‘Infrastructure Consolidation Creates Agility by Moving Away from Multi-system, Multi-site Communications Infrastructures’, says Expert

DUBAI, UAE, 8th July, 2014: Today IT is expected to be a vital business unit as well as a technology provider, and IT leaders must provision a more versatile voice and data infrastructure to meet business objectives, at the business’s pace. However, multi-system, multi-site communications infrastructures are not conducive to being “nimble” — the result of non-standardized legacy equipment, greater network impacts for data storage and reporting, disjointed administration among systems and locations, and the integration complexities that are native to such disparate architectures. The time and resource demands on IT also contribute to the inability to react quickly in delivering new infrastructure-driven products and services, as do cost restraints and working within existing or diminishing IT and corporate budgets.

In a similar sense of consolidating infrastructures to perform “at the speed of business,” versatility in the consolidation process can be of tremendous benefit. By taking incremental steps and focusing on one multi-point component at a time, or a manageable number of components or applications at a time, businesses and their IT teams are able to consolidate their infrastructure more cost-effectively and successfully.

The ongoing move to standards, applications, and cloud-based solutions
Shaheen Haque, Territory Manager, Middle East & Turkey at Interactive Intelligence says that along with the SIP standard, Multi-protocol Label Switching (MPLS) continues to gain acceptance among IT leaders as a mechanism for making converged data network configurations both more flexible and robust. Beyond consolidating networks and simplifying network management with solutions such as SIP and MPLS, IT can further simplify the infrastructure by consolidating applications, physical servers and even processes. In contact centers and more recently in the enterprise, voice and data applications are continually being consolidated into integrated and easily managed all-in-one suites that significantly reduce physical server volumes.

By design, most all-in-one application suites currently on the market allow a contact center (and an enterprise) to simply activate or “turn on” only those applications it needs, when needed, such as ACD, IVR, voice mail, etc. Hosted cloud-based services such as Communications as a Service (CaaS) are taking the same approach with their pay-as-you-go pricing models, in that an organization pays only for the apps and functionality it actually activates and uses.

For planning and making incremental moves in the contact center and enterprise, consider this scenario:
1. Pinpoint an event that triggers the need for a new system, say an IVR reaching end-of-life status.
2. Identify an all-in-one platform — whether on-premise, cloud-based or a hybrid combination — that allows you to replace your IVR with like or better functionality. Make sure the platform (and vendor) will support subsequent growth with standards-based integration to handle all applications your contact center (and enterprise) requires.
3. As other triggers occur — needs for advanced ACD features, outbound dialing, a new messaging system, etc. — look to the all-in-one platform you invested in for your IVR. A benefit of today’s software-based all-in-one platforms is that features are available and easily activated via a basic licensing process; the key is selecting the platform that offers “the most apps,” as well as the broadest integration to new and existing business systems such as CRM, ERP, etc.
4. In time, move the rest of your multi-point system functions and applications to the all-in-one platform in a “natural” progression. Multi-site locations can also be transitioned in the same manner.

To transform the data center in stages, consider this approach from a leading OEM, which views consolidation as part of the bigger infrastructure picture:
• Increase the level of virtualization throughout the data center. This is inevitable anyway, and helps build the foundation for the next- generation data center.
• Consolidate — move away from having resources dedicated to specific applications
• Standardize on more components, such as blade servers or management protocols so that the data center supports more industry standards. As new technologies come out, standardization makes it easier to just “plug & play.”
• Optimize and develop a more automated and services-based infrastructure and create cross-function IT teams, so that knowledge is shared and silos are eliminated. This is particularly critical as CIOs and IT leaders are faced with providing an infrastructure that contributes more directly to the business in the form of corporate-mandated business models and revenue streams. Infrastructure consolidation is both the best place to start and the best solution.

IT and operations benefit
• Single point of administration and maintenance
• Less time required for operations management, IT management and administration
• The ability to more rapidly develop and deliver IT-based products and services
• Reduced system maintenance costs and telecom expenses 2 The contact center benefits

The contact center benefits
• Greater visibility and management control of inbound and outbound call volume
o Improve agent productivity, service levels, and sales
o Achieve more accurate forecasting and workforce scheduling to reduce overtime costs and overstaffing while improving agent adherence
• Increase agent utilization through unified, cross-site queues
• Reduce overhead for site-specific work creation and consolidation, such as dialer campaigns
• Support a “central command center” view to create and keep high-level visibility strategy and tactics in perspective and under control
o Increase customer satisfaction through decreased wait times, lower abandon rates, and increased service levels

About Interactive Intelligence
Interactive Intelligence Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ININ) is a global provider of contact center, unified communications, and business process automation software and services designed to improve the customer experience. The company’s solutions, which can be deployed in the cloud or on-premises, are in use by more than 6,000 customers worldwide. Interactive Intelligence is among Software Magazine’s 2013 Top 500 Global Software and Service Providers, and has received a Frost & Sullivan Company of the Year Award for the last four consecutive years. In 2013 it received the Frost & Sullivan EMEA Contact Centre Company of the Year Award. The company was founded in 1994 and employs more than 1,800 people worldwide. Interactive Intelligence is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana and has offices throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. It can be reached at +1 317.872.3000 or info@inin.com. Visit Interactive Intelligence on the Web at www.inin.com/ae-sa; on Twitter at www.inin.com/twitter; on Facebook at www.inin.com/facebook; or on LinkedIn at www.inin.com/linkedin.

This release may contain certain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are described in the company's SEC filings.

Interactive Intelligence is the owner of the marks INTERACTIVE INTELLIGENCE, its associated LOGO and numerous other marks. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

Product Information Contact:
Mr. Shaheen Haque
Turkey & Middle East Territory Manager
Interactive Intelligence Middle East
Dubai, UAE
Direct phone: +971(4) 4347217
Mobile: +971 (50) 4573186
Email: shaheen.haque@inin.com

Media Contact:
Colin Saldanha
PROCRE8
+97150 6400762
colin@procre8.biz

This release was published on openPR.