S.100: Get onboard or get out of the way.

Interoperability software standards provide framework for future call centers.

With more and more hardware and software vendors in the tele-communications, telephony, and networking industries supporting S.100 interoperability soft ware standards, open telephony has, at last, become a reality. Simply put, S.100 is no longer an emerging standard--so all companies purchasing call-center solutions that are concerned about cost of ownership, investment protection, scalability, and product innovation should take heed 

S.100 standards have emerged after a five-year birthing process that involved close cooperation between an ever-increasing number of members in the Enterprise Computer Telephony Forum (ECTF), the body that created the standards. A testimony to the significance of this work is the fact that there are no other standard-setting bodies in existence that are interested in, or capable of, promulgating open telephony standards. As a result, with a wait-and-see approach, all one is likely to gain is a clear view of the caboose as the S.100 train pulls out of the station

What S.100 provides manufacturers and end users is a framework for creating--and implementing--the applications that will drive future call centers. In much the same way that a server on a client/server network can support a range of applications, so, too, multiple S.100-based applications all can be seamlessly integrated on a single platform. The benefit: implementation and maintenance costs are slashed, even while developers are enabled to focus their intellectual and financial capital on swiftly developing the software applications end users really need.

Take, for example, the scenario of a company buying a conventional PBX (private branch exchange). Until S.100, the high costs of turnkey monolithic PBX solutions forced the company to begin the procurement with a long and expensive bidding process. Then, once a hardware platform was selected, they had to face an even longer and more expensive implementation that resulted in an irrevocable commitment to a single vendor.

The downside of this commitment? If an enhancement was needed to tailor the switch, it could take years for the vendor to complete its development cycle. And, even though other third party peripheral systems [such as predictive dialers or IVRs (interactive voice response)] could be linked to the monolithic PBX, the integration was anything but seamless, with integration costs, in many cases, actually exceeding the original cost of the peripheral system.

The cost picture of a monolithic, proprietary system becomes even more gloomy when one considers the extra telephone lines that are typically required to add peripherals. Take the situation a call center with a 50-agent ACD (automatic call distribution) faces when adding an outboard IVR. To support the ACD, the call center relies on 96 lines (4 T1s). When the IVR is added, however, so, too, must 50-60 inbound lines to the IVR. But, in addition, another 50 lines are required to link the IVR to the ACD--a net doubling in overall line cost that significantly impacts total overhead for the call center. These operational costs are increased even further by the need to administer and maintain not only separate hardware for both systems but separate databases as well.

Now consider the S.100 model. With software-based PBXs, ACDs, predictive dialers, and IVRs that support the open telephony standard, a large monolithic platform is no longer needed--any standard server will do just fine. As a result, manufacturers of these systems can create new and tailored applications that meet changing market needs--with a development cycle measured in months not years.

To companies buying call-center technology, there are several benefits to this model. A company that implements a S.100-compliant ACD today, for example, can simply load IVR (or predictive dialer) software directly on the same platform supporting the ACD--assuming, of course, that all software supports S.100. As a result, no additional telephone lines or databases are needed. For the 50-agent ACD scenario above, this translates into significant and tangible monthly savings which, obviously, dramatically reduce overall cost of ownership. And remember: these are not pie-in-the-sky savings--they are possible today with out-of-the-box S.100 software currently on the market.

Another benefit of S.100-compliant software is that it enables companies to protect their investments because they are no longer bound to a single vendor that can charge what it will for enhancements and services. With standards-based software, market-driven competition forces more pricing fairness. Also, with core call-center applications all running on standard platforms, scalability is no longer an issue; capacity can be simply added--and new applications, implemented-with no hardware costs or even vendor involvement. In other words, the days of forklift upgrades are over with S.100.

While all of these benefits are certainly impressive and significant, the long-range impact of S.100 is likely to be even more striking. In the networking and PC industries, open standards have been the fuel that has provided double-digit growth rates for several years now. By comparison, over the same period of time, growth in the telephone switching industry has been slithering along in the low single digits. But, as more and more vendors start supporting S.100--and as more and more end users start demanding S.100-compliant solutions--there is absolutely no reason why the call-center software industry growth should not parallel that in the PC/networking world, gut another way, openness drives innovation, innovation drives competition, and competition further drives innovation.

While vendors jumping on the S.100 bandwagon will clearly benefit from new marketing opportunities that result, the greatest beneficiaries of the open systems model are end users. The reason: in an open environment new products and low prices proliferate as small entrepreneurial companies have, for the first time, the opportunity to leverage the billions spent by platform vendors. In addition, open telephony will foster new synergistic partnerships amongst vendors. Predictive-dialing vendors, for example, can bundle campaign management, IVR, and Web-based click-and-talk software on their platforms to create the comprehensive, single-source opportunity management solutions end users want.

In short, S.100 is an enabler, providing new market opportunities for vendors developing innovative solutions to call-center needs while presenting end users with the unprecedented ability to rapidly and cost-effectively implement server-based solutions that leverage existing databases, telephone lines, and hardware platforms. In increasingly challenging business environments, S.100 is just what the call-center industry needs to spur competition, propel industry growth, and provide end users with the solutions they need--and deserve.

Circle 270 for more information from TeleDirect International, Inc.

Kelly is president and CEO of TeleDirect International, Inc., Scottsdale, Ariz. and was featured on the cover of Communications News, February 1999.