Objectworld (News - Alert) Communications has released version 4.2 of its Unified Communications Server, which brings even greater productivity to SMBs and is designed to enhance the customer experience.  The latest version of Objectworld UC Server “continues to build on Objectworld’s primary goal of bringing Unified Communications (News - Alert) into the IT data center,” according to the company’s president Martin Suter, who added that the latest enhancements truly deliver on the promise of UC. 

 

“Objectworld UC Server delivers a number of tremendous enhancements primarily focused on simplifying business process integration and contextualizing communications,” said Suter.  He added that no other UC solution on the market enables the functionality and ease of use the Objectworld now offers its users.

 

Suter explained that UC Server 4.2 enables true business process integration by enabling the automation of business processes with a rapid application development platform and easy integration with existing line of business applications, including, for the first time, automated outbound dialing based on database event triggers.

 

The outbound dialer makes possible a host of sophisticated solutions that integrate with existing line-of-business applications. With Objectworld UC Server’s application creation environment and application server, customers are able to automate business processes as diverse as school absentee notification, automatic appointment reminder, accounts receivable collection, and call-out lists for securing a substitute worker, and virtually any other business process.

 

The application creation environment can also be effective for developing incoming call handling scenarios. For instance, if a caller wants to check on the status of an order. To enable that, a user needs to record the announcement asking for the caller to enter the six-digit order number. Then he instructs the system to gather the digits entered by the customer, stopping after the sixth, since the order number has only six digits. He then selects the source database by clicking, which begins to build a simple query that looks up the order number, looking for a one-to-one match with the customer’s order number. Once that match is found, text-to-speech technology can be user to relay the information in the order status field back to the customer.

 

Importantly, this is all done with a few mouse clicks and, in less than a minute, users are able to develop sophisticated IVR scripts that includes database dipping, and return relevant information to the customer.

 

“There’s huge value in aligning back-end business processes and integrating your front-end communications process through a rapid application development environment,” explained Matejuk. This is what he calls true convergence in the business environment.

 

Version 4.2 also brings context into the communications environment, which enhances customer service capabilities by enabling intelligent call routing based on Caller ID, and offers integration with Outlook and CRM databases, as well as desktop and Internet searches. User can specify with whom they want to communicate and when, including specifying devices, times, and unique outgoing messages, based on Caller ID.

 

Perhaps the greatest enhancement, in terms of user control, is the Personal Business Assistant, which as Nick Matejuk (News - Alert), vice president, Microsoft Strategic Alliance at Objectworld, explained, “effectively extends the auto attendant concept to the end user level and allows each user to build their own auto attendant at the extension level.”

 

Also, using detailed presence information and simple drag and drop call routing, calls routing schemes can either be automated, or calls can be manually routed to the appropriate individuals — including Caller ID-based routing.

 

Matejuk also explained that the new release can eliminate the hassle of having to check to see if voice mails have been left, since notifications can be sent automatically to any device when they are. Users can even specify for which contacts they would like to receive notifications, so they are not disturbed during meetings other than for the most important callers.

 

Finally, this release from Objectworld, because it is a single, comprehensive solution, helps in reducing the costs and complexities involved with deploying and managing complex communications solutions. He explained that UC Server is treated like any other application in the data center. The drag and drop functionality, the integrated Windows desktop and Web search, and all of the other service enhancing features are incorporated into a single application.

 

In terms of cost, Suter said it is based on functionality and size of the organization, but that “as a rule of thumb, customers should budget between $150 and $175 per seat for all of the functionality Objectworld UC Server offers.”