Call Center (it?) People! Help/advice Please???

[d_fallen1]

Having the knowledge and experience with BPOs/Call Centers; a people person, who have had the chance to be a part of the management, training, QA, TL/TM, and as a Consultant-- a foundation have developed respect for what I do and trust in my capabilities. (Only sometimes I really wish they don't trust me that much! hahaha)

For two weeks I have been trying to figure out every little detail researching from a site to another. An old coleague have provided me with information on the services that they offer. I, personally, have tried the dialer/software that he is selling and found it no good, not to mention very expensive.

I am now trying to find another alternative for the software, dialer, adapter, router, (asterisk) system server and so on. Having no idea on how they even work and what each is for, I am on a mission to learn more ASAP and to find each and every requirement needed to set everything up.

Working for a non-profit organization makes the budget really tight. Not to mention electricity, computer and internet connection, use of telephone and cellphone charges, fare, are all from my pocket. So why take so much effort when I don't even get paid for it?
Short answer: Information and self fulfillment.
To expound on that: I am young, very energetic and hungry for information and self-fulfillment. When I was a sales agent, I have brought a lot of sales to the production floor yearning to be a part of the training team. To my chagrin, you need to kiss *** to get somewhere. A company trusted me with everything that relates and co-relates to the management, unfortunately for them, lies didn't get them anywhere. So here I am with lots of knowledge, energy and passion for what I do-- and finally, an opportunity to use my knowledge and learn a lot. And more importantly, work with honest individuals working together to gain self-fulfillment and to help others.

I'm sorry to have taken much of your time. To cut the chase, I really need information/advice on what software/server would be beneficial to use and if possible, something that doesn't require too much investment. How are much does these things really cost anyway? I'm thinking of using a "dos-based" thing or something like it since, in my opinion, "web-based" dialers run too slow.

[xwirex]

Actually, the first thing any IT person especially those in a higher position would ask you is... What is your budget and how far can you go?

Next questions would be related to its scalability and robustness? Up to what level would you want it to be scalable? How many users initially would be using them? What's your expected % increase per month on the # of users? How much flexibility do you need?

I'm sure you get the picture right? If you can provide us with something more defined, clearly measurable and a budget for all these then it would be easier for us to recommend.

For all I care, I can recommend an extremely expensive Nortel appliance just for your call routing and logging. We can even go further with the latest SAP modules like SAP CRM or even give a hint of using the latest blade servers available or one of those HP and Dell Servers.

Bottom line is, get your budget first, create a business plan along with it as well as a marketing strategy. This will help you enough to define what you need and what you can afford.

BTW, asterisk is cheap upfront, but with the necessary knowledge to actually use it, you may need to hire an expensive consultant in the end. While using a dos-based training? You got to be kidding me. All your doing is wasting enough CPU power and not maximizing your investment.

If your ready, I'm willing to help you to a certain extent but just be reminded about those that needs to be threshed for the meantime.