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Hosted Dialer Processes

CCS and ODS servers host software processes, called servers. The distinction between hardware and software servers is important, since the term server commonly refers to both hardware devices and software processes. The table below shows hardware devices and the software processes that run on each.

Hardware Server	Hosted Process	Description
Central Campaign Server (CCS) Coordinates database operations. Provides ODS servers with contacts to dial. Acquires data collected by agents for posting to the database. Sends campaign configurations, alerts, and other notifications to Outbound Dialer servers.	CampaignServer	CampaignServer is responsible for Rule Set processing and management of object configuration and storage.
	UpdateServer	UpdateServer maintains a Notifier connection with each Outbound Dialer server. Its role is to acquire database updates that have been generated by call center agents. UpdateServer passes this data to DialerTranServer, so that it can be posted to database tables. Each Outbound Dialer server uses PMQ to send database updates to the UpdateServer process. These messages contain updates for the Contact List, CallHistory, CallRecordSchedule and AgentHistory tables. The UpdateServer passes these updates to the DialerTranServer process, which starts the actual database updates by communicating with the database management system.
	DialerTranServer	DialerTranServer uses a database connection to start database operations. It passes data to the DBMS whenever data is received from UpdateServer. DialerTranServer commands the DBMS to update the CallRecordSchedule, CallHistory, Contact List, and Agent Statistics tables. The database management system does the low-level file management work. DialerTranServer uses a Notifier connection to notify Outbound Dialer Servers whenever a campaign should be started or stopped.
	DialerStatServer	DialerStatServer is the central hub for relaying and caching of statistic updates for Interaction Supervisor and statistic rules.
Outbound Dialer Server (ODS) Performs automatic outbound dialing for agents in that location. Makes intelligent predictions, places calls and routes connected calls to agents. Logs call outcomes. Tracks the number of agents available, and dynamically adjusts pace. Caches statistics and relays them to monitoring applications	Customer Interaction Center	Interaction Dialer works with the following CIC subsystems: Notifier: Acts as "traffic cop" for CIC subsystems and hardware. ODS and CCS both use Notifier connections to communicate. Interaction Processor (IP): IP controls which handlers carry out. Client Services: Client Services communicates with agent workstations to keep track of agents' availability status—on the phone, available for a call, and so on. The ODS depends on agent status information it receives from Client Services. Telephony Services: Since Interaction Dialer is tightly coupled with CIC, it places an outbound call by directly calling the CIC's Telephony Services subsystem. This process is highly efficient. ACD: Routes incoming ACD calls to the appropriate agent. Once an outbound call placed by Dialer has connected to a targeted party, ACD is used to route the call to the intended agent. Other: E-mail Services, Fax Services, Paging Server perform their customary functions.
	DialerServer	DialerServer is the predictive algorithm that forecasts when an agent will be available to take the next outbound call. It initiates outbound calls. It detects when no lines or ports are available to prevent Dialer from over-dialing. It logs call resolutions, tracks the number of agents available, and dynamically adjusts the pace of campaigns. DialerServer also provides statistics to monitoring applications.
	DialerStatRepeater	DialerStatServer is the central hub for relaying and caching of statistic updates for Interaction Supervisor and statistic rules. It relays statistic updates to and from DialerStatServer and DialerServer. It works with DialerStatServer to regenerate statistics during network outages.
Database Server Processes database updates and selects contact records for CCS.	SQL Server / Oracle	No special processes are used. The DBMS communicates with CCS using standard OLE DB connections.

Processes use PMQ and Notifier protocol to communicate. PMQ is used to pass database updates. Notifier is used to send control messages between process servers.

PMQ

PMQ (Persistent Message Queuing) provides loosely coupled communications using a store and forward model. Updates to call center databases and control messages are stored temporarily in queues, so that transactions and messages that pass between machines are not lost in the event of a network or computer failure.

To send a message or data object to another server, the source server passes the message to Persistent Message Queue—a subsystem that handles all low-level tasks of delivering a message from one point to another. Destination servers read this data without involving the sending server in any way. For example, the Outbound Dialer server sends information about processed calls to PMQ, for eventual pickup by the Central Campaign server. PMQ uses a proprietary Notifier protocol (which is based upon IP) for network transmissions. See PMQ guarantees delivery of database updates for more details.

Notifier Services

Notifier is a proprietary protocol used to communicate between subsystems across a network. In the case of Dialer, Notifier Services provide a connection between Notifier on the Outbound Dialer Server and Notifier on the Central Campaign Server. This connection serves as the core message transport mechanism between servers.