Check out the new article published in UC Today featuring Soft-ex's Ian Lindsay and Microsoft specialist Michael Hesjak explaining the importance of Voice Analytics in the world of Hybrid Work.

Businesses’ increasing use of UC platforms as a result of hybrid work has created an increased requirement for granularity when it comes to all aspects of the call journey, for both carriers and customers. There are two categories of solutions that should be used alongside one another: Data Management solutions and Voice Analytics solutions.

How do Voice Analytics complement Data Management to provide comprehensive self-serve analytics?

Voice: More Than Just Data

“The market is starting to realize that voice optimization has its own very unique requirements. Voice analytics should provide you with two key parameters, namely customer experience and bandwidth management,” notes Lindsay. “So it’s not just data – it’s a very personal experience: a human being talking to a human being.”  

In fact, voice is an essential part of the general customer experience, which has become crucial in the post-pandemic world.

“As a customer, if you were dealing with any major enterprise and they’ve migrated to Teams and you couldn’t connect with them – you wouldn’t do business with them ever again. This is why when it comes to voice, unlike data, it is essential that when it’s delivered, it’s delivered well”  

Filling in The Gaps

If you’re a Microsoft Team’s user, there is a standard set of analytics available to you, but it’s not enough to get a full picture of what’s going on across your network. This means that you have to effectively manage the call flow from cradle to grave, including the vital information from SBCs connecting you to the outside world.  

According to Hesjak, this is especially important to larger corporations that must be extra-careful when it comes to optimizing their networks.  

“Understanding how voice is delivered and managed is a key thing for a lot of these organizations,” Hesjak says. “And companies like Soft-ex, providing these voice analytics, are a core element of that; because a lot of carriers don’t know how to put this architecture together themselves.”  

The fact that Microsoft only provide the licenses has caused the emergence of a new market segment bundling SIP minutes, SBCs and a management wrap.  

“We’re seeing many new suppliers moving into that new marketplace,” says Lindsay.  

Paying Only for What You Use

At the back end of this new market are companies like Soft-ex, delivering sight of the voice aspect of things. With organizations starting to come back into the office, this becomes exceptionally significant.

“We deliver analytics which assists today’s enterprise to optimize their tariff plans,” shares Lindsay.

“We can also actually show how many of those SIP channels are busy, peak utilization and how many concurrent calls are being handled”

“One of the key questions I ask clients is: what is your utilization? Because that’s how you size the voice channels into that organization,” explains Hesjak.

Currently, carriers are charging customers according to a minimum commitment on a voice channel; but in fact, they have no way of knowing what the customer’s actual capacity is. This can all become much more efficient once a carrier has the right tools, allowing them an understanding of what’s going on in the organizations they’re serving.

“The goal is to make this a lot easier to maintain; a lot more automated in the way we provision these channels into these organizations,” says Hesjek. “

Lindsay concludes that “by delivering these powerful voice analytics, a much more efficient voice experience is achieved.”

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