Business Process Management Journal

A framework for XML-based multi-channel contact point integration

Vikramaditya Pant William P. Wagner
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Vikramaditya Pant William P. Wagner, (2006),"A framework for XML-based multi-channel contact point
integration", Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 12 Iss 3 pp. 344 - 360
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BPMJ REGULAR PAPERS

12,3
A framework for XML-based
multi-channel contact point
344
integration
Vikramaditya Pant
Dolphin Corp., Ardmore, Pennsylvania, USA, and
William P. Wagner
Department of Decision and Information Technologies,
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Commerce and Finance, Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, USA

Abstract
Purpose – This paper explains the concept of how XML can be used to tie together the many
different communication channels into a single contact point system. The purpose is to propose a
contact point framework that utilizes XML technologies to integrate multiple communication
channels.
Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual paper where two general approaches to
channel integration are described and critiqued and a third one proposed.
Findings – This paper has suggested that contact point channel integration products based on XML
technology can be used to lower the design, development, management and maintenance costs. The
proposed framework can be an initiative in the open source community where software developers can
contribute towards the modular development of such software. The use of XML as the primary data
interchange language promises to add value to the contact points of a business at a relatively low cost.
Research limitations/implications – Further research is necessary to evaluate and perfect the use
of XML in this context.
Practical implications – This research suggests a roadmap for how systems integrators can use
XML technology to integrate multiple communication channels in a Customer relationship
management (CRM) environment.
Originality/value – This is the first research to examine the different approaches to CRM channel
integration and propose an XML-based framework for accomplishing this.
Keywords Extensible Markup Language, Call centres, Channel relationships, Communications
Paper type Conceptual paper

Introduction
Today, the telephone is just one of the many methods that a customer can use to
communicate with a business. According to the Call Center News Service, more than 70
percent of all business transactions take place over the telephone (CCNS, 2001). Though
it is one of the most commonly used channels for customer-business interactions, it is
Business Process Management considered among the lower end of the technology spectrum of channels available to
Journal customers. These days, 99 percent of call centers allow their callers to speak with live
Vol. 12 No. 3, 2006
pp. 344-360 agents via the telephone, and 85 percent allow them to use the fax for correspondence.
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1463-7154
Eighty-three percent of call centers allow their customers to use e-mail for
DOI 10.1108/14637150610668006 corresponding with the business (ICMI, 2003). Businesses have felt the need to allow
 for their customers to communicate with them via the more “hi-tech” mediums such as XML-based
short messaging service (SMS) equipped cellular phones, specialized instant messenger framework
software running on open or private networks, and also via internet-capable personal
digital assistants (PDAs) to mention but a few.
Businesses have realized the importance of maintaining good relationships with
their customers and are committed to ensuring an open and steady medium of
communication between themselves and their customers. According to Greenberg 345
(2001), “relationships continue to maintain their value in determining customer
behavior” and “traditional businesses are now moving towards more direct interaction
with their end consumers.” Since, call centers, also known as contact points, are the
primary points of connection that businesses have with their customers, it is relevant
for the businesses to maintain and operate their call centers in as best and profitable a
manner as possible. For IT practitioners this is of special interest since sales of call
center hardware and software, including sales force management and customer
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relationship management solutions, have grown in recent years, even in the face of a
worldwide economic downturn. With a market recovery begun now, corporations are
expected to begin to unfreeze spending plans for upgrading call or contact centers.
With the integration of VoIP, web access, and wireless access into legacy call center
products, it is predicted that growth will once again hit double digits and sales will
approach $23B in 2006 (ICMI, 2003).
Businesses can improve their bonds with their customers by ensuring that their
call centers provide latest, accurate, speedy, direct, and clear information to the
customers. In order for a business to do this, its call center operations need to be
automated – making new technologies (Swift, 2001). In turn, for that automation to
occur, the call center needs support the integration and interfacing of all of its contact
methodologies such as voice over telephone, voice over internet, text on e-mail, and text
over SMS with each other. Extensible Markup Language (XML) is currently one of the
leading middleware technologies for enterprise integration.
As the costs of call centers continues to grow, it becomes more and more important
for businesses to improve their efficiency and effectiveness. The focus of this paper is
on the multi-channel capabilities of present day call centers that are aimed at letting the
customer connect with the business using any medium that he or she wants to use.
Furthermore, this paper proposes an XML-based framework that can be used for the
integration of various communication channels at call centers. It is suggested here that
use of such non-proprietary technologies as XML can significantly improve both the
efficiency and effectiveness of call centers. Specific examples of how XML can be used
in this manner are provided, but this framework can be viewed as a first step in the
movement towards a more integrated call center.
This paper is organized as follows. We first present the reader with a basic
understanding of CRM, contact point integration and automation and XML. We then
describe our XML based framework for channel integration at customer contact points.
Finally, we discuss the aptness of XML vocabularies for our proposed contact point
channel integration framework.

Customer relationship management

Customer relationship management (CRM) is among the most popular fields in the
realm of business computing today. Market research firm IDC predicted in 1999 that:
 BPMJ . . . worldwide spending on customer relationship management services, such as call centers,
and online computer help desks, are expected to rise at least 20%, to more than $40 billion, this
12,3 year. By 2003, firms are expected to spend $90 billion a year on CRM technology (IDC, 1999).
In mid-2002, IDC reiterated a scaled back prediction of its previous outlook regarding
the future of the enterprise computing and CRM market by stating that:

346 . . . between 2001 and 2006, worldwide spending on IT services related to enterprise software
and related functions will grow at a compound annual rate of 13.5%, hitting US $187 billion
in 2006 (Computerworld, 2002).
This trend of a steady increase in CRM spending is in contrast to the current slump in
the economy and the tightening of IT budgets in most corporations.
As with any IT buzzword there are many definitions of the abbreviation CRM
floating all over industry and academia. Among the most meaningful and
encompassing is one that is extended by the management consulting firm Peppers
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and Rogers. According to them:

CRM is the same as one-to-one marketing. This customer-focused business model also goes
by the names relationship marketing, real-time marketing, customer intimacy, and a variety
of other terms. But the idea is the same: establish relationships with customers on an
individual basis, and then use the information you gather to treat different customers
differently. The exchange between a customer and a company becomes mutually beneficial,
as customers give information in return for personalized service that meets their individual
needs (Peppers and Rogers Group, 2002).
Simply put, CRM encompasses all the processes that increase the revenues, goodwill
and profitability of the business via the acquisition, gratification and retention of
customers by providing each customer with “customized” products and solutions that
best fit their needs and criteria.
According to an operational view, CRM has four key modules. These are sales force
automation; campaign management; customer support and service, and marketing
analysis and analytics. These are broad categories and each contains different
sub-components within them. This list is popular because it is very clear in the
definition of the CRM components and their utility. Call centers typically fall into the
customer support and service category but should also be integrated into the overall
CRM operations.
Electronic CRM (E-CRM) refers to a CRM implementation that can be accessed and
managed over the internet. It is different from a traditional CRM implementation
because traditional CRM implementations do not have to utilize the internet as the
backbone for information exchange. Traditional CRM implementations are mostly
implemented over a local or wide area network and lack the ability of providing service
and support to users of the CRM system outside of the business’ IT framework such as
in the field. E-CRM provides organizations that ability to expand and internationalize
their CRM implementations by using the “plumbing” already provided by the internet
instead of having to go through private networks.

Contact points
A contact point can be described as a process and a location where customers can
interact with a business. It is the core module of the “customer support and service”
component of CRM. According to the Call Center News Service, 70 percent of all
 customer interaction occurs in the call center (CCNS, 2001). Customers interact through XML-based
a contact point with a business regarding their queries, concerns, suggestions and framework
other communications. The term contact point is synonymous with call center,
however historically, call centers got their name from the method in which they served
their function for a business. It was at call centers that businesses interacted with their
customers via telephones.
Call centers have served as touch points between businesses and their customers for 347
roughly three decades. The hospitality and travel industry was the first to provide
toll-free access numbers to potential customers for access to its reservation systems.
Soon, thereafter, the banking industry facilitated call centers as a means for
account-holders to access customer service and perform certain transactions via the
telephone (CCNS, 2001). Prompted by a surge in the service industry in the US, the
White House contracted a consulting firm from Washington called Technical
Assistance Research Programs Inc. (TARP), to gauge the quality of the service
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industry in the USA. The study found that many corporations were losing their
customers because these customers did not feel that businesses were providing them
their preferred ways and means of communication (Business Week, 1984 (November 6)).
This study further fueled the growth of the call center industry through the late 1980s
and much of the nineties.
For the first few years call centers were used as incoming, or service centers, and later
developed into outgoing, or telemarketing centers. It was around the early 1980s that
high-capacity telephone switches and routers were developed that enabled the handling
of a high number of calls. This helped lay the groundwork for big call centers (CCNS,
2001). Old call centers were comprised of customer service agents with a desk and a
telephone that fielded calls from customers of the business and provided customer care.
Today, from a functional view, there are two main types of contact points that are
utilized by businesses for interacting with their customers. These are listed in Table I.
Continued research in the field of customer behavior and advancements in
communication technology, have contributed to the evolution of automated call centers
that have the ability to often times utilize computer databases and provide service to
customers without the need for a human customer service agent at the business’ end.
Interactive voice response (IVR) is an example of such technology that is being utilized
by many businesses for the automation of customer service. IVR allows users to
interact with databases using the numeric keypad on a touch-tone telephone or even
via their voice. Today, many kinds of businesses ranging from movie theaters to
insurance agencies utilize IVR technology to power front-end systems that allow
customers a range of features ranging from checking movie times to tracking the
status of an insurance claim all without the need for a human customer service agent.
Such developments afford businesses with these advanced call centers the ability to
operate using far fewer humans than in the past. It is not surprising thus that a study
by Purdue University found that call centers that utilized speech recognition

Type Staff Typical functions

Inbound Customer service Service and support, Incoming opportunities

Outbound Sales Outgoing telemarketing (prospecting, new business Table I.
development, advertising, selling) Types of contact points
 BPMJ technology incurred a cost of 45 cents per call as opposed to 4 $ per call for those that
12,3 employed customer service agents (Kriss, 2002).
In the realm of contact points, and for the purposes of this paper, a channel refers to
a means of communication. Telephone is an example of a channel, e-mail is another
example of a channel, and fax is yet another example of a channel. Today’s advanced
“call centers” incorporate multiple channels of communication between the business
348 and its customers and are hence referred to as contact points. This inclination of
incorporating multiple channels of communication into a call center is mentioned in a
white paper on the Interaction Center product by SAP:
During the last ten years, the traditional call center has evolved from a simple phone
operation into a full-service interactions center capable of handling all customer interactions
through any communication channel; – telephone, e-mail, mail, fax, the web, mobile devices
(SAP AG, 2002).
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Customers have embraced many communication technologies these days and customer
service departments at businesses try every bit to provide as many of these to
customers for interacting with their business. It is not uncommon today for a customer
to visit a business’s website and chat with a customer service agent using a web-based
chat client. MakeMyTrip.com, a web-based travel agency, provides the “Travel
Whizzy” live chat terminal to its customers. Using a chat window that is enabled with
any web-browser, the user can interact with a customer service or sales agent of
MakeMyTrip.com (Figure 1).

Figure 1.
MakeMyTrip.com travel
whizzy live webchat
terminal
 The myriad of communication mediums that are being used at contact points today are XML-based
a departure from the call centers of the past which were typically characterized by framework
agents manning extensions of a telephone “hotline.” Where less than a decade ago,
there were just two or three means of communicating with a company (phone, postal
mail, in-person), these days, there are just as many ways by which a customer can
contact a business as there are communication devices that can be imagined.
349
Contact point automation and integration
Call centers have come a long way from the time that they were first commonly
accepted by the average consumer in the late 1970s. In the earlier days of call centers,
when a customer called a centralized switching station, his or her call was assigned a
queue number and then based on the call load on the response personnel the call was
handled in the order in which it was received. All queuing was performed manually
and there was no guarantee of being able to connect to call centers. There was no
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concept of prioritization and every call was just as important as the next unless the
queuing handlers indulged in preferential treatment. Further, since the switching was
manual it was not uncommon for customer calls to be routed incorrectly or be dropped.
Most importantly, since there were no clear-cut ways of assessing call center
performance, there was an absence of control and optimization tools available to
manager of poorly-performing call centers.
Since, the “quality focused” period of the mid-1980s, a need has been felt to optimize
call center performance. Comparatively newer research on the concepts of customer
lifetime value has supported the focusing of marketing strategy on “customer
retention” as opposed to “customer acquisition.” In a study on the costs of CRM
conducted in mid-2002 it was discovered that, “while a 10 percent reduction in
acquisition costs improves the overall value of the customer base by only 1%, a 10%
improvement in customer retention increases value by 30%” (Gupta and Lehmann,
2002). Many companies have customer loyalty programs based on the premise that a
happy customer is one who builds market for the company and provides future
business. Businesses have started realizing the value of treating every customer in the
best manner and try to address their every need and concern as well as possible.
Improvements in contact point operations are essential to the satisfaction of
customers because it was determined in a in research undertaken in 2002 that of the
customers who leave a business because they are dissatisfied with it – 45 percent leave
due to poor service and 21 percent leave due to lack of attention (Call Center
Enterprises and The Forum Group, 1998). This clearly indicates that approximately 65
percent of the customers that leave a business leave due to the problems they face
while interacting with the business. It is important to note that dissatisfaction with the
service is the leading cause of customer desertion for a business. Since, contact points
are the primary points of contact between customers and businesses, an ill-run contact
point can have a negative impact on the profitability of a business.
Two strategies that can be adopted for contact point enhancement are automation
and integration. Although this paper focuses on the integration of contact points, it is
important to point out that both these strategies are synergistic and complementary to
each other.
Contact point automation refers to the use of technology in the interaction
(information exchange) between customers and sales or customer service agents to
 BPMJ increase the speed and efficacy of the sale or solution provision process. Contact point
12,3 automation aims to connect the customer with a solution/response that best fits their
needs without requiring human intervention at the business side. The goal of
automation is to match the business’ knowledge and offerings to current customer
needs and provide solutions automatically using available technology. Channel
integration helps facilitate this by enhancing the communication process. It provides a
350 centralized communication infrastructure and standardizes the type of information
flowing within the system. It is important for businesses to be able to streamline the
communication process between them and their customers to attain relatively lower
costs. The computerization of as many of the processes between the customer and the
sales agent or customer service agent allows for the standardization of rapid solution
processing and relevant information dispensation. This happens because in the typical
contact point scenario, the majority of customer interactions occur with similar themes
and patterns and technology can be used to leverage this phenomenon (Buck-Emden,
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2002).
Contact point integration is achieved as a result of three main processes. Listed in
Table II, these are external, internal, and channel integrations.
Internal and external integration is achieved via enterprise application integration
(EAI). EAI refers to the integration of two or more enterprise software
packages/programs. Internal integration involves integrating information technology
within the organization and external integration means doing so with business
partners that are not parts of this organization. EAI tools provide this cooperation by
continuously converting the commands and results from one application into the
format of another. For example, consider a sales agent who is on call and has a possible
credit sale lined up with a customer on the phone. The sales agent needs to access the
customer’s credit history and enter this latest transaction amount for credit
authorization. The sales agent uses the CRM package for converting this lead into an
opportunity and awaits the credit authorization to convert the opportunity into the
much-coveted contract. Since, the financial information on customers of this business is
maintained in a financial package, it is important for the CRM system to interface with

Type Component combination

Channel integration Integrating the different mediums (telephone, fax,

e-mail, etc.) of customer interaction into the contact
point system
External integration Connecting the protected (accessible to certain
authorized entities outside the organization but not
all) business data with business partners (vendors,
suppliers, retailers, dealers, traders, etc.) to
streamline supply chain operations
Internal integration Linking the various organizational units and
business processes with each other to synchronize
private (accessible only to authorized users and
systems within the business) data flow. Connecting
Table II. front and back offices to provide relevant business
Aspects of contact point information to every employee who might use it
integration profitably
 the financials system of the enterprise to allow this sales agent to perform the credit XML-based
check on this customer in real-time. framework
In this example, the two software packages could have been hosted within the
organization (regional credit division, finance department) or they could have been
spread across organizational boundaries (bank, credit agency). In a modern business,
many software applications are used together in such a way to fulfill a transaction and
there is usually an unperceivable wall that divides internal and external integration. 351
Such synchronization between the systems is referred to as EAI and is essential for the
thorough and seamless process-oriented business transacting between businesses and
customers. The focus of this paper is on channel integration aspects of contact point
integration.

Two generalized approaches to channel integration

When data needs to be exchanged between multiple systems it is crucial for it to be in a
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format that the target application(s) can comprehend. The source needs to be able to
assemble, structure, and present its data in a configuration that is utilizable by the
target application(s). XML provides applications the ability of adopting a
homogeneous framework for data processing and interchange. Since, two completely
different systems might use a common XML vocabulary for denoting data, they can
exchange information between each other. Because both share that common data
format it is possible for the information to be utilized across systems without the need
for transformation.
For systems that do not support XML to communicate with each other, various
alternative models can be implemented. Two of the more common ones are the use
custom adaptor and integration broker approaches.

Custom adapter approach

Applications communicate data between each other on an ad hoc basis using adapters
or converters. These adapters are native components of the applications or external
tools. They transform the data from the sender application’s type to the receiving
application’s format. This conversion can be done at the source application before the
data is delivered to the target application or at the target application after it is received
there. Depending on where the data conversion takes place, the source or the target
needs to have access to a reference schema which it uses to translate the data across
formats. This is an example of tight coupling where the adapter is developed
specifically for exchanging data between particular components and modules of
applications.
It is also an implementation of the point-to-point connection pattern where
applications communicate with each other directly and in the absence of any
intermediary agent. After such an adapter is developed there is very little flexibility in
being able to extend it, for example, across application versions or even to include
different parts of the applications. Examples of software utilizing such adapters to
communicate are legacy systems that run on mainframe computers. Typically these
older systems maintain their data in proprietary formats that are unusable outside of
their boundaries. For example, a custom adapter would need to be built to pass data
between a procurement system and a disbursement system in a purchase-to-pay
scenario.
 BPMJ In the context of the multi-channel call center framework this is not a viable option
12,3 for several reasons. First, building connectors into existing applications pushes the
load of data transformation onto any or all of those applications. This increases the
overall stress on applications that work with high quantities of real-time data such as
the integrated voice response systems in call centers. Secondly, connectors typically do
not abstract the processing process or flow control between applications. They
352 typically only convert and convey data from one system into the next. In a call center
scenario this can make the monitoring and auditing of the overall communication
between the business partner and the call center agent very cumbersome as the
communication might encompass multiple channels. And thirdly, because of a lack of
extensibility; adapters and connectors are typically created to patch specific parts of
applications with each other. In the call center industry, software products and
applications are constantly upgraded. An upgrade of an application that connects to
another might result in version incompatibility for the connector.
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Integration broker system

Applications utilize an external, often time’s third-party, software that relays data
across software. It does so by receiving data from a source system, converting it into a
format that the target can accept and then conveying the converted data to the target.
It serves as a middleware agent which has access to data schematics of many popular
applications. Integration Broker software commonly utilize the method of message
queuing to convey data between various applications. Message Queuing is a technique
that allows for various Message Queuing-based systems to communicate with each
other across varied network landscapes and heterogeneous system infrastructures.
This is an example of medium coupling where applications that can interface with
the message queues can be linked together. Applications transmit their messages to
shared queues where they are logged, processed, secured and routed to the intended
recipients. Message Queuing enables efficient routing, ensures guaranteed message
delivery and provides a secure environment in which prioritizable data can be shared
between applications even if they run at different times. Integration Brokers are an
implementation of the Control Broker-Adapter model through which a virtually
unlimited combination of applications that can be linked together as long as they can
communicate with the Integration Broker. Examples of software integration brokers
are Microsoft BizTalk, SAP Exchange Infrastructure, IBM MQSeries and TIBCO
BusinessWorks.
This approach falls short of satisfying the needs of the multi-channel call center
framework because it has a high cost of deployment and excessive processing
overhead.

XML for system integration

XML is currently one of the most popular data interchange mediums. It was developed
from Standardized General Markup Language (SGML) and released by the worldwide
web consortium in February 1998 (Wagner and Hilken, 2002). SGML was used
primarily by the publishing industry for formatting text and infusing instructions
regarding the presentational aspects of text and image content into documents. XML
goes beyond the potential of a programming language because as a markup language
 it can be used to develop the rules for creating other industry and application specific XML-based
markup languages (Wagner and Hilken, 2002). framework
XML documents enclose data between tags (beginning and end markers) that give
meaning to the data – turning the data into information. For example, from a business
view, if we obtain a document with only the number 100 written on it then we can say
that by itself it is too vague. The number (or the document) does not hold any value for
the business because it can be anything – 100 $s, 100 employees, 100 shares or even a 353
100 days. Using XML, descriptive start and stop points can be attached to this
data and it can be described better. To continue with the same example, the
following is a sample line from an XML document: ,Dissatisfied_customers.
100 , /Dissatisfied_customers.
Here, it is clear that the number 100 is referring to the customers that are not happy
with the business. The business should take measures to ascertain more details about
the nature, cause and location of such discontentment.
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XML documents can be constructed as nested hierarchies to support a high level of

description and reference. This makes it possible to generate highly structured
rule-based documents where parent and child relationships between the data elements
can be defined. To further elaborate on the previous example, the following are a few
lines from the XML document from which the previous example was excerpted:
,Chicago_Downtown .
,Apparel_Division .
,Registered_customers . 300 , /Registered_customers .
,Dissatisfied_customers . 0 , /Dissatisfied_customers .
, /Apparel_Division .
,Equipment_Division .
,Registered_customers . 200 , /Registered_customers .
,Dissatisfied_customers . 100 , /Dissatisfied_customers .
, /Equipment_Division .
, /Chicago_Downtown .

In this case it can be seen that 100 customers are upset with the equipment division at
the store in downtown Chicago. Armed with this knowledge, the business should take
remedial action to correct this situation. The use of such a descriptive data layout in
XML documents gives the user (and other applications) the ability to discern the
relevance and meaning of the data at a natural language level.
XML is considered the panacea for solving the problem of integrating “islands of
data” because it can handle data that might be intended for a variety of purposes and
be from a range of sources. Since, data from different XML languages is inter-operable
(read “convertible”) it is ideal for the combination of various data types, data sources,
and data processes.

XML integration framework

Figure 2 shows the framework of an integration engine that can be enabled using
XML vocabularies. The proposed framework aims at utilizing XML vocabularies
for implementing the data transport “plumbing” in the system. The business that
 BPMJ Interaction Switch Data Database Message
“Proxy”
Solutions Human
Manual
Solutions
12,3 Switching Optimization Transformation Interaction
Layer Layer Layer Layer
Queuing
Layer
Provision
Layer
Supervision
Layer
Provision
Layer

Voice
(Tel, Cel)

Channels

Transaction Sequencing
Phone

Recent Messages/Cache
Solutions Proxy Agent
SMS

Query Synthesis
Text
354

Parsing
Fax

Email

Channels
Internet
Web Chat

Supervision

Monitoring
IM

/
Voice
(Tel, Cel)
Channels
Phone

Result Presentation
SMS

Message Queuing
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Text
Translation

Transactions, Actions,
Solutions, Knowledge
Fax
Customer Call Center

Database
[Client] Attendant
Email
[Server]
Channels
Internet

Web Chat

IM
Other Systems Connector

EAI Broker
/

Figure 2.
Integrated multi-channel
contact point framework

implements such a system is at liberty to use any hardware and end-user (in this case,
the customer service agent) software from any provider/vendor. As long as the
hardware (for supporting various communication channels) is based on compatible
standards, XML can be utilized for integrate the various channels. At a high level, this
framework proposes a system where the user will connect with the contact point via
one of many communication channels (e-mail/chat/phone). Once they submit a query,
the appropriate hardware driver (provided by hardware manufacturer) will be used in
conjunction with XML codecs to be parse the message into XML encoded plain text.
This XML data will flow through the various layers of the system and reach the
contact point attendant who will send a reply to the customer back through the layers.
When the reply is to be relayed to the customer (in the medium that it was received), the
XML encoded document will travel back through the layers and be translated into the
format that the hardware drivers can send out.
From the hardware aspect, this integration engine is vendor and technology neutral.
This means that this engine can be implemented using non-proprietary technologies
and be hosted on general-purpose servers. The servers need to be equipped with the
essential hardware to interface with the different communication mediums that need to
be supported. Examples of such peripherals are exhibited in Table III.
 The foundation for the software can be laid using a fourth generation server-side XML-based
scripting language such as Microsoft Active Server Pages or Sun Java Server Pages. framework
This can be used to create the core parsers, translators, user interfaces and data
warehousing/mining modules of the engine. Connectors/drivers provided by the
manufacturers of the communications hardware can be utilized to interface the
hardware with the integration engine. Open source XML libraries can be implemented
in the base scripts to enable the different types of data to be parsed into and translated 355
from standard XML documents.
A robust and efficient relational database management system can be used as the
knowledge repository for the engine. Such a central database system can make use of
the structured query language for storing and retrieving data in the database tables.
The database can be used to store information such as customer interaction history,
solutions to problems, and product support information, etc. This information can be
leveraged using analytics to ascertain features of value to the overall CRM system such
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as products needing most support, customers with highest interaction levels,

frequently asked questions, etc. This database system is an integral part of the
integration engine, as it can be used to serve pertinent and precise information to
customer service agents while they transact with the customers.
Using XML vocabularies, the core data interchange mechanism in this engine will
function in a modular fashion. Meaning, the server will handle every customer
interaction session in a linear, queue based and purpose driven manner. A list of some
of the key XML input/output vocabularies that will be used to power this engine is
provided in Table IV. By using connection pooling (maintaining connections to system
so as to minimize overhead of connecting and disconnecting frequently) the server will
be able to reduce overall resource usage between interaction sessions.

Hardware Purpose

Data/voice modem Support for human voice interaction

Ethernet card (with high-speed internet access) Support for internet based (www, e-mail, instant
messenger) communication Table III.
Cellular-phone computer interface kits Support for SMS text communication across various Sample list of hardware
cellular phone network types components for
Fax modem Support for fax communication integration engine

XML vocabulary Name Implements

VXML Voice XML Voice (telephone, cellular phone, vice over internet
protocol)
WML Wireless Markup Language PDAs and similar portable devices
XSLT XML Transformation Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (worldwide web, Table IV.
intranets) List of XML I/O
SMSXML SMS XML SMS (cellular phone) vocabularies that will be
Jabber XML chat protocol Internet instant messaging used in the engine
 BPMJ The engine will comprise of eight layers, or functional sub-sets, which are:
12,3 (1) Interaction switching layer. At the start of a transaction (incoming voice call,
receipt of e-mail, etc.), the medium of incoming communication is identified and
the relevant hardware device is invoked (via software connectors) to accept the
connection. Unique identification descriptor (call attached data in telephone call,
sender information from e-mail header, etc.) is retrieved from the connection for
356 identifying the user. At the end of the transaction, the hardware device provides
the communiqué (back via the communication medium) to the user. A list of the
XML vocabularies that will impact the development of this layer is provided
Table IV.
(2) Switch optimization layer. For an incoming message, this layer is where the
necessary XML libraries are readied and loaded into the server’s runtime
memory to optimize data parsing. For an outgoing message, this is where a
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“translated” message is checked and qualified as a valid document.

(3) Data transformation layer. For an incoming message, this layer is where the
necessary XML vocabularies are invoked to convert the message from the
user’s original data communication medium to standard text-based XML
marked up data (parsing). A tag for the medium of this message is attached to
the message to enable translation at a later stage. For an outgoing message, this
layer is where the response/solution in standard XML [text-based] is converted
(translated) back into the user’s original data communication medium using the
“medium” tag.
(4) Database interaction layer. For an incoming message, this layer is where the
standard XML document is analyzed for key words, nature of the inquiry, level
of severity (escalation path) and any other relevant markers that might be
important to the query. After that the incoming message is converted into a
database query for checking in the cache at a later time in the solutions proxy
layer. For an outgoing message, this layer is where the response/solution is
finalized for presentation to the user based upon the “medium” tag. For
example, a generic response from the customer service agent will be submitted
to the user intotality if the connection medium of the user is e-mail whereas will
be submitted to the user in an abridged form if the medium of the user is SMS
text over cellular phone. This in-turn can be accomplished based on stored
alternative versions or via compaction using pre-determined algorithms. In this
layer internal and external enterprise applicant integration also occurs because
the engine communicates with external systems on a transactional-level
(data-oriented).
(5) Message queuing layer. For an incoming message, this layer is where the
messages are prioritized for processing in the subsequent layers. This
prioritizing can be based on the order in which a connection/message is received
or on the severity/importance level (escalation path) of a connection/message.
The importance level of a customer can also be used as a determinant for
prioritization. For an outgoing message, this layer is where the messages are
arranged in the order in which they are to be reported back to the customer.
This organizing can be based on the number of communications being handled
 by each medium’s hardware or on the wait time that a call has had due to XML-based
request processing. framework
(6) “Proxy” solutions provision layer. This is the layer where every query is checked
against a database of recent queries in the system, announcements, notices and
frequently asked questions in addition to the general knowledge base of the
business. If the solution is found here then it is forwarded to the succeeding
layers along with the message (to ease in the solution determination process by 357
the call center agent). It is important to note that algorithms based on agent
frameworks such as the software agent framework or the intelligent agent
architecture can be implemented to facilitate this layer. This enters into the
realm of contact point automation. Further exploration of this aspect of the
engine is beyond the scope of this paper and will be discuss in future papers.
(7) Human supervision layer. This is the layer where monitoring is performed by
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supervisors for quality assurance. It is in this layer that supervisors can enter
into the communication to resolve matters or improve responses. After an
incoming message is ascertained to be okay it is passed on to the final layer of
the engine (to the customer service agent).
(8) Manual solutions provision layer. This is the layer where a customer service
agent receives the message from the customer/user and takes relevant action. If
there is a proposed solution from the “Proxy” solutions provision layer then the
customer service agent can customize it and send it to the user. After the
customer service agent readies a response for the customer/user he or she can
dispatch it back via the other layers of the engine.

The modularity of this multi-layered XML engine allows for multi-threading, which is
the ability to execute multiple parts of a program simultaneously (providing service to
multiple clients with different requests at the same time). This means that each server
running this engine will be able to handle multiple connection instances at the same
time. The use of XML and modular construction design of this engine also allows for
creating server racks, on a need-basis, where multiple servers can be coalesced into one
unified server platform to increase processing power and resource availability.

Benefits of integrating with XML

The framework of an integration engine that can be enabled using XML has quite a
few advantages over one that might be enabled using proprietary technologies. Some
of the features of XML that make it a favorable technology for channel integration are:
(1) Separation of data from presentation definitions. XML documents represent
data without any formatting instructions. This makes for a highly portable
document that can be supplied (from the server side) across a variety
of devices/peripherals. Multiple run-time environments (support for devices)
can be supported at the server level and information can be accessed by the
client through a medium of their choosing (provided the contact point supports
it). Meaning, a user can connect using a chat session from a PDA or via an
e-mail from a computer and if the server supports the user’s channel then the
relevant XML parsers/translators can be utilized to interact with the user. Such
separation facilitates reusability of data and mitigates its redundancy.
 BPMJ (2) Support for modular development. XML formats are highly interoperable with
12,3 one another because they allow for the support of document classes. These
document classes are core facilitators of the extensibility aspects of XML. Using
document classes, a standard set of tags can be defined that is used in every
XML document that refers to a particular XML dictionary (Light, 1997). This
implies that there can be a seamless fit between new components of the
358 software with the old. A software application that utilizes XML as the core data
interchange technology can be developed in phases with additions and
modifications being implemented without major system downtimes or intensive
code rewrites. These extensions and modifications might need to be
implemented due to the dynamics of communications technology, customer
needs, and business processes at the organization.
(3) Use of plain text for document markup. XML documents are usually plain text.
They are not binary code or low-level machine language. For the most part, they
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are similar to English (or another language) and the purpose of the data within
them can be understood by referencing the tags that enclose the data. This
makes it easy, not only for the humans to comprehend the data within XML
documents but also makes it simpler to develop other software that might
consume or process this data. In the proposed contact point framework, this
plain text nature helps the flow of data through the various layers with extreme
transparency and openness and makes for easy management and maintenance
of the components of the software.
(4) Open ended architecture. XML vocabularies can be used to create new
vocabularies. This means that businesses can avail of the other advantages of
using XML technologies for empowering their contact point but can also
develop their own XML vocabularies to streamline their operations and gain a
competitive edge on their competitors. Businesses that have specialized clientele
and service customers with unique needs can create also custom XML
vocabularies that best fit their business needs in relation to these special
customers (e.g. a business might need to use a special XML vocabulary for
Department of Defense sub-contracting).
(5) Non-proprietary technology. XML is an open standard and hence software that
is built using XML vocabularies would likely have a lower total cost of
ownership of than one which is built using expensive proprietary technologies.
Moreover, such software will also be easier to support as open source initiatives
have many contributors that are developers and end-users alike that provide
information and assistance mostly free of charge.

Conclusions
Just as the field of CRM is changing everyday, contact point technology is advancing
rapidly as well. Call centers are often referred to as contact points and have undergone
a major transformation – from being inefficient customer service centers to fully
interactive multimedia exchanges.
It is not hard to find good examples of contact point implementations that
have increased profits for their companies by the utilization of advanced technologies.
According to Norris et al. (2000), Dell Computer is an apt example that generates
over a billion $s worth of sales between their website and a futuristic call center in
 Bracknell (England). Polaroid runs an automated call center in Glasgow, Scotland that XML-based
is devoted to providing after sales support to its customers. When a customer in framework
Europe calls the toll-free number for Polaroid’s call center, the central computer system
at the call center identifies the location of the caller and routes the call to an agent that
speaks the prevalent language for that region (Norris et al., 2000).
Ultimately, every profitable business needs to keep its costs in check while
maintaining a steady (or growing) inflow of revenues. By using technologies such as 359
XML, they can function in a way where both these criteria can be met. XML is an
interesting language for the development of contact point channel integration software
because it has the potential to keep software development, deployment and
maintenance costs low while providing customers with all the communication
channels that they desire. Such software has the potential of raising a business’ return
on investment. It is quite clear that from a business perspective that advancement of a
customer touch point is an addition to profitability.
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This paper has demonstrated that contact point channel integration products based
on XML technology can be used to lower the design, development, management, and
maintenance costs. Two general approaches to channel integration were described and
critiqued and a third one proposed. The proposed framework can be an initiative in the
open source community where software developers can contribute towards the
modular development of such software. The use of XML as the primary data
interchange language promises to add value to the contact points of a business at a
relatively low cost. Further research is necessary to evaluate and perfect the use of
XML in this context.

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Further reading
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Corresponding author
William P. Wagner can be contacted at: [email protected]

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