My company is looking into getting contact center software with our new phone system. We're small, about 20 employees. Still deciding on phone system. Suggestions on best phone system and contact center software? If you work for/with small companies, what are they using?
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Contact center solutions for SMB 1
- Thread starter kbullers
- Start date
jerryreeve
Vendor
You will find that almost every phone system that is on the market has a variant for call centers. your best bet is to decide how many phones you are looking for, number of lines for incoming/outgoing calls, number of people you plan to have in a call center, type of reports you are looking for, etc. and submit that to the local vendors as a request for quote RFQ and then look at what you feel comfortable with and how much the system costs. a big thing to ask for from each is the mean time between failures and references on each RFQ.
with that said I personally like the nortel solutions of either the BCM or the Norstar with callpilot call center.
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JerryReeve
Communication Systems Int'l
com-sys.com
with that said I personally like the nortel solutions of either the BCM or the Norstar with callpilot call center.
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JerryReeve
Communication Systems Int'l
com-sys.com
- Thread starter
- #3
Take a look at Avaya IP office. CCC is a little quirky but it may work for you
EddieDuece
IS-IT--Management
Take a look at Avaya IP office. CCC is a little quirky but it may work for you".
That said, I have installed several BCM's for the State of Washington and other local government, and they work excellent. Easy to set up, good call center capability, and very reliable. It's a no brainer for me.
That said, I have installed several BCM's for the State of Washington and other local government, and they work excellent. Easy to set up, good call center capability, and very reliable. It's a no brainer for me.
- Thread starter
- #7
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1
- #8
kb,
List some parameters of your intended system. Number of users, number of incoming lines, number of agents in groups, require call back center functionality, routing by CLID, conference bridge requirements, etc.?
Without scenario specifics only a psychic can tell you what would best suit your scenario, as each system has it's strengths, and weaknesses, or niches. I have done factory auth support on about 25-30 different systems, and can tell you they all have inherent strengths, and weaklnesses which apply to varying success in varying scenarios.
List some parameters of your intended system. Number of users, number of incoming lines, number of agents in groups, require call back center functionality, routing by CLID, conference bridge requirements, etc.?
Without scenario specifics only a psychic can tell you what would best suit your scenario, as each system has it's strengths, and weaknesses, or niches. I have done factory auth support on about 25-30 different systems, and can tell you they all have inherent strengths, and weaklnesses which apply to varying success in varying scenarios.
- Thread starter
- #9
20 agents
2 supervisors
5 incoming lines
5 hunt groups (number of agents in groups varies between 2 and 10)
features looking for are real-time agent status and calls in queue. real-time and historical reporting. alarms and alerts for service level thresholds. For now just worried about single channel (voice). No call recording needed.
2 supervisors
5 incoming lines
5 hunt groups (number of agents in groups varies between 2 and 10)
features looking for are real-time agent status and calls in queue. real-time and historical reporting. alarms and alerts for service level thresholds. For now just worried about single channel (voice). No call recording needed.
IP Office with Voicemail pro, and Compact Contact Center from Avaya sounds like a great fit for your scenario. It would also allow call recording of users, groups by % setting, and up to 63 channel conference bridge built in. I do wonder about the 5 lines requirement, and would suggest bumping that up to a PRI which generaly becomes feesible on the bank book at about 7 lines in comparison. PRI would allow call routing to specific AA's, groups, users, etc. as each DID acts like a hunt group in a PRI. As well the mobile twinning features would add the ability to have agents outside the office with ease. Drop me an email at msn, or call your local Avaya dealer for more details, or a demo.
- Thread starter
- #11
I am actually in the processing of comparing IPOfc with a Merlin Magix - Using PRI T1 on both with the T1 split between voice and data. For contact software, looking at Hansen for the Magix and CCC for the IPO. If I had to bet $$, I would say the Magix will be less $$, easier to manage by the end user (you
) and will last longer. Old school solution; new school solution will definitely have the advantage when VoIP is widely implemented. But...if you are small and want something reliable and flexible at a good price don't eliminate it just because it is no longer being manufactured. There are probably more of these rebuilt out there than a lot of things new. Some of the phones migrate to IPO as well.
) and will last longer. Old school solution; new school solution will definitely have the advantage when VoIP is widely implemented. But...if you are small and want something reliable and flexible at a good price don't eliminate it just because it is no longer being manufactured. There are probably more of these rebuilt out there than a lot of things new. Some of the phones migrate to IPO as well.While I do believe the Magix is probably one of the IPO's best competitors, and that it certainly beats out many of the other non-Avaya options out there in the market I do think we need to look at apples for apples comparison.
If the IPO has a feature which the Magix does not, and it is one you may even possibly use then you need to consider the difference. If you find that the Magix has all of the features that the IPO has for your application, then I would find another IPO vendor. I have never to this point failed to be able to find value added features which a customer was interested in which the IPO had that the Magix did not. That may be a reflection of my thorough approach to designing, and developing a specific application of the IPO platform for the customers business, or maybe it is just the IPO/VMPRO capabilities. 63 channel conference bridge is a good start, built in, and with the VMPRo quite flexible. There is also no Magix VM system which can do anyhting near what the VMPRO can do if that is a consideration. That is not a rip on the Magix, as it is easily one of the best systems, and likewise for its VM system capabilities, it is just the the VMPRO really has so many capabilities it is almost in a class by itself for the price industry wide. The VMPRO has such an open ability to improvise, and use features, or multiple features in imaginiative ways that you can simply create a way to do what you want in so many cases regardless of if a specific feature exists, or has been concieved yet. It is like most VM systems give you a limited number of pre-defined words with definitions to use, and the VMPRO gives you a keyboard with no pre-defined words, and lets you build your own dictionary.
If the IPO has a feature which the Magix does not, and it is one you may even possibly use then you need to consider the difference. If you find that the Magix has all of the features that the IPO has for your application, then I would find another IPO vendor. I have never to this point failed to be able to find value added features which a customer was interested in which the IPO had that the Magix did not. That may be a reflection of my thorough approach to designing, and developing a specific application of the IPO platform for the customers business, or maybe it is just the IPO/VMPRO capabilities. 63 channel conference bridge is a good start, built in, and with the VMPRo quite flexible. There is also no Magix VM system which can do anyhting near what the VMPRO can do if that is a consideration. That is not a rip on the Magix, as it is easily one of the best systems, and likewise for its VM system capabilities, it is just the the VMPRO really has so many capabilities it is almost in a class by itself for the price industry wide. The VMPRO has such an open ability to improvise, and use features, or multiple features in imaginiative ways that you can simply create a way to do what you want in so many cases regardless of if a specific feature exists, or has been concieved yet. It is like most VM systems give you a limited number of pre-defined words with definitions to use, and the VMPRO gives you a keyboard with no pre-defined words, and lets you build your own dictionary.
- Thread starter
- #15
Are you familiar with Customer Interaction Express and/or Contact Center Express, aarenot? Might be going with Avaya Communication Manager and these two apps seem to be the closest to what we need. I hear CIE is used more in Europe right now. Opinions on these two? Customers happy with them?
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