We know: You need more and more accurate and holistic contact information in directory requirements when it comes to business communications applications. There are problems, of course , as we have a mobile workforce, so we need more robust contact data management processes and infrastructure.
So say officials of auto attendant experts Parlance, which provides speech-enabled call routing help for this task in a product called nameConnector. The company has put together five directory insight and best practice recommendations to help with your enterprise’s communications applications:
Identify data requirements. To do this, review the planned application(s) and “ensure that the scope of the required directory content is well-defined to meet the needs of the users or callers.”
Identify available data sources. As Parlance officials explain, a variety of data repositories, which contain user contact information, exist within companies. This can lead to a great deal of confusion and duplication. Identify and review all available data sources.
Understand data source content and update processes. If you want accurate contact information, it depends on the supporting update process, Parlance officials say. This means you need to watch how well integrated it is with pertinent business process and “the influence of the data source owner,” since it’s generally the case that separate data sources within companies are managed and maintained by different employees, as Parlance officials explain.
Analyze content of candidate data sources. This means conducting a careful analysis of data sources to identify anomalies or problems.
Present findings. This might sound elementary, but my dear Watson, it is not. Here’s where you can use help. Parlance directory professionals are available to review the results from the data source analysis and “support mutual development of possible improvements or enhancements to contact information management,” company officials say.
TMC (News - Alert) recently noted that The COO of Parlance, Joseph Maxwell, recently outlined the five major components to a successful speech product for an auto attendant. Successful speech-enabled call routing tools, he says, are made of components working together to connect the caller to his destination “according to a spoken name or phrase.”
David Sims is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of David’s articles, please visit his columnist page. He also blogs for TMCnet here.Edited by Tammy Wolf