Q&A with Aravind Natarajan, CIO, TelStar Hosted Services, Inc.
Q. What is a “Call Center In The Cloud”?
Aravind Natarajan, CIO, TelStar Hosted Services, Inc.
“In The Cloud” refers to cloud or Internet-based computing. Cloud computing is a relatively new consumption and delivery model for Information Technology (IT) services using Internet Protocol (IP). Over the internet, software or communications services can be provided as a service on demand. Through the cloud, users can access the technology infrastructure that these co
mmunications services require without having to invest in, build, manage, support or even understand the complexities of the IT equipment required.
“Call Center in the Cloud!” is a particular type of communications, namely Call Center or Contact Center Services, delivered through the cloud as a service. These hosted call center services allow companies to avoid the capital expenditure and IT staff required to purchase, manage and maintain an in-house premise-based call center solution, are scalable and flexible, and offer the latest in call center technology.
Q. What is Communications as a Service?
Communications as a Service (CaaS) is communications offered as an on-demand service over the internet. This model allows vendors to develop, host and operate software, hardware and telecommunications and offer these as a service to clients. TelStar Hosted Services, Inc. provides call center services using the CaaS model. Agents only need a computer, a headset and a broadband connection to answer inbound or outbound calls seamlessly anywhere – from home, abroad, or in an office or call center environment.
Q. What is VoIP?
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a general term for a family of transmission technologies that deliver voice communications using IP networks. The equipment to convert, compress and translate analog voice signal to digital IP packets for transmission by VoIP is complex, but VoIP is scalable and efficiencies increase with volume. You need, however, the right amount of bandwidth to ensure voice quality. On top of this, you will still need adequate bandwidth to perform other tasks, such as email, browsing the web, document exchange, etc. TelStar Hosted Services, Inc. provides call center services on a VoIP platform.
Q. What Is a Softphone?
Softphones are IP-based telephones that connect calls using an Internet telephony service provider to other softphones or to telephones. Some softphones connect to a private branch exchange (PBX) through a local area network (LAN) to control or dial an existing hardware phone.
TelStar Hosted Services, Inc. offers softphones that connect agents directly to a hosted call center platform without having to use the paid public telephone network. Enough memory and processing power on the computer is key to ensure that sound quality is good on a softphone. The softphone is either licensed separately or integrated into TelStar Hosted’s call center software.
Q. This is our first call center. What will TelStar Hosted do to help us operate efficiently?
TelStar Hosted Services, Inc. is a company of call center experts, with decades of combined experience managing call center services. Although we recommend that you hire an experienced call center manager, TelStar Hosted Services will act as an extension of your IT team. We offer a carrier grade hosted solution for the IT requirements of your call center. Our contact center platform is successfully used by thousands of agents on a daily basis. As call center experts, we provide in-house personalized training and support to your call center managers. We will help you to develop monitoring and reporting strategies, and advise you on how to improve efficiencies over time.
Q. Is Communications as a Service Secure?
Yes! TelStar Hosted is housed in a SAS70, Type II Compliant Data Center (updating to SSAE 16), and offers over 22 GB internet bandwidth with 4 Tier I providers, redundant power, N+1 uninterruptible power systems, N+1 redundant generator systems, N+1 cooling systems with ultrasonic humidification, and state-of-the-art monitoring, security, fire detection and suppression. TelStar Hosted’s call center software is managed for the latest operating system updates, anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-spam signatures, and offers optional database replication and a hot-standby system to mirror application and customer databases, or maintain a clone of your entire system, allowing quick recovery and failover.
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