2002 - cesnet

tre, when we were forced to handle the installation of some components incollaboration with experts from Cisco Systems, we managed to implement thecontact centre in its minimal functional form. Our further step was to test theactual IPCC function in a testing environment.The automatic call distribution system works in the following way – operatorsregister their phones into the IPCC system through a workstation and incomingconnections are then forwarded to them using a round-robin method. If all operatorsare processing a phone call, i.e., no operator is free, music is played forthe caller until one of the operators becomes available. Operators can forwardcalls to one another – if one of the operators cannot handle a client’s request,he/she can forward the call to his/her colleague. The configuration of scripts,such as “what shall I do with an incoming call/call in progress”, is not difficult.The scripts can be modified in quite a simple way using a graphic editor andthen are sent directly to the ICM server.Within the tests, we tested a simulated failure of each component of the contactcentre. In the case of the CallManager operation failure, phones were automaticallyreregistered to the CCM2 backup server. While performing the tests, wedid not encounter any connection breakdowns, i.e., none of the active callswere disrupted. Concerning the IVR or ICM server failure, we did not detect anyconnection breakdown, either. In this case, however, we noticed a temporarilyprolonged response (up to 5 seconds) when establishing a new connection.The delay was probably caused by the time necessary for the transition fromthe primary server to the backup one. In this way, we tested redundancy of thewhole solution and obtained satisfactory results.We prepared our testing workplaces at ČVUT, where we could not integratethem to the operating VoIP network, however, as we did not have the dialingprefixes assigned that are needed for making the service available to the outsideworld.After all tests were completed, we installed the operating configuration of thecontact centre. In the second half of 2002, we made both workplaces operational– one of them in Prague (CESNET) and the second one in Ostrava (TechnicalUniversity of Ostrava). In both localities, there are currently three of the abovedescribed basic components installed, i.e., the CCM server, IVR server, and ICMserver.After performing the installation at the defined localities, we tested the practicalfunctionality of the basic distributed IPCC solution again, including the resistanceof this solution to simulated breakdowns (failures of individual components).Call Manager, operating as a publisher, is located in Prague, ensuringdistribution/replication of databases in collaboration with the backup server atthe Ostrava workplace (subscriber).High-speed National Research Network and its New Applications 2002167