A Practical Guide to Call Center Technology
A handy, comprehensive guide for those setting up technology-based phone systems to manage customer matters.
TABLE OF CONTENTS A Practical Guide to Call Center Technology
Chapter 13: Telephone Terminals and Workstations
This book began life as The Incoming Call Center in 1987. The seismic change brought about by personal computers and the WinTel alliance has placed even the most complex communication application within the reach of the smallest call center. Back then we made the observation that the arrival of the PC in any business remade the economic landscape like a swarm of locusts remake a lush landscape. We had no idea!
We first should take a look at the instruments used in the traditional call center environment.
PLAIN OLD TELEPHONE OR 2500 SET
Most telephone instruments evolved from the plain old single line instrument, most commonly found in residential applications. Plain Old Telephone Service or POTS has birthed a thousand innovations and the evolution of the plain black phone or 2500 set in American telephone company parlance is the modern original. If you have ever used a phone, it s probably been a 2500 set. It is a marvel of industrial strength consumer electronics. A single line desk set is called a 500 set. The 2 in front means it s touch-tone.
The rotary phone evolved to the touch-tone phone with its 12 keypad, 0 through 9 and its two special keys. Only recently have these special keys come into use with voice response and station user programmable PBX and CO feature sets.
In this chapter the word terminal refers to the any terminal device or agent instrument, and is not limited to a computer display or CRT device.
Copyright Andrew Waite 2001 under license agreement with Books24x7
