Somewhere Out There

Universe is designed to support up to 8000 agents and 60,000 simultaneous calls, handling 200 calls per second with an average call length of 45 seconds. Two things that have allowed them to achieve this kind of scalability and cross-server distribution: Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) and SQL database. They've also packaged their agent client into COM objects, so that their chatting, page-pushing, cross-selling, co-browsing tools can be easily scaled and embedded into the call center's business application.

It's for all types of customer interaction: VoIP, PSTN voice or fax, live chat, e-mail, voice messaging, page pushing, dual browser control. For phone-based callers, it incorporates a server that, they assure me, is "more than a gateway," using the Dialogic DM3 IPLink. Universe has all the skills-based routing rules and group and team assignments we've seen in PC-based adjuncts to traditional ACDs. It also assumes an all-IP network once inside the call center or SOHO, up to the agent headset.

It makes no grand assumptions about a browsing customer's multi-media or H.33 readiness, stresses Ari Sonesh, CosmoCom CEO. The whole Web interaction piece works with HTML, SSL, and a Java CosmoCall client, downloaded on the fly, for keyboard chatting. (VoIP to the browser still requires the browsing customer's installation of NetMeeting.) Similarly, they keep the bandwidth requirements as light as possible for remote agents, using G.723.I codecs at 6.4 Kbps.

CosmoCom drove me out to Hauppauge so I could watch them cover their white boards with diagrams and demonstrate their customer interaction scenarios. Built on off-the-shelf hardware and using Microsoft Cluster, the CosmoCall ACD server does the routing, logging, statistics. The calls themselves—or rather, the contacts — have their own media-specific servers. There's the ICS, the Internet Connection Server, which is the point of entry from the businesses' Web site. It can queue up browser-based customers, characterize the customer (Is his shopping cart overflowing?) and appropriately start live interaction with chat sessions or VoIP sessions. If the browsing customer chooses to simply leave e-mail from the site, this contact will get routed to the Message Connection Server (MCS), which routes the message to the appropriate agent by keyword searches in the subject or message body. An MCS-routed voice message makes an agent's phone icon ring, then pops up an Outlook screen and plays a .wav file.

The TCS, the Telephone Connection Server, is the "more than a gateway" piece, because it can also take on IVR duties or do predictive dialing. And the app-gen, here, if you will, is VBScript or JavaScript or Perl, all tools expected to entice Web developers.

"This is all part of our net-centric orientation," says Sonesh. "If you've done Active Server Pages, you have enough experience to add IVR to the TCS, which can execute IVR on every port."

The smart idea here is to have overlapping IP networks and to route your incoming contacts by medium as well as skill. Send "contacts" that require high-band width real-time interaction—voice and video—over assured-bandwidth, managed IP networks. Send contacts that don't, like messaging or chat, over the open seas of IP.

Sonesh sees preexisting call centers moving gradually into IP by putting the TCS box behind an existing ACD and perhaps moving all or some agents into the system.

The bigger promise is among the "green-field" of Internet start-ups. It's just beginning to dawn on some of these e-enterprises that they've got to break down and plug real humans somewhere into the customer service and sales pipe. These Web developer types will be most receptive to this IP approach says Sonesh, one that lets them simply punch through the Web server and tunnel out a network of cheaply located but wisely tapped virtual agents and supervisors.

With two walls of white boards full, Stephen Dellutri, VP engineering, picked up the wireless keyboard to play both Internet caller and agent roles.

On the caller side, a home-theater shopper browses the "Supertronics" e-commerce site, picks a TV here, a receiver there, pauses before choosing the VCR component, and clicks the "contact us" button.

Up on the shopper's screen pops a cute note-book looking pad, inviting him to a text chat. It's CosmoCom's own chat client, built with HTML. On the agent side, his CosmoCall client shows him an animated ringing phone, the URL where his shopper has clicked from, and a screen pop of the same VCR he's contemplating. Also a window of possible cross-selling opportunities (various VCRs) pops up, as does his own chat input window, which includes a menu of canned text messages.

We're not counting on agents' typing speed or spelling accuracy any more than we have to. Also, the "Hello, (name), how can I help you today?" canned message automatically populates itself with the browsing customer's name.

The neat thing here is that while you're still employing a human answerer, you're automating this human touch as much as possible. As noted above, the agent can also send other product pictures back to the customer, or add items to his or her shopping cart for him. Chat sessions can be saved, and tagged with wrap-up comments as well.

We tried a contact again with a phone-based customer; this time the shopper is looking at Supertronic's printed catalog of home electronics. He calls in, touch-tones the product number on an IVR. Again, on the agent side, a phone icon jingles and the URL of the product under consideration shows up, because it's retrieved by product number. If the agent can't push back HMTL pages, he can still see what his caller is seeing, and answer questions.

Infocast, a US-based "application service provider," just announced that it will use CosmoCall Universe to support an all- virtual outsourcing call center. They're going to provide their customer services to call centers solely on an overflow basis. This should let client centers staff for their average call volume and let Infocast pick up the balance during crunches, or off-hours.