Changing the way we do business - Siemens Business Communications Systems Pres and CEO Karl Geng - Company Business and Marketing - Cover Story

Communications News, Nov, 1996 by Tom Buckle

Siemens CEO Karl Geng says an important element in the future will be media blending--combining existing and new technology into products that deliver new, diversified services.

Keys to the future of many businesses include media blending, universal accessibility, and an available educated workforce, according to Karl Geng, president and CEO of Siemens Business Communications Systems, a company poised to contribute to, as well as take advantage of, all three.

Geng has a vision he refers to as "media blending," which combines existing and new technology into products that will deliver new, diversified services to the end user.

"A good example is call center applications," says Geng. "Call centers grew technologically from call sequencers, uniform call distribution, and automatic call distributors, wholly dependent on competent staff to handle questions or complete transactions, book appointments, etc.

"Today, through the use of touch-tone technology, many repetitive tasks are handled by interactive voice response units in call center applications, thereby freeing staff for other assignments."

So where do we go from here?

"As we approach the next millennium," Geng says, "new technologies and continued computer-telephony integration (CTI) will change the way we do business in America and around the world. The most immediate new technologies on the horizon are video 'calls' and Web transactions. These two factors will effect a very significant change in commercial activity."

They are already getting major attention from product planners, who are trying to gauge the impact that they will have on their businesses.

Going back to the call center application, and the effects of CTI, Geng says, "CTI is promoting greater productivity in such areas as call center applications and allowing staff to provide much higher levels of customer service. CTI makes it possible for agents to automatically receive customer information from data bases at the same time the calls arrive, through 'screen-pops.' It also enables computer applications to control the routing of calls to specialized individuals or groups for processing."

Geng continues, "Systems must be able to accept a variety of transaction media in the call center and assign transactions to those agents whose 'resumes' indicate that they have the proper qualifications, skills, and personalities to handle the task at hand, regardless of which medium the caller is using. We refer to this as media blending--collecting as much information as possible about the caller and transaction; adding it to the information already available in the data base, then using all the information to determine if the call requires real-time interaction with the caller.

"If real-time interaction is not required, the system must deliver appropriate messages to appropriately skilled agents to complete the transaction. If real-time interaction is required, then typical call center functions take over. Mediablended call centers may not be commonplace in the year 2000, but business cannot afford to ignore the changes that this technology will cause in its interactions with customers."

Geng's face comes alive when asked about the media blending possibilities. "Ah, the Web. What can offer such promise, appeal to so many, frighten a few, and contain so much mystery?"

Geng says the promise of "incredibly low" costs per transaction and the availability of a worldwide audience is appealing.

"However, the lack of security guarantees, coupled with questionable responsiveness required by on-line business, can frighten business executives responsible for marketing functions within their companies," he says. "This mysterious network seems to work for the patient and stubborn types, but will it be of sufficient value to the average business customer? That is difficult to determine."

Geng is eager to share how he envisions the Web working with a call-center application.

"A person, at home or in the office, accesses a company's Web page. In the course of browsing, the person wants more information about a product or service. To facilitate the link to real-time telephony, the customer clicks on a 'call me' button on the Web page and is prompted to enter name, phone number, and other pertinent information.

"When the query hits the company's Web server, the system signals the 'media blending' application that a transaction is waiting. Advanced call-routing tools select the agent best qualified to fulfill the request and queues the transaction to a virtual group designed to handle similar transactions. The media blending application sends the customer, via the Internet, a confirmation of his status in queue."

Geng says the skills determination can come from items checked on the Web page, from the page that the customer was viewing at the time of his request, or by linking the customer's Internet ID with the company's database.

The customer's identity may also influence the priority status and destination of the request, as in the case of a telephone call, Geng says. When the appropriate agent is available, the media blending application instructs the Web server to send the agent's electronic business card, so that the customer knows in advance who will contact him.