Sand Case

Sample Case Studies

Client Name:

The Challenge: HP was implementing a CISCO enterprise call centre for a new GSM operator in the Middle East region. The call centre will be responsible for handling the requests of call customers concerning everything from service activation, to bill enquiry, to asking about new offers. The client required that the Call Center integrate with ORACLE CRM solution that held all the customer information and billing. HP commissioned SAND to do the integration part between CISCO and Oracle. The Approach: When SAND started on the project, we first explored our implementation options based on the technologies being used, and the architecture of the systems that we should integrate. After a the initial investigation and with the help of HP's person in charge of the project we found out that the version of CISCO used an ICM (Intelligent Contact Management) which has only one TCP/IP protocol interface (GED 145) for sending requests and receiving responses for the things that needed implementation. The ICM protocol was analyzed and the needed functions/messages were identified. On the Oracle side, we were supposed to either make direct database operations to retrieve the needed information, or to work with the Oracle implementation team to build some stored procedures for our use. The Solution: After several prototypes were developed to test the best approach for situation, we decided to implement a standalone middle wear between CISCO and Oracle instead of developing java helper classes for the ICM to call directly. The decision was based on the expected number of requests per second, the server configurations, and on the complexity of the transactions. Developing a standalone middle wear allowed us to decouple the software from both sides, and gave us the flexibility to optimize our code without fearing an impact on both ends of the transactions. The middle wear developed using Java and implemented the ICM protocol for the CISCO side....