Call centre telephony in business

Using Internet protocol telephony (IPT), today’s call centre agents can access the features, functionality and information they need to better serve their customers. Terry Linton examines the benefits of a technology that can reduce capital costs while allowing businesses to become truly networked, and discusses whether it might be right for you, too.

Voice over IP (VoIP) has come a long way since the first basic applications provided free, although often erratic, phone calls over the open web. Today, the much-improved VoIP standards and quality of service of IP networks has opened up new possibilities for contact centre applications.

Aside from the infrastructure cost savings of deploying a single converged voice and data network, IP technology means that agents can be located in virtual call centres just about anywhere, without inviting additional call charges. This means that companies can draw on employee resources in lower-cost markets, and save significant overhead costs within the contact centres themselves.

Leveraging IP in the contact centre makes it easy to deploy services to meet  fluctuations in demand, such as for seasonal business requirements. IP also enables new multimedia service opportunities, such as web-enabled multimedia contact centres, unified messaging, and remote web-based contact centre management and reporting.

Most decision-makers today are not determining if they will leverage IPT in their contact centres, but rather when and how they will make it happen. So how should contact centre businesses go about realising this business utopia?

The first thing to consider is, of course, whether IPT will suit your needs. Medium to large businesses that need to connect with agents spread across multiple sites or remote offices, or small to medium companies establishing a new site or expanding operations, are ideal candidates for IPT. Further to this, IPT may be the right choice if:

• Your business experiences seasonal busy periods or regular promotional campaigns.
• Your business has experienced a large number of moves and changes recently.
• You would like to reduce equipment and network operating costs.
• Your business operations need to be based in multiple locations or you need to provide extended hours or multiple time zones.
• Your agent turnover is high or there is a lack of local skilled staff.
• Call holding times and abandoned call rates are increasing.
• You want to expand internationally or move contact centre operations offshore.

So what are the business benefits?

Whether you decide to deploy VoIP capabilities, or migrate all of your contact centre operations to an IP infrastructure, IPT can offer several important business benefits for contact centres.