I just spent the past several weeks updating information on top tier vendors that provide solutions for medium-to-large enterprises and contact centers for a new analyst report. The list includes Avaya, Alcatel — Lucent/Genesys, Cisco, Siemens, Nortel (stand-alone and with Microsoft in their Innovative Communications Alliance (News - Alert)), NEC Unified Solutions, Interactive Intelligence, Aspect Software, Intervoice, Syntellect and last, but not least, Mitel. This study provides much insight into the direction of these vendors and new functionality being incorporated as a result of the steady migration to IP-based communication servers and contact center systems.

 

To varying degrees most of the IP-PBX vendors have already or are beginning to design native SIP into their communication servers, which enables multimedia communications, and presence capabilities. The same trend is occurring in contact center systems, enabling agents to extend to personnel inside and outside the contact center in conjunction with customer communication through various means including text chat, voice conferencing, etc. with knowledge experts. There are examples of real-world implementations such as in the financial area. One vendor showcased the ability for agents to collaborate with a loan officer to make real-time decisions for customer requests or provide other financial recommendations. The fact is that the lines are beginning to blur between what has typically been isolated contact center operations and enterprise communications.

 

On the self-service front, more IVR systems are based on VoiceXML (News - Alert) and also Call Control XML (CCXML). Service Oriented Architecture and personalization are other trends occurring.

 

As mentioned in the previous article on Enterprise & Contact Center Communications, infrastructures and Service Oriented Architectures (Java or .Net) vary by company which has a direct impact on enterprise convergence and Unified Communication platforms — and there are many options to choose from. Just as Cisco was the new provider positioned on pure IP multi-media communications just a few years ago — and is now in the number 3 position — Microsoft is well positioned on presence with its Live Communication Server 2005 and new Office Communication Server 2007. IBM (News - Alert) also has a presence server for their Lotus SameTime. Regardless of how some of the more dominant players position their offerings, open standards will remain and innovation will be the defining factor between which vendors gain and which will lose market share in the telecommunication systems arena. And innovation is not just about which companies lead with new standards, but how they are mixed and matched with current technology to solve practical business problems. In future articles I will highlight new capabilities and innovations being provided, including those from vendors mentioned above.

 

The new 2 Volume 400 page CollabGen Analyst report: Telecommunication Systems and Applications 2007 – Medium-to-large Enterprises & Contact Centers is available at www.collabgen.com.