Ip, Sip Transformation Creating A Roadmap

A Business White Paper

IP/SIP Transformation: Creating a Roadmap for the Dynamic Contact Center

Genesys Business Consulting

April 2008

IP/SIP Transformation: Creating a Roadmap for the Dynamic Contact Center

Table of Contents

3 Executive Summary

3 Enabling the Next-Generation Dynamic Contact Center

4 Driving the IP/SIP Transformation Strategy RoadmapPutting Together the Right Team

5 Four Steps to Creating a Transformation Business PlanStep One: Assess the Current StateStep Two: Determine the Ideal End StateStep Three: Analyze GapsStep Four: Build a Transformation Roadmap

9 Building the Transformation Business CaseDetermining the Expected Return on InvestmentFinding the Savings

10 Conclusion

11 About Genesys

3 of 12IP/SIP Transformation: Creating a Roadmap for the Dynamic Contact Center

Executive SummaryThe transformation to IP (Internet Protocol) is bringing extraordinary value to many areas of the business—none more so than the contact center. Far from being merely a technology decision, the migration to a more open, flexible IP environment represents the ideal opportunity for contact centers to reinvent themselves. Using IP/SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)-based technology as the groundwork, companies can leverage their service delivery with real-time intelligence, unparalleled flexibility, and modern multimedia capabilities. The result is a next-generation contact center that is ready to deliver an entirely new level of customer service and satisfaction.

Taking full advantage of an IP/SIP environment requires more than simply swapping out or migrating to a new underlying communications infrastructure. Savvy companies are recognizing that to drive true change, they must be prepared to systematically adapt and evolve the processes and technology used to operate the contact center today. This broader scope of transformation means that organizations must have a comprehensive business plan—a detailed roadmap to help them successfully chart the course and stay on track.

This white paper discusses how companies can develop a roadmap unique to their organizational needs, current technologies, and strategies. By utilizing the best practices-based, four-step process presented here, companies can create a roadmap that spells out exactly how people, processes, and technology can blend together seamlessly to create the ideal customer experience.

Enabling the Next-Generation Dynamic Contact CenterA dynamic contact center orchestrates resources and capabilities to align with customer expectations and business objectives—in real time. It enables organizations to rapidly respond to the changing dynamics of customer service and the business environment.

IP/SIP technology is a critical foundation for creating this next-generation, dynamic contact center. By implementing a SIP-enabled environment, organizations gain cost savings, increased flexibility and efficiency, better management control, and the scalability to grow with changing business requirements. Through the multimedia capabilities of SIP, contact centers can deliver fast and consistent service across a variety of communications channels: phone, e-mail, chat, SMS, and even video. A contact center transformed by IP/SIP creates efficiencies previously unattainable and opens the door for capabilities that drive revenue and satisfaction.


Managing the transformation to an IP-based dynamic contact center requires that organizations first invest the time in developing a comprehensive roadmap and a solid business case. This roadmap will guide the company and the contact center through each step of the transition, and ensure business objectives precisely align with technology solutions.

Driving the IP/SIP Transformation Strategy RoadmapA clearly-defined roadmap maximizes the business benefits of the transformation, while minimizing disruption and avoiding any pitfalls. It should illustrate exactly how new capabilities will be implemented to achieve measurable results—in improved business processes, increased agent and customer satisfaction, and reduced service delivery costs. By providing a clear path and measurable milestones, a transformation plan will alleviate anxiety, keep the project on track, and enable the organization to gauge progress.

Putting Together the Right TeamTo ensure all potential business considerations relevant to the IP/SIP migration are thoroughly addressed in the plan, organizations would do well to form a core team comprised of members representing all disciplines affected by the SIP project.

Core team members should include:

Executive Sponsor—The empowered visionary who provides thought leadership in confirming the business drivers, and who has the authority to remove obstacles to achieving the organization’s goals.

Functional and Technical Stakeholders—The contact center operations and IT staff responsible for the technology transition and crafting solutions to issues such as business continuity.

User Management and Staff—Contact center managers, supervisors, and agents with insight into specific areas and processes that most impact customer service and satisfaction.

Finance Staff—Financial management and project accounting staff who can help quantify potential areas of cost reductions and provide thought leadership on ROI criteria to be used in project cost analysis.

This core team may find additional benefit from engaging with an external business consultant team, such as Genesys Business Consulting, to provide organizational insight into building the roadmap.


Once the team is in place, it will drive the process of developing the roadmap and the business case supporting the transformation. Subsets of this core team would be involved in aspects of technology implementation and rolling out changes across the contact center organization. Most importantly, the team should have access to a best practices-based methodology to guide its efforts.

Four Steps to Creating a Transformation Business Plan From the IT perspective, IP migration centers around the issues of software and hardware. For the contact center, however, the focus should be on the implications for the people and processes reliant on that technology—and ensuring the new capabilities are deployed for maximum business value.

In spite of its enthusiastic adoption of the IP/SIP solution, Genesys Business Consulting does not advocate a rip-and-replace approach to bring IP/SIP into the contact center environment. Instead, Genesys Business Consultants work closely with companies to craft a strategy that transforms the contact center from its current state to a future, fully SIP-enabled dynamic contact center.

This roadmap is created using a four-step process developed by Genesys Business Consulting and based on best practices and insight gleaned from many customer projects.

Step One: Assess the Current StateA comprehensive understanding of existing resources, technology, operational metrics, and strategy provide the baseline for the transformation business plan and roadmap. This includes understanding the existing infrastructure and rationale for current technology investments, such as PBXs, ACDs, IVRs, and other telephony solutions.

Genesys Business Consulting recommends:

• Reviewing organizational strategies that impact operations in the contact center, sales, marketing, customer service, and other areas. What new programs are in the pipeline intended to expand sales? How is the organiza-tion working to improve service and reduce costs?

Figure 1.Genesys

Four-Step Business Plan

Process

Assess the Current State

Assessment of Strategy, People, Process, and Technology

Determine the Ideal End State

Define and validate the ideal end state based on business strategies

AnalyzeGaps

Identify the current gaps and recommend opportunities

Build A Transformational

Roadmap

A comprehensive business case summarizing the recommended solutions


• Surveying contact center effectiveness and analyzing data from the current telephony platforms, as well as key performance indicators (KPIs), agent productivity, and processes that impede productivity. In addition, poor agent satisfaction is often a key indicator of dysfunctional processes and outdated procedures.

• Mapping contact center technologies to understand levels of integra-tion, flexibility, scalability, life span of the infrastructure, and costs to support and maintain it.

• Studying the end-to-end customer experience when interacting with the telephony service. Use customer surveys, usability studies, and telephony data to gain an understanding of call patterns and how they impact queuing and routing. What obstacles do customers face when trying to reach an agent or use a self-service application?

This detailed information is then gathered and analyzed for potential business opportunities and to provide valuable baseline data for the gap analysis, step three in the process.

Step Two: Determine the Ideal End StateProperly defining and validating the ideal end state requires a holistic view of the business, keen insight into business strategies, and an in-depth understanding of what the future needs of the business might be. As in each of the steps, it helps to have business consultants with knowledge of industry best practices and deep experience guiding other companies, in order to deliver a truly objective look into the future potential of the contact center.

In determining the ideal state, optimal operating models for each business unit should be defined. This exercise needs to consider where revisions are most needed and what business opportunities may be present in processes, operation locations, staffing, and technology. Each proposed revision should have a clearly defined financial and non-financial benefit.

Some of the areas to include when considering improvements and capabilities in an ideal end state are:

• Improving process effectiveness—Using SIP-based technology, dramatic process improvements can be made in how calls are queued and routed. For instance, customers can be routed to specific agents based on business rules that include criteria such as skill level, customer value, and presence (availability) of agents or specialists. Information provided by the customer


can be passed to the agent’s desktop to reduce call time and improve communications. Caller data can be retained if the call is transferred, avoiding customer frustration at having to repeat information. By using the network to queue calls, agent utilization and staff shrinkage are more easily managed.

• Empowering agents—With SIP, agents and specialists can work almost anywhere as long as there is Internet access available. This flexibility eliminates the need to deploy expensive PBX solutions for one or only a few workers. Channel partners can also join the network easily and at a low cost.

• Enhancing staffing flexibility—Agent pools can be quickly brought on-line to meet peak demands and, due to the flexible nature of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), can be more cost-effectively located in branch offices or their own homes. In addition, agents may be employed in-house or even by partner organizations.

• Lowering technology costs—Running VoIP on a data network delivers savings in both networking and support and maintenance costs. Instead of the high costs of traditional telephony, organizations can realize substantial savings by combining voice and data networks. Further, SIP does not require PBXs, ACDs, or the engineers that typically support and maintain them. Software-based ACDs can be maintained by regular IT staff.

After completing this step of the process, the focus shifts to analyzing and describing how to go from point A to point B in the most cost-effective, high value way possible.

Step Three: Analyze GapsStep three uses the results of the first two steps to analyze gaps—specifically focusing on areas where the greatest benefits can be achieved, costs of implementing the changes, and realistic times for delivery. While each of these areas is assessed independently, the analysis should also reflect the interrelationships where further business value and improvement can be derived.

An important component of the analysis is to understand and communicate the impact the transformation to IP will have on the people, processes, and technology within the organization. While any change recommended is intended to improve the performance of the entire contact center, it’s critical to evaluate the individual implications of potential enhancements on both employees and customers.


For instance, the gap analysis looks at the impact of transformation on:

•Processes How the process will change, and how the changes will improve

organizational performance, taking into account how anticipated changes will impact customers and employees.

• Locations Which facilities will be impacted by changes designed to improve customer

service or working conditions.

•Staffing How staffing can be optimized, while understanding the impact on

individuals, especially those affected by reduced or reassigned staffing.

• Technology What impact technology has from a business perspective, including realistic

cost estimates for the development and deployment cycle.

The results of this step form the basis for creating the detailed roadmap for the transformation.

Step Four: Build a Transformation RoadmapThe transformational roadmap is a phased, ROI-based plan that describes how the organization should move from the current state to the ideal state. This roadmap provides a guide for continuous improvement throughout the SIP implementation process. Relying on the gap analysis, priorities are set for developing and deploying the required

GEnESyS HElpS “InSuRE” ExCEpTIonAl CuSTomER SERvICE

A major insurance company in France fields one million calls each year across five contact centers. In 2005, the company considered its future needs in light of its then current technology infrastructure. It found that its earlier decision to build its contact centers on Genesys technology left it well-positioned for the future.

The firm recently decided to launch a technological revolution by bringing the power of the Internet to every agent’s desktop. Working with Genesys, the insurance company was able to plan for the future while incorporating its existing TDM network in a hybrid architecture that also supports an IP network. The IP/SIP protocol gives the company a broad range of multimedia communications between agents and customers. As a result, call duration times have been reduced by 20 to 30 seconds. With on-the-fly staffing flexibility, agents can be added anywhere on the IP network.


infrastructure in progressive phases. These priorities are driven by business imperatives as well as financial considerations, such as budget and payback.

An essential component of this step is the definition of specific and measurable goals. By establishing clear metrics, Genesys Business Consulting provides a means for tracking and measuring the success of the transformation. These goals also shed light on difficult project issues that may arise, helping the organization to make objective, informed decisions. This approach enables companies to move away from a project completion-based view of success to one of continuous improvement with benefits realized throughout the life of the project.

Building the Transformation Business CaseWhile a business plan with a transformation roadmap is essential to the success of an IP migration, developing the business case is equally critical in order to get approval and funding for the project. The information and analysis generated from the development of the business plan serve as the basis for the explicit business case.

Determining the Expected Return on InvestmentMigrating to SIP technology is a long-term project, so the expected return on investment should be assessed based on a long-range view. Industry analysts such as Forrester Research recommend a five-year period for determining return on investment. Further, analysts state that the most significant cost savings will be realized from converged network costs, management, and support. The initial cost of moving to an IP infrastructure should be factored against those savings.

While converged network savings can be the most significant savings, there are a myriad of other areas that deliver less-readily visible return on investment:

•Incrementalrevenuegeneratedbynewproductsandservices•Reducedtime-to-market•Improvedcustomersatisfaction•Enhancedcustomerinteractions•Employeeproductivitygains


Finding the Savings As part of a business case for the IP/SIP transformation, the following opportunities for savings should be considered:

Customer Service• Incorporatingcurrenttechnologiestopreservefamiliarcustomeraccess

methods• Improvingfirstcontactresolutionbyreducingunnecessaryroutingsteps• Improvingcustomerretentionasaresultofenhancedcustomerinteraction

experiences

Technology and Infrastructure• Reducingtelephonycostsbyconsolidatingoreliminatingunnecessarycosts

and services• Providingastandards-basedsoftwareplatformthatreducesproprietary

maintenance and operating costs for disparate hardware solutions• Loweringoperatingexpensesforoperationandmaintenanceofdiverseand

siloed systems

Business and Operations• Creatingopportunitiesformarketingvalue-addedproductsandservices

more rapidly and at a lower total cost of ownership • Providinguserswithconsolidatedaccesstoallenterpriseapplicationsand

communications• Consolidatingreportingandworkforcemanagement(WFM)operations• Reducingthecostofmergerandacquisitionactivities• Reducingrealestatecostsbydeployingremoteagentcapabilities

Conclusion With a transformation roadmap and the data necessary to make the business case in hand, the organization is ready to begin enabling its next-generation contact center. The ideal outcome will be a re-energized contact center with a dynamic and highly flexible engine that delivers profound increases in productivity, efficiency, and performance.

Genesys delivers an end-to-end business consulting solution to clients preparing for IP/SIP transformation. It combines the power and leadership of its SIP technology expertise with the proven methodology of Genesys Business Consulting. Through its unique, proven methodology, Genesys Business Consulting determines business requirements, documents business rules, and creates a clear and realistic roadmap for transformation. This client-specific SIP migration plan enables companies to realize improved customer service, better resource virtualization, flexible growth, and scalability for future business demands.


About Genesys Business ConsultingStrategic advantage is won or lost in service delivery, especially in contact centers. Genesys Business Consulting assists you by closing gaps and achieving improvements that deliver demonstrable, reportable returns. By using Genesys Business Consulting methodologies, you can build a customized roadmap that sets the right balance between cost, quality and revenue for your business and customers. Genesys Business Consulting recommends solu tions that you can use, taking into consideration available resources, impacts on the organi zation and existing technologies.

Genesys Business Consulting has created repeatable best practices to deliver actionable solutions to our customers. From white papers to contact center assessments to strategy creation and validation, we have a variety of services to choose from based on your business goals. For more information, visit www.genesyslab.com.

Additional Information

Genesys Worldwide

Genesys, an Alcatel-Lucent company, is the world’s leading provider of contact center and

customer service management software—with more than 4,000 customers in 80 countries. Genesys

software directs more than 100 million interactions every day, dynamically connecting customers

with the right resources—self-service or assisted-service—to fulfill customer requests, optimize

customer care goals and efficiently use agent resources. Genesys helps organizations drive contact

center efficiency, stop customer frustration, and accelerate business innovation.

For more information visit: www.genesyslab.com, or call +1 888 GENESYS or 1-650-466-1100.

Genesys Corporate Headquarters

Americas Corporate Headquarters

Genesys 2001 Junipero Serra Blvd. Daly City, CA 94014 USA

+1 650 466 1100 +1 888 Genesys (436 3797)

Europe, Middle East, Africa EMEA Headquarters

Genesys HouseFrimley Business ParkFrimleyCamberleySurrey GU16 7SGUnited Kingdom

Tel: +44 1276 457000

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Genesys and the Genesys logo are registered trademarks of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. All other company names and logos may be registered

trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies and are hereby recognized. © 2008 Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Ip, Sip Transformation Creating A Roadmap