The Next Generation Customer Communication Platform
By Jonathan Eisenzopf
In the not-too-distant future, we will begin seeing unified
customer support platforms that allow companies and their customers
to communicate seamlessly via the Web, telephone, and wireless
devices. In this article, we will learn how two evolutionary trends
are creating a new generation of unified customer
communication platforms.
Overview
The lines between a phone customer and a Web customer are going to blur.
Whether a customer is using a Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) telephone, a
Voice over IP ( VoIP) telephone, or a VoIP
connection on their computer, may not make much of a difference in the future,
because all connections will be initiated over the Internet
and voice calls will travel over a VoIP connection, accessing the same customer database as
all other customer channels. This unification will enable companies
to provide higher quality customer support through a single
platform.
The two trends that are driving this innovation is the move from
Public Switched Telephone Networks (PTSNs) to Internet-based VoIP.
This trend will converge voice and data networks and provide a new
range of unified services. The second trend is the adoption of
wireless devices as an alternative access mechanism to Web browsers.
This trend has driven software developers to create more flexible
software designs that enable multi-model access to applications.
This change in design philosophy has created new opportunities to
expand application access to a myriad of devices including the
telephone.
IP will replace the Public Switched Telephone Network
The widespread adoption of the Internet has spurred companies like AT&T
and Qwest to invest huge sums of money into upgrading their networks with
high-capacity fiber. Since the demand for this new capacity has fallen well
below expectations, telecommunications providers are looking for new ways to
generate revenue with their IP networks. Carriers and managed service providers
have been bulking up their Voice over IP (VoIP) capabilities over the past
couple years. A survey of VoIP equipment vendors conducted by Miercom reveled that
an estimated eight percent of telephone calls
currently placed over IP networks will increase to 30 percent within 5 years. WorldCom
is one carrier that is moving forward with VoIP service, which will
enable its IP Communication customers to plug a Pingtel or Cisco IP
phone directly in their LAN.
VoIP has been gaining popularity for a number of reasons. First, with VoIP,
telephones and computers use the same connection and network infrastructure.
This simplifies the cost and complexity of running two separate wires for the
network and telephones. Secondly, a converged voice/data network simplifies
management of network resources. Third, using VoIP to contact remote offices
instead of regular long-distance service can reduce costs by eliminating
per-minute fees.
Even though the value-proposition for VoIP is strong, especially for
companies that are upgrading their network or moving into a new office, the quality
of VoIP falls short of most users’ expectations. Vendors are working to
solve this problem. In the short term, companies are using VoIP for
inter-company long-distance calls and for customer support calls that originate
from the Web.
In the longer term, as carriers begin to offer VoIP service, the
need for separate phone and data lines may become unnecessary. With
VoIP, carriers can carry voice and data traffic over a single line.
Telephone numbers can be terminated at the carrier and routed
directly to your IP phones. New phone numbers can be provisioned
without having to wire new lines to a phone block. The challenge for
the carriers will be creating an appropriate pricing model that
doesn’t cannibalize their existing revenue streams.
Running voice and data traffic on an all IP network means that
customers can interact with customer support applications and be
transferred to an IVR or customer support representative (CSR)
anytime, anywhere; whether they’re at a computer using a Web browser
or on a cell phone using a WAP browser. With technologies like VoIP
and SIP, the transition between data and voice interactions will be
commonplace and seamless.
Reprinted from VoiceXMLPlanet.