Midpoint Magic: Enabling SaaS in VoIP Call Centers
Call center adoption of
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) enables the decoupling of telephony and call transport from the applications that manage caller interactions. These applications include
call routing, call queuing, call reporting, call recording, dialing, and interactive voice response (IVR). SIP allows call center software applications to participate in call management and to exchange relevant call data with other applications using simple and powerful open Internet protocols. SIP relegates communications hardware to a commodity while transferring business value to
call center software applications.
To implement full-featured contact center functionality, automatic call distribution (ACD) software traditionally relies on a PBX for a number of media manipulation functions in addition to call handling. Such media manipulation is required to implement IVR, call queuing, call recording, conferencing, and dialing capabilities. Off-the-shelf IP media servers now provide these functions, all of which can be accessed through SIP and open media manipulation protocols such as MRCP and MSCML. The adoption of SIP and SIP-controlled media servers offer a brand new paradigm for enterprise communications. In fact, they render the PBX obsolete!
Off-the-shelf media gateways and media servers can be used to create a "midpoint" between callers and agents. Located at a voice point of presence (VPOP), this midpoint can be controlled through SIP and open media management protocols to implement the necessary media manipulation functions for IVR, call queuing, recording, monitoring, dialing, and conferencing applications. Using midpoint architecture, it is possible to implement a full-featured SIP call center environment as a pure software application, relying only on off-the-shelf networking elements for call and media management. With this configuration, call center agents can access any telephony function they need (hold, call transfer, conference, etc.) directly and use inexpensive SIP phones to receive voice calls.
Deploying such midpoint architecture for telephony and media manipulation dramatically simplifies the delivery of call center software-as-a-service (SaaS). The VPOPs can be housed in the carrier's network or at the enterprise premises and connected to a hosted contact center application running in the cloud. Midpoint architecture also gives contact centers the business flexibility to work with any carrier, telephony or transport of their choice.
A single application center can connect to multiple VPOPs each located in the geography of a call center's choice. The calls stay at the edge close to the callers, eliminating the need to backhaul voice to the hosted application center. This makes it easy to deploy global call centers inexpensively.
Transera, a provider of SaaS virtual call center software, has incorporated a patented approach to midpoint management into its software.