Open Contact Center Using SOA and ESB

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional contact centers rely on proprietary infrastructure, making it difficult to integrate new technologies, expensive to maintain, and inflexible, limiting the ability to quickly adopt innovations like VoIP or utilize skills-based routing effectively.

Innovation Solution

Implementing an open contact center using standardized components and service-oriented architecture (SOA) that communicate over open standards, allowing for interoperability and easy integration of new technologies, with plug-ins to incorporate proprietary components and enable flexible operation.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If proprietary infrastructure is used, then system stability and vendor support are improved, but adaptability and integration flexibility deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesystem stabilityVSAvoidintegration flexibility

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The contact center system is divided into independent modular components (IVR, CTI, workflow manager, agent desktop) that can be selected and integrated from different vendors. Each module communicates through standardized interfaces, allowing the system to maintain stability through proven components while gaining flexibility through selective replacement and integration of new technologies.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system employs universal communication protocols and open standards (TCP/IP, SIP, H.323, XMPP) that enable different components to interoperate regardless of vendor. This multi-functional approach allows the same infrastructure to support various contact center functionalities and third-party integrations, resolving the contradiction between reliability and adaptability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Ease of manufacture

If proprietary solutions are implemented, then initial system deployment is simplified, but cost of maintaining skill currency and integrating innovations increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedeployment simplicityVSAvoidmaintenance cost

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The system enables organizations to independently integrate new technologies and innovations by providing open standards and modular architecture. Rather than relying on proprietary vendor updates, the organization can self-service by selecting and integrating components from multiple vendors, reducing long-term maintenance costs and skill currency requirements.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The system allows dynamic configuration and parameter adjustment of contact center components through standardized interfaces. This enables flexible adaptation to new technologies without complete system replacement, reducing maintenance costs and allowing incremental updates rather than costly overhauls.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

3Stability of the object's composition

If proprietary protocols are used, then vendor solution compatibility is improved, but speed of responding to customer desired improvements deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvevendor compatibilityVSAvoidresponse speed

Core Design Contradiction:

Stability of the object's compositionVSSpeed

Solution Approach 1:

The contact center system is designed with dynamic, configurable components that can be rapidly adjusted and updated. Open standards enable quick integration of new features and technologies in response to customer needs, while maintaining compatibility through standardized interfaces. The modular architecture allows selective updating of specific components without affecting the entire system.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

4Adaptability or versatility

If complete infrastructure change is performed, then adaptability to new vendor solutions is improved, but cost of changing infrastructure increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvevendor switching capabilityVSAvoidinfrastructure cost

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

By segmenting the contact center into independent modules, the system allows partial replacement of components from different vendors without requiring complete infrastructure change. Organizations can selectively adopt new vendor solutions for specific functions while retaining existing components, significantly reducing the cost of vendor switching while maintaining adaptability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS8675859B2Implementing a contact center using open standards and non-proprietary components

Publication Date: 2014.03.18 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINE CORPORATION

AI summary

The present invention discloses an open contact center formed from multiple contact center components that conform to open standards and that intercommunicate utilizing open standards. The open contact center can provide automated interactive communications with callers, can provide queue management for callers waiting to communicate with live agents, can provide skills based routing for assigning live agents to callers based upon skills of the live agents and skills needed by the callers, and can provide tooling for provisioning and monitoring the live agents. In one configuration, the contact center components can execute within a middleware solution, such as WEBSPHERE, that has IP Multimedia Subsystem capability. Additionally, the contact center components can be implemented as service oriented architecture (SOA) components that communicate over an enterprise service bus (ESB).