AT&T 585-350-812 - Manual (Page 34)

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ASAI Application Planning and Design
Host Application Planning and Design
In certain call center environments, the VIS ASAI system is integrated with a host
computer. As discussed previously, you must provide or obtain the host software
application that works with the VIS ASAI system. This host software application is
not part of the VIS ASAI product. The host application can use the information it
receives from the VIS ASAI system to do certain functions such as display call
information on agent screens or route calls. The host application may also be
called upon to provide the basis for an automated voice response application.
In some cases, particularly for voice response applications, the VIS ASAI system
integrates well with an embedded application and hence no changes are required.
For routing and data screen delivery applications, however, an existing application
will most likely need to be modified to accommodate new functionality.
You may have several options for providing this host application. For example,
you can develop your own application or modify an existing application to work
with the VIS ASAI system. This is typically done by the company’s data-process-
ing or information-systems department. Alternatively, you can purchase a third-
party software vendor application that is designed and developed to work with the
VIS ASAI system.
Application development may require significant planning and coordination
between different organizations within your company. The telecommunications,
call-center operations, and data-processing organizations are all typically involved
in the planning process. Schedules for application development or customization
must be coordinated closely with plans to implement the VIS ASAI system, Inte-
grated Services Digital Network (ISDN) services, and any additional communica-
tions system ACD features.
The voice response, routing, and data screen delivery applications enabled by a
VIS ASAI system can all potentially make use of ANI information delivered by the
network. The use of ANI generates several considerations.
■ You should allow for the possibility that the same caller will call from differ-
ent phone numbers. The same person, for example, might sometimes call
from home and sometimes call from the office. The same database record
should be used in both cases. Calls generated from a private branch
exchange (PBX) will likely have more than one ANI assignment, based on
the different trunk groups used to generate the call and the fact that individ-
ual trunk circuits sometimes carry different ANI identities.
■ You should allow for situations when ANI information is not delivered for a
call. In voice response applications, the voice script should provide some
sort of default call handling for cases where no ANI is available. In routing
applications, the caller could be routed to a VIS T/R or LST1 split so that
additional information can be collected. In data screen delivery applica-
tions, an agent can ask the caller for this information.