VoIP PBX

To hear the Call Center and Contact Center immediately comes forward, in our imagination, the idea of a worker with a cap and the phone at his side. In fact, however, call centers are far more complex reality: Those wishing to cite the definition of Wikipedia : "To call centers (or call center) means all equipment, information systems and human resources to manage, optimally, phone calls to and from a company. The activity of a call center can be carried out by skilled and / or responder interactive IVR. Operators and answering machines can offer information, activated services, technical assistance, offering reservation services, allow purchases and promotional campaigns (telemarketing).

And in fact in a call center there is a computer structure that comprises at least:

• A phone server that handles the phone network and calls to call centers, the responder (IVR) , operators. Often a PBX or directly to telephone lines (in this case the server can act as a PBX telephone, despite the two concepts are distinct and PBX phone server).
• A corporate LAN more or less articulated.
• A series of workstations equipped with telephone (hardware or software) and headset.
• We can find locations on a PC (personal computer) through which the operator performs DataEntry or retrieves information from corporate databases to provide the client with whom you talk.
• In some cases we find a system of CTI (Computer Telephony Integration), ie a system that allows the server to communicate with the telephone operator's computer and transfer information to the call in / out.

Traditionally, call centers communicate through telephone channels. And this is the fundamental distinction with the Contact Center. Taking another definition of WikiPedia : "The Contact Center is an advanced call center, combining the functions of telecommunication, information systems, adding the use of means other phone / communication channels, such as physical door, mail , fax, mail, web, messaging on mobile phones. The call center, as well as the most advanced contact center must be understood as a new method for managing contacts and relationships with customers and citizens, according to a broader strategic vision and planning time to tell a customer oriented culture of the Administration "

Then the Contact Center is a broader concept, for which you require further technological resources such as:

• SMS Server: a server that is able to send SMS via the GSM network. Can be achieved when using special software and GSM modems, or purchased in the form of outsourced service by specific providers.
• FAX Server: a server dedicated to sending faxes via the normal telephone lines. The FAX Server become indispensable tools to work when the call center sells a service that sends faxes to customers: the automation of transmission makes it easier and cheaper labor, as it prevents the operator to worry about sending the fax (or resubmit in case of failure). The FAX Server tools are in fact completely managed by the IT department and therefore controllable by the network.

Often the call center make use of special software for contact management, in technical jargon, are called CRM (which stands for Customer Relationship Management, which is software for managing customer contacts). Through these disparate software can store information on customers of call centers. The concept of CRM is fairly large, but tend to its main functions are:

1. Acquiring new customers (or potential customers)
2. The increase of relations with major customers (or customers arable)
3. The longest possible retention of customers who have more dealings with the company (as defined "customers first floor)

In the call center making outbound activity (ie outgoing calls) you can find dedicated to this type of software known as CATI orders (which stands for Computer Aided Telephony Interview Software to manage the computer of telephone interviews).

With this view, certainly not exhaustive, we tried to present a vision of the technological complexity of structures needed to run a Call Center: this is often heterogeneous systems that require integration and development of dedicated software, and in some cases extremely expensive.

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