iMessaging Adds Outbound Dialing to iNspire Call Center Suite

Published: January 17, 2006

by Alex Woodie

iMessaging Systems this month added a new component to its iSeries-based telephony system, called the iNspire Call Center Suite. With the new iAgent Directed Dialer, companies using iNspire to manage call center operations can now enable their customer service representatives (CSRs) to easily switch between making outbound calls and taking inbound calls--without forcing them to log off the system.

Normally, one would see no problem with a CSR just picking up a phone and making a call to a customer. However, this was not such as easy task to accomplish in the iNspire Call Center Suite prior to the release of the iAgent Directed Dialer, because making an outbound call would have required the CSR to log-off from the iNspire call center system.

OK, so the CSR has to log-off the system or switch programs. Big deal, right? Well, actually, it is. The call center industry is very competitive, and keeping close tabs on the activity and productivity of the CSRs who man the phone banks is a key factor contributing to the profitability of call center operations. Outbound calling has been reduced dramatically as a result of the national Do Not Call list, which has the names of 75 percent of American adults, but there are still times when outbound calling is critical.

This is why iMessaging's new iAgent Directed Caller software is important. By integrating outbound calling with the company's iSeries-based call center software, information about outbound calls is now logged into the system and made available for management reports.

By providing outbound calling functionality as an integrated component of iNspire through the iAgent, iMessaging Systems say it is improving the efficiency of its customers call centers, and providing a more accurate reflection of CSR's productivity through management reporting.

iMessaging says its iAgent can be used in two ways, including for the occasional outbound call by a CSR whose primary responsibility is handling inbound calls, and by CSRs who primary job is making outbound calls.

Organizations that use iAgent will benefit by eliminating manual dialing for their CSRs, which will cut down on dialing errors. Also, because the outbound call list in the computer can be prioritized and sequenced, call centers can improve the odds of a CSR making a successful call. Tight integration with iNspire also makes CSRs' jobs easier because they can take advantage of iNspire's "screen pop" functionality, which brings up the correct OS/400 application screen upon a call being connected.

Call center managers also benefit from iAgent, iMessaging says. Because it's integrated with iNspire, any outbound calls made through the iAgent is automatically logged, and details of that call are captured for later reporting.

It's been about nine months since iMessaging Systems renamed its suite of call center management software from iVoice to iNspire to better reflect the direction of the product line away from just being an interactive voice response (IVR) system (see "iSeries-centric Call Center Suite Renamed iNspire"). While the entire suite was renamed iNspire, the iVoice Call Management Server--which provides the PC-based "telephony controller" for answering incoming calls, the voice recording software and hardware, and the connection to iSeries applications via an OS/400 API--remains at the heart of iMessaging's product offering.

Some of the new functionality that inspired iMessaging's renaming included new call management and call routing features, including Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) functionality, which places incoming calls in a rotating queue and sends them to the next available agent. These call center features are delivered to customers via the OS/400-based iAgent component of the iNspire suite.

Customers will see measurable gains in productivity as a result of the iAgent Directed Caller, says Rich Ollari, iMessaging's product manager. "Our beta customers have been delighted with the customer-driven enhancements and the quality of the beta release," he says. "The vision of iNspire as a seamless telephony solution blends very well with an overall iSeries-centered CRM strategy. More importantly, the efficiencies that customers realize with the dialer are easily measurable in real productivity gains."

For more information, go to www.imessagingsystems.com.