Aspect Provides Turnkey Contact Center Product for Microsoft Lync
Aspect Provides Turnkey Contact Center Product for Microsoft Lync by Robbie Pleasant
Aspect has announced that it will deliver a software-based product for small and mid-sized contact center applications, with Microsoft Lync serving as its media server. It's a value-priced, turnkey option for virtual sales teams, IT Help Desks, branch offices, corporate departments, and small and mid-sized contact centers.
This product is scheduled to be delivered in the first quarter of 2011, and will support between 20 and 100 agents and supervisors. It includes core contact center capabilities, unified communications functionality, and voice over IP. Contact center capabilities offered are voice, inbound voice and e-mail routing, instant messaging, historical and real-time reporting, and several other capabilities on a single server. It also includes out-of-the-box workflows, while Lync delivers the media server and PBX functionality.
Aspect's product provides seamless integration with Aspect Workforce Management, thus enabling forecasting, scheduling, and tracking capabilities, as well as Aspect Performance Management for scorecards and analysts that can initiate alerts and actions automatically.
"This announcement is an excellent example of how ecosystems partners will increasingly deliver communications capabilities," says Don Van Doren of UCStrategies. "Aspect is applying its highly-regarded expertise in contact center software to extend the capabilities of the underlying Microsoft Lync product. In the future, we will see many more examples of specialist ecosystem partners building on top of a core unified communications product to deliver innovative solutions."
Samantha Kane of UCStrategies adds: "Aspect, a seasoned Contact Center and UC manufacturer, understands the importance of successful delivery. The experience of Total Pain of Ownership is reduced if not eliminated by the Microsoft/ Lync combination and the experience of Aspect to deliver interoperability which will be a key ingredient to this solution."
According to Blair Pleasant of UCStrategies, “While Microsoft has a strong UC product, providing voice and telephony capabilities for organizations, it has minimal contact center functionality. By providing a software-based contact center solution based on Lync, Aspect is making it easier for smaller contact center customers to access Aspect’s well-respected contact center capabilities, as well as Lync’s call control and VoIP capabilities cost effectively.”
For more information, visit www.aspect.com.