Broadview Networks (News - Alert), which sells network-based business communications, has released its OfficeSuite Automatic Call Distribution and Recording platform.
It’s targeted to the small and midsize businesses market, and it’s a hosted application integrated with OfficeSuite, the vendor’s hosted IP phone. So if you were looking to stay hosted, you might want to check it out.
The platform has all the call center functionality SMB customers would want -- advanced call routing, queuing, call recording, out-of-the-box reporting, dashboard functionality, customized hold treatments, routing options that factor-in call agents’ skills, location, experience or other parameters, all the expected features.
Still, education is necessary for some: “Many SMB customers don’t think in terms of traditional ACD functionality even though they use it in their everyday business,” said Jeff Blackey, senior vice president of marketing for Broadview Networks.
One feature OfficeSuite emphasizes is the disaster avoidance system: “With OfficeSuite ACD, businesses can continue to operate by receiving calls across all locations or by directing traffic to other queues. In addition, remote workers and mobile agents can access the system and handle incoming calls from anywhere—even from their cellular phones.”
And you can tell it’s pitched to SMBs -- “the platform is designed to deliver the call center features of a PBX (News - Alert) or stand-alone ACD without the need to invest capital in on-site equipment or IT support,” company officials say, knowing that SMBs’ ears perk up at the mention of low capital investment and not having to hire a bunch of geeks. It provides a suite of flexible capabilities that help enable prioritization and distribution of incoming business calls.
Unlike some bare-bones products being sold to the SMB market, this platform has skills-based routing, which is nice if you want to send calls to specific destinations based on agent skills, and built-in mobility features for your home-based and mobile employees.
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 Juliana Kenny