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March 11, 2015

Toshiba Combines Call Control and Contact Center on New Virtual Server Platform


By Sandra M. Gustavsen
Analyst, Business VoIP

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Toshiba America Information Systems Inc., Telecommunication Systems introduces the IPedge Virtual Server, a new virtualized software-only version of the company’s IPedge business communications system that allows IPedge to co-reside with Toshiba’s (News - Alert) contact center and reporting software on a single server running VMware vSphere technology. Toshiba has designed the new product for the contact center customer looking to consolidate hardware and incorporate telephony components into their IT infrastructure, but a virtualized IPedge-only version is also available without the integrated contact center capability.


Virtualization technology has emerged as an important advancement as it allows the consolidation of multiple software applications and multiple operating systems to run simultaneously and share the resources of a single physical computer. So, for example, an IT organization can run both Windows and Linux, or multiple versions of an operating system, along with multiple applications, on the same server. This more efficient use of hardware and computing resources translates into capital, operational and energy savings.

With Toshiba’s virtualized solution, the Linux-based IPedge business communications system runs alongside Toshiba’s Windows-based contact center applications on a single VMware server. Toshiba’s contact center applications have traditionally run separately from IPedge on an external server, so the new virtualized solution is a good option for companies looking to consolidate hardware for cost and operational savings. Benefits also include simplified administration since all software is managed using the same Web-based administration tool (IPedge Enterprise Manager), as well as simplified licensing with a single license file for both IPedge and the contact center functionality.

Core Call Processing + Advanced Call Routing

Toshiba’s IPedge already embeds several applications within the standard software, namely call processing, voicemail, unified messaging, centralized management, UC client software and the company’s Meeting application for audio, Web and video collaboration.

A single IPedge Virtual Server can also run Toshiba’s Automatic Call Distribution or ACD enhanced feature set which includes priority and skills-based routing, intelligent announcements and an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) self-service capability among other features that can help to ensure a positive customer experience. Reports can be generated for analyzing agent performance, group activity and system status, and more advanced features for Web Callback and Web Chat are available to facilitate online customer interactions.

Configuration and Scale

IPedge Virtual Server is pre-installed on a Toshiba-provided server running VMware ESXi 5.5. The configuration options line up with the traditional IPedge EP, EC and EM server configurations: the Virtual EP Server targets smaller businesses with 8-40 employees (users), while the Virtual EC Server supports 200 users and the Virtual EM Server handles up to 1,000 users with up to 360 licensed agents and supervisors if the contact center capability is integrated and activated.

Toshiba IPedge Virtual Server, generally available as of January 13, 2015, comes in three versions: (1) an IPedge-only version without contact center and reporting capabilities, or (2) a contact center-ready version (pre-installed and ready to activate when needed), or (3) the full version, with IPedge, contact center and reporting fully integrated and licensed. 




Edited by Maurice Nagle
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