SAN JOSE, Calif., March 31, 2000 - Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced that Telia, Sweden's national telecom operator, has selected the Cisco VCO/4K open programmable switch and Envilogg ES201 platform to double the call-handling capacity of its Centrex virtual PBX service. The Envilogg ES201 provides operator functionality for Centrex and Directory inquiry services and controls the Cisco VCO/4K switching platform. The combined solution enables Telia to deploy up to 4000 ports in a single platform-doubling the capacity of the overall solution while reducing equipment and management costs. The Envilogg platform enables Telia to handle up to 4000 simultaneous calls in its call-intensive services such as Directory Inquiry and Centrex.
"The Cisco VCO/4K open programmable switch has become a well received solution for meeting the increasing demand for wireline and wireless voice services," said Thord Ericsson, president of Envilogg Datateknik AB. Envilogg is a Cisco New World Ecosystem voice applications partner and specialises in software development for switches and automatic call distributors (ACDs).
Increases Capacity for Revenue-Generating Virtual PBX Service
Centrex is a virtual PBX service offered by Telia that allows organizations to outsource PBX functionality, customize telephone services, and only pay for the features and capacity they need. Centrex is used by many organizations in Sweden, including the National Employment Office Agency, the Church of Stockholm, and the city of Kalmar. Telia manages Centrex operator and Directory Inquiry services, freeing its customers from having to maintain their own telephone systems.
The Envilogg ES201 provides operator and switching functionality for manual, semi-automatic, and automatic information services. The system was originally developed for use in the Swedish National Directory Enquiry Services and is also used by Telefsnica, the Spanish national telecom operator. The combined solution of the Envilogg ES201 operator platform with Cisco VCO/4K switches can be used in a wide range of environments, including virtual call center, Web call center, directory assistance, and text relay environments.
Operator Calls
Telia uses the fully redundant, carrier-class Cisco VCO/4K as a front-end switch (controlled by the host ES201) for all operator calls in a Centrex environment. The VCO/4K switch is configured with 1800 time-slots and connected to the PSTN via 60 E1 (2.048 Mbps) connections. In this application configuration, the VCO/4K switch supports up to 180 operators.
Directory Inquiry Calls
For Directory Inquiry services, the Cisco VCO/4K switch is used as an announcement and voice-response system. The switch handles queued messages for waiting customers and automatic readout of the found subscriber number. Readout of a number is followed by a voice response menu, which allows customers to repeat the readout, reconnect to an operator, or be directly connected to the desired number. In all cases, the Envilogg's host-system ES201 controls the VCO/4K switch.
CiscoVCO/4K Open Programmable Switch
The Cisco VCO/4K open programmable switch enables service providers worldwide to build scalable, cost-effective networks that support the rapid deployment of wireline and wireless voice services. The VCO/4K platform also enables service providers such as Telia to deliver value-added telecommunication services, such as voice/fax messaging, unified messaging, voice-activated dialing, calling card, personal assistant, and web-initiated conferencing. It can serve as a core infrastructure switch for wireline and wireless networks, as well as a mixed environment gateway for circuit- and packet-switched networks.
"The solution created by the strategic relationship between Cisco and Envilogg is a great example of the benefits of a New World ecosystem," says Kevin Kennedy, Senior Vice President, Service Provider Line of Business at Cisco Systems. "Cisco's open interfaces and enhanced flexibility enable service providers to work easily with key application and integration partners. By teaming together, they can deliver profitable New World services with rapid time to market."
