Voice Portal has within the MPP world-class call classification algorithms, those
that typically can only be found in dedicated hard dialers. These have the ability
to not only detect CO telephony call progress tones (for when these cannot be delivered
by the carrier) but also human, answering machine, and end-of-greeting detection.
Voice Portal provides a flexible web service model for initiating both VoiceXML
and CCXML sessions, and allowing the application to know the result of the detection
before the first prompt is played. Though some outbound applications can be built
using purely VoiceXML techniques, more flexible applications require the
application to leverage CCXML as well. Also, since the application logic resides
on an application server, support for multi-channel notification
(SMS, e-mail, video messaging, etc.) are easily integrated.
Some examples of outbound notification include:
- Emergency notification services
- Appointment reminder/re-scheduler
- Bill notification and collection services
- Prescription reminder services
- Service/procedure follow-up survey
Since many outbound notification services need to allow the application to control
what appears on the receiver's caller ID display, Voice Portal exposes this functionality
to the application writer whenever the underlying telephony protocol supports it.
Many customers are discovering how Voice Portal can be used to triage incoming calls
in an effort to reduce expensive switch and CTI resources. For example,
many customers are terminating SIP trunks directly onto Voice Portal. Once on Voice Portal,
depending on the number dialed, time of day, call center activity, ANI, etc.,
calls may be pre-screened by a self-service application. Calls that can be
handled without the intervention of an agent translate into switch and
call center savings. If an agent is needed and the wait time is high, the system
can offer to call the user back; if the wait time is low, the user can be parked on Voice Portal
until an agent is available. One advantage of the SIP protocol, which Voice Portal supports,
is the ability for the application writer to not only perform more complex call
transfers, such as a whisper transfer or take-back n' transfer, but to also
include structured data (more than the 100+ bytes supported by UUI) with the call.
Voice Portal also supports Avaya's universal call ID generation, so if the call
initially lands on Voice Portal, it can be configured to generate a unique UCID and pass it
on to the call center (and CMS/IQ for reporting) when and if the call is transferred.
Other routing services include
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Answerless call routing - CCXML allows an application to detect an incoming call,
extract information about that call - ANI, DNIS, UUI information including UCID
and in the case of SIP all of the message headers and body (routing info, etc.).
This information can be used by an application to determine what to do with a call
and then to re-route the call, for example, to the most appropriate call center
facility or user endpoint. All of this can be done without ever going 'off hook'
or interacting with the user.
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Automated attendant - routing your inbound callers to the right destination through one or more questions.
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Traditional IVR call routing
There are many scenarios where very complex call control is needed and many times the
users of this service only have a home or cell phone.
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Enhanced answering service automation - Would you like to augment, or replace,
a traditional call answering service with one that can capture the message
from the user, find the on-call expert (a doctor on call, for example) via page,
SMS or home/cell phone; play the message and allow the expert to return the call?
Do you need to protect the doctor's privacy by hiding his/her cell phone number?
Do you want to record the call and save it for historical purposes?
Do you want to allow the doctor on call to transfer the caller to nurse, or vice versa,
after further discussions with the patient? Swampfox has experience building applications
just like this.
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PBX-like POTS phone - do you ever need to empower a remote worker, for example
a temporary domain expert, who only has a POTS phone but needs many of the
features of a PBX phone, such as conference, transfer, etc.?
Voice Portal with CCXML+VoiceXML can do just that.
Outside of the United States, billing issues frequently need to be under more refined application
control than is typically possible on a standard IVR platform. In much of the world,
it's not the calling party that pays for the cost of a phone call but the called party.
For many service cases, this can present a problem.
Voice Portal provides control of much of the telephony information and, as such,
the application writer has the needed flexibility to answer, reject, and/or redirect
calls based on telephony provided data or even user interaction. Much of this can be done
without ever answering the call.
Consider the following service that has been realized with Voice Portal:
Accept the service before agreeing to pay - In Russia, there are telephony services
that require a user acceptance (dtmf or verbal) before the remote party can begin
charging the caller. However, Central Office billing is typically keyed off of the
remote party 'answering' the phone. Voice Portal has the ability to answer the call
before triggering the SS7 network to fully acknowledge the call and begin billing.
This would never be possible in a traditional VoiceXML platform; however, we have the
knowledge to build this on Avaya's Voice Portal.
Voice Portal 5.0 and Dialog Designer 5.0 now have native video capabilities. This was accomplished
by adding support for various VoiceXML 3.0 tags and the inclusion of a SMIL interpreter
inside the MPP. Interactive Voice and Video Response (IVVR) allows you to interact with
the caller through audio and video. So now, if customers needs to see their concert seat,
bouquet of flowers or home fixture before they buy, they can. Also, now there is no need
to listen to a long list of menu choices, simply look at the screen. In addition, if someone is on
hold for a customer service representative, now you can have a much more engaging wait treatment.
Swampfox developed and implemented the video capabilities of Voice Portal 5. We have written many
video applications and have extensive experience with video authoring/effects tools.
Though these services may only be possible in APAC and select areas in EMEA, if you are
interested in Voice Portal's video capabilities, please contact us. We are also willing to educate
your staff on how to write video applications.
Please see our SERVICES page on training.
Voice Portal can play a key role in automating your business processes.
Does your process call for an escalation or approval to occur, only to have a
time-critical situation go unnoticed. Voice Portal could monitor an array of events
and get that authorization for you. Responses, or the entire call, can be recorded.
Escalation policies can be executed. Auditable, time-stamped records can be generated.
Whatever process your business follows, whether it's based on a home-grown set of tools,
or it leverages some of the industry toolsets, Voice Portal is flexible enough to fit
right in and is powerful enough to give you capabilities you don't have today.
