Host Application Planning and Design

ASAI Application Planning and Design

In certain call center environments, the VIS ASAI system is integrated with a host computer. As discussed previously, you must provide or obtain the host software application that works with the VIS ASAI system. This host software application is not part of the VIS ASAI product. The host application can use the information it receives from the VIS ASAI system to do certain functions such as display call information on agent screens or route calls. The host application may also be called upon to provide the basis for an automated voice response application.

In some cases, particularly for voice response applications, the VIS ASAI system integrates well with an embedded application and hence no changes are required. For routing and data screen delivery applications, however, an existing application will most likely need to be modified to accommodate new functionality.

You may have several options for providing this host application. For example, you can develop your own application or modify an existing application to work with the VIS ASAI system. This is typically done by the company’s data-process- ing or information-systems department. Alternatively, you can purchase a third- party software vendor application that is designed and developed to work with the VIS ASAI system.

Application development may require significant planning and coordination between different organizations within your company. The telecommunications, call-center operations, and data-processing organizations are all typically involved in the planning process. Schedules for application development or customization must be coordinated closely with plans to implement the VIS ASAI system, Inte- grated Services Digital Network (ISDN) services, and any additional communica- tions system ACD features.

The voice response, routing, and data screen delivery applications enabled by a VIS ASAI system can all potentially make use of ANI information delivered by the network. The use of ANI generates several considerations.

■You should allow for the possibility that the same caller will call from differ- ent phone numbers. The same person, for example, might sometimes call from home and sometimes call from the office. The same database record should be used in both cases. Calls generated from a private branch exchange (PBX) will likely have more than one ANI assignment, based on the different trunk groups used to generate the call and the fact that individ- ual trunk circuits sometimes carry different ANI identities.

■You should allow for situations when ANI information is not delivered for a call. In voice response applications, the voice script should provide some sort of default call handling for cases where no ANI is available. In routing applications, the caller could be routed to a VIS T/R or LST1 split so that additional information can be collected. In data screen delivery applica- tions, an agent can ask the caller for this information.

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