IP Gear’s Gateways Enable Smooth, Rapid Implementation of CosmoCom’s IP Contact Center
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IP Gear’s gateways have been selected as the converters between the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and CosmoCall Universe - CosmoCom’s IP-based universal access contact center platform - for ISIDE, a large Italian IT financial institution. The project was conducted by Spidernet Europe, the CosmoCom channel partner and the company's Reseller in Italy. Serving more than 150 banks, with a network consisting of 1,100 branches located all over the country, ISIDE designs and builds banking IT infrastructure, develops banking systems and solutions, and provides facility management, back office services and customer support.
CosmoCall Universe is a unified contact center suite that includes ACD, IVR, CTI, predictive dialing, multi-media recording and administrative tools. Network Service Providers use CosmoCall Universe to offer hosted Contact Center On-Demand™ services to their clients. Many telecom providers base their own customer care operations on CosmoCom technology. CosmoCom also provides best-of-breed technology, including IP ACD and IP IVR, for system integrators, resellers, and OEMs to build pre-integrated customer interaction and relationship management systems.
The CosmoCall Universe implementation at ISIDE includes a self-service interactive voice response (IVR) application and an automatic call distribution (ACD) platform. IVR enables answering many common questions without requiring a live agent. Calls that require attention beyond self-service are queued and routed to a live agent by the ACD.
CosmoCom’s customers include BT, Cable & Wireless, Deutsche Telekom, ePLDT, France Telecom, KT, and NTT. Headquartered in Melville, New York, CosmoCom has received more than 50 industry awards, and was recently ranked for the second year in a row by Deloitte as the region’s fastest growing technology company.
When ISIDE decided to implement CosmoCall Universe, it needed VoIP gateways to convert inbound telephone calls into VoIP sessions for transmission to agents, and vice versa. “We considered installing an IP card in the existing PBX,” explained Spidernet CEO Massimo Triggiani, “but while this would have been a sufficient solution, there was a two-month backlog, which meant an unacceptable delay. We needed to be up-and-running immediately.”
Smart solution
After evaluating various alternative solutions, ISIDE selected IP
Gear's Claro IP Telephony gateway. The Claro is centrally
positioned between the PSTN and the PBX, and the IP network,
with calls routed transparently and intelligently to the most
suitable path. Suitability is a function not only of applicability—local
and emergency calls pass through to the PSTN, but of quality
as well. If the network is not accessible, the call is automatically
routed to the PSTN, ensuring telephony survivability. If the
quality of the network—in terms of latency, jitter, and
packet loss—is below a user-designated threshold level,
the call is automatically routed to the PSTN, ensuring carrier-grade
quality calls for every call. Intelligent, transparent routing
means no need to reprogram the PBX or purchase additional equipment;
no need to change dialing habits, and no need to be concerned
about telephony quality, reliability, or availability issues.
Rapid Integration
The Claro gateways were installed and working in record
time, including bi-directional conversion of the coax connection
to RJ45. Claro PRI gateways are unique with a built-in PRI port
tester and installation wizard that provide for rapid set up and
configuration.
Cost-Effective
Because the Claro is positioned between the PSTN and the PBX,
no additional voice cards are required and no PBX reconfiguration
is necessary. And since the gateway is “PBX-agnostic,” there
are no compatibility issues. “Claro was almost half of
the price of the IP card required by the PBX and saved time
all around,” stated Claudio Podesta, Managing Director
of ISIDE.
“We couldn’t afford to wait, but more important, we can’t afford anything less than carrier-grade call quality with every call. Claro gave us a seamless connection between the IP network and the PSTN and smooth, rapid implementation of CosmoCall Universe.”