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

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

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solutions Server consolidation Centralized applications reduce administration and upgrade issues In many cases, out-of-date proprietary solutions can be replaced for the maintenance costs 3

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

Key Standards and Technologies

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

Architecture: Migrating from TDM to VoIP

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

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

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

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

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

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

Approaching a VoIP Project

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

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

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

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

Case Studies

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

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

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

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