Which one to choose!

[senate014]

Hi everyone,

Ok, my experience up to now is with Trixbox. I have installed over 10 installations and configurations at customer sites, the largest been a 12 phone system with Cisco Desk Phones, Softphones, Voicemail to Email, IVR, Time Conditions & Manual Call States.

One customer now want's an auto-dialling system for his small 8 team call centre.

They currently cold call clients from an existing Sage/ACT! database by copying and pasting the number into a softphone which connects to the Trixbox telephone server.

He now wants the dialing process automated. He wants a solution that auto-dials his contact database which is separated by UK postal codes and business type, i.e Florist or Post Office or Hair Salon etc...

The solution needs to have the following functions:

Autodial excel spreadsheets which a call centre manager uploads through the day
Extension logon with reason why they want to log off, i.e toilet, cigarette break etc...
Only pass answered called to the logged in operators
Sense voicemail recorders and hang up
States and call graphs for reporting

There are some more but I can't remember right now.

I've looked at a few solutions that are cloud based and the company has used a few but they just aren't flexible enough for what they want to achive.

I've had a brief look at what VICIdial does and VICIbox, I've also had a quick look at GoautoDial.

Can someone point me in the right direction as to what the best solution would be?

P.S I'm pretty good with Linux/Microsoft, web hosting, domains, networking etc... so the install and configuration should be an issue, I just need to know which AutoDialer to go with

Thanks for your help!

Andy

[gardo]

Vicibox and GOautodial will both get done what your client requires. GOautodial is based on CentOS and Vicibox is OpenSuse. They both install Vicidial. I'd go where I'm are more comfortable with (the Linux distribution base).

On the aesthetic and user experience side, GOautodial has a more intuitive and user friendly interface via the GOadmin, GOreports and GOagent applications. The reports are also fully graphical. And if you need the full functionality and power of Vicidial, the default Vicidial interface is available via http://$IP_ADDRESS/vicidial/admin.php.

Updating the system is also pretty straight forward. Just run "yum update" on the console.

P.S.
You can also take a look at our cloud call center service at http://eu.justgocloud.com (for UK dialing). I'd recommend this if your client doesn't want to operate/manage their own system.

[williamconley]

Vicidial: The Dialer Software

Vicibox: Installation CD for Vicidial
GoAutoDial: Installation CD for Vicidial

Differences between Vicibox and GoAutoDial:

Support: The Vicidial Group (owners of this site, not related to me, but the absolute last word and best support) will support Vicibox as it is their authorized .iso installer. Also, virtually every Vicidial Professional supports Vicibox which has a fairly robust development cycle. Vicibox will also install ANY version of Vicidial with the installation CD by allowing the choice of revision level during installation to any SVN revision level in history (including TODAY if you like). GoAutoDial is supported by Gardo and his crew (the precise size of which is not really known). They are very good at what they do, but have been known to be ... unavailable from time to time (although admittedly not as much recently).

Clustering: If the time will come that you require a multi-server installation, Vicibox will cluster during install. The newest version (5.0, in beta as of this morning!) will even auto-match the codebase to be sure your Vicidial version is the same on a freshly installed dialer as the rest of the cluster without you having to check on your own. If you want Goautodial and you need to cluster, you can use the PoundTeam Multi-Server Manual (which is a collection of the clustering information of others for this very purpose).

Extras and Goodies: The GoAutoDial agent screen is prettier (helpful if you are "selling" Vicidial to someone). However, that screen is not compatible with the latest SVN revision level (historically, it has been a full revision behind ... but just recently the claim is that it is only "not compatible" with the development trunk, I have not personally had a client test that theory, however, so be careful). There are also several pretty reports and wizards and tools. I have not heard "cool" or "crap" from a client as yet, so I cannot express an opinion on them. We usually push Vicibox, however, so that's not a surprise, since it was always a full version behind and buggy. Note that the Goautodial interface has a tendency to "downlplay" the Vicidial underlying software but you WILL need to use the Vicidial Manager's Manual to configure Vicidial which *IS* the underlying software regardless of how easy it is to tell that. LOL

Operating System: CentOS for GoAutoDial and OpenSUSE for Vicibox.

Notes: You can (last time we checked) use GoAutoDial and then "ignore" the GoAutoDial interfaces and just use Vicidial. This is handy for those who want CentOS but bump into a problem with the Goautodial interface down the road. All the Vicidial code is installed and there ... but you have to surf directly to the "non-altered' welcome page to use them instead of the GoAuto interface. It's a very good installer and a stable Vicidial install on CentOS. That being said, I do not know if The Vicidial Group will even touch one of those boxes if you have a problem (preferring instead to tell you that you can just back up your database, install Vicibox, restore your database, and your problem is Gone ...).

[gardo]

The GOautodial system puts emphasis on the user experience. One of the goals is to do away with the manuals for the basic functions of a predictive dialer system. This includes creating campaigns (inbound, outbound, blended, survey and broadcast dialing), adding SIP/IAX carriers/trunks, adding users and phone extensions to making calls. The goal is to make the technology more accessible to companies and individuals (who have little or no technical background). Kinda like the Iphone to Android. Whereas the Iphone is more user-friend and simpler to use while Android requires some level of "technical skill" to start with.

The GOadmin and GOreports interfaces and tools are written from scratch using the PHP framework Code Igniter. Providing a very modern and user-friendly interface to a very powerful and feature rich Vicidial call center software.

And if you want to get your hands dirty and go under the hood (to explore the tonnes of features available in Vicidial), there is always the default interface. It can be upgraded to the latest SVN or development version by following the documentations available in the Vicidial wiki (if the stable version is not enough for you).

The GOautodial system thru it's custom applications and tools gives you the freedom to choose. Compare the two systems (GOautodial and Vicibox) and let us know your experience.

[williamconley]

And while comparing, remember the concept that an enterprise level installation which may eventually have more than 25 users will ultimately need multiple servers. Which goautodial does not make easier as yet. Hopefully soon. But at present, the Vicibox installation system will Cluster automagically as you build the system. Very handy.

Oh, and it's supported by ... everyone. Even Gardo is very good at supporting Vicidial itself since it's the same Vicidial which is installed by goautodial.