Tracer Solution Overview and Functionality Americas Headquarters OAISYS 7965 South Priest Drive, Suite 105 Tempe, AZ 85284 USA www.oaisys.com (480) 496-9040
CONTENTS 1 Introduction 2 Tracer Overview 3 Recording Calls 5 Trunk-Side Recording 6 Digital Station-Side Recording 8 VoIP Recording 10 VOX Recording 10 Combined Recording Modes 11 Screen Recording 12 Recording Rules 19 Quality Control Module 21 Recording Management 24 Live Desktop Monitoring 24 Live Auto Monitoring 25 Coaching 26 Recording Base Systems INTRODUCTION Tracer automatically records, stores and organizes telephone conversations on a central, secure network repository so that they can be easily retrieved when the need arises. The Tracer software provides a solution to address a number of critical business concerns. For example, companies operating within a wide variety of industries, including healthcare, automotive dealerships, financial services, and the public sector, all have requirements to document telephone conversations to minimize business risk and ensure compliance with federal and state regulations. Businesses that operate sales, customer service or product support contact centers have needs for training and accountability tools. Tracer can provide a powerful, yet easy-touse solution that effectively addresses all of these different requirements. 28 Hardware Configurations/ Capacities 29 Server Base Systems/ Port Licensing 30 System Upgrades and Expansions 31 Desktop Client 32 Tracer Integration 33 Reports 38 System Administration 40 Alarms 43 Conclusion 44 Additional White Papers 45 About OAISYS Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 1
Tracer Overview Tracer is engineered to support sophisticated, high volume recording needs. It can record calls on either the trunk-side or station-side of a business communications platform. Both digital and IP phones can be recorded on supported communications systems, and Tracer offers data link integration with a wide variety of platforms. Tracer can be programmed to record all calls or selective calls based on data triggers, such as the outside party s phone number, the incoming dialed number, the duration of the call, etc. The system allows an administrator to select which extensions to record and includes numerous administrative tools to automate file and data management as well as problem notification processes. For convenience and ease-of-use, the Tracer unified client supports multi-system, multi-node remote administration. The OAISYS Management Studio is Tracer s search and playback management feature; it authenticates users and provides access to view authorized call data from the database. Users can sort and search through all authorized call data to find specific calls. Call recordings are then streamed over the network and played through speakers at the user s workstation. The OAISYS Management Studio makes finding a single or select few recordings out of the hundreds of thousands that may be stored on the system an easy task. Every OAISYS recording system also comes equipped with an unlimited user license for Talkument, the voice documentation and collaboration software from OAISYS. Talkument provides companies with a solution that addresses the call recording needs of an organization s knowledge workers. With Talkument, users outside the contact center walls can search for, retrieve, play back, annotate, and share their own stored conversations with others inside or outside the organization via a secure link. Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 2
Recording Calls OAISYS Tracer is a full-featured call recording software solution (sometimes referred to as call logging). It monitors either select or all telephone calls, converts the audio into a digital format and stores the recorded conversations as digital files that can then be retrieved by authorized employees using sound-equipped PCs connected to the network. Tracer software is deployed either on an OAISYS off-the-shelf appliance, a built-toorder server, or software only option and is typically installed alongside the business communications system. Digital recordings of authorized users telephone conversations are captured using OAISYS Portable Voice Document (PVD TM ) technology. Conversations are captured in their entirety and can be shared with other authorized users to facilitate improved collaboration. Users may also convert PVD files to WAV or other standard file formats if they choose. An overview of the various Tracer components is shown in Fig. 1 on the following page. Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 3
Figure 1 - Tracer System Overview Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 4
Trunk-Side Recording If the trunk-side recording option is selected, Tracer attaches or taps directly to analog or digital (T1 or PRI) trunk lines, or SIP trunks, eliminating a need for any intermediary hardware, such as a channel bank or digital-to-analog converter (see Fig. 2). In this configuration, calls can be recorded from start to finish, or cradle to grave. This means a user can hear the call ringing and the auto-attendant answering in addition to hearing the complete conversation. They can even hear what might be said while the call was on hold or while the caller was leaving a voicemail. Trunk-side recording is generally used when the number of extensions to be recorded is much larger than the number of incoming trunks that are connected to a PBX, or when the business need requires trunk-side enabled features. It is important to note that with the trunk-side recording configuration, station-to-station (intercom) calls cannot be recorded since trunks are not used for those calls. Figure 2 - Trunk-side Recording Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 5
Digital Station-Side Recording For digital station-side recording, Tracer attaches or taps directly to the station lines. This is usually accomplished by making a cross connect on a station punch down block (See Fig. 3). It is possible using station-side and IP recording to monitor only selected stations. In this case, a call is not recorded until it is connected to a station that is being monitored. This means that call recording does not commence until the station user answers the call, and cradle to grave recording is not available. However, in this configuration, station-to-station (intercom) calls can be recorded. With a digital station-side configuration, call recording scenarios can include: Only a single station involved with the call from start to end A call transferred to another station that is also monitored for recording. In this case, the recording will continue with the other station s recording (one call will contain two recordings). Multiple stations involved with the call but not all are being monitored for recording. Each segment of the call connected to a station being monitored will have its portion of the call recorded. The call appears as one record with multiple recordings associated with it. A call placed on hold while the user answers another call. During the holding period, no recording is made. The second call handled by this station will be recorded as a new call with a separate recording for that call. When the held call is picked up, recording on the original call starts again but it will be stored as another recording associated with the original call. Station-side recording is generally used when the number of trunks that carry the call is much larger than the number of stations to be monitored. Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 6
Figure 3 - Digital Station-side Recording Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 7
VoIP Recording Tracer uses one of three different approaches for recording Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone conversations, depending on the PBX manufacturer. For IP station recording on some PBXs, such as those manufactured by Toshiba and Mitel, Tracer monitors IP packets traveling between the IP port in the PBX and the IP Endpoint (See Fig. 4). To ensure that Tracer receives these packets, the network must be configured so that all of the VoIP packets pass through a device capable of replicating those packets. One way to accomplish this is by using the Port Mirroring feature in a switch. With Port Mirroring, the switch sends copies of all of the packets on one port to another port. This allows a device, such as Tracer, to obtain copies of packets that it would not otherwise be able to receive. The call recording scenarios listed above in the digital station-side recording section also apply to IP recording. NOTE: Tracer will not record peer-to-peer calls between endpoints. Active recording is another method that can be used to deploy the Tracer solution in a VoIP recording environment. With active VoIP recording, a CTI interface is used by Tracer to monitor call states on the VoIP network. Example VoIP recording on ShoreTel IP phone systems uses the Telephony Application Programming Interface (TAPI), an industry-standard IP telephony interface providing an efficient call control connection between computers and/or IP telephones. With TAPIbased integration, Tracer receives and records a media stream provided by the ShoreTel Application Server, a component residing on the Tracer machine. Another method for deploying Tracer active VoIP Recording is available for the Mitel 3300 IP Communications Platform (ICP). This method uses Mitel s Secure Recording Connector (SRC) to enable a secure connection between Tracer and the 3300 ICP. SRC provides a central connection point and allows IP extensions and other devices Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 8
with voice encryption activated to be recorded. Environments using SRC can record encrypted, peer-to-peer and intercom (IC) calls. NOTE: The SRC is stand-alone software that resides on a separate blade server and can be downloaded and licensed from the Mitel Application Management Center. Figure 4 - VoIP Recording Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 9
VOX Recording VOX Recording is a feature that activates recording when the sound to be recorded exceeds a particular amplitude. This functionality is particularly useful for radio and related digital communications environments, such as in dispatch centers. OAISYS Tracer supports the following VOX recording environments: Radio (Analog board required). If radio recording is enabled by using VOX, the customer must provide a Digital-to-Analog converter. Digital Station Side AI Logix Station Tap Cards required (This allows for station side recording without a CTI link). Trunk VOX Digital trunk recording. Combined Recording Modes Unlike many call recording systems, trunk-side, digital station-side, and IP station Tracer recording can all be implemented in a single OAISYS system by installing the required audio interface hardware and software. Example If a company monitors all calls coming into its customer service department over dedicated trunks, but only 4-5 phones in its billing department where users share a large number of trunks with many other employees, with Tracer, this can be accomplished in a single, cost-effective platform. Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 10
Screen Recording Screen Recording is an optional feature for the Tracer solution. This functionality simultaneously captures what is occurring on an agent s PC screen while they are on a phone call that is being recorded. Associated screen activity is saved as a screen recording file and stored along with the audio recording of the phone conversation. Screen recording functionality allows a supervisor to grade and evaluate agents both on what they say during phone calls and how effectively they use their PC applications during the phone call. An optional wrap-up timer on the desktop can be used to ensure agents complete their work after the call has ended. Tracer screen recording software runs on a dedicated server separate from the OAISYS recording server or appliance, and screen recordings are stored on that dedicated server as well. The screen recording server communicates with the Tracer server via an IP connection. Client software runs on the PCs of agents who are being recorded, and can be deployed in a Citrix environment. This application can appear transparent to the user, so agents will be unaware that screen recording is occurring. Playback is performed by the OAISYS Management Studio application. The video playback is synchronized with the playback of the audio with which the phone call is associated. NOTE: A screen recording port license is required per desktop recording. Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 11
Recording Rules In some companies, managers want all calls recorded while others may want to only record calls received by particular groups such as a customer service department. Tracer provides administrators with a powerful but flexible set of tools called Recording Rules that can be used to specify which calls should be recorded and which should not (See Fig. 5). These recording rules allow the administrator to program the system to record specific calls based on a wide range of factors, including: Time of Day, Day of Week, PBX extension number, Phone number dialed, Caller ID, ACD group, ACD agent, Account Code, Length of call, and random percentage usage. Some of these rules require either SMDR or CTI integration with the PBX in order to function. Whenever a phone call begins, the Tracer software examines the defined Recording Rules to determine if the call should be recorded. Recording rules follow a hierarchal structure; the Do Not Record rule is the highest in the hierarchy. Example If the recording rules are set to record All Calls, but you do not wish to record calls from employee home phone numbers, you may have a list called Home Numbers. You can create a phone number rule to override Tracer s initial decision to record all calls. In this example, Tracer would record all calls except those calls from your Home Phone Numbers list. Figure 5 - Recording Rules Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 12
Manual Recording Control This feature provides the administrator the ability to configure settings for individual telephone extensions, enabling station users to manually control (Start/Stop, Pause/Resume) recordings from their desktop PC using the OAISYS Recording Client application or possibly by entering a special account code via their digital or IP telephone. Recordings can also be triggerd using an OAISYS API to interface with a web page or third-party application. After-Call Actions After-Call Actions can be configured to be executed after each call is completed. Each of the actions can be triggered when (1) the call was recorded, (2) the call was not recorded, or (3) always. These actions can be used to perform logging, cleanup, notification or other types of tasks. For example, the system manager may want to keep a special log file on tollfree trunks to track the date/time of every call made to a special offer DNIS number. Or, the administrator may configure Tracer to email a copy of the call recording to a supervisor each time a specific employee takes a call. Annotations Annotations are text-based comments that can be added to a voice document either live, or once a call has completed. They serve as call notes to help users identify key information about conversations they have shared. Annotations have a starting point, an ending point, an author, a subject, and text. A user with permissions can annotate an entire call, or any part of a call. There are no limitations on the number of annotations a voice document can have. Additionally, text annotations can be searched as well, further enhancing the ability to quickly and conveniently locate specific call recordings. The ability to annotate is permissions based. A user may have permission to Add, Edit, and/or Delete annotations. By default, a user will have the ability to annotate all of the voice documents that appear in their My Calls folder. The ability to annotate other voice documents is determined by permissions lists. Recording Scenarios The controls described in this section provide administrators with tremendous flexibility Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 13
in how they configure Tracer to record calls. It allows managers to define which calls are to be recorded and which are not in order to align the call recording operation with their business needs. Some examples of how these features can be used to customize the call recording process are listed below: Record all calls, inbound and outbound on all trunks, 24x7 Record 20 percent of inbound calls to the Customer Service group from 7:00am to 6:00pm, M-F (excluding calls from home numbers) Record all inbound and outbound calls to the Customer Service 24x7. Also record all inbound and outbound calls the three clerks in the Billing Department 24x7, and allow all managers to record calls on demand. Record any call to/from a major competitor and automatically email a copy of the recording to the Human Resources Director once the call is complete. Retrieving and Playing Calls Tracer is capable of storing tens of thousands of calls through on-line storage and essentially an unlimited number of calls in off-line storage. But how does a user quickly and easily find a single call or a small group of calls when the need arises? The OAISYS Management Studio provides a simple, fast, and powerful search and retrieval application. OAISYS Management Studio The OAISYS Management Studio is a.net application that resides on the user s sound equipped PC and provides recording management and playback functionality. The OAISYS Management Studio authenticates users and provides access to view authorized calls. From the Management Studio (See Fig. 6), a user can view the entire history of calls even if the call wasn t recorded. Since the call list could contain a very large number of calls, it is often useful to be able to search for certain calls. Tracer search functionality allows a user to search through the call records by one or more search parameters such as the date and time a call was made or received, the direction of the call, duration of the call, called or caller name and phone number, extensions involved with the call and many others. Thus, searches can be used to quickly filter and display only the calls that are desired. Examples of typical searches are: All Calls in Last 7 Days, All Recorded Calls, All ACD Calls, Today s Calls that need Follow-up, Calls to/from 480 Area Code, Calls to/from ABC Telecom, etc. These searches can be saved in the form of Search Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 14
Folders for quick reference. Once the call has been found, it can be easily played over the speakers on a sound equipped PC. A user can listen to all or just select portions of the call using the annotation feature. During playback, many playback control options are available, including: rewind, pause, fast play, or fast forwarding of the recording. In addition, a user can skip over held portions or paused portions of the call. There is also a volume adjustment. Figure 6 - OAISYS Management Studio Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 15
Searching Annotations Annotations can be searched according to the subject associated with the annotation or the actual text contained within the annotation. Both Basic and Advanced searches can be performed on annotations. Basic searches execute the search on all fields available. Example If you wanted to conduct a search for a call with an annotation that includes a street address of 7965 South Priest Drive, you could enter 7965 in the basic search field; your results will return all calls with an annotation that contains 7965 and all other calls that contain 7965 in any field; such as the outside number field. An advanced search can be conducted based on the criteria of either the subject of the annotation or the text content of the annotation. Sharing Recordings Users with appropriate assigned permissions can share a recording located in any folder. Another option is to highlight a segment or multiple segments of a call to export and share the selected segments. They can select one or more users/user groups/external users to share the selected recording with and use the arrow to move them to the Share with box. The user class is displayed next to the name: User A user is defined as an individual assigned a client account by the administrator. User Group A user group represents a group of users set up in the Administrative client application. External User An external user is someone outside of the regular business that has a temporary user account. An external user must have an email account associated with their name as well as an expiration date associated with their user account. There are a variety of sharing options, such as, This share will expire on, Allow internal user(s) to further share the document, and Allow the recipient(s) to create, Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 16
change, and delete their own annotations based on the assigned permissions. Users can also easily share a copy of a recording to a particular person or group (See Fig. 7). Figure 7 - Email a Recording Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 17
Integrity Checking As a standard feature, Tracer comes equipped with a Recording Integrity Checking application that can be initiated from the Management Studio application (See Fig. 8). This provides a reliable method for reviewing recordings to ensure the content has not been altered from the original recording. This feature is particularly valuable in the event the recording is to be used in a legal proceeding, as it can prove that the recording hasn t been tampered with or modified. Figure 8 - Recording Integrity Validation Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 18
Quality Control Module Quality Control functionality is included with the Tracer call center management solution providing users the option of evaluating calls using categories with an unlimited number of questions and customizable scales. The Quality Control Module allows an evaluator to review a call either live or after completion and rate the call by providing a grade on each of an unlimited series of pre-selected questions/criteria. To launch an evaluation, the user selects the call they want to evaluate and clicks on the evaluation link contained in the OAISYS Management Studio. Using the controls on the Evaluation window, the evaluator can fill in the evaluation questionnaire. They can grade each question or criteria on a scale from 1 to 5 or by recording a Yes or No answer (See Fig. 9). Customizable scales in the application provide a weighted average for each evaluation as an overall score. Each set of questions in a category has a place for comments as well as an overall evaluation comment section. Each call can be evaluated by multiple evaluators. The evaluation templates can be created or modified using the System Administrator. Many different templates or questionnaires can be built so that each group being evaluated can have their own unique evaluation form. Figure 9 - Employee Evaluation The Quality Control Module can be used for many purposes: As a self-learning tool each employee can listen to and evaluate their work performance. As a management tool managers can evaluate how well employees are taking care of their callers. As a training assessment tool assess employee s skills and determine when additional training may be needed. Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 19
Quality control work queues allow users to create rules for the count and types of calls that supervisors must evaluate. Work Queue folders are randomly populated with calls a manager must evaluate based on the number of calls, percentage of calls, or calls per agent. An option exists to have the agents evaluate the same calls a manager evaluates, and a report can be generated to see how the two compare. Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 20
Recording Management All recordings made by OAISYS Tracer are stored on the hard disk of the OAISYS Recording System by default. Because disk space is limited, older recordings must be periodically deleted or archived (moved to an external storage device) to continually provide enough space for the newest recordings. There are two methods available to the system administrator: Temporary This method is used when recording files need only be kept for a few days or a few weeks. For example, a high school may record all calls to capture recordings of bomb or terrorist threats, abusive parent calls, and any 9-1-1 calls made from the school. OAISYS Tracer can be configured to keep all recordings for 14 days and automatically purge any older recordings. Using the OAISYS Management Studio Application, recordings of problem calls can be easily copied by any administrator to another PC, disk, or CD before 14 days have passed. In this case, no formal archiving plan is needed and a simple automated purge process is used. The purging process operates on a daily basis and deletes all recordings older than the designated age. Archival This method is available when recording files need to be kept for long periods of time (months or years). For example, a financial institution may want to keep recordings of all phone transactions for a year in case any customer conflicts arise. This type of installation requires a file archival plan to systematically archive the recording files to other storage media. All recordings made by OAISYS Tracer are stored on a hard disk in a real-time recording area. These recordings are online and can be reviewed at any time by any approved user. Depending on (1) the size of the real-time recording area on the OAISYS system and (2) the amount of recordings made each day, these recordings can be left in this area for a significant period of time (two weeks to more than one year). However, at some point these files must be moved to make room for more recordings. For long-term recording solutions, OAISYS Backup Assistant is used to automatically move recording files from the real-time recording area to the Backup Staging area so they can be easily archived onto removable media (i.e. DVD, CD, etc.). Backup Assistant automatically creates a new media folder for each new archive and moves Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 21
only enough recording files into the folder to fill up the target archive media. Once that media folder is full, it will generate an email notification to alert the system administrator that archiving is needed. Once the recording files have been successfully moved onto the archive media, the recordings are purged (deleted) from that media folder using the purge folder feature in Backup Assistant. This purge process makes disk space available for subsequent archiving. If desired, a network share can be specified for the Backup Staging folder so that network-attached storage devices or storage area network (SAN) devices can be used to store call records for archival purposes. Tracer provides a set of features that updates the database to reference the new location so that users can automatically retrieve these files using Search. Targeted Archival Feature This feature provides the ability to archive calls based on call filters or identifying information. Example If calls with a specific account code must be kept for three years, but all others can be purged after six months or to ftp calls to each vendor on different ftp sites; Targeted Archival allows users to accomplish this. Restoring Recordings Once recordings have been archived offline and removed from the Backup Staging area, those recordings are no longer on-line. This means that someone using the OAISYS Management Studio Application cannot directly access and listen to those recordings. To listen to one of these recordings, the recorded file is copied back from the archive media (CD or DVD) and brought back online. The playback feature can then be used to play the recording. Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 22
Live Call Monitoring The Tracer Live Call Monitor feature provides real-time monitoring of call activity and call monitoring across the entire enterprise voice network. Example A contact center manager working from a main office in one state can seamlessly and transparently live monitor calls taking place in that office s contact center as well as in a remote contact center located in another state. The user is authenticated and can access only those calls they are authorized to monitor. Users can view information (See Fig. 10) about all authorized calls in progress including the outside party s number, extension number (requires CTI integration), and incoming dialed number data. They can monitor any live call through their multimedia workstation while it is in progress. Monitored calls can be paused and restarted. Users can rewind the call and fast forward the call up to the point of the live conversation. They can also trigger the recording of the monitored call, if not already triggered. Users also have the option of emailing a copy of the call to a user-entered email address. Figure 10 - Call Monitoring Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 23
Live Desktop Monitoring OAISYS Desktop Monitoring is an optional product that records the Live Desktop Activity of an agent while the call is in progress. This feature can be run transparently and in a Citrix environment. Live Auto Monitoring Tracer s Live Auto Monitoring feature allows for automatic live monitoring of calls by agent or by dynamic business rules. For example, a call that is tagged by an agent using a custom Upset Caller button can enable a contact center supervisor with the appropriate auto monitor configuration to begin hearing the call instantly, or to receive an instant visual and/or audible notification of the event. Each manager can independently create, enable, and disable rules. Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 24
Coaching Tracer also provides integrated supervisor and agent chat capabilities which enable unobtrusive coaching support (See Fig. 11). Agents can request coaching assistance and supervisors, upon accepting the request, begin hearing the live call and can respond via integrated instant messaging. This provides an inaudible communication path between call handlers and the supervisory staff. Support personnel receive a view to the call with full call details and an audit trail of the call handling history, along with any previous text conversations that occurred on that call. A user can also share a URL, a file, or a screen capture with the agent. All chat communication is captured in context with the voice recording. Figure 11 - Integrated Instant Messaging Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 25
Recording Base Systems Tracer software can be deployed in one of two basic delivery models: APPLIANCE-BASED SOFTWARE DELIVERY (AbSD) 20 IP, 20 IP and 8 Analog, 2 T1/PRI Bundles Can act as the slave in a seamless recording network Unlimited Talkument user license SERVER-BASED SOFTWARE DELIVERY (SbSD) Up to 350 channels of IP, analog, and digital Can act as the master in a seamless recording network up to 1,750 channels Unlimited Talkument user license Includes Tracer software and a pre-defined number of user licenses dependent on server model Each OAISYS Recording Appliance includes approximately 56,000 hours of storage, archiving software, and unlimited Talkument user accounts for access to the system, and unlimited real-time recording control clients that can be used with any CTI or VOX enabled installation. Appliances come pre-configured with the set audio connection and voice port license requirements to satisfy the specific appliance model being deployed. OAISYS Recording Servers are available to suit the needs of small, medium, and large call recording applications. Servers range in channel capacity from 48 to 350 and in storage capacity from 56,000 to 200,000 hours of recordings. Each server can hold a maximum of four recording tap boards and will support any combination of analog, digital, and IP connectivity. Each OAISYS recording server comes pre-licensed with both Talkument and Tracer software, including an unlimited Talkument user license and a range of one to three concurrent Tracer user licenses. Additional Tracer user licenses can be added for a fee. OAISYS recording servers can be included in a seamless recording system network and can act as the master or remote nodes. Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 26
OAISYS Recording Servers are built from a combination of the following: 1. One of the available OAISYS Recording Servers (Standard, Advanced, Advanced Plus) 2. Any combination of audio connections (Tap Boards or the VoIP Recording Engine) up to four total boards in any given system 3. Voice Port Licenses for each trunk or extension to be recorded Each OAISYS Recording Server includes archiving software, DVD burning software; a web server to provide connections to user applications, unlimited Talkument user accounts, and unlimited real-time recording control clients that can be used with any CTI or VOX enabled installation. Additionally, OAISYS offers optional RAID 1 disk mirroring functionality for each of the Standard, Advanced, and Advanced Plus server models enabling advanced fault tolerance and data protection capabilities. Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 27
Hardware Configurations/Capacities OAISYS hardware configurations and call storage capacities are summarized in the table below. OAISYS Recording Base System Description Port Maximums (Combination of Trunks, Stations, or IP Ports) Appliance Windows 7 1U chassis ~ 56,000 hours online storage Standard Windows 7 Rack mount chassis ~ 56,000 hours online storage Standard w/raid 1 Windows 7 Rack mount chassis RAID cont. & redundant disk drives ~ 56,000 hours online storage Advanced Windows 7 Rack Mount Cabinet ~ 100,000 hours online storage Advanced w/raid 1 Windows 7 Rack mount cabinet RAID cont. & redundant disk drives ~ 100,000 hours online storage Advanced Plus Windows Server 2008 Rack Mount Cabinet Dual Power Supplies ~ 200,000 hours online storage Advanced Plus w/raid 1 Windows Server 2008 Rack Mount Cabinet Dual Power Supplies RAID cont. & redundant disk drives ~ 200,000 hours online storage 1-100 total ports (Up to 100 VoIP; up to 48 digital trunk; up to 8 analog trunks) 1-100 total ports (Up to 100 VoIP; up to 48 digital trunk; up to 48 analog trunks, up to 48 digital stations) 1-100 total ports (Up to 100 VoIP; up to 48 digital trunk; up to 48 analog trunks, up to 48 digital stations) 1-200 total ports (Up to 200 VoIP; up to 96 digital trunk; up to 96 analog trunks, up to 96 digital stations) 1-200 total ports (Up to 200 VoIP; up to 96 digital trunk; up to 96 analog trunks, up to 96 digital stations) 1-350 total ports (Up to 350 VoIP; up to 192 digital trunk; up to 96 analog trunks, up to 96 digital stations) 1-350 total ports (Up to 350 VoIP; up to 192 digital trunk; up to 96 analog trunks, up to 96 digital stations) Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 28
OAISYS Server Base Systems Standard Standard w/raid 1 Advanced Advanced w/raid 1 Advanced Plus Advanced Plus w/raid 1 Dual Core Dual Core Dual Core Dual Core Quad Core Quad Core 320GB SATA HDDs 2x320GB SATA HDDs 320GB & 500GB SATA HDDs 2x320GB & 2x500GB SATA HDDs 320GB & 1TB SATA HDDs 2x320GB & 2x1TB SATA HDDs 4GB RAM 4GB RAM 4GB RAM 4GB RAM 8GB RAM 8GB RAM Windows 7 Or Windows Server 2008 Windows 7 Or Windows Server 2008 Windows 7 Or Windows Server 2008 Windows 7 Or Windows Server 2008 Windows Server 2008 Windows Server 2008 Port Licensing A license is required to enable each recording port. In addition a license for each recording port, licenses would also be needed for the quantity of simultaneous OAISYS Live Call Monitor users. So, the equation to find the number of licenses needed is: Licenses needed = # of enabled ports + # of simultaneous Supervisor clients to be used There is a 16 port maximum for Call Monitor licenses. Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 29
System Upgrades and Expansion Tracer can be upgraded to future software releases and can have additional recording licenses added through software updates. OAISYS offers a comprehensive technology protection plan, the OAISYS Diamond Support Program under which a customer can upgrade to the current software release version at no additional cost. Additional Voice Boards can also be added to the system as long as spare PCI slots are available. The addition of more Voice Boards requires hardware administration. Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 30
OAISYS Desktop Client This is a desktop client (See Fig. 12) designed to provide a desktop control and interface with OAISYS recording products (Tracer and Talkument). This desktop client connects with the OAISYS recording platform over TCP/IP and uses CTI events from the phone system to monitor what is going on with its phone extension. It can show when the phone is busy, when recording is in progress (if allowed), and can let the user manually start/stop recording (if allowed). In addition to a Record Start/Stop button, it has six programmable buttons that can be assigned to attach information to call in progress, open a browser to a specified URL, or select an option from a drop down list. This information can be used as searchable criteria, and can be used to generate a report. The OAISYS Desktop Client application can be used by Call Agents for coaching purposes. The Call Agent can click a button to send a request out to the Call Managers for help. The call manager(s) can then coach the agent while listening live to the call. Figure 12 - OAISYS Desktop Client Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 31
Tracer Integration OTHER APPLICATIONS: OAISYS APPS, CRM, ETC. A number of other OAISYS Management Studio applications are compatible with OAISYS Tracer and can thus be used in Tracer customer solutions. These include: OAISYS Chat This legacy text messaging application can be used in conjunction with the OAISYS Call Monitor allowing supervisors to coach employees during phone calls using interactive text messaging. OAISYS Recording Client This legacy desktop control application monitors activity on its user s extension. Tracer provides a free, system-level Application Programming Interface (API), which leverages open technology and supports an easy development and deployment environment. The Tracer API is an open architecture developer s kit that is designed to allow communication with third-party software and devices, such as various predictive dialers, ACD, and other contact center applications. The OAISYS Web Services API allows key components of OAISYS voice documentation solutions to be accessed via other commonly used business applications such as Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, ACT!, and Microsoft SharePoint. The Web Services API also provides the foundation for OAISYS Mobile Recall which enables users to access recorded calls via a smartphone, PDA or other mobile device. Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 32
Reports Tracer Reporter is the powerful reporting package for the OAISYS Tracer call recording software. Tracer Reporter generates reports, including graphs, based on the telephone call information stored in the Call History database. These reports can be run on demand or scheduled for publishing at specific times. Reports can also be instantly viewed using a standard Microsoft Internet Explorer browser. Tracer Reporter can be used to create a report and once a report is defined, it can be saved and used over again or scheduled for publishing at specific times. Reports can be private or public. A user can create a report by first selecting the report template and then choosing the time frames and other objects to be included in the report. Once the definitions are done, they can be saved so they are available for either scheduled or manual creation of the report. The dates assigned for the reports can be fixed, such as December 1-5, 2009 or sliding dates, such as This Quarter, Last Week, etc. Sliding dates are very useful for reports that will be reused later. Once the report is ready, it will be displayed in the browser screen. The browser scroll function can be used to view all of the report data as well as any graphs that may be included in the report. The standard Print and Email or Export features can be used to print the report, email a copy to someone else, or export it to a designated location. On some reports, the user may be allowed to drill down to a list of the individual telephone calls, view the detailed call information, and even listen to recordings of the phone conversations (if available). Scheduling Reports Tracer Reporter also offers highly efficient scheduling capabilities. Reports can be scheduled to run on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis at a specific time. Once reports are completed, authorized users can print, output to a file in a selected format, and/or email to one or more recipients. Some examples of how this functionality might be used are: The sales manager would like the Sales Calls report for the week emailed to him every Friday at 5pm. The Customer Service Manager would like all of the employees on his team to receive an Employee Comparison report via email every Friday. The VP of Marketing wants a printout of the Weekend Advertising Responses report printed out and waiting for him every Monday morning. Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 33
The head of Information Services wants the internal web site to be automatically updated every night with the Call Traffic report. Tracer Usage Reports The Tracer Usage reports provide ways to view how the Tracer system has been used over selected periods of time (See Fig. 13 for sample Usage report). This can include the entire system, certain ports, or even specific users. These reports show the quantity and types of calls as well as how many of the calls were recorded and include the following report templates: Extension Report Views of calls to/from selected phone extensions Tracer Port Views of port usage System Wide Report System-wide usage views Inbound Calls Only Inbound calls are reported on Owner s Report View for oversight and QA responsibilities Figure 13 - Sample Usage Report Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 34
Customer Interaction Reports The Customer Interaction reports show the responses to and effectiveness of various ad campaigns (See Fig. 14 for sample Customer Interaction report). They provide basic information about the various advertising campaigns that have been launched including the name of the media (i.e. Yellow Pages Ad ), the phone number used in the ad, the timeframe, and cost of the ad. By using a different phone number (DNIS number) in each of the various ads, the Customer Interaction reports can measure and show the phone calls that were received in response to those ads. If Caller-ID is received with those phone calls, the area of the country, city, or state where the ad had the most impact can be seen. The Customer Interaction report templates include: Ad Campaign Effectiveness Measure and compare effectiveness of ads Call Arrival Times Shows when callers responded to an ad Callers by Area Code Shows where callers were reached by an ad down to the central office code Inbound Calls only inbound calls Effectiveness Comparison Measures which ad campaigns are most effective Figure 14 - Sample Ad Campaign Report Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 35
Employee Assessment Reports The Quality Control Module provides supervisors and employees with a consistent method to grade performance on calls. The Employee Evaluation application records ratings and the Quality Control Reports Suite provides management reporting including graphs (See Fig. 15 for sample Employee Evaluation report). The Quality Control Reports Suite consists of five types of reports: Employee Evaluation Provides weighted average of ratings for each evaluation question for one or more employees Employee Comparison Compares ratings of multiple evaluators Employee Quality/Efficiency Compares Efficiency (average call duration) to Quality (average of all ratings summaries) Criteria Trend Compares ratings for each question over time to assess trends (single employee) Group Trend Demonstrates evaluation trends over a specific time frame Figure 15 - Employee Evaluation Report Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 36
Owner s Report The Tracer Owner s Report feature provides a convenient report complete with graphs (See Fig. 16 for sample Owner s Report) that can help hold management accountable to their oversight and QA responsibilities. The Owner s Report, which can be automatically generated and delivered via email, lists all user activity for a specified period (daily, weekly, monthly) for the following functions: Live Calls Monitored (who listened live to what calls?) Calls Reviewed (are managers reviewing calls?) Calls Evaluated (is your QA team evaluating the number of calls required?) Calls Coached (which managers are responding to your agent needs?) Reports Run (are the reports being utilized by all managers?) Figure 16 - Sample Owner's Report Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 37
System Administration The OAISYS Administrator is used for centralized class of service administration of OAISYS applications (See Fig. 17). There are four major areas for setup and configuration: 1. Applications and Services 2. Lists and Other Resources 3. Users and Permissions 4. Evaluations Applications and Services This section of OAISYS Administrator is used to configure the settings for the OAISYS Net Server and OAISYS Tracer as well as the web and.net based applications. For Reporter, Automatic Reports and Programmable Links can be configured. In addition, the administrator can set up Call Recording Triggers and configure Purge and Backup Settings. For the.net based OAISYS Management Studio Application, the administrator can define what columns are displayed to users. Lists and Other Resources From this section the administrator can create, edit, copy, or delete lists. The lists created here are used to populate drop downs in several places in Administrator and for reports. Also, Call Filters can be created. Call Filters are used when determining what calls a user can listen to or view in the OAISYS Management Studio Application and what calls someone can review in Reporter. For example, suppose there is a user at extension 1235 named Rob. Rob is only allowed to listen to recordings that have an account code on them. You can use a Call Filter to allow Rob permission to listen to these calls, but not others. This section is also used to program Area Codes, Office Codes, Local Area Codes used in reports. Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 38
Users and Permissions This section can be used to program Users, User Groups, and Permissions for the webbased applications. Users can be given access to the OAISYS Management Studio Application, Agent Evaluation, or Reporter. Permissions can be assigned to a group of users, in which case all users of that group inherit the permissions set for the group. This tool is also used to assign users to a user group or to override Permissions on a user-by-user basis. From the Applications folder, an administrator can drill into the OAISYS Management Studio Application, Agent Evaluation, or Reporter to see what user groups and what users have Permissions to access applications. OAISYS also offers an optional feature for Active Directory Integration which imports user and user group information from Active Directory. Figure 17 - Sample System Administration Screen Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 39
Alarms Tracer provides an extensive alarm system with four levels of alarms: 1. Critical 2. Major 3. Minor 4. Informative Once an alarm condition is met, the following actions can take place: Send an email Start an application Notify OAISYS Service Center Send a service command Example If a recording port is not recording, the alarm generated will alert an administrator via email so they can find out why the port is not recording. Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 40
Summary The OAISYS Tracer contact center management software delivers a host of features designed for today s business environment. It provides a variety of audio connections (trunk-side, station-side, and IP recording) and hardware configurations (56,000 to 200,000 hours of call storage) to ensure a cost effective implementation. TRACER: Offers a powerful yet flexible set of Recording Rules that, in combination with CTI integration, can be used to target and record only those conversations that are relevant to the business Includes Live Call and Auto Call Monitoring, which allows management to selectively listen to calls as they happen as well as automatically based on dynamic business conditions Delivers integrated agent and supervisor chat capabilities, making it easy to oversee and coach work teams and support contact center objectives Uses a secure, user-friendly, point and click interface to quickly search and play recordings from the recording database Provides the ability to attach flags or comments to call records that in turn can be used as the search criteria to locate specific calls, such as all the calls that need Follow-up Includes a digital watermark that can be used to verify if the recording has been modified or not this is especially important if the recording is to be used in any legal proceeding Allows a company to keep call recordings for a short period of time or indefinitely; easily purge recordings after their usefulness has ended, or archive them on a long lasting media for quick search and playback Can automatically perform after-call actions such as emailing a copy of the recording to a specific department or user Can integrate with other applications to streamline business processes such as validating an order Can be used to implement a fair and consistent employee evaluation process and track the results With all of these features, Tracer brings multiple benefits to many different types of industries. Tracer is targeted at two general business applications: documentation and quality management. Healthcare providers, insurance firms, businesses with telesales or telemarketing departments, credit and collection departments, Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 41
government facilities, and emergency response centers can all benefit from using Tracer to document their verbal communications to 1) ensure regulatory compliance, 2) check the validity of orders, 3) provide liability protection from false or erroneous claims, and 4) enhance corporate security. Other organizations that provide sales, credit/collections, or service through telecommunications can benefit by using Tracer to improve call quality. Call recording along with Quality Monitoring can provide management with answers to questions such as: Are customers receiving friendly, polite service? Are complaints properly acknowledged and is the appropriate response given? If there is a dispute, are all the facts known? Do employees have the proper skills and adequate training to perform their jobs? Companies can use Tracer to manage the customer experience by improving business processes and enhancing training/coaching programs, ensuring that service levels meet customer expectations. Tracer enables companies to unlock the full potential of their business communications. Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 42
Conclusion Even though call recording and reporting are mature technologies, there remains a great deal of variation between solutions. Selection of the right technology solution can serve to strengthen customer relationships, build brand equity, and drive sales. Conversely, a lackluster technology choice can actually undermine customer confidence, damage relationships, and even result in a loss of customers and revenue. The OAISYS Tracer call recording and interaction management solution is an outstanding choice for contact centers because it was purpose-built with the specific needs and challenges of the contact center in mind. Benefits of OAISYS and the Tracer solution include: Seamless integration with leading business communications platforms Robust feature functionality driven by end-user feedback Intuitive, easy-to-use and understand interface Advanced reporting and data mining capabilities Highly scalable, future-proof investment Industry-leading service and support programs Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 43
Additional White Papers CALL RECORDING AND ELECTRONIC DISCOVERY http://www.oaisys.com/downloads/electronic_discovery.pdf CALL RECORDING AND REGULATORY COMPLIANCE http://www.oaisys.com/downloads/regulatory_compliance.pdf CALL RECORDING FOR CUSTOMER RETENTION AND SUPERIOR SERVICE http://www.oaisys.com/downloads/customer_retention_and_superior_service.pdf VOICE DOCUMENTATION FOR HEALTHCARE http://www.oaisys.com/downloads/voice_documentation_for_healthcare_wp.pdf Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 44
About OAISYS OAISYS is a leading developer of call recording and contact center management solutions for a wide range of organizations, from small-to-medium sized businesses to multi-site large enterprises. The OAISYS voice documentation and interaction management solutions help companies within a variety of industries attract and retain customers by digitally capturing phone-based interactions for simple retrieval, playback and management. Compatible with leading business communications systems, OAISYS Tracer and Talkument applications help companies improve risk management, quality assurance, customer retention, dispute resolution, regulatory compliance and other critical business concerns. OAISYS is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, and OAISYS Limited is located in Cambridge, England. To learn more about OAISYS, Tracer and Talkument, please visit our website at www.oaisys.com. To schedule a live demonstration, please email se@oaisys.com or call us at 888.496.9040. To find a reseller near you, go to www.oaisys.com; click Support, then Reseller Locator. Follow us on: Tracer: Solution Overview and Functionality 45