This week, CosmoCom announced today the availability of its latest version of CosmoCall Universe (CCU). The press release leads with what might be considered self-aggrandizing hype, saying it "is the most far reaching and significant set of enhancements and additions to the vendor's unified IP contact center suite in its history." Having followed the company since its inception, and after spending almost 90 minutes reviewing the changes with the company's EVP, Steve Kowarsky, I'd have to agree that the statement is more than accurate.There is so much in this announcement that CosmoCom will be releasing a total of seven press releases, one for the overall release and six more on new capabilities. Three dropped this week with the "final four" (pun intended) due two per week between now and the end of the month.
As VoiceCon approaches, with its heavier than ever emphasis on UC, it seems appropriate to highlight what CosmoCom is calling its "Unified Customer Communications" capabilities. Several components have been added to CCU under this umbrella:
* ReadyRep and Business User: ReadyRep is essentially a part-time license for enterprise users that extends CCU to experts or back office resources for call resolution. Business User required more than just licensing--the addition of a basic set of PBX features that allows CCU to completely fulfill the communications needs of many contact center locations--without the former need for a separate PBX.
* CosmoPhone: For the Business User, who may or may not opt for the softphone client, CosmoDesk (below), the company is OEMing four of Aastra's SIP phones running CosmoCom firmware. (There are plans to certify additional phones in the near future.)
* CosmoDesk: Standard for Agent and ReadyRep licenses and optional for Business Users, with it enterprise users can benefit from the application integration features of the soft client, e.g., CRM apps.
* Integration with Microsoft Outlook: Especially relevant for the new Business User category, presence and click-to-call capabilities are embedded into Outlook.
That last bullet begs an interesting question: exactly what presence is being used to route calls to ReadyReps or display in Outlook? Given CosmoCom's close relationship to Microsoft over the years, one might think OCS. Today, it is CCU application-based presence.
Kowarsky has a wait and see attitude about building OCS and or Sametime integration. He would want to see two things before the company made that kind of investment. First, a very significant installed base of OCS (or Sametime.) Second, a very clear value proposition for the integration, one that would make CosmoCall Universe a compelling add-on for a significant subset of that installed base.
We could all name a number of companies that have shown a "build it and (hope) they will come" philosophy when it comes to UC. Kowarsky would appear to believe that only works in baseball movies.
