You can now build a customized call center for your workgroup. If you have Visual Basic or PowerBuilder developers on staff, have them combine a communications peripheral from TeleSys Technologies and the ComSense server from MaxQ Technologies. (The peripheral should be a LAN-based unit that handles phone, fax, voice, Internet, and video services.) MaxQ's ComSense, a communications management system, controls all communications through the peripheral. It includes a task integration server (TIS) that resides on a Windows NT server.
ComSense provides control of communications as an NT-based service provider to client applications. The ComSense-enabled agent desktop applications communicate with the ComSense TIS. ComSense manages requests much like the way a database management system manages requests for data services, enabling the client/server application programmer to use a familiar tool to control communications from the workgroup's desktop computers.
You can write applications with standard tools. ComSense supports Access, Microsoft SQL Server, and other ODBC-compliant databases. Communications peripheral information is posted to the ComSense database, giving the programmer ready access to key communications information (e.g., time and duration of call and current activity). ComSense has built-in features that enable virtual extensions for voicemail, voicemail for groups, automatic routing to groups, setup of multiple work groups, and full third-party call control.
The ComSense software development kit contains source code for several applications, a CT server, and a voicemail application. After you add your own workflow steps, you have a CT-enabled workgroup.