What the Major Switches Offer

Automatic call distribution (ACD) and PBX hardware are the hubs around which many CTI projects revolve. These essential hardware components are also becoming easier for resellers and systems integrators to program, thanks in part to manufacturers who are embedding many standard CTI capabilities within the base unit. As John Higgins, a KPMG partner in charge of call-center solutions, says: "Today, they're no more difficult to configure than typical midrange computer systems." He means it as a compliment.

To bring you up to date on today's ACD units and PBXes, here are some sketches of the h ardware used by the resellers we talked to.

Aspect Cal lCenter

Like most modern ACD models, CallCenter is designed to have many important telephony functions incorporated into the standard unit. This includes basic features such as inbound and outbound call, fax, and e-mail processing, as well as add-ons like interactive voice response (IVR), voice mail, and support for remote clusters of desktop clients.

The product line comes with system software that lets resellers upgrade to larger CallCenter models if a client's telephony requirements grow. Also included is an open CTI interface for linking inbound call-processing and outbound call-automation software.

NEC NEAX 2000 IVS (Integrated Voice Server)

Designed primarily for small businesses, this system handles up to 400 simultaneous connections. Beyond basic telephony features, it provides system reports, call routing based on least cost and time of day, and regular and priority incoming call handling.

Nortel DMS Meridian

Rather than routing incoming calls to specific desktops, this system can send calls to a workgroup with multiple desktop clients. Routing software determines which client has been idle the longest and automatically sends the call to that person. If all the workgroup agents are already handling calls, incoming inquires enter a queue and are sent as agents become available.

A set of options called CompuCall offers an open switch-to-computer-application interface for linking the switch to a client computer; this enables customer records, for example, to arrive at the agent's desk at the same time the phone call does.

The company also offers Open IVR, an architecture to help resellers add speech recognition, analog display services interface, interactive fax, text-to-speech conversion, and external database communications to the CTI system.

Siemens Rolm 9200 CBX

Siemens sells software that you can add to its Rolm 9200 CBX telephony hardware to incorporate ACD capabilities such as first-in/first-out call queuing. An overflow feature sends calls to internal phones outside the normal call center when the length of the queue is keeping customers on hold for too long. In addition, the software can take individual desktop clients out of the reception loop for brief periods of time in order to allow sales reps to fill out sales orders and other paperwork.