Date:05/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2008/03/05/stories/2008030551520400.htm

Back Unified call centre tech from Aspect Software

Swetha Kannan

Bangalore, March 4 Aspect Software, which provides products and services to the contact centre industry, is set to launch a technology worldwide that will converge ‘unified contact centre solutions’ with ‘unified communication.’ This it hopes will signal the “next big wave” in contact centre technology.

Unified communication brings together communication applications and business applications – across call and multimedia functions. To put it simply, it is the coming together of tools like voice, e-mail, instant messaging, voice over IP (VoIP), audio video, web conferencing etc.

Aspect’s core offering is that of ‘Unified IP’ – i.e. various call centre functions such as automatic call distribution, workforce management, outbound dialling etc are unified into a single application. This means a call centre does not have to go to different vendors for each of its function.

Launch next month

Now, Aspect’s newest innovation seeks to unite ‘unified communication’ with its ‘unified call centre solutions’. This will involve a series of new product lines and partnerships, says Mr Gary Barnett, CTO and Executive VP, Aspect Technical Services and R&D. The technology will be launched in various markets, including India, next month.

Mr Barnett was recently in Aspect’s technology and R&D centre in Bangalore on an official visit.

Aspect provides the entire gamut of services to the call centre – right from product installation, implementation to technical support and expertise. Its current product line includes diallers, voice portals and computer telephony integration tools. Aspect also provides workforce, performance and quality management solutions.

US-based Aspect Software has a client base of over 350 contact centres in India. Its clients include HSBC, American Express and Sharekhan. It has an R&D and technical support centre in Bangalore with a workforce of over 200. It is looking to ramp up headcount this year in Bangalore. Globally, Aspect Software has over 5,000 clients.