NEC (News - Alert) Corporation of America has announced enhanced functionality for contact centers as well as wireless and video collaboration solutions with the UNIVERGE Sphericall software-based unified communications solution.

The company said that the additional capabilities make it easier for organizations and employees to orchestrate communications in their business and their life.

 

The flexibility of running voice as an application on the IT network, and enabling a variety of communications options -- new video, wireless and contact center agent features added to NEC's UNIVERGE Sphericall product -- give end users the choices and productivity enhancements they want, and the simplicity of administration that IT managers want, said Steve Hilton, principal analyst at Analysys (News - Alert) Mason, in a release.

Sphericall now integrates with NEC's UC for Business (UCB) contact center agent solution. With NEC's UCB, contact center agents can streamline incoming communications, access information and resolve customer expectations in a timely manner.

The features supported via integration with Sphericall include intelligent call management, skills-based routing, agent management, multimedia capability through email queuing and Web-chat. Additional features include integration to other third party CRM applications and access to UCB's standard/custom reporting and administration functionality.

Additionally, Sphericall now also supports Polycom (News - Alert) HDX video solutions. Company officials said that this enables personal interaction over large distances. With Sphericall and Polycom HDX video solutions, video can runs as an application on the IP network.

Due to the integration with Polycom HDX, Sphericall can combine audio and visual elements into a single solution, enabling users to participate in conferences via the Sphericall Desktop. Company officials said that this allows video endpoints to appear within Sphericall as any other endpoint providing presence and click-to-dial capability and simplifying the calling experience.

Additionally, Sphericall now also provides mobile users a wider array of choices through wireless -- WLAN and IP DECT (News - Alert) -- phones and access points, including NEC’s Business Mobility.

Company officials said that Sphericall is now compatible with four different Business Mobility IP DECT phones, as well as NEC's MH 150 and MH160 wireless LAN handsets.

“In the continued development of UNIVERGE Sphericall, we've focused on features that allow us to easily adapt the solution for both vertical and wide-ranging business needs,” said Jay Krauser, general manager, sales support and engineering at NEC.

Krauser added that these video, wireless and contact center features will play a role in future versions as the company continues to empower businesses to communications -- enable their business applications and networks.