Cisco Unified Customer Voice Portal

Feature

Benefits

Video in queue

The Cisco Unified CVP video-in-queue feature allows a video caller on Cisco Unified Communications Manager to view a high-definition video prompt and navigate a video menu using dual-tone multifrequency (DTMF) keys while in queue for a video agent. Cisco Unified CVP Studio provides the scripting for this feature using a new VideoConnect element. Cisco Unified CVP video in queue allows businesses and organizations to provide personalized, "high-touch" services to customers at remote and branch-office sites such as a local bank office or a retail store. Video devices supported for video in queue include:

Note: For a current list of supported video endpoints, consult the latest hardware and system software specification for Cisco Unified CVP at: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/partner/products/sw/custcosw/ps1006/prod_technical_reference_list.html.

Media Resource Control Protocol (MRCP) Version 2

MRCPv2 allows Cisco Unified CVP to make and release connections to Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) and Text-to-Speech (TTS) resources as needed during the call, allowing more efficient use of speech resources and licenses.

Platform upgrades

Cisco Unified CVP platform upgrades in this release include Windows 2008, Informix 11.7, and support for VMware ESXi 5.0. UTF-8 encoding allows Cisco Unified CVP to support TTS for all the languages offered by the speech vendors.

Feature

Benefits

Self-Service

Play announcements, prompts, and audio

Cisco Unified CVP can play prerecorded announcements and prompts to callers, supporting a wide variety of informational and self-service applications. Streaming audio is also supported (with Real-Time Streaming Protocol [RTSP]), allowing play of live audio sources.

Collect caller input

Cisco Unified CVP can collect information from callers in a variety of ways (for example, yes or no, menu choices, forms, and data types), enabling faster, more intuitive self-service sessions.

Barge and type ahead

Knowledgeable callers can save time by skipping through prompts and announcements they are already familiar with.

Opt out

Callers have the option to "zero-out" to speak with a live agent.

G.729 codec

Support for this audio codec helps ensure that network bandwidth is used more efficiently.

Post-call surveys

Support for caller surveys following the self-service session enhances customer satisfaction and provides valuable feedback to the business or organization.

Courtesy callback

Callers in queue can request a callback when an agent becomes available, reducing time spent on hold and lowering caller frustration.

Speech (ASR and TTS)

ASR and TTS are optionally supported through third-party vendors such as Nuance, Loquendo, IBM, and Microsoft (with additional partner integration), providing a faster, more intuitive self-service session. For additional information about supported speech vendors, visit the Cisco Developer Network at: http://developer.cisco.com/web/partner/search.

Database read and write

Cisco Unified CVP can read and write information from back-office databases, providing callers with real-time access to their accounts.

Web services support

Cisco Unified CVP supports web services interfaces such as Web Services Description Language (WSDL) and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), enabling real-time integration with web-enabled business applications.

IVR application debugging

Application debugging tools enable deployment of robust, error-free Cisco Unified CVP self-service applications the first time.

Third-party device integration

Cisco Unified CVP is integrable with select third-party recording and analytic tools that help businesses and organizations improve their customer care. For additional information, visit the Cisco Developer Network at: http://developer.cisco.com/web/partner/search.

Video

Video contact center

Cisco Unified CVP supports audio-based self-service and queuing for calls, which optionally become video calls when routed to a contact center agent. This support provides rich caller-agent interactions while saving costs and bandwidth during the self-service portion of the call. Video contact center is supported in this way for the following calling endpoints:

Cisco Virtual Expert Management

Cisco Unified CVP is tested with validated reference designs for Cisco Virtual Expert Management, which increases retail bank revenue by better capturing walk-in traffic, especially for complex products such as small business loans, investments, and even home mortgages. For additional information, visit: http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/financial/virtual_expert_management.html.

Multichannel

Email

Cisco Unified CVP supports integration with email servers to send email messages based on caller self-service input, allowing callers to benefit from this additional service channel.

Short Message Service (SMS)

Cisco Unified CVP supports integration with SMS servers to send messages based on caller self-service input, allowing callers to benefit from this additional service channel.

Basic outbound

Built-in outbound functions enable Cisco Unified CVP to make an outbound call from a polled data file, providing simple outbound functions without the complexity and expense of a complete solution.

Outbound with Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise

If full outbound functions are required, Cisco Unified CVP can be deployed with the Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise Outbound option.

Call Control and CTI

Transfer to agent, IVR, private branch exchange (PBX), automatic call distributor (ACD), or carrier network

In addition to its self-service and queuing capabilities, Cisco Unified CVP possesses powerful SIP-based call control to instruct the IP network where to route the call. This control can include call transfer to an agent, IVR, ACD, PBX, or a carrier network, providing a wealth of customer service options. Cisco Services and authorized Cisco Advanced Technology Partners can assist with integrations to specific devices and carrier networks.

Computer telephony integration (CTI)

Cisco Unified CVP can transfer the call to an agent along with CTI information about the caller and the caller's self-service session. This feature improves agent productivity and results in a smoother customer service experience. CTI data can be passed either through Cisco Unified Intelligent Contact Management (ICM) or directly to SIP-enabled devices through the SIP message header.

Carrier interoperability

Testing and certification has been performed with Cisco Unified CVP and the following telephony carrier call-transfer mechanisms:

SIP

Information about the call and caller can be provided to the agent in the SIP header, speeding problem resolution.

Support for Cisco Unified SIP Proxy improves solution redundancy by enabling dynamic reroute around an endpoint that is down.

Cisco Unified CVP supports a range of SIP RFCs to enable powerful, comprehensive, and efficient control over calls. Some of the major RFCs supported include:

Dynamic routing

Cisco Unified CVP can route calls based on trunk group and endpoint availability, improving call-completion rates and providing trunk reporting.

Locations-Based Call Admission Control (LBCAC)

LBCAC enables you to control the audio quality and video quality of calls over a wide-area (IP WAN) link by limiting the number of calls that are allowed on that location at the same time. Enhanced LBCAC bandwidth calculations are more accurate, and the feature can now select a local VoiceXML gateway for voice-response-unit (VRU) treatment at the branch office during warm transfers from an agent.

Agent greeting

A configurable, automated agent greeting can be played to callers, standardizing the caller experience. The agent greeting helps to keep agents' voices fresh by saving them from having to repeat the same greeting on every call.

Agent whisper

A configurable announcement can be played to an agent right before the caller is connected, providing information about the type of call being delivered (for example, "sales" or "tech support") and other guidance. This feature gives agents information about the caller, speeding problem handling and improving first-call resolution.

Architecture

Scalability

Cisco Unified CVP is extremely scalable, supporting deployments from as small as 24 ports (a single T1) to as large as 15,000 ports.

Gateway VoiceXML browsers

Cisco Unified CVP interoperates with voice gateways using open-standards VoiceXML, allowing it to instruct the gateways to play announcements, collect information, and queue calls. Gateways can be deployed essentially anywhere on the network, allowing self-service and queuing to occur at the most efficient and cost-effective location.

Cisco Unified Computing System^™ server support

The cost per server is lower with Cisco Unified CVP.

Virtual machine co-residency allows server consolidation, reducing power, rack space, and cooling requirements.

Cisco ASR 1000 Aggregation Services Router support

The router consolidates the Cisco Unified CVP Voice Browser with other network functions on a single server, reducing hardware and support requirements.

Network queuing

The ability of the application to treat and queue calls on network gateways helps businesses and organizations achieve higher customer service levels by virtualizing resources across multiple sites. For example, a customer might call the local Boston office and if no agents are free there, Cisco Unified CVP can easily route the call to a different site where an agent is available.

Failover

The distributed architecture of the application provides robust failover capabilities. For example, if a network gateway is taken out of service, subsequent calls can be immediately routed to a different gateway for treatment.

VMware support

Support for VMware and a co-resident peripheral gateway (PG) provides more Cisco Unified CVP deployment options on fewer boxes.

Management

Operations console

A built-in operations console gives managers and operators straightforward configuration of Cisco Unified CVP components.

Cisco Analysis Manager

Integration with Cisco Analysis Manager provides integrated alarming and diagnostics across the Cisco Unified Communications Solution, enhancing Cisco Unified CVP serviceability and operational management.

System call trace support

Cisco Unified CVP provides IT managers with end-to-end call tracing, expediting problem resolution.

Unified system command-line interface (CLI)

Unified system CLI enables you to collect diagnostic (health and status) information about Cisco Unified CVP servers and to collect device-specific information from each supported node connected to the Cisco Unified CVP server from which you are using the unified system CLI.

Reporting

Reporting database

A built-in reporting database enables businesses and organizations to create their own Cisco Unified CVP reports using third-party tools.

Cisco Unified Intelligence Center

Customers can optionally purchase Cisco Unified Intelligence Center with Cisco Unified CVP to create customizable reports showing a holistic view of their customer interactions.

Unified Communications Integration

Cisco solution releases

Cisco Unified CVP is fully tested with other Cisco Unified Communications products (for example, Cisco Unified Communications Manager) as part of each Cisco Unified Communications release, assuring customers of robust, fully supported, end-to-end solutions.

Testing includes certification with major Cisco Unified CVP solution components such as proxy servers, content-server switches, Cisco Unified Border Element gateways, Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise (Unified CCE), and Cisco PGW softswitches.