Enterprises have long sought ways to add real-time communications to business applications to improve customer interactions, streamline workflows, more quickly respond to critical events and more efficiently execute time-sensitive transactions. Integrating interactive communications with software applications and business processes, however, has proven difficult, costly and time-consuming. Traditional computer telephony application programming interfaces (APIs), such as TAPI and JTAPI, feature low-level, vendor-specific interfaces that can make programming slow, complex and expensive.

New business communications platforms (BCPs) offer programming interfaces that allow enterprises to add telephony capabilities to internal business processes and customer-facing applications. BCPs deliver interactive communications capabilities in the form of a reusable software service in an IT architecture.

BCPs offer abstract Web services APIs that simplify application development by shielding software developers from the complexities of the underlying communications infrastructure. Using a BCP, a software developer with no previous telephony experience can establish and manage voice sessions through simple Web service calls. BCPs free programmers to focus on business-specific features rather than communications primitives and enable organizations to make more efficient use of their software development resources and enjoy shorter project development cycles with lower project costs.

Enterprises are leveraging BCPs to eliminate telephone tag and streamline decision making and business process flows.

A Web services-based solution allows for the development of portable and reusable applications. With a BCP, enterprises can reduce capital equipment expenditures, extend the life of installed computing technology and support multiple projects from a single development effort.

Enterprises are leveraging BCPs to add click-to-talk functionality to customer-facing Web sites. By allowing a customer to communicate with a service representative directly from a Web page, businesses can reduce Web site abandonment and improve customer satisfaction.

Some enterprises are using BCPs to deliver interactive notification services to their customers. These BCPs support multiple methods of communication, including telephone calls, short message service delivery or e-mail notification, plus provide ways for customers to interact with back office business systems and call centers.

Airlines use BCPs to notify customers of delayed or cancelled flights, allowing customers to interact with an IVR system or a call center agent to reschedule a flight or request a refund. Credit card companies alert customers to unusual account activity, allowing them to verify or deny transactions. Brokerage firms notify customers when a stock reaches a predefined price, allowing them to confirm a sell or buy order using a touchtone phone.

Enterprises are leveraging BCPs to eliminate telephone tag and streamline decision making and business process flows. The best BCPs provide extensible presence services for contextual call routing. Rather than trying to reach a party by name or phone number, callers are automatically connected to the person best suited to help them based on business function, skills and availability.

Alan Rosenberg

For example, a general financial advisor can easily initiate a real-time consultation with a government bond specialist. Rather than dialing the phone number of a particular specialist, the advisor simply clicks on a government bond icon in his client application and is connected to an available specialist.

Hotels, hospitals and universities are using BCPs to add telephony functionality to in-room terminals, broadband Internet service offerings and personal portals. BCPs can allow hotel guests to make complementary voice-over-IP calls to outside numbers, connect to hotel guest services and contact local business partners, such as restaurants, local attractions, and sporting and entertainment venues.

Alan Rosenberg is director of product line management for BlueNote Networks, Tewksbury, Mass.

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