6 NGN services
6.2 Hosted Call Centers

Over the last decade contact centers have experienced an extensive evolution overall. Many companies utilize a number of contact centers to manage all interactions with their customers (whether it is an in-house team or outsourced to third-party assistance). Hosted VoIP telephony is quickly becoming the standard communications platform for organizations of all sizes. The wholesale transition to feature-rich Hosted VoIP service (from traditional telephone systems) has already begun and offers considerable benefits:

  • immediate cost savings,
  • increase in system reliability and worker productivity.

Deployment of Hosted VoIP technology requires little on-premises equipment. In most cases, needed equipment is limited to a high-quality router, Integrated Access Devices (IADs), and IP telephones (Fig. 7). Analog telephones can be also used in some cases, but IP telephones are strongly recommended because they

  • offer more functions,
  • require less hardware,
  • are easier to use.

IADs are used to allow companies access to their existing analog handsets, credit card machines, alarms, fax machines, etc.

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Fig. 7 - Hosted VoIP network topology [13]