Clarity Connect is the first-ever, feature-rich, next-generation contact center platform native to Microsoft Lync Server 2010.

Clarity Connect is the first-ever contact center platform that is native to the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 environment. It was developed by Clarity Consulting, a company with comprehensive experience working with the Microsoft Unified Communications extensibility platform. Because it is native to Lync Server 2010, Clarity Connect is able to use the powerful features inherent in Lync Server to deliver a fully featured, multi-modal (voice, IM, webchat, email, SMS), contact center at a fraction of the cost of other top-of-the-line contact center platforms.

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Document published October 2010


Business Needs

Contact centers and help desks are critical to the operation of many organizations. As customers switch to Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to take advantage of its cutting-edge communications capabilities, they have the opportunity to dramatically improve the overall effectiveness of these functions.

Solution

Clarity Connect is an entirely software-based platform that is available in either hosted or on-premises configurations. In the hosted configuration, calls are delivered to agents using the federation capability of Lync Server 2010. Agent and supervisor consoles are browser delivered Microsoft Silverlight applications that do not require client-side installation.

Clarity Connect capitalizes on Lync Server’s support for multiple modalities so that contact centers and help desks can expand easily into new methods of communication, such as web chat, instant messaging, SMS, and email. More than just a contact center platform, Clarity Connect is a platform for innovation in the customer service arena.

Features such as call recording, real-time metrics, and SQL Server historical reporting infrastructure mean that Clarity Connect is able to capture tremendously detailed information on calls and communication sessions. Through the supervisor dashboard, it gives managers and supervisors visibility into the condition of the contact center, from the smallest details of a single call flow to the largest patterns in historical trends. Customizable reports make it easy for decision makers to access the data they need.

A Clarity Connect deployment can include a custom-built interactive voice response (IVR) component that integrates with an existing CRM platform to look up data or allow callers to perform self-service tasks. Alternatively, the Clarity Connect platform can integrate with an existing IVR built with VoiceXML or the Microsoft Unified Communications Managed API (UCMA) 2.0 Workflow SDK, or in some cases with a separate IVR platform.

Benefits

Besides supporting advanced contact center functionality for Lync Server 2010, Clarity Connect brings several other benefits that can directly affect the contact center’s bottom line.

Organizations that have already invested in Lync Server 2010 or are considering doing so can get even more value from their investment in the Microsoft Unified Communications platform and infrastructure rather than expending more resources on hardware and products that are built on a different platform. Since Clarity Connect is built entirely on the Microsoft platform, it is easy to integrate with other Microsoft products such as Microsoft SharePoint 2010 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

·  By changing the economics of deploying a fully featured contact center, Clarity Connect can bring value to areas of the business that were otherwise financial infeasible.

·  In a Hosted option companies can quickly deploy the solution in a secure and Highly Available environment while eliminating the capital required to deploy solutions in their own environment.

·  Software based Clarity Connect is flexible, scalable and can be easily customized to suite the customer’s needs

·  The Clarity Connect supervisor dashboard and agent console have been crafted by the company’s expert user experience design team to make it as easy and efficient as possible for both agents and supervisors to perform their tasks. The streamlined user experience helps to reduce handle time and training time and to minimize agent turnover.

·  Calls can be securely delivered to agents at any location where they have access to the Internet and Lync Server 2010. This makes it possible for remote or distributed staffing scenarios and for calls to be escalated to experts who may be off-site or travelling.

With all of the most important features of traditional contact center platforms at a fraction of the cost, Clarity Connect is the clear choice to make your contact center ready for Microsoft Lync Server 2010.

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Document published October 2010