IWD

[cavagnaro]

Hey guys,
Does anyone has done a iWD installation?
How many do you think are wide world installed?
What is your point of view of it?

[Kubig]

Yes, we have installed approx 5 IWD environments. Personally, I do not like IWD :-)

Point of view? The general is routing of "non-interactions" business cases based on business rules.

[cavagnaro]

Mostly, why u don't like it?
You think it worth to invest on it? Does it complement call center tasks? Or these installations were made on a non-call center customer?

[Kubig]

I do not like it from technical perspective - many RAM memory used, "java-based", complicated call-flow, etc.

Invest? I think yes, but just for customers/environments, where are many types of business cases, which are currently "routed" manually without any system integration or monitoring. Of course, the IWD will not be installed on very "small" customers, where the number of non-interacion cases a negligible and in other hands, for small customer the IWD will be expensive and without any business returns.

We have installed it just for call-center customers - my opinion is, that for non-Genesys customers the IWD is not benefit, because there will be no integration with rest of Genesys env, etc.

[cavagnaro]

Thanks Kubig
Can you please give an example on what is "many business cases" for you?

[mduran22]

I've installed it once and it was not an easy install. The version I installed (8.1 something) required IIS and wasn't certified on Tomcat which was kind of a pain. I have some issues figuring out the calendar portion and timezone part of it as well. We installed it to replace ICS where we routed a link to voice mail (allowing customers to leave VM instead of holding and then putting the VM in queue essentially). The part I liked least on the calendar portion (start and stop times) is that once it's submitted to routing in order to use the calendar you had to drop out of a target and run back through a business process again, which would eventually hold the interaction, however I would have liked it to pull the interaction out of routing when the stop time hit, put it in a BP to hold until the next start time (maybe I was just wanting to much ). Reflecting back on it I thought we could have used custom media in eServices instead. iWD does have a pretty nice user interface once it's up and allows business people to view and manage the interactions (cancel, change priority, etc) but that could be done with a little customization on custom media as well.

[victor]

We have just finished rolling out another IWD and here are my observations:

1. Java  (I used to like Genesys for providing a streamlined universal platform that everything runs on. While there is nothing wrong with Java, I just still have nightmares about Genesys CCA aggregation part using JRE)

2. Non-voice channels are redundant - product targets larger call centers / enterprises and competes with similar products on the market. Unlike most of the incumbent players, Genesys still has bottom-to-up mentality and it is hard to convert a real company-wide business case into something useful in IWD without creating redundant functionality even to what you have with your Exchange / Lync

3. Speaking of Lync and Office365 - how many business cases do require tight integration with it? Since this is a Call Center product first, convincing sales and HR to base their operations on this is like asking Federal government to adapt the system used by the City  Hall of Laurence, Kansas.

4. People are used to Exchange, Salesforce sort of layout for most of administration or creating the sorting rules. Genesys continues to ignore it and insist we use their screen flow / layout which does not even have a ribbon-like tabs!

5. Poor Reporting - once again, these reports are not for HR. Admins, or Sales. Yes, call center is used to Genesys CCP, but the rest of the world simply does not think like that.

Too much third-party development and integration requires that the existing vendors you are using for most of your backoffice cooperate, learn, and BILL you for implementing this solution into your workspace.

Overall, I cannot blame Genesys for trying to once again take on backoffice, but as long as they continue to insist that the rest of the company adapts the standards of the cost center, this product will have a limited use and mainly will be used to...surprise...route the calls and perhaps few emails ... so, the name is different, but it is still a URS as far as I am concerned.

Yes, I would use it. To route calls. Inside Genesys. And make sure that client pays me for the license and integration work. Because I can charge more for it.

My two cents

[cavagnaro]

Thanks for the input
I like to have customers happy and invest with us, not mercenary sales mode enabled on me

[victor]

Cav,

from what I understand, iWD is the only thing you will be able to use to handle your multi-channel routing, so, there is little to do but just go with it.

I have severe reservations about the current layout of IWD
• iWD Manager— I keep on wondering why they could not integrate this functionality into any of their other Administration GUIs. Building it on top of Java not only makes it ugly (my personal opinion), but does not feel as part of overall Windows experience. Did I mention that Java version mismatch and privileges settings are the main cause why I gave up on using Java apps on Windows?

• iWD Runtime Node—A standalone Java application -  why is stand-alone? Seriously, there is pleothora of existing native services for Windows and Linux to use instead!

• Genesys Rules System—Rules Engine and Rules Authoring Tool are web applications that run on ISS with poor Tomcat support (at least IMHO). The Rule Development Tool is an Eclipse plug-in, meaning you develop in Java editor and run it on IIS? Really? And why can't this be an integrated part of Exchange system??? And why is it not taking into account Active Directory??? Why Rules engine cannot be URS?

Reporting ....yes, they are still using ETL, which retrieves the data from interactions server. Sounds familiar? Well, thats because it is ICS all over again. And of course, the infamous DataMart. and if you want to get it to work with your STAT SERVER, you need....a Java extension. JAVA. For Stat Server.  Unless STAT SERVER can run using Catalina, I do not see a reason for mixing a pure C++ application with Java plugin.

I see what Genesys is doing, but I do not think that the architecture is there, the platform is well thoought out, and lack of Active Directory support makes the whole process of setting roles and tasks redundant.

I think Genesys has a potential for a great product, but it must:
- tie with Active Directory
- provide easy integration with Office365 and Lync
- streamline the data collection process and stop using ETLs
- build library for Stat Server that allows for tighter integration with iWD DM

Well, that's what I think. Other than this, if done properly, it will be a great product I would love to place at customer site.

[RobertH]

Hi

I did few installations around the globe more-less (except NA and Canada) :-).

It requires:
- good business consultant, who knows solution and can analyze business requirements properly.
- java development skills to develop custom functions and GRS rules properly
- routing knowledge and bit of programming thinking to connect logic of rules with routing (take advantage of GRS and URS and use it meaningfully)
- knowledge of interface design, obviously the integration with third party systems requires good analyses. Capture point communication must be set properly.
- kettle scripts programming in order to develop customized reports.

Together with other Genesys reporting capabilities, we were able to satisfy our customers.

With proper settings of Tomcat (especially JVM options), where solution is running (no IIS) and proper interaction server and Business Rules routing it can handle quite big load.
I do have in average good feedback to solution it helps to decrease backlog and minimize "cherry picking" of back office tasks by agents if solution is set properly.

The 8.1.4 version is not fully integrated but it is going step by step
see video: https://vimeo.com/108248392

If you have questions feel free to ask. I'm not sure if I can answer them all, but maybe can help.
Regards
Robert