1. What You Need to Know BEFORE Making the Move to VoIP
Sanjeev Sawai
Vice President, Research and Development
Envox Worldwide

2. Every day, millions of people experience Envox Voice Solutions
When Providing Information By Phone
When Calling Customer Service
When Calling for Directory Assistance
When Scheduling
Appointments
When Completing Transactions
When Communicating at Work
Speaker Notes:
Every moment of the day, people around the world experience Nuance speech solutions.
Our technology and solutions are enabling a better way to get things done.
With Nuance:
Companies can deliver an improved customer experience, when customers call into their call center
Doctors can spend more time with patients, thanks to our dictation products
It’s easier to get directory assistance information over the phone
It’s safer to interact with onboard automobile systems
And it’s more convenient to use the advanced features of cellular phones
IP Mobility & Contact Center Solutions
Platform & Development Software
Professional Services

3. The Impact of VoIP On the call center On IVR & self-service solutions
Easily enable virtual call center and home-based agent solutions
Seamless routing between call centers maximizes agent utilization and lowers overall staffing requirements
New capabilities resulting from integration of enterprise applications
Softphone/PC configurations reduce move, add and change work
On IVR & self-service solutions
Server consolidation
Centralized applications reduce administration and upgrade issues
In many cases, out-of-date proprietary solutions can be replaced for the maintenance costs 3

4. The Impact of VoIP For the enterprise For IT
Reduced call charges: intra-company long distance, tariffs in some regulated markets, fewer leased lines
Reduced equipment charges: one network, consolidated servers
Agility: application control, rapid application changes, improved integration/use of corporate data
For IT
More uniform application development
Simplified administration and upgrading of voice applications 4

5. Key Standards and Technologies

6. Key VoIP Standards H.323 SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)
Standard that bridges IP and PSTN networks to enable interoperability
Gives priority to voice traffic over a LAN to ensure QoS through bandwidth management
Not well suited for large user groups or multimedia applications
SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)
Lighter weight - based on HTTP and SMTP
Easier to implement than H.323
Faster call set-up
More “familiar” to IT and Web developers 6

7. Architecture: Migrating from TDM to VoIP

8. TDM Call Center PSTN Envox IVR PBX Envox CT Connect CTI Application
ISDN (E1)
Envox
IVR
ISDN/analog
PBX
CTI Link/CSTA Link
Agent Stations
w/TDM Phones
Envox
CT Connect
CTI
Application
Customer Database
January 23-26, 2007• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 8

9. Hybrid IP Call Center: IP Phones
Cost Savings
• Internal Toll Charges
• Moves/Adds/Changes
PSTN
VoIP Gateway
ISDN (E1)
VoIP Gateway
Envox
IVR
TCP/IP
PBX
CTI Link/CSTA Link
Envox
CT Connect
Agent Stations
w/IP Phones
LAN/WAN
CTI
Application
Customer Database
January 23-26, 2007• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 9

10. Hybrid IP Call Center: Softphones, IP IVR
Cost Savings
• Internal Toll Charges
• Moves/Adds/Changes
• Phones
PSTN
VoIP Gateway
ISDN (E1)
VoIP Gateway
Envox IP
IVR
PBX
CTI Link/CSTA Link
Envox
CT Connect
Agent Stations
w/Soft Phones
LAN/WAN
CTI
Application
Customer Database
January 23-26, 2007• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 10

11. Pure IP Call Center: Softphones, IP IVR, SoftPBX
Cost Savings
• Internal Toll Charges
• Moves/Adds/Changes
• Phones • PBX Maintenance
PSTN
ISDN (E1)
Envox IP
IVR
IP PBX, VoIP
Gateway
CTI Link/CSTA Link
Envox
CT Connect
Agent Stations
w/Soft Phones
TCP/IP
LAN/WAN
CTI
Application
Customer Database
January 23-26, 2007• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 11

12. Pure IP Call Center: Soft Phones, IP IVR, Soft PBX
Cost Savings
• Internal Toll Charges
• Moves/Adds/Changes
• Phones • PBX Maintenance
• Server Costs/Maint.
PSTN
ISDN (E1)
IP PBX,
IP IVR, VoIP
Gateway
CTI Link/CSTA Link
Agent Stations
w/Soft Phones
Envox
CT Connect
TCP/IP
LAN/WAN
CTI
Application
Customer Database
January 23-26, 2007• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 12

13. Customer Care in the Distributed Enterprise
Cost Savings
Int./Ext. Toll Charges
Moves/Adds/Changes
Agent Costs
Phones
PBX Maintenance
Server Costs/Maint.
Central Office
PSTN
VoIP
Gateway
Envox IVR w/
Routing App.
Envox
ACD
Remote Office
Envox
Call Info. Mgr.
VoIP
Gateway
PBX
Envox
CT Connect
At Home Agents
VoIP
Gateway
Agent with
Std. Phone
Agent with
IP Phone
Agent with
IP Phone
IP Agent with Soft Phone
January 23-26, 2007• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 13

14. Approaching a VoIP Project

15. Common Problems to Avoid
What do you mean I can’t do that?
VoIP is a new and changing technology
Misinformation/lack of knowledge in vendors
IT vs. telephony
Evolving standards
Vendors support different standards or parts of standards
Voice quality/recognition quality vs. bandwidth
Centralized operations = increased impact of system failures
Duplicate functionality, but don’t plan for future
Security issues – need a plan that fits IT policies
How much bandwidth do I need for voice processing?
How many simultaneous conversations?
What codec is used?
Decisions will drive adjustments needed to firewall
Enable RTP ports to process audio
Enable with SIP or H.323 15

16. Recipe for Success: Preparation
The team: involve IT, telephony, business reps.
IT: bandwidth, firewalls, security, devices
Telephony: hardware/software, phones
Gather feedback on current telephony system
What features need to be carried forward?
What are drawbacks and what is lacking?
Identify business and technical needs of system in the future
Infrastructure that will remain (IVR, phones, etc.)
Changes needed to IP network to support voice
Quantity and quality of business applications
How much bandwidth do I need for voice processing?
How many simultaneous conversations?
What codec is used?
Decisions will drive adjustments needed to firewall
Enable RTP ports to process audio
Enable with SIP or H.323 16

17. Recipe for Success: RFP & First Steps
Input from multiple vendors (RFP)
Architecture plan (routing, firewalls, telephony, data flow)
Redundancy plan
Security plan
Can you provide all features? How?
Quality of service guarantees
Implementation plan
References – been there before?
Prove it in a pilot
Effects on infrastructure, IP network?
Do I still have all the functionality I need?
Special monitoring for transmission over the public internet
How much bandwidth do I need for voice processing?
How many simultaneous conversations?
What codec is used?
Decisions will drive adjustments needed to firewall
Enable RTP ports to process audio
Enable with SIP or H.323 17

18. Special Considerations for ASR/TTS
Compression of voice signal in VoIP network
Selection affects quality of audio/recognition and bandwidth
Conventional wisdom – stick with telco-quality (uncompressed, G.711) audio
Latest engines support other codecs (Nuance supports G.711, G.723 and G.729)
Platform must support required codec
Affects both TTS and ASR
Advice - check with your speech vendor for compression/bandwidth requirements 18

19. Case Studies

20. Retail Chain Reduces Infrastructure Costs with VoIP
Customer Description
Why VoIP?
Consolidated network
Fewer internal resources required to manage and upgrade solutions
Fewer deployed systems
Less hardware
Easier to roll out upgrades
Reduce the number of vendors
Eliminate phone charges
1,000+ stores
Separate PSTN, IT networks
Satellite transmission for data consolidation
Corporate goals
Cost savings
Upgrade obsolete technologies
January 23-26, 2007• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 20

21. Collections Agency Uses VoIP to Reduce Call Wait Time
Customer Description
Why VoIP?
Centralized system reduce administration and development
SoftPBX, IVR, Predictive Dialer, Agent Screen Pop, etc.
Enabled virtual call center
Reduced wait time - call transferred to next agent regardless of location
Centralized switching maximizes coverage AND streamlines staffing requirements
6,000+ calls per day
Inbound/Outbound
Multiple call centers, each with IP PBX
Must respond IMMEDIATELY to inquiries or lose revenue
January 23-26, 2007• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 21

22. Software Company Improves Operations at Nursing Homes and Hospitals
Customer Description
Why VoIP?
Lowered overall cost of integrating information sources
Rapid introduction of service enhancements
Next-gen technology provides important marketing advantage
Simplified integration with database and web-based systems
AccuNurse
Speech-enabled access to patient care plans
Point of care reporting via wireless headset
Silent paging
Speech-to-text database input
January 23-26, 2007• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 22

23. Resources
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