Design & Systems Integration
Design and systems integration is at the heart of Datapoint’s specialisation. It is the process through which commercial and operational needs are translated into technical solutions and then customised to function within a brand’s unique technical ecosystem.
The following list of activities makes up the design and system integration phase of a project and prepares everything for the following phase of service delivery. They are presented here alphabetically rather than in their real world sequence for easy reference. Their value and methodologies apply to both call centre and enterprise communication solutions.
Architecture Design
An architecture design provides the solutions baseline that guides systems development and procurement requirements. It is typically based on the outcomes of a solution scope and a functional analysis.
The purpose of such designs is to provide a system representation of all embodied system components. It defines their inter relationship in terms of the mapping of functionality onto hardware and software components, the mapping of the software architecture onto the hardware architecture, and the intended human interaction with these components. It is composed of a formal description of the system and a detailed plan of the system at component level.
Applications Design
Applications design closely follows the purpose and structure of an architecture design and therefore can be summarised as providing the software development baseline for implementation, testing and delivery of a solution.
Contact Workflow Design
A contact workflow design provides the routing structures and associated routing rules for all contact management. In this context, it refers to any form of contact between customers and a brand either from an online channel such as a web site or inbound/outbound communication via a call centre. The emerging choice of multi media that can be used across the customer interface increases the need for clarity as to how this is brought into a unified service that is manageable for both customer and brand.
The design inputs to customise a contact workflow are best derived from an associated customer contact strategy which itself should originate as part of a more encompassing customer service strategy. The contact workflow design then forms the baseline for implementing contact workflows on a specific technology platform.
Data Modeling
The function of data modeling is to structure and organise data. These data structures are used as key inputs to defining the functionality of database management systems which are enablers for many of the communication solutions Datapoint sells.
Data modeling and the associated task of process modeling are derived from a functional analysis and design baseline.
Functional Analysis & Design
Functional analysis & design is built on the outcomes of the solution scoping phase during which the overall solution and requirements are defined. This is typically a high level baseline reflecting business and operational requirements. It defines system and component requirements without normally dictating the system architecture.
The resulting framework provides a representation of all system requirements and their relationship to one other i.e. the requirements across functional interfaces. From this, the exact functional and/or physical characteristics of the system can be defined. The deliverables of this phase provide the solutions baseline from which the Architecture Design is approached.
Network Topology
All communications platforms are inherently reliant on networks to enable the flow of information and communication they receive and pass on. It is therefore essential that real time communication enabled networks are designed to guarantee robust and secure delivery. The design of a communication network is represented by a network topology.
The network topology defines the arrangement or mapping of the elements (links, nodes, etc.) of a network, especially the physical (real) and logical (virtual) interconnections between nodes. The network topology for a specific solution will be defined within the Functional Analysis & Design and Architecture Design phases. This provides the solutions baseline from which the right network products can be procured as part of the overall system implementation.
Persona Design
Persona design is a new frontier in corporate branding. As live interaction is starting to be augmented with voice and text based self service workflows, it is important to provide an appropriate personality to deliver them to ensure a positive customer experience. Voice portals and online ‘ask a question’ services are the most obvious applications that benefit from persona design.
The skill in persona design lies in being able to blend brand values with the service offering. In sophisticated applications this might also be segmented by type of customer. The final deliverable of the persona design is a document that includes a complete biography and list of personal and vocal/visual attributes. This is used to guide the subsequent development of the voice/visual avatar.
Report Design
Reporting provides the measurement baseline against which a solution's success and performance can be determined. The design focuses on the two main areas of reporting, historical and real-time reporting. Reporting can represent a business, operational or system view.
The requirements for reporting form part of the functional analysis & design phase which are then defined as part of the architecture design.