation of the technology platform(CTI) that makes this possible. However, every contact center isdifferent. Some will handle predominantly inbound calls, otherswill concentrate on outbound calling and others will do both(blended). While CTI gives you the overall benefits of combiningtraditional telephone systems with computers, there are othertechnology components involved. Below we look at the intrinsicparts that work cohesively together to produce today’s call center.

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) is used for routing inboundcalls. CLI and DNIS (Dialled Number Identification Service) dataelements are joined with the CTI ‘screen pop’ to route calls toprimary, secondary, overflow or skills groups – both on-site or atremote locations. Typical features of the ACD include On-hold,Intermittent and Out of Hours messaging, Service Level Alerts(SLAs) and Voice Mail Call-back queuing.

Properly deployed ACD functionality can significantly reduceinbound abandonment rates (see chapter 6 on ‘Best Practice’),increase customer satisfaction and reduce payroll costs bydelivering calls to the right agent, first time. Statisticalinformation is held about every call within the ACD, andthroughout the contact, to allow managers to view the overall‘picture’ of each transaction.

Outbound Contact and Predictive DialingPredictive dialers manage outbound calling to maximise agentproductivity and are used for a variety of objectives includingcollections, telesales and proactive customer care. Predictive

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CHAPTER THREE

What is the result of not using CTI in your contact activity? We’veall experienced these types of inefficient and frustrating calls. Theagent asks for your account number multiple times. Each timethe call is transferred, the agent does not seem to capture orunderstand your information making the call take longer. Firsttime call resolution is rare in contacts centers without CTI. A lackof CTI creates follow up calls that cost more time and money, andcan also demoralize staff. When CTI is implemented andintegrated throughout the contact center, calls are handled faster(average is 30%) and your customers report a more pleasantexperience.

The diagram below shows a page from an outbound agent scriptfor a debt collection company. The page has multiple fields thatwill be populated through CTI from the database allowing theagent to have an effective conversation with the called party. Thecontact center solution synchronizes the delivery of the voicealong with the data ‘pop’ to the agent PC screen so there is nodelay between “hello” and when the data appears on the screen.

5Agent application - Debt Collection

contribute to ROI are:

• Reducing repetitive information requests, freeing agentsfor more complex customer service activities

• Advanced routing of calls to the ‘right agent’, such as language skills or customer account status

• Maintaining accumulated information to display with the CTI ‘screen pop’, reducing information look-up time

• Displaying an appropriate CTI page based on ‘path’through the IVR selected by caller, helping to manage call flow and pacing

• Reducing staffing expense (and associated overhead) byfulfilling customer service requests through automationrather than personnel

• Reduce PSTN (public switched telephone network) costs by reducing the amount of time callers use a Toll-free inbound number

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dialers employ advanced algorithms to determine dialing actionsthat screen out and document to a central database,unproductive results including disconnected numbers, noanswers, busy signals, answering machines and other systemmessages. Systems also have the ability to play recordedmessages, for example, to answering machines. Only liveconnections with called parties are connected to agents.Predictive dialers have precise controls and features to allowthem to strictly adhere to international Do Not Call and outboundcontact regulations.

Automated outbound contact can be operated with an unlimitednumber of projects, each with its own calling list and discretemanagement parameters. When predictive dialing is not theright fit, other outbound dialing modes, including power, preview,unattended and manual, can achieve specific business objectiveswhile providing the full CTI capabilities of the contact centersystem.

Self-Service Applications (IVR)Self-Help or Interactive Voice Response (IVR) allows the contactcenter manager to create interactive, self-service routing or datacollection actions to either minimize live agent intervention,enhance ACD routing capability or speed data acquisition whenjoined with the CTI agent ‘screen pop’.

An integrated IVR solution works with the contact centerdatabase allowing information to be captured about the callerthrough standard DTMF tone recognition and speech recognition.The IVR module can also be interfaced with other enterprisedatabases.

Depending on the type of inbound call activity, IVR can providesignificant benefits to the contact center. A ROI of 3 to 18 monthsis often achieved. Some of the functions the IVR can perform to

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IVR/Self Help GUI Tool-Kit

information and control tools they need to make fast andaccurate work force and project decisions.

Decision Support Tools - reportingManagers have instant access to a wealth of decision support andmanagement information including:

• Project activity and agent real-time statistics• Agent productivity statistics• Historical reporting• Web browser-based reporting• Advanced reporting for reports customisation

Multiple Management Console configurations allow customizedviews and control tools by various management members. Thecontact center can even be viewed and controlled from remotelocations such as offshore contact centers.

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In addition, IVR can even be used in outbound campaigns forunassisted outbound notification/response, survey or collectiontype activity.

Voice Recording and Quality AssuranceFor both quality assurance and legal requirements (e.g. financialservices), many contact centers digitally record critical portions ofcustomer transactions. In particular, outsourced call centers areoften required to submit conversation samples to theircontracting client. Such recordings can be invaluable in validatingsales, commitments, instructions or other key parts of aconversation as part of a quality control programme or forresolving legal disputes.

Integrated contact center solutions either include transactionrecording capability as standard, or work easily with third partysolutions in the marketplace. Recordings can be initiated byeither the agent or by ‘triggers’ from script events. Recordedtransactions are labelled and stored in a designated area of acomputer network for easy identification and retrieval.In addition to the Recording capability, many solutions includethe ability for management personnel to silently monitor, coachor ‘break into’ agent conversations. This quality assurance featureassists in training, standards compliance or any remediationneeded in the contact center.

Workforce and Project Management tools A contact center must be able to monitor the ‘room productivity’,call activity levels, agent performance, list performance, projectperformance and a variety of other critical key performanceindicators (KPIs). This information must be in real-time so thatmanagement can fully understand the contact center dynamics.The integrated contact center solution has command and controlfacilities that provide supervisors and team leaders with the

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Real-Time Agent Productivity

Management Tools• List building and database management wizards• Record wizards to locate, edit and export groups of records• Campaign/Project control parameters• Telephone Preference Service (TPS) list management• CTI ‘screen pop’ development tools• Grouping and routing tools• Service Level creation tools• Agent/User profile and skills management

Historical ReportingReporting is a key aspect of any contact center operation. Anintegrated contact management solution provides capabilitiesfor generating, retrieving and transmitting reports. Thesesolutions usually provide a library of pre-formatted reporttemplates to suit most business environments, and all arecustomisable to an organization’s needs.

Call center reports include:

• Activity History by Agent• Activity History by Queue• Agent Performance Trends• Call Volume by Time of Day• Call Logs• Talk, Wait, Ready Times by Agent• Call Outcome Activity• Service Level Activity• List Progress Activity• Outbound Dialing Activity• Hourly Productivity• Summary Productivity

Some solutions also provide reports in browser-compatibleformats to distribute performance statistics via an intranet or

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the Internet. Contact center managers or contact center clientscan view information with the click of the button, reducing costlyproduction and collating times.

Multi-Media ContactContact centers today are incorporating multimedia contactapplications so that agents and customers can communicateeffectively by whichever means they choose. Many integratedsolutions today combine communication formats such as voice, e-mail, fax, instant messaging (SMS) and video into a single queuefor distribution to agents. Known as a universal queue, thisfeature allows the same agent who handles phone calls, forexample, to also handle emails during slower periods.

Inbound and outbound Email & text messages: Inboundand outbound email and text message capabilities have becomeimportant functions in multi-media contact centers. Inboundemails and texts can be handled in a similar fashion as inboundphone calls. Messages are routed to appropriate agent groups forresponse and these groups can also be assigned to otherresponsibilities.

Report: All campaigns

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out on their or readily integrate with existing telephonyinfrastructure including ACDs, PBXs or soft PBXs. This integrationallows calls to be transferred across the entire enterprise, which isespecially important when the contact center is the primarypublic facing point of contact for a company.

Acting as its own SwitchIf there is no existing telephony infrastructure, the integrated CIMsolution can also stand on its own and connect directly with thePSTN for outgoing calls to provide ACD capabilities to routeinbound contacts. In this case, the solution connects directly tothe PSTN. This allows calls to come in or go out to the publicnetwork directly without a PBX.

Agent Phone and Data RequirementsWhen the CIM solution is planned properly, agents have a singlephone or headset plugged into the telephony resources that haveaccess to the entire enterprise. They also have a PC attached to alocal or wide area network so that they can receive a screen popalong with the agent script associated with the call. The voice anddata are synchronized by the contact center solution to arrive atthe same time.

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The Contact Center Becomes Part of theEnterprise

We have discussed how contact centers are increasingly tied toenterprise–wide data sources and CRM systems, as part of astrategy to feed the contact system with vital corporate data. Thecontact center solutions of today are also easily integrated withall types of corporate mission-critical applications as well asmainframes, corporate databases and also the Web and Web-based applications.

Today, well-architected contact center solutions are built toindustry-wide standards including support for open and standarddatabases such as Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle. Also, support forMicrosoft.NET, Internet Explorer and other standards are now partof a compatible strategy designed to promote true integrationand communication between the contact center and theenterprise.

Some vendors also publish an API (Application ProgrammingInterface) so that companies and other vendors can write theirapplications to interface with the technology of the call center.

Screen Pops for Third Party ApplicationsDue to the open architecture, it is also possible for the contactcenter solution to provide ‘screen pops’ directly into third partyapplications, for example, debt collection applications. Theinteroperability between front and back office systems enablesthe call center agent to operate in one application whilst on thephone.

Integration with Existing Telephony InfrastructureThe new generation of open contact center solutions can stand

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CHAPTER FOUR

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locations by providing more economical voice and dataconnectivity over network compared with using traditional phoneline connectivity for separate voice and data. In the followingdiagram, VoIP is used to connect two remote or distributed callcenter locations. The locations could be located anywhere in theworld as long as sufficient IP bandwidth is provided.

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Router

Contacts

PSTN

Amcatsystem

Router

Agents

Agents

Router converts voice and data packets to becommunicated over WAN or satellite

Amcat fully supports voice and data carried over a widearea network to create a VoIP distributed call center

Router

WAN or satellitenetwork

PBX

PBX

The IP-enabled Contact Center

This chapter introduces the concept of Voice over IP (VoIP) or IP-enablement for call centers and explores how companies aretaking advantage of its cost savings today.

What is Voice over IP?VoIP is the two-way transmission of voice traffic over a packet-switched IP (Internet Protocol) network—either a privateenterprise intranet or WAN (wide area network), or a public carriernetwork or the Internet. An “IP contact center,” uses IP to operateits services on a converged voice and data infrastructure.

What type of organization would benefit from an IPcontact center?An good candidate for an IP contact center is a medium to largeorganization that must connect with agents spread acrossmultiple sites or remote offices. In addition, small to mediumcompanies that are establishing new sites or expandingoperations can also benefit from IP operations. Introducing IP intocontact center operations makes sense for any company thatmeets at least one of the following criteria:

• The enterprise needs a cost-effective, flexible way to extend contact center applications to agents working atbranch offices or at home

• The company wants to unify voice and data networks torealise the savings that can be found in reduced equipment requirements and from the operating expense savings of converged management and administration

VoIP can provide significant cost savings for remote or offshore

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CHAPTER FIVE

An IP-enabled call center

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For further information on how Amcat technology complies withthe above log on to http://www.amcat.com

Understanding the RegulationsBelow is a fuller explanation of some of the key changes:-

a) Introduction of a National “Do Not Call ”Registry

Perhaps the most notable and controversial element of the FTCrevision is the launch of a National ‘Do Not Call’ list, whichenables any consumer to place their names and telephonenumbers on a national database, so that the aforesaid consumerwill not receive unsolicited calls from third parties. Under the newrule, telemarketing businesses are also prohibited in any wayfrom preventing consumers’ actions to be placed on the “do notcall ”registry. Since the registry was launched in April 03, over 60million consumers are thought to have signed up. Once on thelist, consumers will automatically remain there for five years, untilthey request that they be removed or their phone numberchanges.

b) Providing Caller Identification Information

This amendment will mean that all telemarketers will have toprovide their telephone number to consumers, so that those withcaller ID enabled phones can clearly see who is calling. This movehas been prompted from growing complaints from consumersthat are fed up with anonymous calls. Telemarketers will nolonger be able to block their Caller ID information. In addition,companies must also provide their name to callers when makingoutbound calls to consumers. In cases where an agent is notavailable within two seconds of a live answer, a recorded messagestating the name and phone number of the seller must be played(See Section on ‘Abandoned Calls’)

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Contact Center Best Practice

In the US alone, 104 million outbound calls are placed each day tobusinesses and households, generating $260 billion in revenue.An additional $400 billion in revenue was generated frominbound activity – telesales reps receiving orders or up-sellingconsumers. Across the globe, the rise and ubiquity oftelemarketing has led to tougher and more stringent regulationsin the general interests of the consumer.

This chapter provides practical guidelines for intelligent contactcenter activity as well as advice on finding out more informationon the latest regulations.

Adopting Best Practice in your Contact CenterThe majority of regulations that have been introduced in the US(Do Not Call) are predominantly aimed at outbound calling. Theamendments to the TSR (Telemarketing Sales Rule) fall broadlyinto the following categories and apply to the practice ofcontacting consumers in a manner that reserves their rights toprivacy.

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) guidelines recommend thattelemarketers should check that their current dialing capabilitymeets the new criteria.

• 2 second rule• 3 second abandonment rate• Caller ID• Calls must ring at least 15 seconds or four rings before

disconnection• Business required to keep records of calls & transactions

for up to two years

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CHAPTER SIX

2019

Useful Industry Bodies & Associations

This chapter lists the leading associations and bodies involvedwith contact centres.

American Teleservices Association http://www.ataconnect.orgThe American Teleservices Association (ATA) represents the callcenters, trainers, consultants, and equipment suppliers thatinitiate, facilitate, and generate telephone, Internet, and emailsales, service, and support. Call centers offer traditional andinteractive services that support the e-commerce revolution,provide specialized customer service for Fortune 500 companies,and generate annual sales of more than $500 billion.

Direct Marketing Associationhttp://www.the-dma.orgFounded in 1917, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) is todaythe largest trade association for businesses interested in direct,database, and interactive global marketing, with about 4,700member companies from the United States and 53 foreignnations on six continents.

Federal Trade Commissionhttp://www.ftc.govThe FTC enforces federal consumer protection laws that preventfraud, deception and unfair business practices. The Commissionalso enforces federal antitrust laws that prohibit anticompetitivemergers and other business practices that restrict competitionand harm consumers. Whether combating telemarketing fraud,Internet scams or price-fixing schemes, the FTC’s primary missionis to protect consumers.

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CHAPTER SEVEN

c) Reduction of “Abandoned ”Calls

With the widespread adoption of predictive dialing technology toincrease the volume of calls made, more and more consumers areexperiencing, delays, silences and hang-ups when a call is pickedup. This happens either when an agent is not available or hasalready disconnected. In the FTC’s attempts to discourageabandoned calls, it has laid down a set of minimum requirementsthat telemarketers must meet. To comply, calls must be answeredby live agent within two seconds or alternatively a recordedmessage must be played stating the name and phone number ofthe organization. In parallel, sufficient time must be given for theconsumer to pick up the phone. The recommendation given bythe FTC is 15 seconds or four rings.

d) Restriction of Unauthorized Billing

The above seeks to offer consumer improved protection againstbilling without their permission. This applies only to new moreunconventional billing methods such as invoicing through utilityor mortgage accounts. More established billing practicesincluding credit and debit cards are still governed by existingfederal legislation including the Fair Credit Billing Act & ElectronicTransfer Act.

Because legislation is constantly evolving, contact centres shouldconsult the following bodies for the latest information:-

American Teleservices Association http://www.ataconnect.orgDirect Marketing Associationhttp://www.the-dma.orgFederal Trade Commissionhttp://www.ftc.govFederal Communications Commissionshttp://www.fcc.gov

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Federal Communications Commissionshttp://www.fcc.govThe Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independentUnited States government agency, directly responsible toCongress. The FCC was established by the Communications Act of1934 and is charged with regulating interstate and internationalcommunications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. TheFCC's jurisdiction covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia,and U.S. possessions.

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CHAPTER EIGHT

Glossary of Terms

Abandoned callsCalls, which have arrived at the ACD and have hung up before anagent has been free to answer. Also called a lost, dropped or silentcall.

AHTAverage Handling Time.

Answer DetectWhere the telephone system automatically makes outboundcalls, and on answer identifies network tones such as ringing,engaged, fax machines and answerphones. These calls are notput through to an agent.

ASAAverage speed of answer. A means of bench-marketing speed ofresponse e.g. A company’s ASA could be that they answer thephone ‘within three rings’

Automatic Call Distributor (ACD)is a telephone facility that manages incoming calls and handlesthem based on the number called and an associated database ofhandling instructions. Provides call queuing, different agentgroups and managerial information.

ADSIStands for Analogue Display Services Interface. A standard for thetransmission of text information over a telephone line to displaytext information on devices such as screen phones and to acceptDTMF responses from the user.

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digital data into 53-byte cell units and transmits it over a physicalmedium, using digital signal technology. Speeds on ATM networkscan reach 10 Gbps.

AudiotexA term originally used to mean the provision of spokeninformation over the telephone (from 'audio text'), but now morecommonly used to refer to the provision of passive or interactivevoice services over premium rate telephone lines. e.g. weatherforecasts, horoscopes, stock market.

Auto AttendantAn automated voice processing and call processing system thatallows callers to automatically route themselves to a person ordepartment within a company.

Bandwidth Refers to the capacity of a communications line/channel totransmit/receive information. It can also refer to how much traffica web hosting company will allow each month for data transfer.When in this context bandwidth is measured in bits, kilobytes,megabytes and gigabytes.

Circuit-switched Traditional telephony services are based on a circuit-switchednetwork.

CLICalling Line Identity - information received from the telephoneexchange gives the calling party's telephone number.Sometimes referred to as CLID.

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ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line)This is a technology for transmitting digital information at a highbandwidth. ADSL provides a continuously available, "always on"connection. ADSL is asymmetric using most of the channel totransmit data downstream to the user and only a small part toreceive information back from the user.

AgentA member of a call or contact center who receives inbound ormakes outbound calls (or both!).

AINStands for Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN). It is a telephoneservice architecture that separates CTI services from callswitching and will make it easier to add new services. TheWindows Telephony Application Program Interface (TAPI) andNovell's TSAPI are programming interfaces intended to make iteasier to create applications that enable telephone services on apersonal computer or in a local area network.

Analogue(As in analogue phone line or analogue transmission) - where anelectric signal carrying information is represented by acontinuously variable voltage or amplitude - i.e. not digital.

APIApplication Programming Interface.

ASRAutomatic Speech Recognition - see also voice recognition.

ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) A dedicated connection switching technology that organises

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GlareThe condition when a voice processing system goes off-hook toplace an outbound call, but inadvertently connects to anincoming call which arrived momentarily beforehand - i.e. beforeringing is detected.

GUIGraphical User Interface.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)IVR is a software application that accepts a combination of voicetelephone input and touch-tone keypad selection and providesappropriate responses in the form of voice, fax, callback, e-mailand perhaps other media. IVR is usually part of a largerapplication that includes database access.

IP telephonyInternet Protocol telephony is a general term for the technologiesthat use the Internet Protocol's packet-switched connections toexchange voice, fax, and other forms of information that havetraditionally been carried over the dedicated circuit-switchedconnections of the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

Hunt GroupUsed with ordinary PBXs to distribute calls. There are two types,the first where calls are distributed in the same order each timeso that the first extension will always receive the next call unlessbusy, when it will hunt to the second extension. The secondsystem is referred to as 'Round Robin' where the next call willautomatically hunt to the second extension and the third to thethird extension etc. offering a more even distribution of calls.

ISAIndustry Standard Architecture. The standard 16 bit bus

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CPECustomer Premises Equipment.

CRM (customer relationship management) – See Chapter 2

CSICalled Subscriber Identifier - the name or number sent by a faxmachine to identify its origin.

CTI (Chapter 2)

DDIDirect Dialing Inward – The presentation of the last 2, 3 or 4 digitsof a dialled telephone number to a PBX so it can forward the callto the relevant employee.

DNISDialled Number Identification Service - Similar to DDI butreturning the complete dialled number rather than the last fewdigits.

DTMFDual Tone Multi Frequency - the technical term for the tonesgenerated by a touch-tone telephone.

Dropped Calls: see entry for abandoned calls.

ETSIEuropean Telecom Standards Institute.

Fax on demandAn automated system whereby a caller can request a document(or documents) to be faxed to them through the use of voiceprocessing.

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Power dialing Power dialing is where the telephone system dials as many callsas it has lines available and, using Answer Detect, puts throughlive calls to agents. If no agent is available when a call isanswered, it will simply drop the call which ultimately can lead towhat are known as dropped, abandoned or Silent Calls.

Predictive dialingSimilar to power dialing but is able to minimise the number ofdropped or nuisance calls. Uses a pacing algorithm that regulatesthe number of outbound calls made based on the probability ofan agent being available.

Preview dialingData is downloaded from a central database and the agentinitiates the call, usually by using a pre-programmed button onthe keyboard or on-screen.

Progressive dialingLike predictive dialing, but monitors the status of operatorsbefore calls are made, so the chance of nuisance calls iscompletely eradicated.

PulseThe signals generated from an older style, non-tone, telephone.

Pulse RecognitionA system that can understand the click sounds generated by apulse phone so that users of such phones can control voice mailand IVR systems.

Pulse to tone converterA system that performs pulse recognition and then generates anappropriate DTMF tone.

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architecture used in PCs.

ITUInternational Telecommunications Union. An International bodypromoting the adoption of global telecommunications standardsto ensure compatibility of telecommunications services betweencountries. Formerly known as CCITT.

ODBCOpen DataBase Connectivity. A widely supported standard toprovide a common programming interface to databases fromdifferent suppliers.

Off-hookWhere a telephone’s receiver is lifted from the handset.

PABXPrivate Automatic Branch Exchange - now more commonlyreferred to as just PBX (see below).

PBX(Private branch exchange) Among the larger manufacturers ofPBXs are Lucent Technologies, Northern Telecom (NORTEL),Rolm/Siemens, NEC, GTE, Fujitsu, Hitachi, and Mitel.

PRIPrimary Rate Interface. A term used to describe an ISDNconnection based on E-1 or T-1 trunks. Provides 30, 64K bits persecond voice or data streams on E-1 (European) circuits or 23 64Kbits per second voice or data streams on T-1 (USA) circuits. Oftenreferred to in the UK as ISDN30.

PSTNPublic switched telephone network

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StationA telephone device.

SwitchGeneral term referring an ACD, PBX or telephone exchange.

TAPITelephony Application Programming Interface. A Microsoft / Intelinitiative to provide a common interface for developing telephonyapplications on the desktop.

TCP/IPStands for Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol. Adata protocol for transmitting information between computersystems (usually UNIX based) across the Internet.

Virtual Hold QueueThis feature enables a caller to register themselves in a virtualcall, so that the agent automatically calls them back when thereach the top of the queue.

Unified MessagingThe integration of e-mail, voice mail and fax mail at the desktop.

VoIPStands for voice over IP. The transmission of voice over an IP(Internet portal) based medium rather than traditionaltelecomms network. Governed by the ITU-T H-323 standard.

WAV(As in WAV file) - A type of computer file used to store a voice filedigitally - commonly used by Microsoft Windows applications.

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RJ11Standard US telephone connector.

RJ45Telephone connector similar to RJ11, but handles two telephonedevices.

SQLStructured Query Language - a standard method of accessingdatabase information.

SS7Signaling System Number 7 - also known as CCITT No. 7 - A digitalsignaling protocol most frequently used for communicationbetween telephone exchanges.

Silent Callsee entry for abandoned calls.

Skills-based routingWhere calls are categorised and routed to the most appropriateagent with adequate skills to handle the call efficiently. Forexample, in a multi-lingual call center a customer calling fromGermany would be directed to a German-speaking agent.

Short Message Service (SMS)A mobile phone text message.

Screen popping This is where CTI draws on existing database records to trigger ascreen-pop to appear before the agent, showing further customerdetails, before the person is put through.

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About Amcat & Contact Details

Amcat™ is a leading provider of intelligent contact center solutions topower dramatic increases in productivity, agent professionalism, andcampaign management flexibility. Amcat solutions enable companiesto increase operating efficiencies and to continually enhance thequality, capabilities and services available in their contact center. As aresult, contact centers see a dramatic increase in outbound andinbound productivity, a higher level of agent professionalism and theability to make rapid adjustments to campaigns and operations.Founded in 1990, Amcat has a global customer base of more than1,000 contact centers.

Amcat1603 SE 19th Edmond, Oklahoma, USA 73013Tel: 405 216 8080Toll Free U.S: 800 364 5518Fax: 405 216 8063

e-mail: smart@amcat.comhttp://www.amcat.com

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Web ChatWhere a web browser initiates a live 'text conversation' with anagent, each typing dialogue on screen.