Specifications

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Unfortunately, there was no mention of
this in the installation manual.
After we started the CENTS service
(from the Control Panel/Services applet),
and set it to automatic startup, we were
finally able to login as the CSR. The
CSR window appeared on our screen
signaling that the agent was ready to
receive calls. We noticed, however, that
the windows did not present us with the
CSR’s photo as shown in the manual.
We went back to the Workbench
application and checked the CSR’s
Picture URL setting, but we didn’t
notice any errors. So, we called
EveNTs Software and were told that
only .JPEG pictures were supported. So
we converted the .GIF file to .JPEG and
pointed the Picture URL to the .JPEG
file. However, the picture still did not
appear in the CSR screen.
One last call to EveNTs Software
revealed that we needed to stop the
CENTS service on the Server CENTS
and restart it for all changes in
Workbench to take effect. Finally we
had the picture (Figure 16). This cer-
tainly is not an effective way to make
changes to the system but we were
assured that steps have been taken to
make the system more dynamic requir-
ing few or no service re-initializations.
Customer CENTS
The Customer CENTS module is used
by the caller to contact an agent in the
customer service department. This mod-
ule is distributed to customers free of
charge, and it is used in conjunction with
the customer’s Web browser to reach a
CSR. We placed the Customer CENTS
installation file (an .EXE file) in our
Web directory on the Server CENTS so
it could be downloaded and installed
from our customer PC. We used the
sample HTML file supplied with
CENTS as the home page in our server.
On the customer PC, we installed
Microsoft NetMeeting 2.0 and used
Netscape Navigator 3.0 browser to
reach the CENTS Web site. The sample
home page had links to download
NetMeeting from Microsoft’s site,
download the Customer CENTS appli-
cation from our Server CENTS, and
finally a link to contact a CSR.
In real life, companies deploying
CENTS would modify or create the
home page to reflect their logos and
convey information about their compa-
nies as well as the links mentioned
above. We already had installed
NetMeeting, so we clicked on the
Customer CENTS installation link
which downloaded the installation file.
Installing Customer CENTS was a
breeze. We filled in for some personal
questions such as name, address, and e-
mail, and we were ready to initiate a
customer service call.
On the CSR PC, we logged in to the
system signaling the CSR’s readiness to
accept calls. On the customer PC, we
pointed our browser to our CENTS serv-
er and clicked on the “Customer
Support” link. This action launched the
Customer CENTS application, display-
ing a window showing the system’s
progress as it tried to hunt down an
available agent from our CSR pool.
Finally, with our CSR located, it brought
up the CSR’s name and picture and ini-
tiated a NetMeeting call to the agent.
On the CSR side, NetMeeting
informed us of the call. When we
accepted the call, the NetMeeting con-
nection to the customer was established
(Figure 17). A property sheet screen also
appeared displaying information about
the customer and allowing the CSR to
make entries about the transaction
(Figure 18). The NetMeeting connection
between the agent and the customer,
which is independent of the CENTS
application, allowed us to share and col-
laborate on different applications as well
as speak with each other through our
C T I LABS
FFiigguurree 1166..
CENTS: Screen pre-
sented to the CSR after login.
FFiigguurree 1177..
CENTS: MS
NetMeeting connection
started by CENTS.
FFiigguurree 1188..
CENTS: Customer
Property Sheet presented to
the CSR while online with
customer.