Call center system composed of programmable Switches

The Programmable switch, also known as PBX (private branch exchange), is the main channel and bridge between the call center and the outside world.Programmable switchProvides external interface with the local telephone Relay (generally E1 digital relay), and internal interface with the agent representing the phone and automatic voice response device.

Programmable switchIt has been widely used in traditional enterprises. In such applications, the number of internal lines connected to the PBX is often far greater than the number of trunk lines. This is because most of the calls in traditional enterprises are made within the enterprise, so only a small number of trunk lines are needed for external applications. On the contrary, the number of relay lines in the call center is usually more than that in the internal line. The ratio of the two lines is generally 1.2 to 1.5. How can we use multiple trunk lines? This involves the so-called queuing machine.

A queuing machine, known as ACD (automatic call distributor ),Programmable switchUsed Together (or as a part of the PBX), specifically for the call center service equipment. Simply put, the purpose of the queuing machine is to evenly allocate calls from outside to representatives. If the number of incoming calls exceeds the processing capability of the representative, the queuing machine can put the phone that cannot be processed into the waiting queue. When the agent representative is idle, the phone number in the queue will be transferred. Because the call center always wants to give full play to the Work Ability of the agent representative, the number of relay lines is usually more than the number of internal lines. This extra part is buffered by the queuing machine.

Of course, if a customer calls a phone call that is not processed in the queue for a long time, the customer will lose patience and will be suspended. Therefore, another important task of the queuing machine is to reduce the proportion of the client in the queue. A good queuing machine can not only play music for customers in the queue, but also play some promotional advertisements at the customer's request, making it another window for the call center to provide external services.

CTI server

The CTI server isProgrammable switchA computer that receives event/status messages from the PBX and sends commands to the PBX to comprehensively manage the entire call center. At the same time, the CTI server shields the complex communication protocol between the PBX and the computer and provides a unified programming interface to developers to conveniently develop various applications of the call center.

CTI server andProgrammable switchThe link between them is called the CTI link. Physically, the CTI link may be X.25, ISDN (only using channel D), or TCP/IP connection. In terms of software protocols, the CTI link protocol is a dedicated network layer protocol. For historical reasons, different program-controlled switch manufacturers define their respective CTI link protocols (the international standard of the CTI link protocol is the CSTA protocol-Computer Supported telecommunication application, but only some small Programmable switch vendors support this Protocol ). Therefore, a major task of the CTI server is to process these different protocols and convert them into a unified mode.