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As anyone in our industry knows, the term "convergence"
is changing the face of communications as we know it.
Following the applied rules of the ripple effect, the
technology behind this term has had a noticeable
impact, first within our industry, and is now
beginning to greatly affect more general, mainstream
businesses. As we've been reporting, these new "technology
melds" and diversified feature sets are affording
small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) the ability to
appear more professional and treat customers the same
way their larger counterparts do. Of course, the
bottom line is the customer, and the name of any game
is service. And converged solutions are providing
quick, reliable service with short or no wait time,
offering e-customer service, 24-hour service through
the use of IVRs and auto-attendants, and knowing your
customer more intimately through CRM capability. Thus,
SMBs can enjoy the same rewards that, until a few
years ago, could only be harvested by large
corporate-style companies with the capital to install
and man a 24-hour call center.
Computer Instruments was founded in 1979. In
addition to being a certified Avaya
Communications independent software developer, a
few years ago they expanded their repertoire to
include converged communications technology, which
appears in their e-IVR solution. Targeting the SMB
market, this product integrates auto-attendant, voice
mail (optional), e-commerce, and IVR capabilities
designed to work in conjunction with existing
telephone systems.
INSTALLATION
Installation was a breeze. Of course, our IVR came
installed on its own server. Computer Instruments'
resellers will handle the consultation, installation,
and technical support for their clients. Be advised
that system requirements are relatively high: Intel
Pentium III 500 MHz or AMD Athlon 500 MHz or higher. A
Windows NT server operating system (or NT Workstation
for IVR only) is required with a minimum of 500 MB
free drive space and 128 MB of RAM. A 12x CD-ROM drive
and an Ethernet-compatible network interface card are
also required. The C: drive must also be configured as
either FAT or NTFS. Minimum display requirement is 800
x 600 screen resolution using 256 colors. You'll also
need a Web server installed if you plan on using the
E-Storefront, as well as Internet Explorer version 5.
Customizing the auto-attendant requires a
microphone and sound card. Computer Instruments
suggests the Windows sound system or a
SoundBlaster-compatible soundcard and speakers. A
voice board is also required; Computer Instruments
only recommends Dialogic boards, though their
resellers are outfitted to supply those and the server
requirements as well. We ran the Dialog/4 in the
server Computer Instruments furnished along with their
product. Our server matched all of the aforementioned
system requirements.
It should also be mentioned that the e-IVR does
have some PBX facility requirements: the switch must
be capable of performing a "switch-hook flash
transfer," which performs transfers from agent groups,
extensions, and so forth. The system must also be
capable of forwarding disconnect information;
otherwise a channel will remain open until the call
times out. Without a switch interface, calls cannot be
forwarded outside the premise facility. Also, e-IVR
does support Centrex services both directly and behind
a switch, but you'll have to call Computer Instruments
for additional pre-install information.
DOCUMENTATION
The documentation is clearly geared for the technical
neophyte. Computer Instruments took the time to aid in
configuring the user's final product by providing
step-by-step tutorials in addition to instructions on
how to set up everything from dynamic channel
allocation to providing overviews to explain and
introduce each manual and its premise.
We were presented with five basic manuals: Web User's
Tutorial, User's Tutorial, Using e-IVR Web, Connecting
to e-IVR, and Using e-IVR. Both Using e-IVR and
Connecting to e-IVR contained an index and a table of
contents. The others contained a table of contents;
further, we didn't see a need for an index in the
tutorial manuals.
Without exhausting too much more space, the summary
of the documentation is decent. It answers
questions/problems logically and explains things in a
concise and clear manner with plenty of step-by-step
instruction and screen shots. We did have some
problems facilitating reference in the "Using e-IVR"
manual. The index page numbers didn't always match up
with the actual contents of the pages referenced.
FEATURES
e-IVR comes with one general voice mailbox. If your
company is interested in adding additional voice mail
capabilities, then e-IVR's voice mail package can
provide up to 9,999 mailboxes with a maximum of five
greetings per box. The IVR capabilities allow
customers to complete orders and garner personal
information via the telephone. Audio text messages can
easily be recorded, or text-to-speech can be used. The
form filler application allows information to be
entered into the system. e-IVR allows up to ten
payment methods, and performs automatic credit card
number validation. In addition to IVR capabilities, e-IVR
is also an auto-attendant system, and affords
fax-on-demand (requires an external fax modem). Data
Locator Playback allows customers to check account
balances, and access account history information.
e-IVR Web is a Web server with software designed to
allow a company to create its own Web pages and
integrate the e-commerce functionality necessary to
sell products and capture CRM information online. Web
pages can be designed using different templates,
providing users with a simple GUI to build an
e-commerce Web site. SecureCharge allows customers who
don't feel comfortable ordering a product over the
Internet to receive a call from e-IVR, which will
record credit card data over the PSTN. Call Me Back
Now is similar to SecureCharge, in that it too is
activated by clicking a button on the Web site. Call
Me Back Now can connect the customer with a live agent
via the PSTN, or an applicable automated resource, and
can also be integrated with an existing Web site. Fax
Me Back Now, IVR reporting, and other features are
also included.
OPERATIONAL TESTING
It is important to point out several issues before
commencing with the Operational Testing section of
this review. With the emergence and development of
converged technology, more and more products are
flooding the marketplace. As a consequence we have
more products to test and due to the nature of the
technology, are now testing products with much more
depth and far-reaching communication functionality
than ever before. This being the case, it's virtually
impossible for us to test each feature a product
offers from start to finish. Resultantly, we try and
report on features we feel are key to the product, new
technologies, and product innovations to help point
out those deserving of merit, and those which appear
to be a faux pas.
Having that stated, testing was separated into two
areas: IVR functionality and e-storefront capability.
We took a look at the Administration of both,
including their GUIs. Additionally we logged onto our
demo Web site and made a few purchases so we could
examine the e-commerce reporting functionality.
Alternatively we dialed into a few sample voice menus
and tried the Data Locator functionality and the form
filler feature by completing a survey and then viewing
the information recorded using the Transcribe
function.
Administration
At first glance, the administrative GUI is slightly
deceiving. A scrolling menu on the left side of the
screen seems to afford overly simplistic-looking
buttons, each denoted by a small icon and a
descriptive caption. In actuality each button on the
menu is really a gateway to quite a bit of
functionality. Dialog boxes keep stride with the
Windows format, providing plenty of drop-down boxes
and tabs to access each area of functionality.
Base System Configuration contains a drop-down box
titled PBX Configuration which supplies the user with
a list of Avaya PBX systems: Merlin Magix, Merlin
Legend, Partner, System 25, Definity, and one non-Avaya
system selection title: "None (simple mode)." Since we
run Artisoft's TeleVantage system here, we had to
choose the None (simple mode) selection. Our e-IVR
unit wasn't receiving a disconnect signal from the
PC-PBX, and as a result, the channel was remaining
open until it timed out. Be sure to discuss the type
of PBX you are currently using when contacting
Computer Instruments or one of their resellers to
ensure it supports the features necessary to
effectively run this system, as noted in the
Installation section of this article.
Overall system administration is very
straightforward and intuitive, making it easier for a
non-systems type of person to actually configure
different options. Where applicable, certain options
such as the Locator Manager, group Web and voice
options together, which appears to help ensure that
responses to the same types of queries are accurate in
either format. Web setup and maintenance are also
simplified with e-IVRs provision of the Windows-like
interface between HTML coding and the final product
using features like Web page templates and the
Commerce Products Editor to help create an e-commerce
Web site. Granted, these options are limiting when
creating a Web site, but if you're not an HTML expert,
it delivers decent-looking Web pages with e-commerce
functionality that you'd probably never be able to
accomplish otherwise. The HTML code is open, allowing
custom modifications to be made. The Web pages can
also be integrated with any Web site. The Call Me Back
Now functionality can also be imbedded in any Web
page, or on multiple, different pages.
Creating voice menus also isn't much of a problem,
assuming the authors have a good idea of what they're
trying to do beforehand. Prompts are easily recorded
and played back, dually, SAPI is supported allowing
any TTS to be integrated, but if you decide to keep
the system stock, you'll be using Microsoft's engine.
Once you've got the design for the voice menus down,
you can type them in and can either record the prompts
with the Voice Recorder, have them recorded
professionally (see the Computer Instruments Web
site), or use one of the Microsoft text-to-speech
voices (depending on the sound you think is right for
the company). Be advised that changing even one word
in a voice-recorded menu will probably result in the
re-recording of the entire menu.
CRM Tool
e-IVR uses both the Web and telephone to collect and
store valuable customer information. As mentioned
earlier in this article, e-IVR is ODBC-compliant. Our
test machine had SQL installed and configured with
some simple data to query. We dialed into the system
via one of the extensions connected to the Dialogic
board and were able to work our way though the audio
prompts and successfully retrieve account and other
information, including balance, last activity, and our
sales rep's name and extension.
This information doesn't just automatically appear
in the database, however. e-IVR uses something called
a Form Transcriber to retrieve information from
first-time callers. If you're dialing in from a DTMF
telephone, some of the questions require a spoken
response, which is recorded by the system. This
requires someone to actually go into the system and "transcribe"
all of the spoken information into the Form
Transcriber. Whenever possible, questions that can be
answered using the DTMF keys are suggested, such as: "Press
1 for yes, and 2 for no." This data can be exported as
a .csv (comma separated value) file, which will open
using most spreadsheet programs, and of course is more
easily incorporated into database-type applications.
Much the same way the Form Filler works, e-commerce
customers can also be prompted to fill out personal
information prior to buying a product. Since the
information is typed in by the customer, transcribing
isn't necessary. Relationally, e-commerce reports can
be run by an administrator to show detail in the
following areas: sales, overall totals, tax, order
updates, and customer information. Similarly, voice
reporting offers many of the same types of reports,
including call counts report by day, call counts
report by hour, call detail report by call, and many
program detail reports as well. All reports can be
exported as .csv files.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
"What type of speech rec are you using?" was one of
our first inquiries when sitting down with a
representative of Computer Instruments for a product
demo. With advances in speech recognition technology,
we were surprised not to see anything in place for
this release of e-IVR. Without getting into too much
detail about how many ways speech rec will make
everyone's life easier and generally just be more
favorable to potential customers, let's look from a
slightly different perspective: an exercise in human
laziness. Take the 411 telephone service for instance.
Haven't you ever pressed 1 to connect a call for an
additional 35 cents? Most people like to be lazy.
Speech recognition has offered us a new outlet for
that laziness to which we are becoming accustomed.
Saying "yes" or "no" doesn't require as much effort as
pressing the associated DTMF key, and therefore adds
additional value to the product.
It is necessary to mention that after speaking
numerous times to an executive at Computer
Instruments, it was revealed that the next version of
e-IVR was scheduled for release sometime in May, and
that release, according to one of our conversations,
will contain speech recognition, unified messaging,
and other new functionality.
Call Me Back Now is a good concept. It is an
offering that allows people who need more information
or have a question to connect with a live person by
submitting some personal information, including name,
phone number, and the best time to call. But what does
that actually mean to the customer? In reality, it
probably means logging off the Internet and waiting to
get a phone call that will hopefully answer your
questions. This appeared to present several problems
from our point of view. First, unless a potential
customer has two phone lines in their home, they're
disconnected from the very Web site the inquiry is
probably stemming from. This can easily create
confusion when trying to remember what was where, and
how to get there. Second, the potential customers may
lose much of their potential when realizing they're
faced with dialing up, logging on, surfing back to the
site. Perhaps they had already filled out a "first-time
buyer form" and had to abandon that information in
favor of a call back. Now they've got to input it
again.
While it may be the right tool in certain
scenarios, it should be supplemented with the option
to implement a text chat feature to give the customers
with a modem and one phone line (the majority of
Internet users) an alternative. We understand that the
point of an IVR is to alleviate heavy customer
interaction while affording them valuable information,
but in many cases, if you're running an e-storefront
type of operation, people are going to need help and
have questions. You must accommodate patrons to more
effectively sell your product. If you force customers
to log off the Internet, that's an inconvenience. And
inconveniencing customers won't aid the Internet
vehicle as a sales conduit. Text chat allows customers
to "click and talk" to a representative while logged
onto the site, dually enabling customers to "see" what
they've got questions about while communicating with a
company representative and without having to
disconnect from the Internet. We could go on about
page pushing, co-browsing, and assisted form filling,
but that would seem a bit much for the space of this
product.
CONCLUSION
We thought e-IVR seems to provide a good solution for
an SMB in need of some automation and e-commerce
integration, but who may not have a dedicated systems
administrator. The product is ODBC-compliant and has
decent reporting features and a data locator. However,
speech recognition (which Computer Instruments says
will be in the next release) would add value to the
product, and probably the data entry now performed
using the Form Transcriber. Aside from the one general
mailbox, you'll have to buy the optional voice mail
package Computer Instruments offers separately. Phone
system integration shouldn't be a problem; however,
double-check with a reseller or Computer Instruments,
as there are some stipulations to full system
interoperability.
The e-IVR can provide some cost-saving
functionality to an SMB without the time or the money
to enlist a Web developer, a system administrator, or
both. The simplified GUIs afford users the ease of use
necessary to building IVR menus and Web pages to help
automate a burgeoning business and get their face on
the Web. In addition, one reality an SMB may face is
using a pricey service provider, which over time can
eat into profits. The e-IVR could provide a
significant return on investment if kept in place over
a significant time period.
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