IPscape launches 'Avalanche Calling' via the cloud

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 18 August 2009 03:29

IT Industry - Strategy

Hosted call centre service provider, IPscape, has launched an avalanche calling service to enable its customers to manage dramatic bursts in inbound calling volumes without having to add additional call centre agents or infrastructure.

The service is available in two modes: 'answer-all' or 'self-service'. In 'answer-all' mode, call spikes are managed by answering all inbound calls with a cloud-based interactive voice response (IVR) system and placing them 'on hold' in the cloud until a call centre agent is free. According to IPscape, "This allows every call to be answered and handled in turn in a simple pay-as-you-use cost model without impacting existing infrastructure."

Self-service mode uses caller ID information, or customer entered ID numbers, to provide instant service update messages associated with each caller's number, or with the numbers they have entered. The resulting customised messages can be delivered as voice or SMS messages that are created on-the-fly based on customer input and relevant information. According to IPscape, "Real-life testing has shown this level of information is sufficient for around 95 percent of callers. The remaining five percent are then passed to call centre agents as they become available."
The service is designed for utilities, insurance companies or any service provider that can experience large, unpredictable spikes in call volume.

IPscape CEO, Simon Burke, told iTWire that the service was being used  by a Victorian utility which had completed six-months of successful real-life testing. "Unfortunately they won't let us use their name. Normally they get 700 calls a day. During the Victorian bushfires that went up to 30,000."

Burke said that IPscape would normally agree with a customer on a maximum burst level to be handled, and dimension for it, but if volumes exceeded this, "we can get additional capacity from our providers, Soul and Optus, within a matter of hours. That’s the benefit of using SIP."

Burke said that IPscape had been formed in late 2005 by a team of ex BT executives that had been responsible for its Asian call centre and used largely proprietary software to support its hosted call centre services. He claimed that software from the leading suppliers - Avaya, Cisco, Genesys and Nortel -  would be unable to provide the ability to ramp up rapidly to meet large demands without massive investment in the underlying hardware.

He said IPscape had about 1100 call centre seats using its service, up from 400 a year ago.