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Zultys Ships 'Ultimate' UC Contact Center Management Tool

Unified communications solution provider Zultys is now shipping MXIE SuperView, the "ultimate contact center management tool." Integrated into the MXIE Unified Communications (UC) client, the new offering provides real-time visibility into agent productivity, queued and active calls, call wait time, threshold alerts and more, all from a single screen.

The company says the addition of SuperView provides a contact center-wide view of agent and call activity, making it the most comprehensive call center management tool available. Features include real-time information on the number of active calls; the longest wait, talk or hold time; and the longest number of calls in a queue. It shows a snapshot of group-level statistics, such as total agents logged in and available and group call totals for a given time period (whether answered, abandoned or overflowed to voice mail), and enables supervisors to monitor individual agent activity, including the number of inbound or outbound calls handled, the agent's average and total talk time and hold time, and the agent's status (available, not available, etc.), and how long the agent has been in that state.

The company focuses on enterprise and SMB customers, and while Cisco and Avaya are the big names in UC, it mainly competes with the likes of Shoretel and Mitel. According to a report last month from IDC (Unified Communications in U.S. Small and Medium-Sized Business, 2011: Growing Demand for Communication, Collaboration, and Connectivity--But Integration Remains Elusive), there is increasing SMB interest in a broad range of enterprise and consumer communications capabilities. It finds forward-looking SMBs are selectively using a range of tools including VoIP; conferencing technologies that support audio, Web and video; and unified messaging, which integrates voice and data messaging.

However, relatively few have implemented a comprehensive, end-to-end UC system that can deliver connectivity and collaboration capabilities beyond the sum of its separate parts. More than one-third of small businesses (firms with fewer than 100 employees) and nearly three-quarters of midsize companies (firms with 100 to 999 employees) currently own at least one unified communications component technology. SMB interest in adding UC technologies is considerable: More than 30% of small firms and 55% of midsize firms cite plans to add at least one UC component in the next 12 months.

Two recent reports from AMI found a significant proportion of U.S. SMBs are looking to leverage collaboration and communication solutions to better connect with colleagues internally and with suppliers, channel partners and customers externally. It projects that U.S. SMB unified communication spending will grow by a CAGR of 16% through 2015, from its current total of about $1.8 billion. Small and midsize businesses in North America are projected to spend $12 billion on unified communications components by 2015.

Irwin Lazar, VP and service director, Nemertes Research, says his company's research shows a strong desire by contact center managers to improve visibility and management of agents and to harmonize tools. "I think Zultys' move is in-line with what we've seen from other vendors, such as Aspect, ShoreTel and Fonality, to simplify applications and agent management."