New To Aspect, Need Information about data

[jakesaunt]

I am the new data analyst at a company that has an older version of Aspect (Version 7). I came from a company that used Crystal reports to directly access the phone switches we were using. At this company, no one has ever attempted to locate any data schemas or the main database for Aspect. Also, no one is sure how the system has been configured. I have been unable to locate any information. I have also found out that the person running some of the canned reports is only able to use ReportWriter version 2.1 on a windows 98 machine. We are all using Windows XP. I need to know the following.

1. How do I access the data without using the Aspect canned reporting tools?
2. Is there a data schema or data dictionary available?
3. In the short term, is there a way to get ReportWriter version 2.1 working on an XP workstation?

I would appreciate any help you can give me. I have talked to everyone I can find here. No one has any idea what I am asking for.

 

[Moebius01]

Aspect has a dictionary/view package for Crystal reports that you should be able to aquire from them. The tables are fairly numerous and sometimes cryptic, so building your own would be quite difficult until you got pretty familiar with the schema.

You may also be able to get your hands on version 2.2 of Report Runner/Writer which will run on Win2k, and in theory, XP.

Also, if you have access (I'm not sure if I can legally send it out, so...) to Aspect, look for the Database Tables and Fields guide. It's a complete breakdown of the db and makes it pretty easy to find the data you need in there.

My first suggestion would be to find out who has access to the folks at Aspect (most likely someone in Telecom does) and ask them to see about getting the DTF guide, and Report Runner/Writer 2.2 or Crystal (whichever, if either Aspect wants to work with). At the very least, find out the username and password for the database on the switch and you can get in and poke around a bit.

 

[Bob1112001]

You can goto

http://www.aspect.com

and sign up for eservices. This is the technical repository for Aspect and when you have your account setup, you can download the DB tables manual which is an expanded schema and pretty much any other aspect related documents.

I use crystal reports and other DB query tools to access the DB. The DB's are standard and normalized and use ID fields to link tables so it is verys straight forward.

You should talk your company into purchasing a copy of Crystal 9 because it will make your life easier

 

[jakesaunt]

Thank you for the tips. I am working on your suggestions. I have one more question though. Do any of you have any experience with the SER solutions auto dialer? I am really struggling to find the core DB for that system as well. It seems that at the present time, no viable statistics are available to supervisors here. SER has been less than helpful when I contacted them.

Thanks for any tips you can give me.

 

[highfive]

SER is a 4 letter word around here, we use a CP12000 for outbound telemarketing and we have a compaq server running SCO that interfaces to the dialer where the campaigns are loaded and data is stored. Lots of reports data in there most in DB3 format.

Find the call manager server if you use one to get the SER data out.

 

[Killemall]

Aspect post the database fields and tables for the ACD on e-services on their website and from that what you want to do depends upon the standard of reports that you want to produce. Direct database queries you can use something like Toad or even MS Access. If you want nice looking reports then going for something like Crystal is a good idea. Report Runner is a good start as it's fairly easy to use and cheap since it is no longer supported by Aspect, also relatively easy to install and set-up, very buggy though. I currently run RR on a few XP machines and a 2000 myself. Runs brilliantly on XP as well and is very stable but is a complete nightmare to install.