The quality of the data used by a call centre is of fundamental importance in all campaigns that are undertaken. If the data used is of a high standard, then it is much likelier that the campaign will be a resounding success on the basis that you would expect a higher contact rate on higher quality, and typically newer data. Conversely, if the data is of a poor standard, then the call centre will have the odds stacked against them in trying to achieve any targets for the campaigns they are involved in as there are likely to be telephone numbers and contact details that are incorrect on poor quality, and typically much older data. When high, and poor quality data are compared on this basis, it would appear foolhardy to use poor data in any campaign, but the reality is that high quality data can be extremely expensive. Read more
A Codec (coder-decoder) is a a piece of software that is used to compress or convert an analogue voice signal into a digitally encoded version that is ready for transmission. Once the data has been received, the receiving codec will convert the digitally encoded version of the voice signal, back into an analogue signal. Codecs, and the associated call quality can vary significantly following compression and transmission, which offers the organisations using them the flexibility to choose a codec that allows them to optimise the bandwidth and computational power that they have available. Read more
Founded in 1981, the Federation of Communication Services (FCS) is the trade association for the communications services industry, and aims to provide a voice for the businesses that deliver innovation into the UK communication market. The FCS represents the interests of UK businesses that deliver products and services to customers via radio, fixed and IP telephony, as well as mobile telephony. Read more
All telephone numbers within the UK are allocated and managed by the communications regulator, Ofcom. Ofcom has stipulated that providers of a PECN (Public Electronic Communications Network) or PECS (Public Electronic Communications Service) can be allocated telephone numbers, and both of these terms are clearly defined in Section 32 of the Communications Act 2003. Read more
In 2005, the OpenSER project was created by Bogdan-Andrei Lancu of Voice System, and it quickly became recognised as one of the most proficient, powerful, and well known of all open-source SIP proxies. In 2008, due to trademark issues regarding the OpenSER name, Voice System renamed OpenSER as OpenSIPS. OpenSIPS is simply an acronym of Open Session Initiation Protocol Server, which is an open source implementation of a GPLed SIP server. Open source simply means that a product is completely accessible from a design and implementation perspective, and can be distributed free of charge. Read more
The reliability and resilience of a communications provider should be at the forefront of any decision before commitment is made to any communications provider. It is unfortunate that many contact centres make the mistake of taking services on the basis of price, which is a reckless move on the basis that any contact centre telecommunications provider needs to be rock solid to ensure that the operation of the call centre isn't compromised. The purpose of this article is to empower call centres with some of the questions that should be asked any supplier to ensure that they are reliable and resilient before any commitments are made. Read more
In 1921, the first telephone kiosk was introduced to Britain, and was given the imaginative name of Kiosk No 1 (abbreviated to K1). Whist the introduction of the first telephone kiosk was welcomed by many, the design of the kiosk was considered to be conservative and old fashioned. Two years after the introduction of K1 there were two independent schemes established in order to redesign the K1, however, it wasn't until 1924, and the introduction of the Royal Fine Art Commission that the redesign project was brought together. The Royal Fine Art Commission were responsible for examining questions of public amenity or artistic importance referred to it by government departments or other bodies, and as part or this responsibility, they invited three leading architects Sir Robert Lorimer, Sir John Burnet and Giles Gilbert Scott to contribute designs. Read more
Otelo, Office of the Telecommunications Ombudsmen, was introduced on the 1st January 2003. The service that has been set up to investigate consumer complains about telecom services. Read more
The UK call centre has always been a fantastic mechanism for large operations to deliver telephone based services on a large scale to their customers. Historically, all of these services have been operated within the UK, however, there was a time where there was a dynamic shift within the call centre industry, where the vast majority of operations were outsourced overseas. In fact, such was the severity of this shift within the industry, there was a period of time where the term call centre was synonymous with outsourced overseas operations in India and the Philippines. Read more
Given that many business operations would grind to a halt if their telecommunications services developed a significant fault, or failed altogether, the importance of a reliable and high quality voice network cannot be understated. Given this fact, below are some fundamental requirements of a high quality voice network, which should be considered before contracting with any supplier of telecommunications service. Read more
