I'd like to know if TeleFlow supports some specific technologies that are being touted as "the trend" by other IVR-generation companies. <br> <br>Specifically: <br>- Does enGenic provide a "Campain Manager" application for proactive customer notifications? What about VoiceForms for filling forms with ASR or touch-tone recording? <br> <br>- Does TeleFlow support the VoiceXML standard? <br> <br>- Can I integrate TeleFlow to work with Fax Managers (like RightFax or CISCO's Fax Gateway)? <br> <br>- Can I use the Nuance/ScanSoft ASR engines? <br> <br>- Can I use the RealSpeak TTS engine? <br> <br>- Is there a way to generate text notifications (SMS)? <br> <br>- Does TeleFlow support TAPI or any other way to forward customer information to a call center terminal (ANI/caller ID, customer-type user ID/login information)? <br> <br>- Is there a way to build new steps? I've seen other IVR-generators that provide steps built as Java beans. Can I build new steps in some language and add them to TeleFlow? <br> <br>- What about the CAS protocol? Can I use Channel Associated Signaling to free the port used in the incoming call (with E1s) right when switching the call to a human operator through a different port? <br> <br>- Are there any reports included in the product, as for getting call statistics (attended, dropped, by day, by month, etc.)? <br> <br>- What about redundancy? Is there any built-in support for server and/or software redundancy (server switching as failovers)? <br> <br>- What about integration with other CTI/ACD solutions, like those from CISCO? Can I use some of the features provided by these products? <br> <br>- Is there a way for a call center supervisor to listen into ongoing calls between a customer and a service agent, without them knowing they're being listened (stealth supervising)? <br> <br>I just want to know if there are any hardware/software (enGenic's or third-party components) available to achieve any of these requirements, no matter the cost. <br> <br>Thanks in avance.

Both of these are applications, rather than core-product functionality. We have a large number of demo applications and templates that can be used as-is, or customized to suit the needs of the situation. The customization can be contracted to enGenic, or performed by anyone capable of developing with TeleFlow. <br> <br>TeleFlow is first, and foremost, a development environment. If you, or one of your clients, needs a particular application, it should be able to be built in TeleFlow. <br> <br>For a "Campaign Manager", we can provide a simple demo that will call a phone number and deliver a message. We also have a product called Medical Relay, which is a turn-key solution for reminding people of their medical appointments. It is also well suited to other types of appointments: dental, chiropractic, hair-cuts, automotive.

We are working on VXML support for TeleFlow, however it is not yet ready for distribution. Other projects ended up taking precedence, and we had to delay the development of VXML.

I am not sure. This depends on the fax manager, and what you want TeleFlow to do with it. <br> <br>A fax manager is yet another application, and TeleFlow could be used to build one instead of using RightFax or Fax Gateway. If you just wanted to extend the functionality of an existing fax management solution, TeleFlow has numerous steps that should be able to help. It can send and recieve faxes, queue faxes, send and recieve email, and communicate with other applications via TCP/IP, HTTP, XML, etc.

You can use Nuance/ScanSoft. We currently support Nuance version 7.0, but can provide an update if needed. You can also use LumenVox (http://www.lumenvox.com).

We do not specifically support the RealSpeak TTS engine, but I expect we could without much difficulty. If you have a specific business opportunity that requires RealSpeak TTS, contact us and we will determine how best to proceed.

As for the SMS question varies depending on where you are in the world, and what service the destination cell phone is subscribed to. Most cellular providers in North America will accept an email to... <br> <br> PhoneNumber@ServiceProvider.com <br> <br>where <br> <br> PhoneNumber = is the cellular telephone number of the subscriber, and <br> ServiceProvider.com = the URL of the service provider. <br> <br>This works well if you know the service provider of the phones you want to send the SMS to.

TeleFlow does not support TAPI. You can, however forward caller information to a call center terminal in a number of ways. You can send a TCP/IP message to the terminal. You can put data in a file, database entry, or post to HTTP, and have the call center terminal come and pick it up. Data can be formatted in any way that suits the call center application: comma separated, XML, HTML, plain text, etc.

Is there a way to build new steps? This is an interesting question. Usually, how we have handled this in the past is to accept the customer request for a new step, and build it into TeleFlow. The customer is then provided with an update to TeleFlow that includes the new step, which also becomes a permanent part of TeleFlow. <br> <br>One of the most recent steps added, was the Run Basic step, which is a full-featured interpreter utilizing the QBasic syntax. Search the TeleFlow Help for "Basic Script" for more information, and the syntax of this scripting language. The advent of this step has opened up flexibility for the users to be able to customize TeleFlow by adding small applets directly to their main application. There has been talk here of creating a similar step that interprets Java Script, but as yet interest is not strong enough to warrant starting that project. <br> <br>You can also extend the functionality of TeleFlow through the "DLL Function" step. This step will execute a function stored in a DLL. It does, however, have strict requirements as to the passing of data from TeleFlow to the DLL. For more information, consult the "DLL Function" step in the TeleFlow Help.

You can certainly use a CAS protocol instead of ISDN. Mostly, this has nothing to do with TeleFlow. You need to configure the telephony card to match the protocol of your circuit. As long as the card and circuit work together properly, TeleFlow will also work just fine. You must also specify the protocol in the TeleFlow Application Line List. For Central and South America, the most common CAS protocol setting is "mfc0", which is an NMS Communications code that covers MFC-R1 and MFC-R2 (to the Dialogic/Intel users, you must also use "mfc0" for these protocols). If you require another protocol that is not listed in TF Line List, but is supported by the telephony card, we can add it to TF Line List fairly easily. <br> <br>As for the release-link transfer service, that is predominantly dependent on your carrier or circuit provider. If they support release-link transfer, chances are the telephony hardware and TeleFlow can be made to work with it. In this case, we will likely need technical information from your service provider about their transfer feature. We have had success with release-link transfer on CAS protocol in the U.S. as well as "2B-Transfer" (release-link for the NI2 variant of ISDN).

For logging and statistical reports, there is a template .TAM file shipped with TeleFlow called LOGGER.TAM. We use this is many of our turn-key applications, and it is available to be added to any application that you build, contract us to build, or buy from us. Logger simply creates "check-points" of data about your application. We also have a generic statistic reporter program that you can use to create reports from the data created by Logger.

TeleFlow has built-in redundancy, but only with respect to those things that TeleFlow can control. If an application fails due to a programming error, or unavailability of certain resources, the application terminates, generating a log on disk for post-mortem analysis, and then restarts itself. A well-built application will therefore be fault tolerant as much as it can be. <br> <br>For elements outside of TeleFlow's control, such as hardware failures, TeleFlow cannot control the recovery, but can play a part in your redundancy plan. For example, TeleFlow will not forward calls to another circuit if the power supply fails on the computer it is running on, but you can configure your E1 circuit to roll-over to another circuit if the first one is out of commission. That second circuit can be another computer, with NMS hardware, running the same TeleFlow application. The backup and redundancy plan for a PC running TeleFlow is much the same as any other PC-based solution.

Integrating with other CTI/ACD solutions... When used in conjunction with a telephony card, TeleFlow can perform the same functions as any other telephony device on your CTI/ACD network. It can act as an end-point, recieving calls as they are put through the ACD, it can take advantage of call-transfer features (described above) to transfer calls to the ACD, and it can transfer data in a number of different ways to complete the solution. <br> <br>TeleFlow can also produce similar functionality to an ACD and can act as a PBX or gateway between other networks. This may eliminate the need for expensive CISCO equipment in addition to a TeleFlow server to provide IVR functionality. For example, when you call enGenic, a rather large TeleFlow application called TFVO answers our T1 phone channels, and provides the IVR functionality of an Automated Attendant. When you speak the name of an enGenic employee, it gateways the call to our internal IP network, terminating the call on that person's SIP phone . One of the options on our menu is "Product demonstrations". This does not transfer you to the product demo. It simply runs the product demo directly under the current TeleFlow sesssion, using the same telephony hardware that answered the call.

There are two ways you can listen-in on a call, both utilize a product called the TeleFlow Listener. It only works with Ai-Logix and NMS hardware. If you want to listen into an active call on a TeleFlow application, you can simply use the TFListener. You can also listen-in to other circuits that are not hosting a TeleFlow solution (for example the main E1 of a call center), with our Call Capture product. Call Capture is a turn-key solution (TeleFlow-based, of course), that taps telephone conversations and provides recording, archiving, review and play-back as well as live listen-in.

I hope I have answered your questions. There's a lot of information here! <br> <br>Generally speaking, TeleFlow can handle most requirements, because it is a fexible, open-ended environment. Because of its flexibility, third-party components are always an option, as it is usually possible to find a way to make TeleFlow work with those components. <br> <br>If you have specific questions about the project you are working on, or any new projects, please don't hesitate to contact sales@engenic.com, or post your questions on this forum.