The trend of outsourcing inbound and outbound contact centers the past few years have become a billion dollar industry, the main issue here however are the growing acceptance by companies to move their outsourced contact center offshore. The large numbers of F5A8ilipino English speaking personnel, Indian technical expertise, and very low cost Chinese labor have proven to be a worthwhile management decision for a lot of industries.

There is no need to discuss the advantages of outsourcing contact centers when even the government itself has begun outsourcing a lot of their public service lines to outsourcing companies. The main discussion right now is how to manage the cost of the outsourcing business on the technology side in the meantime maintain the level of quality control level on the personnel side.

Outsourcing companies normally have technologies geared toward achieving this goal. The price for telecommunication hardware and equipment has been the main financial concern of most contact centers especially the outsourced ones.

There are also issues of connectivity, IPL reliability, and proximity to skilled workers. Positioning contact centers to highly skilled areas reduce the impact of having cheap labor by having additional costs on office maintenance and salary competitiveness.

If such a technology where a contact center queue can be routed to anywhere in the world at anytime even to a mobile phone, will it solve issues. To some it will. If such a technology exists and in spite of having agents work remotely from a contact center itself, will it resolve such issues? Maybe it does. If the technology still allows you to manage your agents skill routing5A8s, live queue management, live quality control monitoring and call recording? Will that reduce the loss of quality control? Probably. If the extra budget due to the reduction of sophisticated hardware and brick and mortar office are spent on US quality voice and not VoIP IPLs? Will that make the phone quality better? Most likely.

In the end, the virtual contact center technology has created as much questions as it has answered. It has solved a lot of problems yet created new ones. But arent these factors the same issues when outsourcing is still an infant? Arent these the same concerns when a company decides to go virtual? History has proven that it may not be for everyone, but if its for you. The impact to your business is enormous.

The technology is already here. It is ready, It can do inbound and outbound from anywhere in the world to anywhere in the world. Monitor and manage real time anywhere in the world. The real question is. Would your business model benefit from having such technology on your side?

I guess it would.

Carlo Caparras is currently a marketing consultant for several ISPs, webhosting, web development, web-services, outsourcing, colocation, and telecommunication companies including toll free express (http://www.tollfreeexpre589ss.com) Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carlo_Caparras

Most people these days use the Internet for finding information on things, shopping for things and taking care of the mundane chore of paying their bills. They also use it to seek out the best deals on products and services.

Search engines make finding what you're looking for much easier than in the good ol' days of using the yellow pages. Whereas the yellow pages are fine for local listings, the world wide web opens international doors. Simply type in the keyword term, for what you want, and BINGO! you have a wealth of information right in front of you. However, it may take some time to weed through all of that information, to get at what you want out of it. tech Consider these technology service related keyword examples and the results they yield on Google:

* Home Office Supplies: 450,000,000 results

* Satellite TV: 61,900,000 results

* High Speed Internet Access: 123,000,000 results

* VOIP: 112,000,000 results

* Long Distance Services: 67,000,000 results

* Internet Conferencing: 40,600,000 results

* Web Hosting: 2955A8,000,000 results

* Home Security Systems: 481,000,000 results

If a person wanted to comparison shop for these technology services, they would spend days, even weeks, going through all of these results, in order to find the best deal on all of these services. And the businesses selling these services are hard pressed to get into the top 100,000 of these listings, because there is so much competition.

Because of the amount of competition for individual keywords, many online businesses are attempting to create an edge over their competitors by offering multiple services, or bundled services, under one roof. By doing this, they can generate more income for themselves, and provide an environment of customer loyalty.

Take for example, insurance companies... Most major insurance companies offer more than a single type of insurance. Allstate insurance doesn't just offer home owners insurance any more. They provide discounts to their customers who purchase more than one type of policy. For instance, you can get your home owners, auto, identity theft and other policies from them, making your life easier, your premiums smaller, and generating a larger account for Allstate. They give you more options; you buy more insurance. It is win-win for both the consumer and the company.

Another example of this is seen in consumer goods purchasing. Consumers can save time and money by going to a discount store, such a5A8s WalMart, over a department store. First of all, at the large discount store, a person can buy a wider variety of products, eliminating the need to go from specialty store to specialty store, for what they need. The company itself can buy in greater volume, reducing their own cost, and then pass that savings on to their customers.

This type of service bundling is no longer the exception in business. It is becoming more the rule and it is expanding to cover a whole new realm of consumer products and services, technology services being one of the largest.

Today, the companies who can offer a wide range of services, or access to service providers are going to become the front runners in affordability. Not only that, but they are going to be able to capture more business than their single item competitors, because they will be able to tap into multiple keyword searches, rather than simple searches for individual items.

Taking the keyword examples above; if someone were looking for information on high speed Internet access, satellite TV, and long distance services, individually, most would either give up just because the sheer numbers of results would overwhelm them into just sticking with what they've got, or only looking at the first few pages of results, and opting for the best deal out of those. This is particularly damaging to companies who may have the best deal to offer, but don't appear in Google's inde5A8xing until page 100, or so.

To make it easier on consumers and to exercise better SEO, companies are offering multiple services, grouping similar services under one domain. And the large corporations are subbing out services to smaller, independent brokers, to take advantage of the concept themselves.

As an example, there is a company named eStar Network, that has effectively bundled high demand services together, making it easier for consumers to comparison shop from their single location. The services they offer are specific to certain markets without being isolated to a single market.

eStar Network has grouped together technology services such as:

Local/ long distance services

High speed Internet access

VOIP

Bundled business services

Internet conferencing

Web hosting

Home office supplies and services

Satellite TV

Home security systems

Wireless/ cellular services

By doing this, they have made it easier for the person looking for these services to get them without spending days and weeks pouring through millions of search results. They have everything that a person could possibly be looking for in the area of technology services in one place.

They have taken advantage of the multiple keyword search system and have partnered with other reputable companies to provide both the best in products and customer service.

Let's have a look5A8 at some of the technology services they are offering and the companies who they've partnered with.

* Local/ long distance services -- GTC Telecom

* High speed Internet access -- Adelphia, Bell South, Charter, Comcast, Earthlink, to name a few...

* VOIP -- Packet 8 (8x8 Inc.)

* Bundled business services -- Qwest

* Internet conferencing -- Go Solo

* Wireless/ cellular services -- AT&T, Cingular, Nextel, T-Mobile, and others...

* Satellite TV -- Dish Network

* Home security systems -- Protect America Inc.

Remember the individual search results listed above? They were all in the hundreds of millions. Well, if you type this string: home security systems, satellite tv, high speed internet access, voip, long distance services, into a Google box, you will reduce the results to 360,000. That is a significant reduction.

Another benefit that companies like eStar Network provide, is an opportunity for customers to earn an additional income as an affiliate reseller of these services. Doing business this way not only brings the cost of services down, but also provides a bonus for those who are interested in referring new customers.

Income opportunities like these actually reduce the cost that consumers pay for their services, because it reduces the advertising costs to the company itself.

For the consumer, this new trend in bundled services is a boon. Look for compan53Cies who offer multiple services and save time, effort and money.

The choice is yours.

Robert Carey

Proud Mentor Saddle River, NJ 201-887-7966 CEO- http://www.Estarpeoductline.com SKYPE - rcareynj

"Helping people reach their goals is my goal."

Keywords: tecnology services, service providers, long distance services, Internet services, Internet conferencing, VOIP, high speed access, satellite tv, home security systems, web hosting, bundled services, wireless services, cellular services, estar network

VoIP is a telephony term for a set of facilities for managing the delivery of voice information using Internet Protocol (IP) and is the future of communication.

Here we will look at changes that are coming that will increase what is already substantial growth in the industry.

With Voice over IP -- businesses have the ability to manage calls at the IP layer which enables operational and productivity benefits that have never been available before at such affordable price.

Worldwide revenues from Internet voice technologies are expected to grow from about $13 billion in 2002 to nearly $200 billion by 2007.

The Future Of VoIP Projected Growth

When it comes to VoIP technology already available long-distance phone calls, conferencing, e-mail, and other communications are now affordable and flexible.

VoIP technology however is developing and some of the developments that will ensure the future of VoIP are outlined below

The Future Of VoIP SIP

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) retrieves server responses and handles client requests.

This technology is able to determine the end system that will be used for a communication session, automatically sets the relevant parameters of the communication at receiver and user ends and then manages call transfer and call termination.

In addition, SIP allows users to initiate and receive communication from any locatio5A8n and networks are also able to identify users, wherever they are.

This technology is an alternative to H.323, which is the protocol, used for IP videoconference transmissions for VoIP up to now.

SIP has taken VoIP technology forward in terms of operational efficiency and many VoIP vendors are now including SIP as standard, bringing SIP to a growing audience.

VoIP The Future - VoIP Gateways

Another influential element in the future of Internet-telephony is improvements VoIP gateways.

Gateways are developing from PC-based platforms to more robust embedded systems, which will be able to handle an increased amount of call traffic.

The economies of scale of placing all traffic- data, voice, and video-over an IP-based network is highly attractive to corporate users.

The reason for this is:

IP will act as a unifying agent, regardless of the actual underlying architecture (i.e., leased lines, frame relay, or ATM) of a companies network.

VoIP The Future - Corporate Intranets & Commercial Extranets

Currently, the most promising areas of development for VoIP are corporate intranets and commercial extranets.

Their IP-based infrastructures enable operators to control who can use a network.

Commercial extranets, based on conservatively engineered IP networks, will deliver VoIP and facsimile over Internet protocol (FAXoIP) services to the general public, by guaranteei587ng specific parameters, such as packet delay, packet jitter, and service interop.

Companies are already looking to remove fax traffic off the PSTN and relocate it on to the Internet and corporate Intranet, through FAXoIP gateways and via IP-capable fax machines.

Video conferencing

Another area of growth will be video conferencing.

Video conferencing (H.323) with data collaboration (T.120) will become a popular method for corporate communications in the future, as network performance and interoperability increase.

VoIP The Future Expanding Services & Lower Cost

More user-friendly devices and increased promotions are starting to be seen by wider audience and this education, combined with ease of use of VoIP technology is needed for any new technology to gain trust and grow.

For instance, new VoIP telephones are being offered at cheaper prices in a variety of colours, with touch screens that are getting easier to use.

Prices in all VoIP services will continue to drop, as the market grows and competitivness increases.

The future of VoIP as a major communication method over the coming years is therefore assured. VoIP Telecommunications are here to stay.

A survey was done of 152 small and rural police and sheriff agencies in all 50 states. The survey asked the organizations what technology they had and what they didnt have.

Respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which different types o5A8f voice communications technology are available to their agencies. Responses were as follows:

All Some Personnel
Mobile radios 6.5% 3.5%
Mobile phones 54.1% 38.8%
WiFi 7.5% 11.3%
Satellite phones ---- 9.6%
Voice over IP 2.4% 6.1%

Where I come from, in a large police agency, every officer has a mobile radio (walkie-talkie). But looking at these numbers for small county agencies shows that many DO NOT have mobile radios. It is an interesting case for more services over commercial mobile phones, where a convergence of technology is ready. Convergence of web services, trunked radio, and other rich media services can be delivered over existing commercial cellular phones. Modern cellular phones can provide map services, web services, connections to other voice systems, and any other internal network system.

Mobile phone to LMR (land mobile radio)

The numbers show that most field personal have a mobile phone, but DO NOT have a mobile radio. What problems does this present? What options are available to improve functionality? There are telephone to LMR gateways available. These allow a cell phone user or regular phone to call into a dial in system, type a code representing what talk group, and be able to listen in to the radio conversation. Some gateways also allow the phone user to talk and listen to the radio system. This doesnt work as well 5A8as you would think, as phone service is a full duplex device, and radio systems are usually half duplex and you have to key up to transmit. It is the nature of the beast with trunked radio.

Some agencies only allow telephones to interact with the LMR by way of an operator. Meaning the person has to call dispatch, request a line, and the operator at dispatch will allow them to listen in or talk on the radio system. Some other agencies will just do the work for them, and basically pass the message to the radio, which could be a simple call to a unit to call the Captain on his cell phone.

Cellphones with data capabilities.

A common device that provides data and voice is the Blackberry handheld. Blackberry phones are an interesting example of convergence. With a blackberry enabled phone, all data and web communications start INSIDE the corporate network. That means internal resources and websites are AUTOMATICALLY available to blackberry web users, via the intranet blackberry server. The blackberry server relays all data from the provider radio network into the internal network. A very valuable asset!

At the city I work at, blackberrys are used to browse the inside phone web directory page, ping devices inside the network, and many other unique functions. At this shop they also use a computer aided dispatch program called Versaterm. Computer aided dispatch is usually called CAD, an56Dd the vendor is now gearing up to have a small version of the program that will work as a Java applet on Blackberrys! Having some CAD functionality on a blackberry device is very handy for the officer on the street who walks or bicycles.

The take away lesson from this:

Information is being delivered into many new devices and that give the public safety person more options for mobility. When deciding the purchase of pagers, cell phone technology or other devices, keep in mind what future functionality people will be requesting.

Land mobile radio technology is changing to allow more VOIP and telephone interaction with the radio network. Such gateways between radio and telephone systems are usually affordable and worth their price in improved communications.

Copyright OP911.Net, R. Deluhery

There are a number of service providers that provide free Internet telephony. Generally, the Internet access providers provide these services at no additio5A8nal cost. A broadband connection is the first step towards free Internet telephony. There is software available online that can be downloaded free of cost and can then be used to help you make long distance calls without paying any bill. There is more than one way to use free Internet telephony.

The most common method is when an Analog Telephone Adaptor (ATA) is used to connect a regular telephone to the computer that has an Internet connection. The ATA performs the function of a digital converter. It takes an analog signal from a regular telephone, converts it into digital data and then transfers it through the Internet. The ATA services are free. Even the software required to make this system work is available for free online.

The second method involves the use of IP phones. Just use your wi-fi laptop to get connected to the Internet and you can make phone calls from an IP phone to anywhere in the world.

The most commonly used method is computer-to-computer VOIP. Several companies are offering free online software which helps in utilizing VOIP technology if one has a broadband or cable DSL connection, speakers, sound card and relevant software. The voice quality on computer-to-computer VOIP is quite good, and there no extra charges for making long distance calls.

Due to the fact no additional costs have to be incurred in making long distance calls, more and more organizations, commercial as well as 459non-commercial, have started installing VOIP. This trend is likely to gain further momentum.

You may not have considered it but there are many benefits that businesses can achieve by utilising data networks to carry their voice traffic (VoIP). By marrying this voice traffic with data traffic (IP Telephony) it 5A8becomes even more powerful.

Here are a few examples;

Cheaper Phone Calls - as your utilising existing data networks
Simpler Infrastructure - one set of CAT5 cables
Scalable - simply extend the existing data network
Reduced Operating Costs - converged system is simpler to manage
Enhanced Customer Service - "Click to Talk" web services and easy role out application like call centres
Flexibility - Remote or home workers can work as if in the office

Its fair to say that most people focus on the costs savings but in most cases the business improvements far out way the costs savings.

For example if your business operated from multiple sites it would be possible to have a single centralised system located at one site, with optimal staffing resources to operate, manage and support. No need to have 3 receptionists when one will do!

Say you had staff that wanted to work from home or from a remote office. With this technology it would be easy to give them the look and feel of being in the office and the transparency that their co-workers and customers enjoy.

Rolling out a distributed business application such as a contact centre or call centre is much easier and more robust.

But....its not that simple to get right!

You must consider;

Quality of Service - across the data network
Reliability Think when did your LAN / telephone system last fail?
55E Security - May increase exposure to data and voice
Support - Which department is now responsible - training?

With the latest handsets it is possible for them to act like a PC with their own IP address and with the right handsets they can even run XML applications cutting down the need for unnecessary PC's etc.

To get it right requires the right planning and foresight to make sure that your systems will grow and deliver the maximum benefit with the minimum risk.

Copyright 2005 Nicholas Windley About The Author Nicholas Windley is a strategic ICT consultant with Comz4Biz and business owner. Business Phone Systems : Comz4Biz Mercia Telephone System Education Zone Voice Over IP (VoIP) Education Zone nic.windley@comz4biz.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nicholas_Windley

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