A cost effective solution to quickly create, deploy, and bring your voice applications to market

Transcription

1 Cloud Communications and IVR: A cost effective solution to quickly create, deploy, and bring your voice applications to market A report from NewNet Communication Technologies, LLC

2 Cloud Communications and IVR: A cost effective solution to quickly create, deploy, and bring your voice applications to market Cloud Computing, Platform-as-a-Service, and Cloud Communications have become mainstream buzzwords in the information technology world, yet these terms are often misunderstood. However, if implemented, Cloud Communications deliver significant benefits along with advanced features and functionality, without straining a company s budget. As one of the fastest growing technologies, more and more organizations are adopting Cloud Communications, and while Cloud Communications are remarkably changing the way companies do business, many are still unaware of the benefits Cloud Communications could bring to their business operations. This white paper will discuss the features and services offered with Cloud Communications, and how they can be implemented by an organization to offer greater flexibility, along with lower than expected costs to immediately impact a company s business. What is Cloud Communications Cloud Computing is basically a shared platform and application via a 3rd party that can be accessed via the internet. With Cloud Computing, services operate consistently, with capacity and performance being able to scale to meet use demand. Cloud Communications embrace several variations of service models, including Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). As many call companies have been exploring the most cost effective ways to deploy voice applications, Cloud Communications provide more flexible ways in which to do so. Companies of any size, across any geographic region can access these resources that were previously deemed out of reach, bringing them world-class technology and application development infrastructure without heavy start-up investments. Cloud Communications enable voice applications to be written and deployed, with the added benefit of providing service creation tools to help write and deploy applications. The service creation environment enables anyone to quickly create, and deploy voice applications, without programming using a simple graphical user interface. Those applications and services can then 1

3 be deployed and introduced to the market for which customers will often times pay for, and consume. Additionally, Cloud Communications allow new business models, and respond rapidly to changing market and customer demands while protecting sensitive information. Benefits of Cloud Communications Lower Total Cost of Ownership Business today is more complex and unstable than ever. In an ideal world, one would be able to implement cutting-edge technology without spending a significant amount of capital on up-front hardware costs. Now, Cloud Communications makes this possible. In the past, organizations looking to implement a software solution would need to budget for setup, licensing, training, hardware, and software and maintenance costs, as a hosted solution, Cloud Communications require no hardware costs, no need to manage and maintain telephony hardware or software on site. With Cloud Communications, businesses don t have to worry about the expenses associated with infrastructure. The Cloud solution provider takes care of all the telephony management and provisioning, letting you focus on the applications that run your business. In fact, Cloud Communications offers pay-for-what-you-use pricing, making it much easier for you to center your attention on your business and application use. Cutting-Edge Application Development Tools Cloud Communications is exciting for application development and delivery professionals, because it offers instant access to development, testing, and deployment resources. With the advent of Cloud Computing, demand for rapid deployment of high quality voice applications at a lower cost has increased. An advanced service creation tool is the instrument to achieve this goal. With traditional application development, the task of building call flows and applications has fallen on highly skilled application programmers. With a service creation tool, virtually any user can easily operate, design, build and deploy applications without needing to write a single line of code. Typically designed as a web-based tool, the user simply opens the service creation tool in web browser, and it s ready for use. Within a service creation tool, call flow commands and actions are represented by icons called nodes within a library. These nodes or icons represent specific blocks of VoiceXML/CCXML code, and include commands and actions such as start application, prompts, outdial, variables, and all other commands or actions necessary for creating a call flow or voice application. Call flows and voice applications are created by dragging and dropping the appropriate nodes onto the work canvas, interconnecting the nodes, and then configuring the properties for each node. The application can then be saved, or deployed to a dedicated phone number via a live SIP channel, and is ready for immediate use. Service creation tools allow application designers to concentrate on application innovation and design without the hindrance and time constraints of working with programming languages. 2

4 This also significantly reduces application development time, allowing applications to be created, modified, and deployed quickly in order to keep pace with a growing and demanding marketplace, where time to market is crucial. These benefits all make a developer s job easier, while at the same time reduces operational costs, and allows services and applications to be deployed efficiently. Integrated Advanced Technology With the advent of new technologies, the cost and pace of upgrades due to these technology advances have increased. Because many companies delay investments in new technologies, they are not able to leverage the latest advances that would drive improved call automation and lower cost. With the right Cloud Communications provider, technologies such as Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) and Text-to-Speech (TTS) are included with the solution. This allows companies to only pay for ASR and TTS as they use it, avoiding the costly expenditures of integrating the technology themselves. Many Cloud Communications service providers also offer APIs that let you use your existing web languages and skills to build voice and SMS applications. Mobility, Scalability, Reliability While lowered cost is often the number 1 reason many businesses choose to implement Cloud Communications, factors such as mobility, scalability, and reliability factor in as well. Because all data is stored in the Cloud, businesses can access their solutions from virtually anywhere. This is particularly advantageous for organizations with global satellite offices. Employees in separate offices around the world can work together and collaborate on the same solution, which can be accessible from anywhere. Business goals almost always include growth, so organizations need a solution that can scale as their company grows. Because there is no physical hardware or equipment needed to implement a Cloud Communications solution, there will never be a forced upgrade requiring more capital so your technology can keep pace with your growing business. With Cloud Communications, your business can automatically scale up or down with an unlimited number of live SIP channels, giving you the freedom to expand as far and quickly as your market s industry will allow. The advent of Cloud Communications and the advancement of technology have revolutionized the way data is stored, shared, and used. Because your data is critical to your business operations, it is necessary to have a Cloud Communications solution that is not only redundant, but also has a secure recovery protocol in place. A redundant Cloud Communications solution ensures your data is protected, providing you with uninterruptible so you never face system downtimes or failures, and keeping your business and revenue stream up and running. 3

5 Getting Started Although the benefits of Cloud Communications are compelling, it is important to choose a Cloud provider that offers a solution that enables you to quickly build and deploy applications into production, while at the same time scale to meet customer demand, with pay as you go billing. Because of this, NewNet has developed Nimblevox. With Nimblevox, virtually anyone can build voice applications and call flows without installing any tools on your computer, and deploy those applications with the click of a button. Our solution is straight forward, and easy to use. Simply sign up at Once you verify your account, you will receive a free $20 developer account, and can begin designing and deploying IVR applications immediately. Nimblevox offers straightforward pricing, in fact, you only pay for what you use. Focus on Application Innovation, and Leave the Rest to Nimblevox In today s competitive market, in order for businesses to be successful, they must focus on their core business. Nimblevox s Cloud Communications solution enables organizations to do just that, focus on their business innovation, while all of the telephony management and provisioning is taken care of for you. When looking to develop, manage, and deploy applications in the cloud, Nimblevox is a proven Cloud Communications solution that enables organizations to do so with greater innovation, less risk, and at a lower total cost of ownership. Nimblevox transforms application development and deployment from what was once a long and tedious management process, into a source of competitive advantage. For more information on Nimblevox, please visit our website. 4

6 About NewNet Communication Technologies, LLC NewNet Communication Technologies, LLC, is a leading provider of innovative solutions for next generation mobile and fixed line networks. NewNet enables global telecom operators and equipment manufacturers to develop and deploy progressive, revenue-generating applications that deliver value added services. Recognized as a trusted leader in the carrier applications market for more than 20 years, NewNet is synonymous with telecom product excellence and development expertise. NewNet Communication Technologies, LLC is a leading provider of innovative solutions for next generation mobile, fixed line networks, messaging and transaction processing. NewNet enables global telecom operators and equipment manufacturers to rapidly develop and deploy cutting edge, revenue-generating applications that deliver feature rich, value added services. With over a 20-year history, NewNet has deployed over 300 systems to 180 customers in 92 countries. The NewNet portfolio includes TraxcomSecure transaction processing solution, Mobile Messaging Product family, 4G WiMAX broadband solutions, Nimblevox, the NewNet Interactive Voice Response solution, and the Invigorate NewNet mobile rating and charging portfolio. We connect the unconnected. The company is headquartered in the USA, with sales and support teams located around the world. NewNet is a wholly owned portfolio company of the private investment firm Skyview Capital LLC. For more information, visit: