Cloud Contact Center Resilience via Proxy Engine and Data Cache
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional contact center configurations are prone to service interruptions due to complications such as denial of service attacks, server downtime, power outages, and network routing problems, which disrupt the availability of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, impacting the ability to provide services to users.
Innovation Solution
A cloud-based contact center platform with a receiver and transmitter that uses a data cache and a processor to simulate a CRM system through a proxy engine, allowing seamless operation even during CRM system failures by routing service requests based on cached data and transitioning back to the CRM system upon resolution, thereby minimizing disruptions to users.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the contact center system relies on a remotely-situated CRM system for data access, then data integration and service delivery are enabled, but service interruptions occur when the CRM system becomes unavailable due to attacks, outages, or maintenance
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by caching CRM data locally at the contact center platform before it is needed. The proxy engine pre-loads and stores data in the data cache, so that when the CRM system becomes unavailable, the contact center can continue operating using the cached data, thus maintaining service continuity without adding significant architectural complexity
Solution Approach 2:
A proxy engine is introduced as an intermediary component between the contact center platform and the CRM system. This proxy engine handles data retrieval requests by either querying the CRM system when available or serving from the local data cache when the CRM is unavailable, thereby isolating the contact center from CRM disruptions without requiring major architectural changes
2Reliability
If the system implements a proxy engine with data cache for resiliency, then service availability during CRM failures is improved, but system complexity and resource requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The proxy engine is designed to perform multiple functions: it acts as a normal API client when the CRM system is available, serves as a data cache when the CRM is unavailable, and manages the transition between these states. This multi-functionality allows a single component to provide resiliency without requiring separate backup systems, thereby improving availability while limiting the increase in infrastructure complexity
3Loss of information
If real-time data retrieval from CRM is implemented, then data accuracy is maintained, but service interruptions occur during CRM unavailability
Solution Approach 1:
The system retrieves and caches data from the CRM system in advance before it is actually needed for service delivery. This preliminary data retrieval ensures that data is already available in the local cache when service requests arrive, maintaining data accessibility while preventing service interruptions caused by CRM unavailability
Solution Approach 2:
The proxy engine creates local copies of CRM data in the data cache. These copies are maintained and updated when the CRM system is available, allowing the contact center to access data locally without querying the remote CRM system, thereby ensuring both data accessibility and service continuity
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented contact center platform has a receiver that receives a service request for a service provided by a remotely situated service server. Further, the computer-implemented contact center platform has a transmitter that sends, to a customer relationship management system via a network, a data request for data pertaining to the service request via a first function call through an application programming interface corresponding to a remotely-situated customer relationship management system that stores one or more records pertaining to the service. The computer-implemented contact center platform is distinct from the remotely-situated customer relationship management system. Further, the computer-implemented contact center platform has a memory device have a data cache that stores the data pertaining to the service request.