Need some advice/consultation regarding setup

[JRees]

Hi all

I'm in the process of setting up a call centre in the UK (not for the first time), for a small team mainly outbound. Pretty much decided we are going to use vicidial and will need a consultant for that.

Over and above that though some of the quotes we have had for systems are quite laughable in their own right so looking for recommends or advice with phone systems, servers etc also.

Over to the masses to respond I suppose if anyone has any questions please feel free to ask away

[williamconley]

"small team"? as in two guys? or as in 200 guys? (small is rather ... subjective, yes?)

what do you have available in the way of bandwidth? (please use NUMBERS for up AND down speeds, nothing subjective !)

I always suggest a Core2Quad with 2G or more RAM and a 1T HD (or another server for archiving recordings and backups, which is even better, and need not be anything above a P4 for pure storage).

[JRees]

Oooops yes small is very subjective


Ok heres the plan, 5 agents to start but scope to go up to 25 to 30 max at these premises.

Fujitsu TX100 S2 Intel Xeon X3430
2.40GHz 6GB RAM
DVD-RW
2 x 500GB (Mirrored) system files
2 x 1TB (Mirrored) Data Storage

CRM integration (possibly ACT or Goldmine?), accessible from agent workstations, also like the concept of a linked merchant account Bill, and scripting for agents. Call recording is a must, and easy retrieval on search parameters would be nice.

With regard to Merchant account linking any recording would need to be PCI compliant ie not record card details, usually this can be linked to the script.

Soft or hard phones would work, we need the options to click dial from CRM, manual dial and use the dialler but not necessarily at the same time, although that would be ideal for agents to have that choice if needed.

Bandwidth wont be an issue cant give you specifics until I get the results of the line tests but we will probably fit a SIP trunk as well as some ISDN for redundancy purposes and some normal lines for fax etc.
Should be able to provide specifics in the next 24hrs

And thanks for your reply

[williamconley]

I suggest you look at both SugarCRM and vTiger as viable alternatives to Goldmine. Goldmine SQL (enterprise) licensing is ... a bit much. The entire system could be built for less than a full 25-Agent Goldmine SQL licensed server.

I recommend SugarCRM, others recommend vTiger. vTiger has some built-in connectivity to Vicidial (paid for by Vicidial Group clients in the past), but is lacking in capacity (i won't talk about "look and feel", you can view that yourself as both packages are free and you can test them in virtual boxes without cost ). Most recently discussed is the recommendation that you not have too many lead records in vTiger to avoid overload. Sugar has not shown limitations in this area to date in my experience.

Click to dial is available on both systems to varying degrees. If you take the $$ from a goldmine installation and apply it to customizing SugarCRM in an "upgrade-friendly" manner, you should be very happy with the resulting system.

[JRees]

Thanks for the tips, what about ACT premium aside from cost issues would that do the job just as well?

And how many man hours at what rate would be needed to set all this up would like to get an idea on cost to?

[williamconley]

I wouldn't recommend anything that's not running in MySQL under Linux. Since your dialer is ALREADY MySQL under linux ... development and integration using only existing programming languages has advantages.

Vicidial runs under linux with Apache/MySQL/PHP/Javascript/AJAX/Perl

ACT ... runs under windows. And if you purchase a SQL version, it'll be MSSQL.

Adds a layer of complexity you probably won't appreciate in the long run (or for that matter the short run) even if you have an ACT programmer on-site. Better to let him/her learn php/mysql than attempt to convert all your data to a new language in a box that's not easily both IMPORTED to and EXPORTED from. In MySQL, you can convert or push the data to a myriad of software applications, all of which are free, for virtually any kind of manipulation, storage or reporting.

In MSSQL ... you'll have to write everything yourself and "hunt" for a few freebies here and there (or *gasp* pay for software!). And each time you want a new link with Vicidial ... or any other software running on your Linux box ... you'll have to build a new pathway instead of just tapping the data directly.

[gardo]

@williamconley: Very good assessment. I definitely agree with you.

[williamconley]

That's not to say I've never done it. I've had a couple clients with over $25k invested in Goldmine or Act or something .net or .asp ... and they just had to keep the old system. So we build a "black box" connection and Move Along. A couple of those are still running strong. One of them is even on "Access"!

[JRees]

“I wouldn't recommend anything that's not running in MySQL under Linux” seems like sound advice to be honest

My reluctance is only in terms of my unfamiliarity in working with linux, with SBS and any windows platform I know where I am. My challenge is data protection and security.

Ok things have developed slightly we are now looking at putting in an ISDN purely for the call rates available on a certain package, and also a 24 meg adsl line for sip communication, can vicadial cope with all this and if so any recommendations on phone systems would be good

Thank you for the pm’s Ive received to guys your interest/offers are noted

[williamconley]

if you use iptables for security, noone will be "in your box" without your permission. (white list)

BEWARE unlimited phone calls, they ALWAYS fail. you may be charged for those free calls (after the fact) based on a service agreement fine print.

you will get shut off in the middle of a workday, that always happens. have another method of dialing available, and be careful of your long-term signed contract (for equipment you can no longer use because you used a dialer against their terms, no matter how well hidden or phrased).

not that i've ever bumped into that before.

and ALWAYS: on the contract itself (the signed contract, not an email discussing it or on a letter or sep paper) be SURE that it states exactly how much your total invoice will be (with all tariff's surcharges and calculated fees, total check each month will be $XX.XX minimum)

[JRees]

Good answer as always it seems. The sip is meant to cater for some redundancy, calls are limited on the ISDN to 75000 minutes per month, but even outside that the rates are better than anywhere else.

I’m waiting on a call back from a company that provides asterisk based call centre phone systems to give me some pricing (read sales pitch) on what they can provide.

Still need to confirm if all this fits with vicidial and Sugar though

[williamconley]

Keep an eye on any "ACD/ASR" requirements or thresholds (or flat out ask if they have any limitations/restrictions/requirements on answer rates or call duration, then be sure the answer is IN the contract conspicuously).

Also be sure to find out how many calls per second you can initiate and how many total channels you can have active at any given moment in time, and what the process is to increase that limit.

Verify the MINIMUM charge per call (6 seconds? 30 seconds? 60 seconds?) and the billing increments (6 seconds? 1 minute?)

Enjoy the pitch. I like to bring popcorn.

[JRees]

PM sent williamconley

and I did lol at popcorn

[JRees]

Ok long round of meetings done and quotes obtained ready to sign lease, in next 48 hrs so if anyone would be kind enough t o answer two last questions I can get down to the nitty gritty.

Could we configure Vici to dial manually over and ISDN PRI, and how does the call recording stack up in regard to UK PCI compliance?

[williamconley]

1) Any asterisk trunk (including isdn pri) can be used in Vicidial (um .. that's a yes). But I recommend VOIP for Vicidial systems to reduce arguments with providers when your vicidial system blows out their unlimited plans and they argue with you about it (we've covered this already, yes? I like to hear myself talk, though)

2) Define PCI compliance. If you mean "does vicidial know when a consumer is discussing a credit card number and suddenly stop recording" ... NO. For PCI compliance, then, you'd need to secure your Vicidial system in the extreme and likely encrypt the recordings after they are made ... or transfer the client to a NON recording closer for credit card information exchange.