Connecting Teleplex to a Legacy PBX

In addition to connecting outbound agents directly to Teleplex, some customers have opted for the solution shown on the right in order to leverage their investment in an existing Avaya switch.

Teleplex and the Avaya are connected by one or more digital lines such as ISDN PRI, and agents can use their existing extensions (usually a CallMaster IV or CallMaster V).

Predictive dialing requires dedicated lines, so this diagram shows additional connections going to the telephone company or ISP.  Existing lines on the PBX could also be reserved to achieve the same thing.

Naturally, all of the features such as call and customer contact details are available to the agent when using Teleplex CallBrowser or a custom agent application.

This solution is much more cost-effective that the traditional offering for this environment, and is much easier to manage.

Inbound via Avaya Definity G3

Teleplex has been used before to handle overflow inbound ACD traffic from an Avaya G3.  The configuration was nearly identical to the previous diagram, except that the extensions were connected directly to Teleplex.

There are other possible ways of handling overflow traffic in multi-site call centers such as using a feature known as "Look-ahead Interflow" over ISDN.  When one center is busy, it can query the other centers and transfer the call to where it can be handled immediately.

Similarly, multi-sites can be linked using VoIP (SIP or H.323) over the Internet or a private network.

Inbound and Outbound via Fujitsu IP Pathfinder

A major life insurance company uses Teleplex for their 60-seat customer service Call Center.  The company also has a Fujitsu PBX with over 600 extensions for "back office" operations.  Teleplex and the PBX are directly connected via two ISDN PRI channels using crossover cables.

• The PBX extensions are configured as Teleplex "virtual extensions", so agents can just dial the PBX extension number when they need to "escalate" a call.  Likewise, the Call Center extensions have been configured as a special access group, so PBX extensions can easily dial into the Call Center.
• All of the calls in the Call Center are recorded.  PBX users can record important outbound calls by dialing an access code that routes the call out through Teleplex.
• Both Teleplex and the PBX have ISDN PRI trunks, so calls can come into the company either way.  Calls into Teleplex can first go through an ACD, and then to the back office.
• The company as different toll-free numbers for different produces and services.  Agents can dial a special access code that will cause a different toll-free number to be used for the Caller ID, depending on the nature of the outbound call.

Inbound and Outbound via Cisco 2850 Router

This system uses a Cisco router as the hardware middleman between a PBX a third-party application server.

Teleplex acts as a simple PBX, but also provides call recording capability.  This rather hybrid configuration was implemented for the customer's particular business strategy, but could be simplified (and cost reduced) by implementing the entire system with Teleplex.

In this particular case we connected Teleplex to the Cisco using ISDN PRI lines, although SIP or H.323 VoIP connections are also a possibility.

IVR via NEC NEAX, Panasonic, Toshiba, and Others

It is very common to connect Teleplex behind a PBX for IVR applications such as voice mail.  Teleplex is connected to a PBX extension line (usually analog, but sometimes digital).

Staff can call the application by dialing a pilot number assigned to the Teleplex lines.  Outside callers may also access the application by either routing particular trunks or dial-in numbers to Teleplex.