TelephoneBased Technology

1
Telephone-Based Technology
9

• Guide to Help Desk Technology, Tools, and
  Techniques

2
Objectives
9

• In this chapter you will learn
• The core features of modern telephone
  technologies
• Products that distribute calls automatically to
  support staff
• What technologies combine telephone information
  and database records
• Features of voice response systems and speech
  recognition software
• Vendors that provide telephone-based technology
  for support groups

3
Basic Telephone Technologies
9

• The telephone is the preferred device for
  one-to-one communication
• The internal components of the telephone havent
  changed much since Alexander Graham Bell invented
  the telephone about 100 years ago
• The only change that most home telephone users
  have seen is in dialing methods
• Business telephone equipment is more complex
• Many office telephones have connections to
  multiple telephone lines

4
Business Telephone Components
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5
Private Telephone Networks
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• Telephone service companies operate public
  exchanges or connections between cities or
  regions
• An exchange eliminates the need for separate
  connections between individual telephone users
• A private branch exchange (PBX) is a system that
  brings telephone signals into a company from the
  public telephone network and routes them to local
  telephone lines inside the company
• Many of the early PBXs were manual
• Local telephone companies frequently provide
  blocks of telephone numbers to call into a
  companys PBX

6
Private Telephone Networks
9

• There are several, separate pieces of hardware
  that are part of a PBX system, including
• Telephone trunk lines that terminate at the PBX
  (physical telephone lines are called trunk lines)
  
• The network of lines within the PBX
• A computer with memory that manages the switching
  of the calls within the PBX and in or out of it
• A console or switchboard for a human operator
• Direct inward dialing (DID) allows customers to
  call a separate telephone number for each person
  or workstation within the company without
  requiring the company to install a physical line
  into the PBX for each possible connection

7
Private Telephone Networks
9

• DID service eliminates the need for a switchboard
  operator
• Each key of a touch-tone telephone generates a
  unique signal called dual tone multiple frequency
  (DTMF)
• Fax machines and modems use DTMF signals to
  establish communication between computers and
  equipment
• Automatic number identification (ANI) is a
  telephone service that sends the DTMF tones along
  with the call to identify the telephone number
  from which the call originates
• Dialed number identification service (DNIS) is a
  telephone service that identifies the source of
  calls that are routed to the same destination

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Specialized Desktop Equipment
9

• Callers who dial in to a single telephone number
  can use centralized telephone number directories
  to connect to a specific person
• Most automated systems link to voice mail systems
• With appropriate telephone hardware, display
  lights indicate when new voice mail messages
  arrive
• Larger telephone displays are similar to reader
  boards they list the number of callers for a
  workgroup who are on hold and the average hold
  time for all callers

9
Sample Telephone With Display
9
10
Automatic Call Distribution
9

• Many support groups rely on an automatic call
  distributor (ACD), a technology that manages
  incoming calls and routes them according to the
  number called and an associated database of
  handling instructions
• ACDs are designed to route large numbers of
  incoming calls to people on the basis of rules
• An ACD can work with a PBX or stand alone
• ACDs are used to identify callers, make outgoing
  responses or calls, forward calls to another
  party, and gather usage statistics

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Automatic Call Distribution
9

• ACDs also provide some form of caller
  identification
• ACDs can be network-based for multiple locations
  or service a single department
• Skills-based routing is an ACD feature that
  matches the requirements of an incoming call to
  the skill sets of available analysts or analyst
  groups
• ACD administrators can also give callers
  additional choices if they cannot reach a
  support analyst immediately

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Automatic Call Distributor Vendors
9
13
Automatic Call Distribution
9

• Basic call statistics include the
• Number of telephone calls per shift
• Number of times a call was transferred from one
  analyst or workgroup to another
• Average time in seconds to answer a call
• Average time callers spend on hold (an acceptable
  hold time is thirty seconds or less most callers
  wont wait on hold longer than about three
  minutes)
• Average length of each call
• Number of times calls are abandoned (callers who
  dont reach an analyst may hang up rather than
  remain on hold or leave a message)

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Automatic Call Distribution
9

• ACDs have an advantage over PBXs in routing calls
  because they collect and store call statistics
• Large support centers use these statistics to
  schedule staff and predict call volumes
• Some ACDs allow managers to monitor calls for
  quality assurance

15
Computer Telephony Integration
9

• Computer telephony integration (CTI) software
  links telephone-originated information such as
  caller name, the telephone number the person
  called from, and the number the person dialed
  to other computer information systems
• CTI links common hardware technologies which can
  be called middleware
• Automated attendants are CTI applications that
  play a recorded message according to defined
  criteria
• CTI applications can integrate caller messages
  with databases and word processors

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Computer Telephony Integration
9

• Displaying records based on ANI or DNIS from a
  call management or marketing application is a
  feature commonly called a screen pop
• The latest CTI applications integrate voice mail,
  incoming fax, and e-mail systems with other
  telephone-based activities in a single
  application program
• CTI was originally used in large telephone
  networks because only very large call centers
  could justify the costs of the required equipment
  installation

17
Computer Telephony Integration
9

• CTI applications use Telephony Application
  Programming Interface (TAPI), which is a standard
  program interface between PCs and telephone-based
  communication devices

18
Voice Response Units
9

• An Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system is a
  combination of hardware and software that allows
  people to ask questions and provide answers
  through a telephone
• Many businesses, as well as support groups, use
  IVR technology to provide customer information
• Customers can retrieve information about
• Available services - Account balances
• Government agencies - Special product offers
• Insurance claims - Stock trades
• Educational programs

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Voice Response Units
9

• Companies can place IVR systems in different
  locations in a telecommunications network
• Some IVR systems prompt customers to indicate a
  preferred language, and then route calls to
  bilingual support staff or present additional
  questions in the chosen language

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Voice Response Units
9
21
Voice Recognition
9

• Automatic speech recognition (ASR) is computer
  software that recognizes certain human speech and
  translates it to instructions other computer
  programs can process
• The speech most easily understood by these
  programs is usually discrete numbers and short
  commands
• Voice recognition is certainly more user-friendly
  than other automated systems
• It provides access for callers without touch-tone
  telephones, and enables callers who cant see or
  push buttons well to communicate

22
Text to Speech
9

• Speech synthesis systems translate written text
  (retrieved from a database, e-mail, or other
  file) to audio sounds
• Text to speech is appropriate when it is not
  practical to prerecord all the available options
  or information
• Telephone directory assistance was one of the
  first applications to benefit from text-to-speech
  conversion

23
Fax Services
9

• IVR systems can integrate both incoming and
  outbound faxes
• Customers can request written product or support
  information through a fax back or fax-on-demand
  application
• A fax server is a computer with fax software
• Fax-on-demand applications answer questions
  quickly because customers dont have to wait for
  someone to return a phone call or mail them
  information

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Fax Services
9

• Faxes may also be easier for customers to use
  than a recorded announcement and are more
  informative because they can include pictures or
  diagrams
• Support staff can also use fax systems to
  broadcast service bulletins, product
  announcements, or customer-oriented newsletters
• There are several guidelines recommended when
  setting up an IVR for support
• Professional voice - Menu options
• Menu levels - Expert mode
• Warn users of changes - Option to exit

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Internet Protocol Telephony
9

• Internet protocol telephony (IP telephony) uses
  the same telecommunications connections that
  support the Internet to exchange voice, fax, and
  other data that usually are carried over the
  public telephone network
• Using the Internet, calls travel as packets of
  data on shared lines
• Voice data delivered this way is called voice
  over IP (VoIP), and many PC modems now support
  data, fax, and voice transmissions

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Internet Protocol Telephony
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• Customers can use a single telephone line at home
  for simultaneous Internet and telephone access
• They begin a VoIP by browsing a vendors Web
  site, using their Internet connection and Web
  browser software
• The customer speaks to a support staff member
  through the modem using a PC microphone
• At the same time, support staff receive an image
  of the Web page the customer is browsing

27
Chapter Summary
9

• Managing telephone calls is a by-product of
  support
• PBX systems allow businesses to share connections
  with the rest of the telephone network community
• ACD systems distribute a large number of incoming
  calls to a large number of business users more
  quickly than a human operator

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Chapter Summary
9

• CTI software is middleware that connects computer
  information with telephone information, and then
  presents or processes it
• IVRs present lists of questions and accept data,
  usually from a telephone keypad
• New technologies, such as IP telephony, convert
  voice transmissions to data packets and use
  Internet lines to forward any kind of data