AnswerSoft completes distribution agreement with Lucent Technologies; intelligent information and call routing technology offers call centers advanced solutions for more effective customer response.PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 16, 1996--Plano-based AnswerSoft Inc., a developer of business process automation software, Tuesday announced completion of an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) The rebranding of equipment and selling it. The term initially referred to the company that made the products (the "original" manufacturer), but eventually became widely used to refer to the organization that buys the products and agreement with Lucent Technologies (formerly AT&T's Global Business Systems). Under the terms of the agreement Lucent will deliver AnswerSoft's recently announced Intelligent Information Router (IIR IIR - Infinite Impulse Response ) application to customers worldwide. AnswerSoft's family of client/server applications provide technologically advanced, yet cost effective solutions, for customer service centers focused on providing higher levels of service. AnswerSoft applications are being used by inbound and outbound call centers to personalize per·son·al·ize tr.v. per·son·al·ized, per·son·al·iz·ing, per·son·al·iz·es 1. To take (a general remark or characterization) in a personal manner. 2. To attribute human or personal qualities to; personify. the call experience by linking enterprise voice communications systems In telecommunication, a communications system is a collection of individual communications networks, transmission systems, relay stations, tributary stations, and data terminal equipment (DTE) usually capable of interconnection and interoperation to form an integrated whole. , desktop applications and databases with customer service representatives. IIR allows businesses to automatically direct inbound calls in real time to the "best fit" customer service representative in a call center. "Lucent has long been recognized as a premier innovator in the telecommunications market and its products and services are pervasive in the call center industry," stated Jeanne Bayless, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of AnswerSoft. "AnswerSoft's IIR provides Lucent call center customers with a powerful vehicle for building enhanced customer service capabilities." "We are extremely pleased to be affiliated with a firm known worldwide for its technology leadership, management expertise and distribution channels," continued Bayless. "This agreement provides AnswerSoft a significant opportunity to reach a broad array of end users." "This agreement expands our ability to offer sophisticated intelligent information and call routing capabilities to our customers," stated Stephen Clemente, general manager, PassageWay Telephony Solutions. "With the addition of AnswerSoft's IIR application to our product portfolio, our call center customers will have the ability to customize their call flows to better service their customers and leverage superior service as a competitive advantage." IIR provides a dramatic departure from traditional call routing products by enabling businesses to define rules that route calls and data to specific agents based on information contained in a customers data record. Using call information such as automatic number identification (ANI), dialed number identification service (DNIS (Dialed Number Identification Service) A service that enables a company to identify which telephone number was dialed. A PBX often receives calls on the same port that were dialed to different 800 or 900 numbers, and the DNIS data contains the dialed number so ), or prompted digits collected by an interactive voice response (IVR (Interactive Voice Response) An automated telephone information system that speaks to the caller with a combination of fixed voice menus and data extracted from databases in real time. ) system, IIR searches customer data records to locate the best agent available to service the call. By automatically matching data retrieved from a customers record to the correct agent, the quality and speed of call service is significantly improved. "The intelligence of the IIR to gather data about the caller prior to routing and matching it to the best-fit agent gives our users a unique edge in providing advanced customer service," continued Bayless. "In-depth call analysis of this magnitude enhances agent effectiveness and clearly leads to reducing the number of call transfers, call hold times and call backs encountered by most callers during the service cycle." IIR has successfully passed all test criteria for certification defined by Lucent's product equipment testing and coding procedure. IIR is now certified and available for purchase from Lucent and has been added to its product catalogue and price book. AnswerSoft's Intelligent Information and Call Router is available for the Lucent G3 DEFINITY Enterprise Communication Server and integrates to the DEFINITY through the Telephony Services Applications Programming Interface (TSAPI (Telephony Services API) A telephony programming interface from Novell and AT&T. Based on the international CSTA standard, TSAPI is designed to interface a telephone PBX with a NetWare server to provide interoperability between PCs and telephone equipment. ). Call information is obtained from the NetWare Telephony Server A computer in a network that provides telephone integration. The term may refer to the entire system or to just the plug-in boards and software. An Internet telephony server links phone lines to the Internet. and IIR is a registered user of the Telephony Server with rights to monitor and control any device. IIR shares a Btrieve database with the agent via the local area network (LAN (Local Area Network) A communications network that serves users within a confined geographical area. The "clients" are the user's workstations typically running Windows, although Mac and Linux clients are also used. ). AnswerSoft, founded in January 1993, is the leading provider of business process automation software. Its software solutions leverage the emerging integration of computing and communications technologies to enable users to automate access to information and initiate action more effectively across the enterprise, while on the telephone. AnswerSoft products are client/server-based applications that are compliant with both the TAPI (Telephony API) A programming interface from Microsoft and Intel that is part of Microsoft's WOSA architecture. It allows Windows client applications to access voice services on a server. and TSAPI standards. NOTE TO EDITORS: Intelligent Information Router and IIR are trademarks of AnswerSoft Inc. PassageWay and DEFINITY are registered trademarks of Lucent Technologies Inc. CONTACT: Mindshare Marketing Lisa Chiranky, 214/407-9089 lisac@airmail airmail, transport of mail by airplanes. Demonstration flights that showed the feasibility of carrying mail by air were made in Great Britain and in the United States in 1911. .net or Lucent Technologies Ry Schwark, 908/953-7528 rschwark@attmail.com |
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