[asterisk-users] Beginners Guide to setting up a Call Centre

[Peter Childs]

2010/1/12 Robert Lister <robl at lentil.org>:
>
> Do you have any idea of numbers of users, and number/type of external
> lines as this can be quite important when deciding what type of asterisk
> setup and hardware to go with. (For example, if your lines are already
> presented over ISDN PRI or BRI, or if they are provided over IP, by an
> IP telephony provider.)

Up until a year ago when we got our new useless Alcatel system all our
lines were analogue. When we got the Alcatel we got told "Everything
has gone digital" so we now have a ISDN PRI. I'm now seeing this is
actually far from the truth but never mind....

>
> Also you will need to think if you want to support analogue devices such
> as modems/fax machines etc.

If the system can take faxes then fine, We already use Hylafax on a
separate analogue line currently, which is were it will remain, unless
I can find a good reason to change. If Asteriks can identify a fax
coming in on the main line and "do the right thing" then that would be
a neat feature, but its in the end of the world if its not there.

>
> Do you have existing IP handsets that you want to integrate, and what
> are these? Or are you starting from scratch? Or are you going to use
> PCs with soft phones and headsets? (Often very suitable for a call
> centre setup)

Starting from scratch, I'm not sure I trust soft phones enough, But it
would be cheap and the project has very little budget currently!

>
> What sort of support do you require for the system / handsets?
>
> Do you need CTI integration / soft phones / headsets etc?

Yes this is vital its the one of the big things we miss since we got
the new Alcatel (The Alcatel crashes every 2 days if we switch the CTI
on!) Headset vital.

>
> How many lines in total are coming in to the system?


Currently 1 ISDN PRI I think but I can't see anything Asterks should
not be able to handle. we used to have 48 Analogue lines but I've not
seen the office having more than 5 calls at the same time in years.

>
> Do you need hotdesk users or are they all based at the same
> desks every day?

Totally HotDesk 24x7 phones are always in use. We don't currently have
personal extensions but this would be a nice feature....

>
> What are the requirements for redundancy/failover? (ranging from 'none'
> to 'magic failover between two sites')

Fallover would be nice again we don't have any currently. we would
also like people to be able to log in and take calls from home from
time to time when we get really busy....

I'm looking at AsterksNow/TrixBox but I'm a ubuntu guy (whole office
is running on Ubuntu for our desktops) so if the phones run that too
it would mean everything was the same, but if the simplest solution is
different then fine. I do need a GUI that is easy to deal with, ie
adding users, groups, queues etc.

>
> If you can answer this, then it will help work out what sort of hardware
> you will need (software can be changed about to suit, but choice of
> server setup/cards/media gateways is important in that decision as
> well.)

I've got a basic idea what I need, I'm just trying to work out a demo
to get the idea of the board past management.... (Without causing too
much trouble)

>
> Software, There are many pre-built solutions that are based on asterisk
> which have GUIs to use/admin them. These may or may not do what you want
> out of the box. Hot desk support is particularly limited in many of
> these.
>

It shows how good our old STS system really was!


> Or you can install just the base asterisk and roll your own. This is a
> bit more complex (and maybe unneeded if you are using on the most common
> features.) but it has its benefits, such as not being restricted by a
> particular GUI or management system, and being able to customise things
> a bit more.

Peter.

>
> Rob
>
>
>
> On Tue, 2010-01-12 at 10:55 +0000, Peter Childs wrote:
>> This is currently still at a proof of concept stage.
>>
>> After being mis-sold a Alcatel phone system, that does None of the
>> things we asked for.... (Ok it takes calls but that's about it) We are
>> looking at alternatives to try and bring some of the features we
>> previously had on our old Analogue STS phone system.
>>
>> Looking at all the docs I can find Asterisks looks like it should be
>> able to do the job and a whole lot more.
>>
>> This is for a small call centre so ideally we want all the features of
>> an average call centre, ACD, Call Recording, Queue's etc etc.
>>
>> Any pointers on how to get started would be most helpful.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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