In call centre solutions, Elion has been cooperating with the leading European IP-based call centre software developer, the Finnish company Wicom Communications Ltd already since 2000. From 2007, the Wicom CSS application platform is being developed by SAP, belongs to the Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM) product portfolio and is known by the name SAP Business Communications Management (SAP BSM). As of the year 2009, an agreement exists between Elion Ettevõtted AS and SAP AG to offer application software as a rental service.
SAP BCM is a fully functional communication solution for an enterprise, allowing to cover all of the communication needs of the enterprise from the call centre to the needs of highly mobile employees. The different components of the solution are related by a common customer service logic and total overview of incoming and outgoing contacts.
MicroLink in cooperation with Elion is offering the SAP BCM solution as an ASP rental service, which means that you will not have to invest into the technology, hardware or software, but instead, you pay for the services by a monthly payment, based on the number of users and the functions you need at the moment.
Contact centre:
- Provides an excellent overview of contacts, incl.:
- Incoming, outgoing and missed calls as well as calls that are/were on hold;
- Call durations;
- E-mail management.
- Includes agent (or customer service representative)-based statistics: who has serviced how many calls, call durations etc; • Allows to optimize answering calls and handling contacts;
- Renumeration can take place on the basis on contacts handled;
- New employees are easy to train: the supervisor (call centre manager) can listen to calls without disturbing the customer service representative or the customer, and they can also instruct the customer service representative during the call (so that the customer cannot hear them) and take over the call if necessary.
What are the advantages?
- Better customer communication. Customer communication is becoming more and more important. Customer service is the face of the enterprise. First contact is very important (availability, the response etc) and may influence all of the following communication. Just like when meeting a new person, the first visual impression is very important.
- Cost optimization and better use of resources. SAP BCM provides a very good overview of the customer service representative’s work: calls answered, breaks, call quality etc. It allows to compare the efficiency of customer service representatives.
- More efficient work allows to save on labour costs. (If the use of the solution allows to get by with 9 per every ten service personnel, then the monthly fee of the call centre constitutes no extra cost).
- Planning the work. Complete statistics, giving an opportunity to monitor the workload of the call centre and thus providing the basis for predicting future workloads and planning the work.
- The call centre need not be physically located in one place. Different offices and physical locations can be united into a whole. There is also the opportunity to use employees working from home. Possibility of telecommuting.
- Flexibility. You can use customer service personnel, technicians and specialist with different qualifications, depending on the specifics. The call is transferred to the most qualified customer service representative.
- The profitability calculations of the call centre can be based on the SAP BCM statistics.
All applications associated with the work of both the agent and the supervisor are browser-based and all user-specific settings are connected to a particular user name. This means that all users can work at any workstation connected to the computer network. By provided access via an IP-network, both telecommuting personnel and personnel working from home can be involved in the work.
User interface for the call centre agent
User interface for the supervisor
The same solution can be used for the telephone system of the rest of the office – all that is needed is that the user’s computer is connected to the local network of the company. Because the system is software-based, it can be easily and quickly expanded. Customer relationship management programmes and other data systems necessary for good-quality, fast service can also easily be integrated into the call centre service.
Call centre. Allows the creation of both an inbound and outbound call centre along with all other functions customary to a call centre. The SAP BCM also enables you to unite call centres located in different places into a single logical whole. You can include telecommuting personnel via the IP-network, regular telephone or mobile phone.
Office telephone (Personal Telephony). Allows you to use all the usual functions of a system telephone, and also to save calls, use voicemail, automatically manage transfers on the basis of status information or created time profiles, and enter into call centre call queues, if necessary. The telephone can also be used outside the office via an IP-network. There is also a corporate contacts catalogue and the possibility of integration with other existing databases. In addition to SAP BCM CDT’s own user interface, there is also a telephone integrated with MS Outlook and hardware IP-telephone sets can be used as well.
Mobile user. Enables to enter into call centre queues via a mobile phone, use corporate contacts catalogues, forward status information and use least cost routing, which can significantly decrease a company’s costs on international calls made from a mobile phone (100% transparent function for the user).
Automatic IVR services. Enables to create services managed by the user by telephone keypads. This, for example, suitable for the preliminary segmentation of customers calling into the call centre (choice of language and type of problem, customer code etc) or for enabling choices made on the initiative of the customer (transferring to voicemail instead of waiting, being connected to a mobile etc). A good example of the possibilities of IVR is the automatic Telephone Banking service.
Availability information. All user interfaces working on a SAP BCM platform (except the hardware IP-telephone) enable to manage user availability information in real time. This component is useful for either easily informing colleagues of the status of the user at a given moment (at a meeting, sick, on lunch, available, etc) or for automatic transfers and/or other automatic services performed on the basis of availability information.
Task Manager. Problem management component which is integrated with the SAP BCM CDT user interface. Allows to create work assignments, forward them and follow up on their fulfilment. In addition to calls, the component also enables to integrate e-mail and fax channels into the call centre service logic and to add them to a unified system of statistics.
Directory/CRM. A database containing the contact information of the employees and/or the customers accessible within the whole system (however, limited by user rights when necessary, of course) is a standard component of the SAP BCM. The system can be integrated with third databases such as the company’s existing CRM solutions by conventional IT resources.
Address book view
Statistics. The whole system is united by a joint statistical database, which also applies to mobile users. This provides a complete overview of the contact streams of the whole company in a single place and in the exact form necessary for the user. The information can be viewed in real time (Monitoring view) and analytical overviews can be made about the work of the call centre within for example a day, a week or a month (Reporting view). More complex analytical overviews are also possible.
Monitoring view
Reporting view via the MS Reporting service application
Report of the calls of a single month
Because the system is software-based, it can be easily and quickly expanded. Customer relationship management programmes and other data systems necessary for good-quality, fast service can also easily be integrated into the call centre service.
Since SAP BCM is a 100% software-based solution, the customer does not need to acquire any special hardware component. The agents of the call centre only use their regular computer to perform their work, instead of a telephone, a special software solution is started in the computer and the headphones necessary for talking are connected to the computer’s audio card or USB port.
The call centre solution does not require any special features from the computer, because it mainly uses the browser to function.
- Full duplex audio card, microphone and speakers (or headphones), unless the Multi Terminal Desktop solution is used which requires a hardware telephone as the calling channel.
- Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows Vista. Microsoft Internet Explorer >6.0
- Monitor with the minimal resolution of 1024×768 pixels
- Pentium IV 1 GHz processor, 512 MB – 1 GB memory
- PS/2 port/USB mouse
- 2 free USB ports (version 2.0)
- Full-duplex PCI bus audio card
- 10/100 Mbps network card
A private data communication port is created between the Elion server centre and the customer’s local area network for using the service. The connection speed is determined according to the number of users and the applications used.
As a special solution, a private secure channel (IPSEC VPN tunnel) can be created between the customer’s LAN and the server centre. The latter is, however, not recommended because it is not possible to guarantee the quality of the calls over public internet.
The SAP BCM platform is located in the same facilities as, for example, the accounting systems of Elion, therefore the highest possible level of security is automatically guaranteed as well.
Scheme of the solution
Attachment to other systems based on SIP/H323 (IP to IP), COM (customer premises equipment) or via web services (server-side).
Business solutions 
