n Choice of Technology: Choice of technology determines the quality of voice, which is an important criterion for call centers. A traditional compressed voice over TDM is suited for classical pure voice application while voice over frame is preferred for dynamic bandwidth allocation for statistical multiplexing advantage for multimedia traffic type.

n Compression Algorithm to be used: The buyer should ascertain the best one viz., ‘G.729 A’ compression which is ITU-T standards-based and gives the best performance in terms of a high mean opinion score (MOS) rating, coupled with low delay. This is critical for the delay sensitive applications such as voice and video. An end-to-end delay of over 32 ms in a voice network is not suitable and adds latency, a function of delay and jitter.

n Scalability Requirement: The buyer should determine the need for growth, and plan the investment accordingly. The requirement of a system can be categorized as small, medium or large. A small system can be of 20 seats and will not grow to more than 50 seats. A medium system can be up to 200 seats and will expand up to 500 seats. A large system will be 500 seats onwards. So depending on the sizing needs and future growth possibilities, the appropriately scalable equipment should be ordered.

n Equipment Reliability: The call center being one that carries live traffic, the equipment should not have a single point of failure. So the buyer should ascertain the reliability of the equipment and ensure that high MTBF figures support the product. Also, the track record in Indian conditions should be verified. For example, the installed base of the product offered, the length of time for which the product has been in field in India will give the comfort feel to the buyer. Also particular attention should be given if the equipment is built as per Network Equipment Building Standards (NEBS) of Bellcore. This will ensure that the equipment is rugged and reliable.

n Redundancy features: Although the equipment may have high reliability, the buyer should also consider the redundancy options for the critical control cards, processor cards, resource cards, etc, so that in the event of a hardware failure, adequate back-up facilities are available.

n Support facilities: This is also an important aspect to be taken into consideration and the first- and second-level support availability in the country, along with adequate spares and other infrastructure, should be ascertained.

n Link redundancy: The proverbial last-mile connectivity in our country suffers due to inherent problems, as no guarantees are available today on its performance. Hence for such mission-critical applications, the buyer should ascertain, if back-up medium support and alternate routing capabilities are available in the WAN equipment from the vendor, or any such mechanism can be implemented to overcome the last-mile problems.

n Reduced Total Cost of Ownership: Studies by international research firms have shown that the TCO constitutes space cost, link cost, equipment cost and operational cost for any telecom network. The operational cost to run the network is the highest—as high as 45 per cent. Also, this being recurring in nature, demands due attention. The operational cost can be brought down substantially by having a robust and effective network management system. If the NMS is graphical, it helps the buyer to have less skilled persons with adequate training to maintain the network, thus bringing down the cost, yet maintaining a reliable operation.

n Reduce points of accountability: Disasters happen when buyers chose an assortment from multiple vendors and then come to grief on account of diffused accountability

n Look for consulting expertise: Give preference to a vendor whose bandwidth extends to provide business consulting and technological consulting help when sought

n Seamless Integration: The right contact center solution should offer the ability to integrate seamlessly with any existing systems that have already have time and money invested in them.

n Customization: The solution should be easily customizable to suit your organization’s unique business requirements, especially at the desktop.

n References: A perfect barometer to evaluate the available options could be ‘references’ from the existing user or the market acceptance of a particular solution. Opting for a solution that has been successfully implemented for various organizations and has been time-tested ensures that the money invested by you will be well spent.