Contact centres increasingly migrating to IP based systems

The increased acceptance of internet protocol (IP) is driving convergence as the leading feature of change in the contact centre environment, according to a new report.

A report by Dimension Data has found that 60 per cent of contact centres have introduced IP based or hybrid IP PBX/ACDs so far – a significant increase from the 50 per cent recorded last year.

The top two reasons cited for the migration to IP were the flexibility of architecture (69 per cent), closely followed by cost savings (66.1 per cent).

Other reasons given for the move to IP included compliance with corporate technology policies (31.1 per cent), end-of-life technologies that need to be upgraded or replaced (30.1 per cent), and improved business functionality (29 per cent).

Cara Diemont, editor of the report said: "Convergence, in its simplest form, is the combination of previously separate entities - data and telephony systems, networks and equipment.

"Since contact centres depend on a range of information and communications technology, converged technology can significantly increase efficiencies. Benefits include allowing agents to handle contacts, access customer information more quickly and, more importantly, enable contacts to be handled throughout the organisation."

Posted on: 2007-03-20, in: IP PBX

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