Apropos Technology Ships Call Link 3.5 for NT With Web-Based Administration.OAK BROOK, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 27, 1997--Apropos Technology, Inc., developer of total call center management software, today announced the 3.5 version of its flagship product A primary product of a company, which is typically why the company was founded and/or what made it well known. For example, MS-DOS, Windows and the Microsoft Office suite have been flagship products of Microsoft. CorelDRAW is a flagship product of Corel Corporation. , Call Link. Version 3.5 introduces the Call Link Server for NT, as well as performance enhancements to the entire Call Link suite. Apropos customers have been waiting for NT management capabilities, and have enjoyed increased capacity and eased administration since first installing the beta product in late June. "This version of Call Link is not merely ported to NT," explains Apropos 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. and CTO (Chief Technical Officer) The executive responsible for the technical direction of an organization. See CIO and salary survey. Pat Brady. "It was completely rearchitected to take advantage of the features of NT that will allow our customers to maximize administration capabilities. For instance, The Call Link NT Server administrative features are implemented using the Microsoft Internet Information Server See IIS. Microsoft Internet Information Server - Internet Information Server (IIS (Internet Information Services) Microsoft's Web server. IIS runs under the server versions of Windows, adding HTTP server capability to the Windows operating system. ) built right into Windows NT (Windows New Technology) A 32-bit operating system from Microsoft for Intel x86 CPUs. NT is the core technology in Windows 2000 and Windows XP (see Windows). Available in separate client and server versions, it includes built-in networking and preemptive multitasking. Server 4.0 operating system operating system (OS) Software that controls the operation of a computer, directs the input and output of data, keeps track of files, and controls the processing of computer programs. . This allows the Call Link NT Server to be administered from any Web browser The program that serves as your front end to the Web on the Internet. In order to view a site, you type its address (URL) into the browser's Location field; for example, www.computerlanguage.com, and the home page of that site is downloaded to you. that supports Java including Microsoft Internet Explorer See Internet Explorer. and Netscape Navigator An earlier Web browser for Windows, Macintosh and X Windows from Netscape that provided secure transmission over the Internet. Soon after its introduction in 1994, Navigator, or just "Netscape," as it was commonly called, quickly became the leading browser on the Web. ." Customers Already Implementing Call Link 3.5 One of Apropos' customers is a major provider of Website hosting, Internet access See how to access the Internet. , Website development, dedicated lease lines, and firewalls. With Call Link, this company achieves almost instant responses to user questions, resulting in a greater than 90 percent customer satisfaction rate, a 50 percent drop in operating costs operating costs npl → gastos mpl operacionales , more targeted use of personnel, and more efficient supervision of its call center. With the NT installation, they'll add increased performance and fault tolerance improvements to their list of benefits. "Most customers are moving to NT as the platform of choice for automated telephony," said Brady. "We've been able to support these customers by offering a product that's optimized for this environment, as well as very attractive pricing and responsive support for their migration." In addition, other customers have been using parts of Version 3.5 since late 1996. "We have installed the NT router at several customer sites, because of capacity gains, support for larger messages and ability to administer more call types," explained Bud Bach, Apropos' VP of Engineering. "The installations were all extremely smooth, and these customers - who typically experience very large call volumes - have benefited greatly from the increased performance." These companies employ the entire Call Link system, which consists of four major components: the Server (the gateway between the call center and the public network), the Agent (the link between the customer on the line and the call center), the Supervisor (the link between the agents, call managers, and supervisors), and the Report System (a full-featured reporting system documenting each call and overall operations). Call Link 3.5 Highlights Call Link 3.5 takes full advantage of the outstanding ease of use, flexibility, robustness, and high performance characteristics of the NT platform. Specifically, -- Call Link 3.5 makes optimum use of the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) for administration through Java-enabled Web browsers. -- New messaging middleware server will now support well over 1000 connections, laying the groundwork for supporting upwards of 500-600 agent call centers within a single Call Link System. -- The processes that comprise the Call Link NT Server can be distributed across multiple computers providing for improved performance, capacity, and fault tolerance. Performance is improved by allowing any process to run on any computer. For example, the call reporting subsystem could be placed on its own NT server, thus minimizing its performance impact on the entire system. Other 3.5 enhancements include: -- The Call Link NT Servers' call processing subsystem is built on Natural Microsystems' CT Access. By using CT Access directly, Call Link is now able to take full advantage of the power of the AG hardware. Since CT Access sits directly on top of the hardware, an increase in reliability is gained. Call Link NT Server PIL (Publishing Interchange Language) A standard for document interchange that defines the placement of text and graphics objects on the page. It does not address the content of the objects. PIL - Procedure Implementation Language. scripts are nearly 100% compatible with the OS/2 version of Call Link. Most scripts can be adapted literally within minutes for fast conversion and upgrade. Apropos is reporting total hardware and software migration and upgrade times of under one business day in most cases. Pricing and Availability Call Link V3.5 ships on September 1, 1997. Pricing remains the same as Call Link 3.0, starting at $40,000. This price includes five agents, one supervisor, a report system, and a server. Call Link 3.0 customers who have current support agreements can upgrade to V3.5 free of charge. About Call Link Call Link provides a client/server call distribution and management system that links corporate telephone systems, networks and databases, with related third party applications such as customer service, help desk, and sales automation. It is an integrated package of call center technologies such as intelligent call distribution, interactive voice response, desktop CTI (Computer Telephone Integration) Combining data with voice systems in order to enhance telephone services. For example, automatic number identification (ANI) allows a caller's records to be retrieved from the database while the call is routed to the appropriate party. , integrated voice and fax messaging, and call center management applications. By merging major call center technology disciplines into one integrated, total management system, Call Link provides call center managers with a superior level of visibility and control into the lifecycle of any call. This overall view concept reduces the complexity and cost of implementing call center automation and CTI. Call Link works with most existing PBX (Private Branch eXchange) An inhouse telephone switching system that interconnects telephone extensions to each other as well as to the outside telephone network (PSTN). telephone systems, legacy databases and networks, and most third party call center applications, such as internal help desk, customer service, and sales automation. About Apropos Technology Apropos Technology (formerly Teledata Solutions, Inc.) develops and markets a total call center management system for the small to medium call center market. Call Link, the cornerstone of Apropos' client/server software offering, helps customers avoid costly system upgrades, retraining re·train tr. & intr.v. re·trained, re·train·ing, re·trains To train or undergo training again. re·train expenses, or the need for highly-skilled technical resources to implement or make system changes. Call Link is currently the most widely used total call center management system with over 50 successful installations, including a number of major Fortune 500 companies such as US Robotics, Pepsi-Cola, and Monsanto. Apropos' worldwide headquarters in the US can be reached at 630-472-9600, or info@apropos.com. EDITOR'S NOTE: There is an "at" symbol following "info," "greenberga" and "michelle.edelman" in the e-mail addresses listed above and below. This symbol may not show properly in some systems. CONTACT: Apropos Technology Michelle Edelman, 630/472-9600, ext. 799 E-mail: michelle.edelman@apropos.com OR Ruder Finn Amy Greenberg, 312/644-8600 E-mail: greenberga@ruderfinn.com |
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