OpenMethods Blog http://www.openmethods.com/wordpress Adventures in Voice Application Tools and Development Thu, 22 Jul 2010 01:05:06 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1.3-RC1 en Fighting H1N1 virus with IVR http://www.openmethods.com/wordpress/fighting-h1n1-virus-with-ivr/ http://www.openmethods.com/wordpress/fighting-h1n1-virus-with-ivr/#comments Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:21:48 +0000 Eugene http://www.openmethods.com/wordpress/2009/07/22/fighting-h1n1-virus-with-ivr/ Google Search has been enlisted in the fight against the flu virus. It’s a good data aggregator of flu-related searches worldwide. But there is more that can be done in the field…

In India, an IVR system has been implemented for people to call to find out more about the H1N1 swine flu and how to get help. There’s also SMS service to obtain similar information.

In Canada, Alonquin College is using an outbound system to poll students for flu symptoms. The school hopes to get more accurate and up-to-date data by implementing this IVR application.

The IVR is a great tool to utilize in the case of a health care scenario like a flu pandemic where people are asked to stay indoors and stay isolated. Unlike other natural disaster scenarios where the telecom infrastructure is often damaged, the IVR will serve well in a flu pandemic by providing a simple and cost effective way to gather data and offer information to the masses.

Eugene

]]> http://www.openmethods.com/wordpress/fighting-h1n1-virus-with-ivr/feed/ Genesys licenses CounterPath SDK http://www.openmethods.com/wordpress/genesys-licenses-counterpath-sdk/ http://www.openmethods.com/wordpress/genesys-licenses-counterpath-sdk/#comments Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:51:30 +0000 Eugene http://www.openmethods.com/wordpress/2009/07/17/genesys-licenses-counterpath-sdk/ The top CTI vendor plans to incorporate CounterPath’s SDK into its Agent Desktop product to enable VoIP capabilities. CounterPath is known for its freely available X-Lite softphone, something that we use here at OpenMethods.

This move is not surprising as Genesys has been focusing on SIP features across its suite of products. Thanks to CounterPath’s SDK it can now offer VoIP capabilities end-to-end, all the way to the desktop telephony.

Eugene

]]> http://www.openmethods.com/wordpress/genesys-licenses-counterpath-sdk/feed/ Is there still a need for predictive dialers? http://www.openmethods.com/wordpress/is-there-still-a-need-for-predictive-dialers/ http://www.openmethods.com/wordpress/is-there-still-a-need-for-predictive-dialers/#comments Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:22:31 +0000 Eugene http://www.openmethods.com/wordpress/2009/07/09/is-there-still-a-need-for-predictive-dialers/ There used to be a clear and critical distinction between an inbound contact center and an outbound one. An organization would be required to purchase two lines of products: a predictive dialer for the outbound features, and an IVR for the inbound services.

However, IVR technology has evolved significantly, and cost conscious customers are asking, Why can’t the IVR become a dialer? An IVR and dialer both share similar hardware and software, the only thing different is the direction of the call interaction. In fact, using an IVR as a dialer may even provide more flexibility as applications are normally more customizable on an IVR platform than on a dialer.

Uttam Pegu of IVRS WORLD has more to share, too.

Eugene

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