CTI system makes the grade at the Open University

Telemarketing & Call Center Solutions, Feb 1996

At The Open University in Orlando, Florida. the focus is on empowering adults to become successful entrepreneurs, through educational programs designed to meet the challenges of busy professionals. As a "university without walls," The Open University receives 2,500 calls a day from current students who need course support and assistance, and from potential new students who seek enrollment information. Traditional students may be willing to wait on hold for school information, but students at The Open University are busy professionals who demand quick attention.

Bob Hilton, Director of MIS, wanted to implement a computer-telephony solution capable of routing calls and student records together. Such a system would allow a representative to begin assisting a student from the moment an incoming call is picked up. Hilton evaluated several systems, and chose one to run on a trial basis. This system incorporates 94 lines, a telephone switch and call routing software. It integrates with a student records database that had already been in use for several years at The Open University.

Hilton explained that some inbound calls are generated by preview events, mini-workshops that introduce the training concepts. "People who attend the workshop are entered into the database and assigned to an enrollment counselor. If they call to enroll for the course, the call comes into the automated call distributor (ACD). Using the telephony services application programming interface (TSAPI), we're capturing the automatic number identifier (ANI) coming from the telephone company (the same technology used in caller ID). Our call routing software grabs this data and puts it into our old database, which already had phone number linkup capability. So, through the TSAPI, we capture this data, feed it in, and do a screen pop as the phone rings on the counselor's desk

If a caller is already a student, the counselor's screen will show all the information about that student's history with The Open University, enabling the counselor to immediately provide whatever support the student needs without spending several minutes just gathering his or her personal data. Should a student need to speak to a different counselor, the call and data are transferred at the same time so that the second counselor does not have to ask the student to repeat everything that was already said. "It's all done in 15 seconds," said Hilton.

Because The Open University's courses involve complex independent study, such as handling of financial debt instruments, "students may call in when they need a little mentoring," Hilton explained. "Again, when they call in, the counselor's screen shows the complete history of their project, who they may have previously talked to, and what recommendations were given."

The call routing software is a Windows application installed on PC workstations. It "wraps around" a Windows/DOS application and pulls information from the telephone switch through TSAPI, passing it to the Windows/DOS application as though it were keyed in from the keyboard.

A limitation of the system was discovered during the trial period, and is being addressed by an upgrade of the call routing software due out soon. "We use multiple extensions on a given line," Hilton said. "Each counselor has a main 1000-series line connected to the ACD, and a second 2000-series line for voicemail. The current software version only supports one tine, so we can only monitor the 1000-series calls, limiting our deployment. But we are ready to roll it out as soon as the new version ships." When completely rolled out, the CTI installation will have as many as 70 active seats, including not only the customer service and enrollment counseling departments, but also accounts payable/receivable and other departments. The Open University plans future use of data gathered through the CTI system for marketing analysis.

The Open University relies on a CTI solution which incorporates Novell NetWare 3.12, a Novell Telephony Server, a Siemens/Rolm telephone switch, AnswerSoft Sixth Sense call routing software, and several databases including FoxPro, Clarion, Dataflex and DataPro.

For information and subscriptions: Call TELEMARKETING(R) 203-852-6800 or Fax to: 203-853-2845 or 203-838-4070

Name of business--The Open University

Industry--Entrepreneurial education for adults

Number of agents--At full roll-out, more than 70

Business problem--Students who are also employed professionals need fast, efficient service from educational counselors. The Open University's goal was to speed service fulfillment by having student records instantly available to the receiving representative.

Outcome of CTI implementation--In an extensive trail period, the new system demonstrated its ability to automate the deployment of pertinent information from The Open University's various databases. For example, on incoming calls, the TSAPI-based solution allows the capture of ANI information and the integration of this new information into an existing database, which has the phone number linkup capability. Counselors no longer spend time looking up personal data or asking callers to repeat service requests. As soon as a new multiline software version is available, full roll-out will be implemented.