Meridian 1 81C & Genesys Campaign Manager 5.1

[JJA]

Hi,
we would like to migrate from Lucent Defininity to Meridian 1 81C (mandatory) and right now we are using Genesys Campaign Manager 5.1 to launch outbound call campaigns.
In Definity we have Global Call Classifier cards to be able to launch predictive & progressive calls. What kind of hardware/software we need to do so in Meridian?.
Anyone has some experience with Merididan+Campaign Manager?

Thank you very much for your attention,
JJA

[Vic]

Hi, JJA!

To answer your question, first I assume that you will be doing it on G6.x right, and not G5.1. I will try to write about disadvantages of trying to use G5.1 outbound dialer. If you MUST use G5.1 then you will need something called SDialer which comes with Genesys. In 5.1, SDialer is very buggy and its functionality varies from one version to another; just take a look at the release notes to see what I mean!

In order to migrate from Avaya to Nortel, unless you have some really fancy hardware, you will need to use something called Call Progress Detection server.

You see unlike Avaya, most of the standard Nortel's implementations do not have Call Classifierlike module installed, so you will need to use a thirdparty products to do the job for you.

Call Progress Detection (CPD) server is part of Genesys Outbound Solution. It is installed on the same machine as the dialogic (or other voice cards) that will actually be placing the call and trying to identify whether or not the call was answered by answering machine, human, whether or not it is ringing, busy or out of service.

From Genesys perspective, it is really easy to install and set running, and after a while you no longer even aware that it is there. The real problem lies with the fact that you will need:
1. voice cards (Dialogic?) which will be connect to your PBX via T1 (preferably)
2. if you will not use T1 to connect your cards to the PBX then you will not be able to use mute transfer and instead you would need to do the old fashioned twostep transfer, which will add at least 3 seconds to your overall time oconnect, and on top of that, make your overall system prone to transfer errors, because dialogic cards are venerable for their sudden failure to transfer a call.

3. Also, you need to keep in mind that number of calls in an ACD queue is never correct, unless you use URS and virtual queues. It has to do with inherent Nortel limitation which prevents Nortel from issuing an EventQueued via CTI link until call actually leaves ACD queue and arrives at its destination.

[Rory]

JJA,

Completely agree with Vic's comments. We are Meridian and Genesys v5.1 (outbound only). Not had too many problems with SDialer once its running but getting it setup from scratch takes some work both on the Genesys and Meridian sides. We run on analogue cards but would recommend using T1 if you can.

Rory

[JJA]

Hi Vic,

many thanks indeed for your reply!!!
In fact, we must use G5.1 Campaign Manager. It is running pretty well in Avaya Definity, but we don't know how it is going to run in Meridian. Another handicap is that we have to connect our G5.1 Campaign Manager with a G6.1 TServer.
Let me ask you two more questions:
Do you know whether or not we can find problems connecting G5.1 Campaign Manager with G6.1 TServer?, any experience?
Could you tell me the name and version of one of those cards that we have to plug into Meridian to launch outbound calls?

Thanks again,
JJA

[JJA]

Hi Rory,

so glad for your comments!!!
Could you tell more information about those cards you are using?
right now we don't know anything about that kind of hardware for Meridian.
And finally, what is exactly T1?, a kind of card?, is it provided by Nortel?

Thank you very much indeed,
JJA

[Rory]

JJA,
We are running 6.1 TServer with v5.1 for everything else. All works fine. Be aware of some issues if you are not running Genesys routing though, especially if on Symposium, as Genesys sees turrets belonging to queues for outbound by seeing the default queue of the turret not the skillset of the user. Makes it very hard to run swap users around multiple campaigns.
The carsd we use are dialogic D41/ESC. Pretty much plug'n'play but as these are 4 ports each, you need a fair size of server chassis to fit alot in. Also, as Vic mentioned, these only support a 2 step transfer which can mean you end up with slight delays when connecting a customer to an agent. The T1 card is a dialogic card but effectively supports 24 ports at it is digital and connects directy to the Meridian.

Hope this helps

Rory

[JJA]

Many thanks indeed, Rory.

This is exactly what I was looking for.
Any help you need in the future, here I am.