Outbound Call Center Featured Article

New Small- to Mid-Size Call Center Product for 2011

By Jayashree Adkoli
TMCnet Contributor

Aspect, a provider of unified communications (UC) and collaboration services and software, announced its plans to deliver a software-based product for small- to mid-size contact center applications using Microsoft Lync as its media server, in 2011.

According to Aspect (News - Alert), the new product will encompass core contact center capabilities and key unified communication functionality, thereby making it a value-priced, turnkey option for IT Help Desks, virtual sales teams, corporate departments, branch offices and small- to mid-size contact centers that wish to utilize their unified communications strategies. 

Sheila McGee-Smith, president and principal analyst at McGee-Smith Analytics, said in a statement that the new product will not work or integrate with Microsoft (News - Alert) Lync, but will use it as its media server.

For those unaware, Microsoft Lync 2010 is communications software that provides a single interface, which unites instant messaging “IM,” presence, conferencing, and telephony solutions into a richer, more contextual offering to support enterprise-level collaboration requirements.

McGee-Smith added, "This announcement reinforces the value the Aspect/Microsoft relationship, in place since March 2008, brings to existing and potential Lync users."

Scheduled for release in first quarter of 2011, the new product will have the capability to support up to 100 agents and supervisors, said officials with Aspect in the release.

Gurdeep Singh Pall, corporate vice president of the Microsoft Lync and Speech Group at Microsoft Corp., said in a statement that the customers of the company have been asking for an easy to implement and manage solution for smaller contact centers and help desks. A solution that will enable smaller contact centers to use the same telephony infrastructure that is being used in the enterprise.

As required, Aspect’s new product delivers contact center capabilities such as voice, inbound voice and email routing, IM, real-time and historical reporting, a unified agent desktop, manual dialing and voice self service capabilities on a single server.

In addition, the new product will also feature out-of-the-box workflows. It will also provide seamless integration in to Aspect Workforce Management to enable forecasting, scheduling, and tracking capabilities and Aspect Performance Management for scorecards and analysis that can automatically initiate alerts and actions. The Microsoft Lync will be delivering the media server and PBX (News - Alert) functionality, said officials with Aspect.

In the press release, Gary Barnett, chief technology officer at Aspect, said, "The product will provide an optimal blend of unified communications capabilities and key contact center features for low cost, in a small footprint. Importantly, it provides a natural first step for integrating either the internal or external contact center to the organization's unified communications infrastructure, allowing the business to capitalize on the enterprise-wide benefits that UC can bring to the customer and the company."