Cisco Cisco Customer Response Solution Downloads Design Guide
C H A P T E R
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Cisco IPCC Express Solution Reference Network Design
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IPCC Express Architecture and Capabilities
This chapter describes the basic architecture and capabilities of IPCC Express and explains how to match
those capabilities to your system requirements. This chapter contains the following sections:
those capabilities to your system requirements. This chapter contains the following sections:
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IPCC Express Overview
Cisco IPCC Express is a tightly integrated contact center solution providing three primary
functions—IVR, ACD, and CTI. The IVR function provides up to 300 IVR ports to interact with callers
by way of either DTMF or speech input. The ACD function provides the ability to intelligently route and
queue calls to up to 200 agents. The CTI function allows call data to be “popped” onto the agent desktop.
functions—IVR, ACD, and CTI. The IVR function provides up to 300 IVR ports to interact with callers
by way of either DTMF or speech input. The ACD function provides the ability to intelligently route and
queue calls to up to 200 agents. The CTI function allows call data to be “popped” onto the agent desktop.
The IPCC Express software runs on approved Cisco MCS, HP, or IBM servers and requires interaction
with Cisco CallManager. The IPCC Express software can run on the same server with Cisco
CallManager (co-resident) or on a separate server. For larger deployments requiring large amounts of
historical reporting, silent monitoring, recording, ASR, or TTS, multiple servers might be required. A
major purpose of this design guide is to help system designers to determine the number and type of
servers required for an IPCC Express deployment.
with Cisco CallManager. The IPCC Express software can run on the same server with Cisco
CallManager (co-resident) or on a separate server. For larger deployments requiring large amounts of
historical reporting, silent monitoring, recording, ASR, or TTS, multiple servers might be required. A
major purpose of this design guide is to help system designers to determine the number and type of
servers required for an IPCC Express deployment.
CallManager provides the functionality typically associated with a PBX—call setup, teardown, and
transition (transfer or conference). For calls requiring intelligent routing and queueing, CallManager
interacts with IPCC Express. Within CallManager, a logical device called a CTI port is defined. Each
CTI port on CallManager correlates to a logical IVR port on the IPCC Express server. When a new call
arrives at CallManager, if the dialed number is associated with the IPCC Express server, CallManager
will ask the IPCC Express server which CTI port to route the call to. After the IPCC Express server
selects an available IVR port, CallManager sets up a VoIP data stream between the logical IVR port and
the IP endpoint that made the call (either a Voice Gateway port or an IP Phone). At that point, the IPCC
Express server begins a workflow that defines the call treatment to give the caller. Typically, the
workflow will begin with something like “Thank you for calling...” The announcements to be played to
a caller are stored on the disk of the IPCC Express server. Users interact with the IVR port by way of
DTMF or speech input.
transition (transfer or conference). For calls requiring intelligent routing and queueing, CallManager
interacts with IPCC Express. Within CallManager, a logical device called a CTI port is defined. Each
CTI port on CallManager correlates to a logical IVR port on the IPCC Express server. When a new call
arrives at CallManager, if the dialed number is associated with the IPCC Express server, CallManager
will ask the IPCC Express server which CTI port to route the call to. After the IPCC Express server
selects an available IVR port, CallManager sets up a VoIP data stream between the logical IVR port and
the IP endpoint that made the call (either a Voice Gateway port or an IP Phone). At that point, the IPCC
Express server begins a workflow that defines the call treatment to give the caller. Typically, the
workflow will begin with something like “Thank you for calling...” The announcements to be played to
a caller are stored on the disk of the IPCC Express server. Users interact with the IVR port by way of
DTMF or speech input.
At some point in the workflow, it is possible to initiate a transfer of the call to an agent. Using agent skill
information, the IPCC Express server will select an available agent and instruct CallManager to transfer
the caller to the agent’s phone. If there are no agents available, the IPCC Express server plays queue
announcements to the caller until an agent becomes available. When an appropriately skilled agent
information, the IPCC Express server will select an available agent and instruct CallManager to transfer
the caller to the agent’s phone. If there are no agents available, the IPCC Express server plays queue
announcements to the caller until an agent becomes available. When an appropriately skilled agent