What About Internet Telephony?

While it is true that live audio/video Internet products are out there, in the customer service environment (that is, in call centers), these products are almost never implemented. At the present time, Internet telephony is not a factor in this arena, and quality of service is just one of the many good reasons.


Web/call center combinations are being used in pilot applications, and often they incorporate a “call me” button on the Web page that brings the customer into the call center for a telephony interaction in parallel with what’s going on over the Web. More often than not, these things initiate an outbound call to a customer-entered telephone number.


The problem implementing IP-telephony based service has less to do with the network’s quality of service issues than it does with the way calls are routed into the center (the ACD has to be able to send it to the right agent, and queue it, and report on it) and with the human issues of how customers wish to get their service. In nearly all cases, the telephone is the instrument of choice for service delivery, despite the availability of a Web alternative.


One vendor, CosmoCom, is making a go of an IP-based virtual call center system that blends traditional voice telephone calls with live Internet sessions. It manages and distributes both live calls and messages, including voice, fax, and email.


CosmoCall supports fully distributed operation with remote agents and multiple site operation transparently through its IP backbone that transports voice and data. It includes a multiple chat capability that lets CSRs conduct several concurrent text-based chats, while simultaneously speaking with their customers over the telephone or the Internet.


With CosmoCall, visitors to an ecommerce website can click a link to establish a live multimedia connection to a customer service representative. CosmoCall queues the calls, selects the right kind of representative for each caller, and informs each representative about the nature and context of the call.


And on another front, Dialogic recently demonstrated an interface between Internet telephony and CTI applications. This gatekeeper-based technology will extend the capabilities of Dialogic’s CT Connect call control software. According to theory, applications will be able to monitor and control IP telephony calls in the same way they currently do in traditional telephone environments.


This new technology will allow CTI applications to operate within IP telephony environments as easily as a traditional PBX. This transparency between IP telephony and traditional PBXs means that CTI developers will be able to market their applications for use in IP telephony environments with little or no change.


Customers will then be able to use IP telephony in conjunction with contact management, customer service, and support applications: in other words, in call centers.


In a standards-based IP telephony environment, the gatekeeper is the focal point of enhanced call processing because endpoints within its domain consult it whenever a connection is set up, torn down, or changed. During call setup, for example, a gatekeeper handles functions such as bandwidth allocation, address translation, access permission, and call routing.