CALL CENTERS (CENTRES) - Faculty of Industrial Engineering and ...

Abstract. In this paper the implementation of information technology is analyzed in two call
centres of a bank, which provide a variety of banking services by telephone to customers. It is
important to emphasize that call centre work is extremely intensive, using the latest information
and telecommunication technologies. In addition, the number of call centres is continuously
rising. This study aims to analyze some of the organizational and social factors during the implementation
process of a new information system (IS) in call centre work.
(Appears also in Section IV.)
18. Yannakopoulos, D., M. Ferretti and M. Schultz. Object lessons learned from an intelligent agents
framework for telephony-based applications. Proceedings of Technology of Object-Oriented Languages
and Systems - TOOLS 30. IEEE Comput. Soc, Los Alamitos, CA, USA, 1999, 222–236.
Abstract. Contact Center-related activities, at the business level, are common regardless of
parent organizations or industries. The implementation of such activities is unlikely to change
throughout the lifetime of the Contact Center and therefore, it could be the basis (“framework”)
upon which customized solutions can be built. Specifying such a framework is mainly a business
rather than a technical problem. Programmers create “what” a system does while business
analysts determine “when” the system takes certain actions. Factors influencing the framework
architecture are the requirements for small, mobile, intelligent components, the ability for runtime
modifications, and a reasonable foreknowledge of the technology that will minimize risks.
We present a distributed, object-oriented, telephony framework based on Intelligent Agents and
coupled with a rules engine. The goals are reuse, platform independence, support for a distributed
environment, system scalability, and adherence to standards. The framework’s core is
an influence engine that accepts external stimuli and based on business rules, determines the resulting
actions. This engine is an intelligent agent that can be attached to any object for which
intelligence is needed and thus, it is able to create an integrated, customizable solution. We
discuss our architectural decisions, limitations, design choices, and experiences in development,
customization, and operation of the framework. Tools and procedures used during implementation
of specific solutions are also reported.
Keywords: Object lessons, Intelligent agent framework, Telephony-based applications, Contact
Center-related activities, Parent organizations, Customized solutions, Business analysts, Framework
architecture, Small mobile intelligent components, Run-time modifications, Distributed
object-oriented telephony framework, Rules engine, Platform independence, Distributed environment,
System scalability, Influence engine, External stimuli, Business rules, Integrated customizable
solution, Architectural decisions, Design choices
19. Boddy, D. Implementing interorganizational IT systems: lessons from a call centre project, Journal
of Information Technology, 15 (1), 2000, 29–37.
Abstract. The growing power of computer-telephony integration (CTI) systems is encouraging
many companies to create call centres. These deal with a growing range of business processes
and, in doing so, can be used to challenge established organizational arrangements. The range
of human and management issues that need to be dealt with has yet to become clear. Some
insights into these are offered from a study of one call centre over 2 years, from shortly before its
physical introduction to the present day. These empirical observations are set within the wider
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