Soft-switches allow service providers to unify voice and data traffic in one network. In an IP network, service providers wanting to roll-out IP-PBX, long distance services or VoIP driven services use either Class 4 or Class 5 softswitch. With the convergence of voice and data and the emerging domination of packet switching over circuit switching, we see a lot of softswitch implementations. They are primarily geared towards offering Hosted IP-PBX solutions and long distance services. Continue reading “Asterisk based ACD to complement Softswitch solutions”
Advanced Queues and Call flow Applications on Asterisk platform
The last ten years have brought lasting changes to telephony; nothing more significant than the convergence of voice and data resulting in the adaption of VoIP and in particular SIP. As a co-passenger in this exciting journey, Asterisk has emerged as the undisputed king of PBX. It has also become the platform of choice for various verticals including the booming contact center industry. Continue reading “Advanced Queues and Call flow Applications on Asterisk platform”
ACD for setting up large managed contact center services
Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) is integral to any contact center offering unified communication services. It transcends voice, encompassing other media like E-mail, Web, Chat and Social Media. ACD provides the ability to build and deploy sophisticated call and media flow culminating in skills based routing to the most appropriate agent or customer contact.
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Bandwidth considerations while setting up distributed Asterisk-based call centers
Recurring infrastructure costs become an important consideration while setting up distributed and multi-site contact center operations. This is especially true when you have an MPLS network connecting the different sites. Day to day operations require great degree of centralized control over the call center ACD setup and the bandwidth costs will increase dramatically unless the infrastructure is designed optimally. We will discuss some of these considerations below.
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Contact centers using Asterisk versions 1.4 and 1.8
Over the last decade, Asterisk has impacted VoIP telephony and PBX with its power, flexibility and versatility. Asterisk 1.4 has now reached a level of stability and maturity that makes it a viable platform for medium and large contact centers migrating to IP telephony. Availability of feature rich call center software for Asterisk presents an opportunity to bring about greater efficiency, better productivity and lower costs with an Asterisk based next generation IP contact center platform.
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ACD and Dialer Integration to CRM
CRM Software offering real-time insight into lead and contact management has become a critical component of modern Sales and Marketing. Most organizations use popular CRM like Saleforce or Microsoft Dynamics or custom developed CRM application. These are either hosted in the Cloud and SaaS based or, custom developed Applications hosted internally in-premise.
Building a Cloud Contact Center using Asterisk
Technological innovations are driving growth and productivity in the contact center industry and one way to tap into the technology advancement is by building out a cost effective Cloud Contact Center with Asterisk as the PBX. Cloud setup in a reliable data center provides instant scalability and does away with the need for large capital investment and capacity planning. Availability of reliable infrastructure and bandwidth at reasonable cost and the option choosing VoIP and SIP for Telco connectivity are added reasons.
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Dialer for Asterisk
There is a lot of excitement regarding Asterisk, the leading hybrid telephony switch. But what makes Asterisk so uniquely beneficial as a contact center technology platform? For starters, the underlying telephony switch is usually a large portion of the initial cost when buying a packaged proprietary contact center solution. Asterisk, on the other hand, delivers a proven, open source, next-generation switch that has been tested and implemented by millions of users. Therefore, a call center technology platform that utilizes Asterisk is capable of delivering an immediate cost savings.
WFM integration for Asterisk based Contact Centers
Now we see wide spread deployment of Asterisk for setting up large contact centers. With ACD and Dialer Software available to scale to large contact center operations, it becomes important to manage the workforce efficiently. Workforce Management requires real-time and historical feed of reports and statistics from the call center floor to determine productivity, staffing and performance. Continue reading “WFM integration for Asterisk based Contact Centers”
Supplement Asterisk with an ACD to build next generation Contact Centers
Asterisk to telephony is what Linux is for operating systems. It is by far the best available IP telephone system and provides an easy base to setup up powerful cost effective contact centers. The power of Asterisk makes is easy to supplement it with a good contact center software ACD (Automatic Call Distributor) and build an advanced contact center technology platform. Contact center softwares have an ACD to handle inbound calls and a Dialer capable of predictive, preview and progressive dialing. A good contact center software should provide customizable Agent Screens with screen pops, a script building tool, an IVR building tool, Real-time and Historical reporting, Skills based routing for inbound, Supervisor Dashboard, a self pacing predictive dialer, QA and an API to manage further enhancements.
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