We are opening a call center in the USA in the next 6-7 weeks. We will have 20 agents to start, and hope to expand to 60 seats within 18 months. We will be tele-selling various products domestically including financial services.

We have looked into a few hosted solutions, and with setup fees plus the per agent monthly fees, we are leaning towards an on-premesis solution.

We would like to take incoming calls from our direct mail campaign, and we would also like to use an outgoing autodialer. Some of the products we will be selling have legal & industry restrictions against use of recorded messages, so for these products we would like to also have a predictive dialer with live agents.

We are looking for first hello technology (most important to us is not having that telemarketing click and second of silence).

We would also like to have ACD, AMD, IVR, CTI, Web interaction, coaching & recording features, and real time Do-Not-Call list / FCC compliance. For the inbound I will need some DNIS technology to split the calls to the correct sales team, since we will be selling multiple products.

We own an Avaya IPoffice406 telephone system and would prefer to use this somehow in the setup. We are getting a Avaya Digital Station 30 which should support our 30 or so telephones, I think this is called the switch. We are also ordering a new network server & desktops from dell. Since i am buying new computer equipment, i would like to get everything right the first time, and leave room for expansion.

Here's where i need the most help. I am not a technical person...i am even surprised that i know what the above acronyms mean. So we people talk about SIP, switches, dialogic cards, etc., I am completely lost. Here is what i think i know:

My telephone sales rep told me that VOIP service will not be any cheaper for long distance, so I should use 2 or 3 PRI/T1 lines into my center.
My telephone sales rep told me it would be better to have my dialer send the calls to my Avaya phone system instead of into a soft phone, because the quality of the sound and the headsets will be better….im not sure if all this advice is good or not.

According to several white papers i have seen, it looks like I will need 2 servers, one for the actual dialer board and one for the database, and i'm guessing that the first server will run the agent computers as well and will have Windows Server Standard. What kind of dialer board do i need, and should i get a board powerful enough for my eventual expansion to 60 agents? And Is this the card that actually does the dialing and receives inbound calls? I think it may be called a trunk card?

I think I need the second server will only hold my calling list and customer information. On this machine I will need a Windows SQL license…will I need a CAL for each agent?

If I understand everything so far, the 2 servers mentioned will go into a 24 port switch, also into that switch will be the 20 agent computers and a connection to my Avaya system? If the avaya gets plugged into the swith, do i still need a duual T1 card for the phone system, or does it never get connected to the T1 service since the Dialogic board is connected to the T1 provider.?

Now for the agent computers, does each agent computer need a special card & do and do I still need it If I am using the avaya system instead of a soft phone?

Do I need a “gateway” for PRI, and what is this?

Should I use soft phones or use my avaya system, and would I still have CTI if I did?

Then, what kind of software is most powerful, and the latest technology without being too overpriced. I have started looking into Aspect (rude and only speak jargon), and some Indian vendors (Parsec & Drishti), but now on this forum I see a free solution (Vicidial) mentioned.

Can anyone advise me as to what hardware i need to buy and what it does, and what software do i need. I will be forever greatful! And i hope all of this makes sense! I guess i need some expert help here.

DH