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Updated:January 14, 2019
Document ID:1549302812704661
Bias-Free Language
The documentation set for this product strives to use bias-free language. For the purposes of this documentation set, bias-free is defined as language that does not imply discrimination based on age, disability, gender, racial identity, ethnic identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality. Exceptions may be present in the documentation due to language that is hardcoded in the user interfaces of the product software, language used based on RFP documentation, or language that is used by a referenced third-party product. Learn more about how Cisco is using Inclusive Language.
Data Sheet
Cisco® Unified Contact Center Express-an integral component of the Cisco Unified Communications system-offers an integrated, full-featured solution for managing customer contacts with all the benefits of the converged Cisco IP Telephony architecture.
The Cisco Unified Communications system of voice and IP communications products and applications enables organizations to communicate more effectively-helping them to streamline business processes, reach the right resource the first time, and impact the top and bottom line. The Cisco Unified Communications portfolio is a key part of the Cisco Business Communications Solution-an integrated solution for organizations of all sizes which also includes network infrastructure, security, and network management products, wireless connectivity, and a lifecycle services approach, along with flexible deployment and outsourced management options, end-user and partner financing packages, and third-party communications applications.
Cisco Unified Contact Center Express helps customers move into the next phase of customer contact-beyond today's contact center to a Customer Interaction Network. The Customer Interaction Network is a distributed, IP-based customer-service infrastructure that comprises a continuously evolving suite of innovative, multichannel services and customer-relationship-management (CRM) applications. These services and applications provide premium responsiveness and streamlined customer exchanges to help your organization deliver superior customer service. A Customer Interaction Network extends customer-service capabilities across the entire organization, giving your business a more integrated and collaborative approach to customer satisfaction-leading to a better customer experience.
CISCO UNIFIED CONTACT CENTER EXPRESS OVERVIEW
Cisco Unified Contact Center Express meets the needs of departmental, enterprise branch, or small to medium-sized companies that need easy-to-deploy easy-to-use, highly available, and sophisticated customer interaction management for one to 300 agents. It is designed to enhance the efficiency, availability, and security of customer contact interaction management by supporting a highly available virtual contact center with integrated self-service applications across multiple sites secured with Cisco Security Agent. Its support for powerful agent-based assisted service as well as fully integrated self-service applications results in reduced business costs and improved customer response by providing sophisticated and distributed automatic call distributor (ACD), interactive voice response (IVR), computer telephony integration (CTI), and agent and desktop services in a single-server, contact-center-in-a-box deployment.
Cisco Unified Contact Center Express is provided in three versions, Standard, Enhanced and Premium, to better match product functions with your customer contact interaction management requirements. All Cisco Unified Contact Center Express products are tightly integrated with Cisco Unified CallManager.
FEATURES AND BENEFITS OF CISCO UNIFIED CONTACT CENTER EXPRESS PREMIUM
Cisco Unified Contact Center Express Premium is ideal for full-featured formal call centers requiring skills-based routing, CTI-based agent screen pop, or integrated self-service application support; it can handle as few as a single agent or as many as 300 agents and 300 full-featured IVR ports*. Additional features and benefits include:
ACD Call Routing and Priority Queuing
Matching the caller with the right agent the first time, creating call handling tailored to different classes of customers and even for individual customers, and providing flexible contact center operational profiles based on varying business needs are all critical requirements in providing high levels of customer satisfaction while maintaining cost-effective, efficient operations.
Skill groups can be defined to require agents with specific skills and competency levels within that skill. Every agent can be assigned up to 100 different skills differentiated by their competency (up to 10 levels of competency) in that skill. Every agent can be a member in multiple skill groups.
Sophisticated routing and rerouting algorithms include the following: data-driven routing based on customer data in enterprise databases; conditional routing, including time-of-day, day-of-week, holidays, automatic number identification (ANI), dialed number identification service (DNIS), customer-entered data, and custom-defined variables; wait time; calls in queue or other custom-defined variables; and overflow, intra-flow, and inter-flow routing.
The ability to move calls up or down in a call queue at any time under workflow control is provided by the Cisco Unified Contact Center Express Premium call priority queuing feature. This feature adds significant capability to optimize customer contact management for specific classes of customers or even to target special handling for specific customers.
IVR Voice Menus and Queued Calls
Cisco Unified Contact Center Express Premium provides advanced, programmable arbitrary depth voice menus and custom caller treatments in queue, including playing the number of calls in queue, expected wait time in queue, custom messaging, and options to prompt and collect customer-entered information as well as provision for callers to transfer to any other number or service, including voicemail.
IVR Support for Fully Automated Self-Service Solutions
Cisco Unified Contact Center Express Premium provides support for integrating fully automated self-service applications using dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF), and advanced speech technologies such as automatic speech recognition (ASR) and text-to-speech (TTS) technologies with the contact center. Other advanced technologies supported include integration with enterprise Websites for initiating features such as click-to-talk and real-time notification services for e-mail and, with third-party products, support for fax and paging services**.
CTI for Screen Pop
The unique, cost-effective CTI integration feature of Cisco Unified Contact Center Express Premium brings CTI integration costs within reach for all contact center operators, including using caller-entered information as a key for an enterprise database access to retrieve detailed caller information for popping extensive information about the caller to the agent using any Microsoft Windows-based CRM or other application.
In addition, Cisco Unified Contact Center Express Premium supports a default, integrated basic screen pop capability. Also supported is the ability to access data stored on any enterprise Web server through HTTP and Extensible Markup Language (XML).
Historical Reporting
The Cisco Unified Contact Center Express product provides out of the box graphical and tabular reports that allow supervisors and call center managers to:
• Manage agents using reports that provide information such as agent call counts, agent call durations, agent activity on each call, agent login and logout activity, agent not ready reason codes, and agent duration in state information.
• Measure customer experience using reports that provide information about application call counts, application call durations, abandon rate and average speed to answer (ASA) by application, peak hour call statistics by application, and detailed reports on abandoned/rejected calls.
• Measure contact service queue (CSQ) performance using reports that provide information such as different types of service level by CSQ, queue statistics by CSQ, answer and abandon call distribution by CSQ, CSQ call counts, and CSQ call durations.
• Access detailed views on each contact made to the system through reports that provide information such as custom call variables tagged to each call and detailed call by call reports.
The Cisco Unified Contact Center Express historical reporting client provides supervisors and call center managers with flexibility to display report data using features including date time range, sorting parameters, and filter parameters. Once reports are generated, the tool also provides the ability to manipulate the report output by scaling the report size and providing the ability to export the report data in file formats such as PDF, Excel, and XML for further data manipulation or presentation options. Through the job scheduler, users also have the ability to print or save scheduled reports at user defined date and time intervals.
Cisco Unified Contact Center Express customers can use Crystal Reports software to build custom reports that are viewable through the Cisco Unified Contact Center Express historical reporting client. Detailed documentation helps customers understand the data presented on the standard reports, information on detailed data stored in the historical reporting database, and how to build custom reports for Cisco Unified Contact Center Express.
Cisco Agent and Supervisor Desktop Services
The Cisco Agent Desktop and Cisco Supervisor Desktop are agent and supervisor interfaces for Cisco Unified Contact Center Express and Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise. With a common desktop environment across these products, contact center training and business operations decisions can be made once and reused across products.
Cisco Unified Contact Center Express offers the option to employ Cisco Unified IP Phone Agent for the Cisco Unified IP Phone 7970G, 7960G, and 7940G. This option requires only the Cisco Unified IP Phone for an agent-no PC is required (Cisco Unified IP Phone Agent is also supported on the Cisco Unified IP Phone 7911G, 7912G, 7941G, 7961G, 7971G, and Cisco Unified Wireless IP Phone 7920G).
CISCO AGENT DESKTOP PREMIUM FOR CISCO UNIFIED CONTACT CENTER EXPRESS PREMIUM
Cisco Agent Desktop allows agents to perform call-control functions directly from their desktops for a Cisco Unified IP Phone 7905G, 7940G, 7960G or 7970G or to the Cisco IP Communicator soft phone. (Cisco Unified IP Phone Agent is also supported on the Cisco Unified IP Phone 7911G, 7912G, 7941G, 7961G, 7971G, and the Cisco Unified Wireless IP Phone 7920G). Call-control functions include make call, terminate call, hold call, transfer call, and conference call (Figure 1).
Additional features include:
• On-demand recording-This feature enables agents to record any call on demand***.
• Workflow automation control-This feature provides a single-click method to execute predefined actions.
• Agent or supervisor chat-Agents and supervisors can exchange messages one on one or in a conference with other agents.
• Ability to predefine agent or supervisor messages
• Reason codes-Agents can optionally provide a reason code for logout and not-ready state change.
• Real-time reporting-Agents can see their real-time statistics directly on their desktop application.
• Agent state log-ACD state changes are logged with a time and date stamp to allow detailed tracking and troubleshooting of agent state transitions.
• Screen pop options
– Enterprise data pop (Figure 2)-Displays caller data, including caller ID, ANI, DNIS, as well as queue time, talk time with thresholds, and customer-defined variables
– Screen pop with any caller-entered information or internal workflow values to pop most Windows applications on an agent's desktop
• Hot desking and extension mobility support-This feature provides the flexibility for agents to sit at any available agent station while maintaining their unique settings.
Figure 1. Cisco Agent Desktop Premium with Workflow Automation Control
Figure 2. Cisco Agent Desktop Premium with Enterprise Data Pop
Cisco Supervisor Desktop for Cisco Unified Contact Center Express Premium
Cisco Supervisor Desktop allows supervisors to perform call-control functions directly from their desktops; call-control functions include "make call," "terminate call," "hold call," "transfer call," and "conference call."
Additional features include:
• Full support for agent or supervisor interaction using chat capability-Instant messaging offers the capability to communicate with any or all the agents on the supervisor's team.
• Scrolling marquee messages-Supervisors can send these messages to broadcast important news to all agents on their team.
• Monitor agent status, Silent Monitor, Coaching, Barge-In and Intercept-improve performance and customer satisfaction through the use of advanced supervisor features:
– Agent monitoring-Supervisors can monitor phone status and agent state with caller data.
– Silent monitoring-Supervisors can silently monitor agent and caller interaction.
– On-demand recording-This feature enables supervisors to record any call on demand**.
– Coaching-While silent monitoring, supervisors can use chat to provide coaching to agent.
– Barge-In-Supervisors can join any call in progress.
– Call Intercept-Supervisors can move any call from any agent to themselves.
• Changing the agent state-Supervisors can change an agent from logged in to logged out or from ready to not ready.
• Real-time reporting-Supervisors can change view agent and skill group statistics.
• Hot desking and extension mobility support-This feature gives organizations flexibility by allowing supervisors to sit at any available workplace while maintaining their unique settings.
CISCO UNIFIED IP PHONE AGENT FOR CISCO UNIFIED CONTACT CENTER EXPRESS PREMIUM
Cisco Unified IP Phone Agent (Figure 3) provides ACD functions on a Cisco Unified IP Phone 7970G, 7960G or 7940G. The Cisco Unified IP Phone Agent does not support all features of the agent desktop, but in many cases it eliminates the need for an agent desktop to be installed on the agent's PC. (Cisco Unified IP Phone Agent is also supported on the Cisco Unified IP Phone 7911G, 7912G, 7941G, 7961G, 7971G, and the Cisco Unified Wireless IP Phone 7920G.)
Cisco Unified IP Phone Agent features include:
• Call control using the Premium IP phone capabilities
• ACD states
– Log in and log out
– Add work state Ready or not ready
– Reason codes for log out and not ready
• Hot desking (extension mobility)
• Display of real-time statistics for number of calls in queue and longest call in queue
• Support for enterprise data pop
Cisco Supervisor Desktop control of Cisco Unified IP Phone Agents includes:
• Ability to monitor agent phone status in real time
• Ability to change the agent state-Supervisors can change an agent from logged in to logged out or from not ready to ready.
• On-demand recording-This feature enables supervisors to record any call on demand***.
• Monitor agent status, Silent Monitor, Barge-In and Intercept-improve performance and customer satisfaction through the use of advanced supervisor features:
– Agent monitoring-Supervisors can monitor phone status and agent state with caller data.
– Silent monitoring-Supervisors can silently monitor agent and caller interaction.
– Barge-In-Supervisors can join any call in progress.
– Call Intercept-Supervisors can move any call from any agent to themselves.
Figure 3. Cisco Unified IP Phone Agent
SERVICE CREATION AND SCRIPTING ENVIRONMENT
The Cisco Unified Contact Center Express Workflow Editor is the service creation and scripting environment that helps enable complete customization of call-flow behavior and call treatments. It can operate from any location on the enterprise WAN, and workflows can be uploaded and run on the Cisco Unified Contact Center Express server. This environment is a visual editor that provides a simple, easy-to-understand interface for building powerful, custom, business-communication applications. As Figure 4 illustrates, the service creation and scripting environment allows users to simply select a predefined call-flow component and drag and drop that component onto the current call-flow document. Users simply right-click on the dropped component to fill in component parameters.
Figure 4. Service Creation and Scripting Environment
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
Cisco Unified Contact Center Express Premium provides Web-based administration fully integrated with that for Cisco Unified CallManager. It can be administered from any location within an enterprise WAN (Figure 5).
Figure 5. Web-Based Administration
MANAGEMENT SERVICES
Using open Internet standards and the inherent capabilities of Cisco Systems
® devices, CiscoWorks helps network managers oversee their converged networks while maintaining confidence that their IP telephony environments, including Cisco Unified Contact Center Express Premium, are performing as expected. CiscoWorks provides real-time, detailed fault analysis designed specifically for Cisco devices in the IP telephony environment. This focus on Cisco devices helps enable monitoring of Cisco IP Telephony technology-based networks for a variety of fault conditions, analysis of these conditions, and notification of network managers through intelligent traps detailing the problem that has occurred. Functions supporting Cisco Unified Contact Center Express Premium include server discovery, health statistics, subsystem process checks, application run-time status, and other critical network management capabilities (Figure 6).
Figure 6. CiscoWorks Support for Cisco Unified Contact Center Express Premium
SECURITY
To help maintain network security in the contact center and throughout the enterprise, Cisco Unified Contact Center Express supports Cisco Security Agent as well as virus-detection software from the major antivirus software vendors. Cisco Security Agent is a host-based intrusion detection system that provides security to mission-critical enterprise servers and hosts. It provides benefits beyond conventional endpoint security solutions such as virus scanning software and firewalls by identifying and preventing malicious behavior before it can occur. By doing so, it helps remove potential known and unknown security risks that threaten enterprise networks and applications. By analyzing behavior rather than relying on signature matching, Cisco Security Agent complements the capabilities of the antivirus software; together, they provide a robust solution to protect your network and reduce operational costs.
CISCO UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES AND SUPPORT
Using the Cisco Lifecycle Services approach, Cisco Systems and its partners offer a broad portfolio of end-to-end services to support the Cisco Unified Communications system. These services are based on proven methodologies for deploying, operating, and optimizing IP communications solutions. Upfront planning and design services, for example, can help you meet aggressive deployment schedules and minimize network disruption during implementation. Operate services reduce the risk of communications downtime with expert technical support. Optimize services enhance solution performance for operational excellence. Cisco and its partners offer a system-level service and support approach that can help you create and maintain a resilient, converged network that meets your business needs.
SUMMARY
Cisco Unified Contact Center Express offers an integrated, full-featured solution for managing customer voice contacts while retaining all the benefits of fully converged, Cisco IP Telephony deployment. Cisco Unified Contact Center Express meets the need for adjunct ACD as well as both formal and informal contact centers by delivering sophisticated call routing, management, and administration features for departmental, enterprise branch, or small to medium enterprise customer-care needs.
Cisco Unified Contact Center Express offers ease of installation, configuration, and application hosting, as well as reduced business application integration complexity, ease of agent administration, increased agent flexibility, and network hosting efficiencies-continuing the evolution toward a true Customer Interaction Network.
* The actual maximum number of agents and full-featured IVR ports that can be deployed on a given hardware server depends on the performance and capacities of that server as well as how many and what kind of other features are also deployed on that server. Your Cisco or Cisco partner account team can assist you in determining the maximum number of agents and prompt and collect ports for your deployment.
** May require integration with service provider or product providing the paging, e-mail, or fax service.
*** The actual maximum number of simultaneous recording and/or silent monitoring sessions that can be deployed on a given hardware server depends on the performance and capacities of that server as well as how many and what kind of other features are also deployed on that server. Your Cisco or Cisco partner account team can assist you in determining the maximum number of simultaneous recording and/or silent monitoring sessions available for your deployment.
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