Business White Paper
Enabling Flash Contact with
Table of Contents
Executive Summary.............................. 1
Flash Technology for Dynamic
Customer Engagement......................... 1
Genesys SIP Supports Flash Calling
through IP Ecosystem Partnership.... 3
Conclusion............................................. 4
December 2009
Genesys SIP
Executive Summary
As Internet access and IP networks have become ubiquitous, customers are engaging
with companies more often via online communications channels — including e-mail,
Web chat, Web-voice, and Web-video. These channels provide customers with an easy,
convenient, and intuitive experience; therefore, in order to achieve a higher level of
customer service performance, more contact centers are starting to support these types
of Web interactions with their customers.
Because of the substantial advancement of online customer interactions in recent years,
Flash media has become a powerful technology to enable real-time communications
over the Web. Today, Flash is already supported on over 98% of the world’s computers,
and no additional software is needed for customers to use Flash for communications.
Just as with the other channels, customers are poised to increase their use of Flash
technology to contact enterprises who are enabled for Flash voice and video calls.
With standards-based Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), Genesys SIP enables Flash
communications via seamless SIP interoperability with third-party Flash solutions,
which allows contact centers to take advantage of full-fledged Flash communications
over the Web.
Flash Technology for Dynamic Customer Engagement
Since its introduction in 1996, Flash has become a popular method of adding animation and
interactivity to Web pages. More recently, Flash is also being used for full duplex real-time
communications like voice and video calls. Today, Flash is widely supported by major browsers
including Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Firefox, Opera Browsers, etc. Such ubiquitous
support makes Flash a powerful communication tool.
There are several ways to support Flash communications. Just like popular Flash animation and
streaming video, the Flash voice or video call widget can be placed on a Web site, an e-mail, and
in various forms of documents such as .PDF, .ppt, .doc, and .xls. This means that any HTTP link
can initiate a voice or video call via Flash. In the case of the Web approach, the Flash call access
can be offered to the general public (for proactive contact or customer surveys, for example) or
to restricted groups such as VIP customers, specific product users, or partners.
A Business White Paper: Enabling Flash Contact with Genesys SIP | page 2

The call widget is often shown as an icon, a

button, or a small window on a Web page so
one can click the widget to launch a voice or
video call. Depending upon the design, a
pop-up window can be displayed on the
customer’s computer that provides the
customer with call status, video display, and
options to manage the call.This presents a very
convenient, quick, and intuitive user experience
since the caller does not need to make the
effort to call on a different device with a
separate calling number, which not only saves
the customer time, but also encourages the
customer to initiate the call while browsing
the company or product Web page.This instant
access lowers customer interaction barriers
and is perfect for revenue generating uses or
high touch customer service applications.
Similarly, the Flash call widget in the e-mail or
embedded in various forms of documents
(such as marketing brochures, manuals, data
sheets, etc.) allows a reader to launch a call
directly while viewing the document on their
computer screen (an Internet connection is
required). This is a very powerful tool —
particularly for product/service offerings,
Figure 1: Flash Voice and Video Call Widget on a Web Page event registration, or information inquiries
and surveys — as such intuitive user
experiences enable and encourage customers
to call companies in a very natural way.
Besides a basic two-way call function, certain Flash servers provide rich features such as conference, call forwarding,
call status display, image/graphics posting, customer profiling, and address book integration. Contact centers can
utilize the Flash call technology to improve customer service performance and even to generate new business
opportunities. For example, companies can place the Flash call widget of a new product or an upgrade program
on a partner’s Web page, in a PDF user manual, or in an e-mail containing the monthly billing statement.
Similarly, companies can also put the Flash call widget in an online advertisement banner, and this easier contact
method can greatly increase the cross-sell and up-sell opportunities to existing customers. In addition, it can give
contact centers a strong competitive advantage over traditional TDM voice-only call services.
With the Flash call technology, contact centers reap the following benefits:
A Business White Paper: Enabling Flash Contact with Genesys SIP | page 3

> Superb click-to-call customer

experiences while viewing Web pages
or documents online. Such Flash voice
and video call experiences can be
provided to any customers who have a
PC and high speed Internet connection.
> A unified user experience when
combining instant messaging (IM),
streaming/animation, voice call, and
video call on the same computer screen.
> No new software or setup required at
customer site, as Flash is ubiquitously
supported. Unlike some soft IP
phone clients, Flash does not require
configuration by the customer, and
only requires access to a microphone
and/or Web cam when initiating a call.
Figure 2: Flash Conference Call on FaceBook Page > Less complex setup for NAT/firewall
traversal as the Flash call is common
HTTP traffic.
> Cost savings as no toll charges by
carriers, and no toll-free phone
numbers are required.

Genesys SIP Supports Flash Calling through IP

Ecosystem Partnership
With standards-based SIP, Genesys SIP enables Flash communications
through seamless SIP interoperability with a partner’s Flash solution for contact
centers. Such Flash integration provides customer contact via another media,
expanding on the customer contact channels that are already supported.
Because the communications are via Genesys SIP, companies can blend Flash
voice/video calls with other VoIP calls within a single queue for dynamic
customer call routing.
Figure 4 shows the high level architecture for a 3rd party Flash gateway interop-
Figure 3: Flash Video Call with Instant Messaging
erated with Genesys SIP. This gateway converts the flash traffic into SIP signaling
and Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) media. It connects with customers
using the standard flash protocols — Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP),
RTMPT (HTTP tunneling for complete firewall traversal), and RTMPTS (over
HTTPS for maximum security). The RTMP over TCP manages the two-way
connection and allows the gateway to send and receive voice, video, and data
between the customer and the gateway. Through the SIP interface with the Flash
gateway, Genesys SIP then connects the customer Flash voice and video call with
an agent in the contact center.
A Business White Paper: Enabling Flash Contact with Genesys SIP | page 4

The Flash call solution is tightly integrated with Genesys SIP

Server and the Genesys Customer Interaction Management
(CIM) platform, enabling comprehensive and dynamic customer
Web/IP Network
interactions. As shown in Figure 5, all types of calls are managed
seamlessly by the same CIM platform, which provides the
RTMP/T HTTP customer with a blended customer interaction queue, so there
is no need to assign a dedicated team to only handle the Web
Flash Call/Video Flash calls. Agents are able to work on incoming calls from
3rd Party
Flash Gateway other networks (PSTN, 3G, etc.) besides the Flash calls, with
Customer SIP no decline in agent productivity.
Genesys
SIP Server
Conclusion
SIP SIP Flash-based Web voice and video calls enable intuitive and
convenient communications for customers to engage with
Softswitch companies, which reap the benefits of higher customer satisfac-
tion, better response rates, and lower communication costs.
Through the standards-based Genesys SIP Server solution
interoperability with partner’s Flash call application function,
Figure 4: SIP Server Integration with Flash Gateway companies now can greatly capitalize on business opportunities
from online customer interactions.

DYNAMIC CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT

Operational Cross-Channel
Performance Conversations
Management

WWW

CIM
Service
Delivery
Optimization
Enterprise
Resource
Optimization
Enterprise
Application
Enablers

Figure 5: Multi-Access with the Genesys Solution Suite

Genesys Worldwide Americas Europe, Middle East, Africa Asia Pacific

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