VOIP or IP telephony is quickly replacing the traditional telephone systems. It’s simply the transmission of the voice communication over the IP-based networks such as internet. It has even proved itself to be the best technology for the Call centers and many vendors adding VOIP technologies to their devices. It allows the contact or calls centers to operate effectively. The internet calls can be placed through the VOIP devices, PSTN phones or by using the computer with VOIP software.
There are number of voice over IP applications like Skype, Netmeeting and Cooltalk. IP-based telephony allows the home and business users to route multiple channel interactions like email, web and the voice across to the worldwide remote locations. VOIP systems are considered less expensive and more flexible than the TDB-based systems.
They are easy to administer and provide two way communications. Moreover the VOIP technology provides the following benefits.
- With this technology you will never miss your important calls.
- You can make long distance calls at very cheap rates.
- You can manage your VOIP account online.
- It’s very easy to setup and make calls with your computer or VOIP device.
- Three-way calling.
- Call waiting.
- Anonymous call block.
- Voice mail.
- Advanced Call forwarding.
- Call Transfer.
- Directory Assistance.
- Conference Calling.
- There are many other value added services.
Before implementing the call center you need to go through the following steps.
Business Planning
The first step that you need to do for implementing the IP call center is to formulate a business plan. It’s the most important step in deploying the IP-based call centers. Many companies start the IT projects without planning, which may results in the failure of the project. Organizations need to make a detailed business case for the call center. In your business case you need to clarify and identify the following things.
- Whether your services are volume oriented or the value oriented?
- Your contact center will be used for the internet or external customers?
- You want to implement your contact center only for providing the customer support or you also plan to make revenue form it?
- Through which medium you will provide your services Voice, Email or Web?
Implementation Planning
After completing the business plan the next step is to complete the implementation plan. For meeting your objectives in terms of cost, quality and features you need to have the answers of the following questions.
- How your contact or call center system will be managed?
- Will the system be centralized in one location or will be located on many locations?
- How will you manage additional users, features and the locations in the future?
- How will your system interact with the other network components like customer relationship management system or voice mail?
Deployment
The deployment support should proceed smoothly in your contact center. Before deploying the call center you need to know the following.
- Do you have onsite staff that has the appropriate knowledge, skills and expertise?
- Can your present staff complete the deployment process or you need to have additional technical staff?
- How large will be the deployment?
Many organizations prefer to deploy the preconfigured contact center systems. Through the proper business planning the organizations benefit the most from planning, implementing, deployment and support.