Siemens Rolls out the Open Virtualized Contact Center

I make no bones about being a Siemens fan. One reason I like them is that they take great pains in providing solid information prior to their major announcements. To that end, I had the opportunity to chat on the phone last week with Ross Sedgewick.

The visuals here are stored in my Siemens OVCC set on Flickr. You can see them in larger detail by clicking the visuals themselves. I didn't upload the PDF document that was shared with me, but you can certainly find more information on the Siemens web site.

Today Siemens is announcing a new Open Virtualized Contact Center solution. I think it's big news. One reason I think it's big is that it's a major effort in supporting contact centers in a new way. It's based on Siemens' very successful HiPath 8000 platform. It's available immediately, and globally in 70 countries and 6 languages.

This OVCC conforms to SIP and OpenSOA standards and provides an open path to enterprise evolution in call center technologies. And coming from Siemens, it's a carrier grade solution based on the IT data center model. That's right, a telephony call center solution based on the model we use for IT data centers.

You really need to click the next visual to get a feeling for the evolutionary nature of the OVCC solution. It provides a path from the traditional site-based call center, geographically tied within the four walls of a building, through the distributed call center based on the converged IP network, to an open virtualized SIP softswitch approach that complements Siemens fixed mobile convenience philosophy for the revolution in unified communications.

Siemens demonstrates a three-fold approach with their OpenPath offerings:

Optimize to maintain and maximize performance
Enhance to add incremental improvement while proving viability in the real world
Transform from legacy, proprietary systems to open communications

The arrow along the bottom of this visual shows the continuum from traditional telecommunications to new open communications.

Siemens' whole idea behind virtualization is ro break down the four-walled barrier that's been the contact center world for many years - to move from site-based contact centers to globally distributed ones. This approach to extending the enterprise is somewhat analogous to turning the HiPath 8000 into a "mainframe for voice," allowing the solution to be deployed for up to 5,000 users in this release,anywhere on the network.

Here's a large visual to give a sense of what the OVCC might look like in a real world deployment.

For anyone who's ever worked in the call center environment, one of the key indicators of success is first contact resolution of every problem. The OVCC approach to contact center virtualization is a step down a path that I believe lays the framework for a new paradigm in call centers. In the past, the four-walled call center was in place to perform a very specific function, like reservations or collections. I believe the next generation enterprise, using converged unified communications services, will also become the next generation virtual contact center. I believe enterprise employees will belong to multiple "agent groups" based on their role in the organization, their expertise, and their geographic location. This is the sort of technology that presents the forward-thinking enterprise with the tools to build a first contact resolution culture, not just in the call center, but across the enterprise.

Why Siemens? For me, one of the bigger factors I look at is thought leadership. Another is a company's commitment to open standards. (Note: Open source and open standards are very different things). This visual is larger, and laps underneath the right sidebar, but I'm showing it this size to show you Siemens commitment to open standards. not just in this announcement, but across their whole solution set. Search the blog for other Siemens posts and you'll find a thread of commitment to openness that's vital to our industry.,

The full press release is below the line for convenience.

Siemens Announces SIP-Based Open Virtualized Contact Center Solution for the Enterprise
Groundbreaking solution offers on-demand enterprise service for virtually any existing corporate infrastructure

BOCA RATON, Fla. — April 17, 2007 — Siemens Communications, Inc. [NYSE: SI] today introduced its Open Virtualized Contact Center, addressing the traditional limitations of the hardware intensive site-based contact center. Siemens’ groundbreaking overlay software approach makes it easier and faster for organizations to distribute expanded functionality to agents in any location equipped with no more than headsets and minimally configured desktops. The new solution integrates two of its most popular and award-winning products: Siemens® HiPath® ProCenter® Enterprise contact center solution and Siemens HiPath 8000 SIP-based enterprise softswitch. The new blended solution supports environments from as few as two attendants to up to 5,000 concurrent agents and provides a platform to enhance customer interactions across every segment of an enterprise, on virtually any existing communication or network infrastructure.

Well-suited to hosting in a data center, this solution provides centralized administration while delivering global enterprise-based or outsourced contact center functionality as an on-demand service anywhere that secure IP network access is available, unconstrained by legacy PBX or Centrex infrastructure. It delivers scalable, strategic communications coordination and intelligent load sharing by linking multiple Siemens HiPath ProCenter systems on a single HiPath 8000. Furthermore, HiPath ProCenter CRM-Ready IT integration and Software Development Kit tools facilitate incorporation of contact center capabilities directly into communications-enabled business processes and applications.

“Siemens’ large-scale virtualization of the enterprise contact center represents the next step in business extending its capability beyond traditional office-bound agents and effectively leveraging the knowledge of expert resources throughout the organization,” said Joe Outlaw, Principal Analyst of Contact Center Solutions with Current Analysis. “It can be a much more effective way to deploy agents when and where they’re needed, with the potential to lower costs.”

The Open Virtualized Contact Center leverages the open SIP capabilities native to the HiPath 8000 and the presence-enabled multimedia application services in ProCenter. Going beyond Siemens’ industry-first presence and collaboration agent desktop capabilities, new presence services empower contact center agents to confirm the presence and availability of the best support resources among all HiPath 8000 users in the enterprise. With one mouse click, agents can then initiate collaboration that enhances resolution of customer issues during the first contact. In addition, Siemens extends this presence and connectivity to mobile users with Voice over Wireless LAN solutions.

“The Open Virtualized Contact Center extends the Siemens Open Communications strategy to the large enterprise customer,” said Eve Aretakis, CEO, Siemens Communications, Inc. “It offers tremendous flexibility across almost any network, client, device or IT environment, along with business process integration and highly effective agent tools. It can help agents resolve many more customer issues the first time around, boosting overall contact center performance and providing companies the opportunity to lower costs and enhance customer service.”

Siemens’ Open Virtualized Contact Center solution is now available globally through direct sales channels and value-added resellers.

About Siemens
Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) is one of the largest global electronics and engineering companies with reported worldwide sales of $96 billion in fiscal 2005. Founded nearly 160 years ago, the company is a leader in the numerous fields, including medical technology; power systems; automation and control systems; transportation; information and communications; lighting; building technologies; water technologies; and services and home appliances. Based in Munich, Siemens AG and its subsidiaries employ 460,000 in 190 countries. Eleven of Siemens' worldwide businesses are based in the United States and are supervised from Siemens’ U.S. corporate headquarters in New York City. Siemens’ American operations produce annual sales of $18.8 billion and employ approximately 70,000 people in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. For more information on Siemens in the United States, visit www.usa.siemens.com.

About Siemens Communications, Inc.
Siemens Communications, Inc. is one of the world’s leading vendors of Open Communications solutions for enterprises of all sizes, enabling business processes to be more productive, faster and more secure – with any device, network or information technology infrastructure. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Siemens AG with about 15,000 employees globally and headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla. For more info, visit www.usa.siemens.com/communications

Note: Siemens, HiPath and ProCenter are registered trademarks of Siemens AG or its subsidiaries and affiliates. All other company, brand, product and service names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

This release contains forward-looking statements based on beliefs of Siemens management. The words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "forecast," "expect," "intend," "plan," "should," and "project" are used to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the company's current views with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause the actual results to be materially different, including, among others, changes in general economic and business conditions, changes in currency exchange rates and interest rates, introduction of competing products, lack of acceptance of new products or services and changes in business strategy. Actual results may vary materially from those projected here. Siemens does not intend or assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
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