Hardware + Software requirements of a small/med sized UK call centre

[dannyjw]

Hello all,

I am currently in the planning stages of a new business startup and I have some questions I would really like some help with.

Just to give you some background so you know what we are (and will be) dealing with. The call centre will primarily be outbound sales, starting off with about 10 sales advisers, which will expand to about 50 within the first 9 months. We will also be taking inbound calls and will require the relevant phone system in place to direct incoming calls to the right department (IVR Software). We expect to be dialing out at the rate of about 300 calls/day per sales advisor.

As I said we do intend to expand the business rapidly, and we will become FSA regulated hopefully after around 6 months. This will mean we will need to be recording all our calls, monitoring them for compliance issues, and encrypting data accordingly.

My main questions are as follows:
- Can anyone recommend some basic call routing software that could get the ball rolling for the business in its early stages. We will be taking incoming calls right from the off and would need some very basic call routing that would welcome them with a recorded message and then send the caller to the right person.

- In its early stages paper data will be used, but after 4-6 weeks we intend to start introducing a full computer system, with agents at their own machine that will sort data, process payments etc. I would be very interested in any recommendations on how to best set this up. I remember vaguely from my ICT days at school the different ways of going about this, I.E. having a server and a shared operating system that each terminal can login to simultaneously, and the server machine holds all software applications that the terminal machines share. Can anyone remind me what this is called? And possibly what kind of hardware I will be looking at?

As I mentioned we will also eventually need to be recording all our calls, so regarding the server requirements if we were looking at something future proof can anyone advise me on the best way forward?

- Can anyone give me a good example of a popular ACD/IVR system (Automatic Call Distribution / Intelligent Voice Recognition). I have been doing plenty of research into this area, but I am struggling to find something that will be good for just a small startup team, i.e. 10 people dialing.

In a nutshell I am really looking for advice on what we should look at regarding the software and hardware. Any recommendations on particular companies, brands or people that I should check out, and the kind of systems we will be looking at. (And possibly the prices involved)

If there is anything that you can ask me, in order to answer any of my questions please do! We have our projected cash flows and really now we are at the stage of pricing up, and time scaling the next stage which will be to get the office up and running.

Many thanks in advance

Dan

 

[JEdge]

I'm not an expert on communicatin systems however from what i have picked up from this forum use VOIP. This may not be ideal for your business size, ask the owner of voipfone.co.uk he is called CJD on here.

If this is wrong, can't blame me for trying.

~Jack

 

[Ukfatboy]

You have a PM.

 

[Astaroth]

In its early stages paper data will be used, but after 4-6 weeks we intend to start introducing a full computer system, with agents at their own machine that will sort data, process payments etc. I would be very interested in any recommendations on how to best set this up. I remember vaguely from my ICT days at school the different ways of going about this, I.E. having a server and a shared operating system that each terminal can login to simultaneously, and the server machine holds all software applications that the terminal machines share. Can anyone remind me what this is called? And possibly what kind of hardware I will be looking at?

By the sounds of it you are talking about virtualisation where you have a basic thin client (something like http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=303961&CatId=0) at each workstation.

As demand will be low you could look at the likes of a Citrix solution rather than full VPCs.

These are certainly the setups we are seeing in a growing number of client's sites and there are some key benefits to it given everything is actually run on central servers and the shared resource aspect of Citrix means that your not paying as much for capability that goes unused.

The downside is the initial setup is more complex than simply getting a few Dell desktops and a basic server.

 

[paultnl]

We can take care of all of your telephony requirements. Drop me a pm with your phone number and I will arrange a demonstration.

 

[leemason]

In terms of the contact centre system the Open Source Asterisk IPPBX system is very good and because it's Open Source it's free to download and try. It also scales well if you know what you are doing. Have a look at www.trixbox.org. Trixbox CE is Asterisk based and is very easy to install.

I would recommend using some good server hardware for this (i.e. HP Proliant, etc). You can use a VoIP connection for inbound and outbound calls or (and this would make a good backup s well) an ISDN-30 with 8 channels initially can be flexed up to 30 channels.

IVR's can be setup within Trixbox using the FreePBX front-end. I would recommend professional prompts from someone line Advitel. They costs as little as £20.00 each and are well worth it. There is nothing worse than calling an IVR which is obviously recorded by someones sister in the bathroom! It's amazing how many large company still use scrappy and amateurism IVRs.

There are loads of addons for Asterisk/Trixbox for contact centres for reporting, auto-diallers, application integration (outbound dialling from apps as well as data popups for inbound calls, etc).

Virtual desktops could be used but approach this with caution. Don't be talked into having a single server running all of your virtual desktop systems. If there server fails you've lost everything.

 

[Jim2k]

I thought I had posted on here to mention Paul at QCC. I would recommend a demo of his system as its ideal for smaller teams and works really well.