Siltek Telecoms applauds freedom from Dictaphone

Local specialist telecommunications distributor, Siltek Telecoms, claims that the Freedom solution from Dictaphone International, an open-architecture recording system, gives customer contact centres built-in protection from obsolescence.

The claims are backed up by managing director of Siltek Telecomms, Michael Aitken, who is impressed with the versatile new recording solution that also allows users easier archiving and retrieval of voice recordings. He explains how it will endure, "Using standard file access methods like server message block (SMB), network file system (NFS) and file transfer protocol (FTP), Freedom allows users to easily take advantage of any existing or anticipated future storage device. As storage technologies are on the increase with companies realising the benefits of maintaining and storing important data, this feature will allow the company to use any network-attached storage device on a Freedom call centre." He reminds us that this additionally gratifies a companies need for a return on investment.

"Likewise, Freedom's plug-in telecommunications interfaces and operating system-independent architecture results in can easy adaptation, in the event of the contact centre upgrading its phone system, operating systems or network," continues Aitken, who adds that it also provides call centres with more ways to access and share voice recordings than conventional recording systems. Freedom's network-ready design and standard audio file formats make voice files accessible over any large or wide area network (LAN / WAN), Internet or Intranet, using any multi-media PC. Compressed .wav file recordings can be e-mailed to those who need them, which as he exclaims, is a much faster way to share information than copying and distributing tapes.

According to Aitken this is all possible through Freedom's modular design that allows it to easily adapt to a contact centre's changing requirements over time. He compares it to other traditional recording systems, in which the telecom interface and archive device are embedded in the recorder, making them less scaleable or adaptable. "Therefore," says Aitken, "the call centre will be able to add and upgrade to any new storage product using a network attached device."

The Freedom system consists of three separate components. Aitken describes them as, "A telecom module, a recording module, and an archive/playback station. The telecom module interfaces directly to a call centre's phone system for direct digital recording, eliminating the expense of handset couplers and external digital-to-analogue conversion devices."

"Freedom's modular architecture also means that the archive/playback station and recorder can be kept close-by in a supervisor's office," he mentions, "while the telecom module is rack-mounted or wall-mounted in the PBX room, eliminating wiring issues."

The recording module stores compressed voice/data on a local hard drive for instant access. Two recording modules fit into a standard 19-inch wide, 2U-high rack enclosure. Alternatively, a single recorder and telecom module can be packaged side-by-side.

The Freedom archive/playback station comes equipped with a 15-inch TFT flat panel monitor, and a DVD-RAM drive for centralised archiving of voice/data files. Using the workstation, users can retrieve and playback recordings from the recording module's hard disk, DVD-RAM, or any network-attached storage device. The workstation's Recorder Neighbourhood software is similar in look and feel to Microsoft's Network Neighbourhood interface.

Aitken endorses the product due to these features and concludes, "In an industry that has technologies converging and improving company systems, the ability to upgrade, adapt and scale upward is crucial to seeing a return on one's investment. The Freedom Open Architecture recording system from Dictaphone is a rewarding investment, truly designed for modern call centre management."