CASE STUDY
NORTEL NETWORKS CORPORATION
REPORT SPECIFICATION, DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT FOR NEW CALL CENTER SOFTWARE PRODUCT
CONTENTS
VALUE DELIVERED
SUMMARY
HOW SYMMETRICS HELPED
Nortel Networks (formerly Northern Telecom) launched its Symposium Call
Center Server software in May, 1997. Symposium is a client/server based
multimedia application running on industry standard hardware for advanced
and powerful customer relationship management in call centers. Nortel’s
Symposium product management team contracted with Symmetrics to
address Symposium’s reporting needs.
© 2006 Symmetrics Business Solutions. All rights reserved.
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CASE STUDY
NORTEL NETWORKS CORPORATION
REPORT SPECIFICATION, DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT FOR NEW CALL CENTER SOFTWARE PRODUCT
VALUE DELIVERED
Symmetrics assisted Nortel Networks
Corporation (formerly Northern Telecom)
develop the report writing component of
its next generation call center product,
Symposium Call Center Server. The
Symposium application provides call
processing, call treatment, call handling, call
presentation and data storage (both historical
and real time) for call centers. A critical
portion of the Symposium product is the
standard reports that ship with it.
Nortel’s business challenge was to develop an
improved call center product that
• Addressed current call center issues and
therefore offered a better overall application
• had enhanced database integration
• had a faster time to market than previous
call center products
• ensures its clients ROI on the product
investment (both hardware and software)
improved
• enhanced the call center’s resource
utilization
• improved end-user productivity
Nortel decided to use a third party reporting
tool, Seagate Crystal Reports (“SCR”).
Symmetrics’ contributed its substantial
knowledge of SCR, outlining for Nortel
an open reporting structure that would
significantly enhance Symposium.
Symmetrics then assisted in the design and
development of the 70 standard reports that
shipped with the product. Unlike Nortel’s
previous call center products, Symposium’s
report structure was flexible. Its reports
could be modified by clients and custom
reports could be created using the SCR report
designer. Symmetrics also ensured the reports
it designed were based on the product’s data
structure and that they seamlessly integrated
back into Symposium.
SUMMARY
Nortel selected Symmetrics to work with
its Call Center Product Management group
on a full report development project for its
new product, Symposium Call Center Server
software. Symmetrics offered Nortel
‘Symmetrics assisted
Nortel Networks
Corporation (formerly
Northern Telecom)
develop the report
writing component
of its next generation
call center product,
Symposium Call Center
Server.’
• substantial SCR product expertise;
• an capacity to understand the nature of the
call center business;
• its reporting strategy expertise;
• its ability to assess their needs at a high
level;
• access to the knowledge its principle, Mark
Cunningham, gained working in a software
development company, Seagate Software.
© 2006 Symmetrics Business Solutions. All rights reserved.
2
CASE STUDY
NORTEL NETWORKS CORPORATION
REPORT SPECIFICATION, DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT FOR NEW CALL CENTER SOFTWARE PRODUCT
HOW SYMMETRICS HELPED
Symmetrics’ assignment began with a
high level needs assessment and analysis
of technology requirements. Key Nortel
product management team members then
received product training to ensure they
fully understood Seagate Crystal Reports’
features and capabilities. Symmetrics then
assisted in the report specification, design
and development of 70 standard reports
that were integrated and shipped as part
of the Symposium software. Symposium
offers advanced skillset routing, call tracking,
customizable reports, networking capabilities,
multimedia integration, computer telephony
integration and Internet capabilities to handle
different types of customer requests.
Prior to Symposium’s launch Symmetrics
provided on-going support, consulting and
training assistance to Nortel’s Professional
Services staff who would be responsible
for installing the product at customer
sites. Symmetrics then developed and
provided customized Symposium/Seagate
Crystal Reports training for a majority of
Nortel’s internal call center consulting staff.
Symmetrics continues to provide custom
training to Nortel’s internal consultants,
analysts, product managers and customers
worldwide.
‘Symposium offers
advanced skillset
routing, call tracking,
customizable reports,
networking capabilities,
multimedia integration,
computer telephony
integration and
Internet capabilities to
handle different types
of customer requests.’
As part of the report development project,
Symmetrics suggested possible solutions
to certain report development challenges.
Database design recommendations were
also provided to Nortel’s database designers
to ensure they optimized the product’s data
structures to meet the needs of a report
writer. Symmetrics also provided consulting
assistance to software developers when using
the Seagate Crystal Reports APIs during
report integration development.
WWW.SYMMETRICS.NET
Head Office - Vancouver, BC
T: 604.688.0882
USA
T: 206.463.1287
E: info@symmetrics.net
© 2006 Symmetrics Business Solutions. All rights reserved.
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