new standards for customer service Product Brief Media Processing Server 500

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1 set superior new standards for customer service Product Brief Media Processing Server 500 The Web sparked a self-service frenzy. But the phone remains the channel of choice for many consumer interactions. * A ny business that receives significant volumes of customer calls must have an effective way of handling those callers quickly and completely. In today s busy world, callers appreciate being able to do business with you when it is convenient for them. More and more, callers prefer the immediacy of self-service to waiting in a queue to speak to an agent. Advancements in technologies such as speech recognition, Voice over IP, and VoiceXML have reinvented self-service. Your customers can now access your Web pages from a cell phone, or conduct secure financial transactions without the need for passwords or PIN numbers. Interaction with automated systems is now much more efficient and user friendly even conversational, improving customer acceptance and opening up new application possibilities. By taking advantage of new self-service innovations, you can provide exceptional, personalised customer service while reserving your contact centre agents for complex enquiries. And for large contact centres, fast, friendly and responsive customer service is essential to profitability. Strengthen your competitive advantage by offering superior self-service through advanced speech technologies. Your customers will find it easier to do business with you and will come back again and again. Customer loyalty is the competitive advantage in business today, and Nortel Networks versatile, comprehensive Media Processing Server 500 (MPS 500) self-service solution provides a vital component for the success of your business-critical contact centre. *Forrester Research Inc. Speech Technologies: Ready for Prime Time. April 2003

2 As your business continues to change, increasing demands are continually being placed on your contact centre. To maintain a competitive advantage, you need a platform that can: Serve your customers more effectively with exceptional reliability and functionality to meet ever-increasing customer demands Support new service offerings, ensuring the viability of your hardware investment. Key benefits Improves contact centre efficiency by automating routine requests and freeing agents for more complex enquiries Delivers friendlier self-service and more personalised customer experience through robust, multi-language advanced speech capabilities Extends your Web applications to callers by utilising VoiceXML, Java, and other Internet technologies Integrates easily into your existing infrastructure without costly re-engineering, by supporting a wide variety of networking and computing protocols Supports a hybrid environment of traditional and VoIP telephony protocols that enables smooth transition to VoIP without costly hardware upgrades Expands size and capability easily so you can buy what you need today, accommodate future growth, and protect your investment Streamlines system configuration and management with intuitive browser-based toolset to reduce operating costs. MPS 500 answers both of these challenges, providing a wide range of effective, innovative capabilities that make it the ideal platform for businesses that are implementing self-service applications. Evolved from the same technology as the larger, carrier-grade MPS 1000 platform, MPS 500 is a comprehensive self-service solution for medium to large businesses, or small service providers who need a cost-effective, robust solution that fits your priorities today while positioning you well and protecting your investment well into the future. Offer friendlier self-service using advanced speech Your company gets just one opportunity to make a first impression. For many of your customers, that opportunity comes when they call your freephone number for Customer Service and are greeted by an automated system. How does your Integrated Voice Response (IVR) system communicate with your customers? Do they get a sense of appreciation for their business and the message that you are trying to build a loyal and supportive relationship? You need to ensure that every customer touch point has a unified look and feel and a personality that best projects the corporate brand. Speech-enabled self-service solutions can promote your brand and provide your callers with the same friendly customer experience that they would expect when dealing with a human agent. With Advanced Speech Recognition you can reduce the number of calls your customer representatives handle, increase overall system operating efficiency and dramatically enhance customer offerings by linking customers directly to your business. Communicating using speech rather than touch-tone input creates a natural flow for users and can often increase their level of comfort. And, the easier and faster self-service is, the more people will use it, reducing your operating costs since less agent time is required and average call length is shorter. Nortel Networks Advanced Speech Processing capabilities help you create the right solution. Large Vocabulary Recognition (LVR) Recognises tens of thousands of words with high accuracy. LVR allows the automation of many different types of transactions, eliminating the need for complex and confusing navigation. The ability of LVR to recognise natural numbers, money amounts, dates and times can further reduce transaction time.

3 Natural Language Understanding (NLU) In stepping through an IVR menu, it is more intuitive for your customers to use their own phrasing to answer a menu prompt. With the conversational interaction that Natural Language Understanding provides, your customers can say what they want directly, use alternate expressions for menu selections and provide multiple pieces of information in a single phrase. This enables your business to automate certain revenue-generating calls that are too complex for touch-tone input. Speaker Verification Utilises biometric technology to verify a caller s identity based on the unique characteristics of his or her vocal patterns. It lets your business compare live speech samples to stored voice prints to quickly and accurately authenticate the caller, complementing or replacing other authentication methods, such as touch-tone PINs or passwords. Text to Speech (TTS) Converts ordinary text into intelligible speech. This technology communicates information to customers when possible selections include large numbers of items from databases that must be spoken to callers, or when a list of selections changes regularly. For example, this technology would be effective for an organisation that needs to confirm street addresses of callers and whose database contains many thousands of different addresses. VoiceXML extends the value of your investment in Web servers and Business Logic Businesses today have tremendous investment in data and Web infrastructures in order to interact with their customers through personal computers, PDAs and other handheld devices. VoiceXML is an industry-standard method for writing touch-tone and voice recognition scripts and enables the telephone to become another device that can access those same Web applications. You can create IVR applications using the same technologies that you use for creating Web sites and introduce new services for customers who do business with you over the phone. VoiceXML scripts can be dynamically generated for quick customisation so you can adapt your voice menus for each caller and provide the optimum level of customer service. For example, if a customer calls a finance company to increase their line of credit, but that customer does not have a mortgage with the same institution, the menu option for mortgages would not be played to that caller. Best in US Speech Technology Portfolio from Nortel Networks Best in Americas Speech Technology Portfolio from Nortel Networks Best in EMEA Speech Technology Portfolio from Nortel Networks ContactCenterWorld.com Annual Members Choice Awards, Feb 2003

4 MPS 500 is designed to offer a choice of options for writing self-service applications: The intuitive, graphical development environment of PeriProducer The text-based markup language of VoiceXML Nortel Networks PeriProducer is the integrated application development tool used across our entire portfolio of MPS and VPS solutions. PeriProducer applications are constructed using visual icons, making it easy to understand how they work and easy to change them. If you already have an installed base of Nortel Networks Periphonics VPS/is systems, you can extend your existing software applications to the MPS platforms. Interoperability between the two platforms eliminates the need to rewrite applications, shortening the deployment process and increasing overall profitability. Nortel Networks Periphonics VPS/is and MPS systems easily integrate to create a cohesive, enterprise-wide IVR solution. MPS 500 incorporates a VoiceXML browser that can be used to execute voice dialogues rendered by Web servers. The Nortel Networks VoiceXML browser is a client-tier component that runs on the Nortel Networks MPS 500 platform. This adaptability ensures interoperability in the typical, diverse enterprise or service provider network PeriProducer also provides capabilities that the VoiceXML specification currently doesn t address, such as pre-answer processing and integrating with SS7/C7. On the other hand, developers familiar with XML-based markup languages may find VoiceXML more comfortable, especially if the data to support transactions comes from Web servers. VoiceXML applications can invoke PeriProducer applications and vice versa. This integration strategy provides your customers with investment protection and a migration path from one environment to the other, if and when required. Nortel Networks implementation of VoiceXML complies with version 2.0 of the VoiceXML specification. For customers who are committed to Java for their Business Logic, the MPS 500 provides a Java Services Bridge (JSB) as a message interface between Nortel Networks self-service applications created with PeriProducer and any Java facility accessible through a Java API. Integrate seamlessly into your environment A powerful and flexible solution, the MPS 500 is easily configured to meet your specific needs. You can choose either a UNIX or Windows operating system whichever fits best with your business strategy. The system can connect to servers and databases on various networks, using a wide variety of open communication protocols, including Voice over IP. This adaptability ensures interoperability in the typical, diverse enterprise or service provider network. As a result, you save money by not having to reengineer or overhaul your existing infrastructure or worry about integration with thirdparty products in the network.

5 With open access to multiple databases, the MPS 500 can simultaneously access different types of information required to handle an enquiry for example, drawing on customer relationship management (CRM) systems, financial databases and warranty information use that information to recognise preferred customers and deliver prioritised services to these individuals for optimum customer care. Invest in technology that grows and adapts as your business evolves MPS 500 is the right solution for medium-sized companies seeking basic self-service, as well as call centres with existing IVR systems in need of more sophisticated alternatives to traditional IVR. This flexible solution is also ideal for smaller service providers that need the rich functionality of a carrier-grade platform in a scaled-down architecture. You can provision only what you need today, accommodate future growth and protect your hardware investment. You can start with an entry-level configuration that supports up to 24 channels on a single T1 span, or up to 30 channels on an E1 span or 30 VoIP channels. As needed, MPS 500 can grow to support up to 192 channels (eight T1 spans) or up to 240 channels (eight E1 spans) or 240 VoIP channels. You can also network multiple MPS 500 systems together to increase port capacity. These platforms can be geographically dispersed to meet specific networking requirements and enhance reliability and fault resilience. With support for traditional and IP telephony, the MPS 500 works in today s hybrid networks and enables a phased migration to Voice over IP that fits your business strategy. You can minimise capital expense and operating expense by unifying voice and data communications onto one multiservice IP network. With the MPS 500, you can support self-service applications on private or public IP networks as well as traditional telephony networks. You don t need any special custom applications or modifications to existing applications to run Voice over IP services. You can offer callers all the same features and capabilities over either type of network. A caller connected to the system via the Voice over IP interface can interact with the self-service application in the same manner as a caller connected via the public switched telephone network. With support for both digital and IP voice protocols, your self-service infrastructure can transition gracefully to Voice over IP, if that evolution is in your plans. On a timetable that makes business sense, you can gradually replace expensive leased lines with more cost-effective IP telephony solutions, without expensive hardware upgrades. MPS 500 supports the H.323 standard, enabling users running H.323-compliant software to initiate or receive calls.

6 Streamline system configuration and management Nortel Networks MPS 500 provides an integrated Web-based suite of tools for system management and administration and to manipulate and view network activity. PeriView s browser-based system management and administration screens make it easy to set up, manage and administer your systems whether stand-alone or in a networked environment. PeriView monitors and manages system alarms, applications and system activity, and controls user privileges. PeriView runs as a stand-alone Java client application or in a common, industry-standard Web browser window. You can take advantage of sophisticated tools such as PeriStudio a software package used for creating, managing, and editing menu prompts and speech elements, and PeriReporter a tool for collecting and maintaining statistical data for reports, without huge capital investment. Interface with PBX and call-management systems from many vendors Working with Nortel Networks integration packages and native interfaces, the MPS 500 seamlessly integrates with third-party systems. For example, the MPS 500 can: Pass information to Genesys T-Server, Cisco ICM platforms and Avaya s Definity G3 PBX systems for fast, intelligent call routing and superior customer experience Receive automatic number identification (ANI/DNIS) from a Nortel Networks Meridian 1 PBX, and use that information to perform digital call transfers and port activation, for more efficient utilisation of IVR and switch resources saving seconds per call and reducing network costs Pass caller-entered data to a Symposium Call Center Server to route calls to the most appropriate agents, help agents provide more personalised service, and deliver specialised caller care Pass caller-entered data to a TAPI Server to populate agent screen pops, which helps agents avoid redundant questions, process requests more efficiently and provide better service. You don t need any costly custom interfaces to do this. Standard, out-of-the-box integration packages accelerate deployment, simplify system integration and deliver faster return on investment for you. PeriView System Management Window

7 Our Professional Services team is ready to help For assistance in implementing MPS 500 and creating a custom solution, you can call on our highly skilled Professional Services team. Around the globe, we can complement your in-house experts with Nortel Networks professionals who have the in-depth technical knowledge and practical experience to turn your broad strategies into specific implementations. We are ready to assist you with every facet of customisation, planning and project management. Our business consulting services include needs analysis; assessment of current processes and technologies; identification of management goals; step-by-step implementation plans; and calculation of your investment payback. We can also help with application development and system integration, as well as managing implementation through various milestones, including quality control, final testing and administrative training. Whatever the scope of your requirements telephone or on-site assistance; a traditional maintenance programme; a customised test plan; or comprehensive system design and integration services our Professional Services team has the resources to provide a complete, highly customised solution. Nortel Networks Customer Contact and Self-Service Solutions MPS 500 is part of the broad range of Customer Contact and Self-Service Solutions that Nortel Networks has designed to help your business increase customer loyalty and improve profitability. These innovative solutions reflect a broader-based, fully integrated approach aimed at helping customers do business anywhere, anyway and anytime. Having established more than 35,000 contact centres worldwide, Nortel Networks has the business and technological expertise within our Customer Contact and Self-Service Solutions team to create a scalable, flexible and resilient solution that will grow and change with your organisation. By offering a complete portfolio, we can help you achieve your business objectives quickly and effectively. We can also help you better integrate contact centre strategies into your company s overall operations by giving you the tools to manage and understand customer relationships more effectively and to maximise your return on those relationships. And backed by our Customer Contact and Self-Service Solutions team s global reputation for quality and reliability, we offer a single, responsive point of contact for all of your sales and service needs. About us Nortel Networks Customer Contact and Self-Service Solutions reflect the deep and wide-ranging experience gained during many years as a global leader in business communications, multimedia contact centres, VoIP, wireless and high-performance Internet solutions. You can count on Nortel Networks solutions to deliver superior service across all touch points in your business, helping you set new benchmarks for productive and rewarding customer relationships.