Analyst Perspectives

OnviSource is best known for its OnviCenter Product Suite, which includes what is commonly referred to as workforce optimization (recording, quality, monitoring, workforce management, analytics) plus a telephony platform that includes a soft, IP-based PBX, IVR and call routing. It is available on-premises or through the company’s cloud-based option, OnviCloud. Recently OnviSource added a further option, OnviLink, and announced enhancements to OnviTel, its telephony platform.

The concept behind OnviLink is simple: capture customer interactions, analyze their content and context, identify what actions need to be taken based on predefined rules, and make those actions actionable by distributing them to the appropriate sources. Interaction capture uses a combination of call recording, agent screen capture and general data capture from systems such as CRM and social media. That information is then analyzed using a combination of manual methods plus speech, desktop, data and social media analytics tools. OnviLink also includes what OnviSource calls comparative analysis, which looks across data sources to identify the context of interactions and thus whether the interactions falls within a category that needs action. Actions can be enabled via email, action triggers within business applications or the launch of a predefined application using an extensive set of APIs, SMS, instant messaging and chat. The product includes tools that let users define which system to capture data from and what analysis should be carried out, as well as comparative rules, actions and schedules. The licensing options from OnviSource let organizations choose different numbers of options depending on the license level.

Actions can impact quality assurance (for example, create a quality score), training and coaching (raise automatic notification of a training/coaching requirement), compliance and liability management (agent forgot to say required message), sales (raise sale opportunity alert), agent compensation (trigger performance-related reward) and customer satisfaction (negative social media comment). The outcomes and relevant information can then be passed back through the appropriate line of business, including the original agent.  This closes the loop between the original interaction and the processes impacted by the particular interaction and its context, thereby joining up interaction handling and workforce optimization.

The OnviTel product builds on the cloud-based telephony platform provided by OnviSource. One of its key capabilities is centralizing call recording, doing away with the need to have call recording capabilities at every site. This option should be particularly beneficial for small organizations or organizations with several distributed contact centers. The other key capability is centralized call routing. With it, all calls are routed to a central server and  common rules are applied concerning where the call should be routed, including what OnviSource call  “supplier-optimized demand routing,” which essentially mean interactions can be routed taking in account other interactions; for example, calls could be routed to the same person who handles email for the same customer.

Ventana Research has always stressed that performance management is a cyclic loop that embraces analyzing data, uncovering what actions should be taken based on that analysis and then ensuring appropriate actions happen. OnviLink enables such an approach and was a vendor that we rated Hot in 2012 Value Index for agent performance management. As companies look to join-up more customer-facing activities, I recommend they assess how OnviLink and the other OnviSource products can support those initiatives.

Regards,

Richard J. Snow

VP & Research Director