Ancillary CentreVu Internet Solutions component connectivity 

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Overview

The components discussed below are considered ancillary. They play an important role in providing transport and protection of real-time and message calls but do not contribute directly to feature functionality of CentreVu Internet Solutions.

LAN connectivity

The LAN, composed of hubs, routers, and possibly switches, is used to connect CentreVu Internet Solutions components, including agent PCs. CentreVu Internet Solutions components, (apart from the DEFINITY ECS connection to the CentreVu Computer-Telephony/Message Care server, the CMS, and the ITG connection to the LAN) can be of any type. The DEFINITY ECS connection to the CentreVu Computer-Telephony/Message Care server is 10BASE-T only Ethernet and gateway connection to the LAN is either 10 or 100 Base-T half duplex Ethernet. The LAN must provide dependable transport between agent PCs, the Internet, the Web server, and CentreVu Internet Solutions components. CentreVu Internet Solutions communications between the agent and the Agent Router use TCP connections that must remain up for the duration of an agent's logged-in time.

The Avaya Advanced Data Networking specialists or Avaya Professional Services can assist in provisioning and tuning data networks. Contact your Avaya Account team for information and assistance.

WAN connectivity

The WAN, composed of routers and possibly switches, is used to connect the Internet to CentreVu Internet Solutions components. It may also be used to connect agents to the ICM/CTI server if the agents are on remote DEFINITY ECS expansion port networks (EPNs). The WAN must provide dependable transport of Internet sessions and message calls between agent PCs, the ICM/CTI server, and any servers (including those on the Internet) the agent uses to service real-time sessions and message calls.

As with the LAN, communications between the agent and the ICM/CTI server use TCP connections that must remain up for the duration of an agent's logged-in time. In addition, the Internet connection is a mission-critical business application. Internet customers must be able to reach agents, and agents must be able to pull up Web pages to share with customers. This requires a robust Internet connection that reflects the availability required of a business application.

Support from Avaya

The Avaya Advanced Data Networking specialists can assist in provisioning and tuning data networks. Contact your Avaya Account team for information and assistance.

Web server connectivity

A Web server may be on site behind a firewall, in a minimally firewalled subnet, on the Internet and not firewalled, or even across the country, hosted and managed by another organization. A Web server contains the Web pages that make up a contact center's Web site. One of these pages may be the login page for agents. The login page should not be known outside the organization and may be housed on a separate Web server.

The Web server is the first point of contact for any CentreVu Internet Solutions activity. When agents log in, they generally access the login page from this Web server. When customers place Internet sessions or message calls, they invariably do so from a page on this Web server. For this reason, the Web server and services surrounding it must be as robust as any of the other CentreVu Internets Solutions components. Just as the LAN and WAN must provide reliable transport, the Web server must provide reliable services.

Domain Name Server (DNS)

Domain Name Servers (DNSs) are used to reconcile machine names to IP addresses. Since names are almost always used in URLs, the failure of a DNS can prevent connectivity to these Web servers. This can cause problems with logins, Web page access, and customer communications. The reliability of DNSs can affect the overall ability of the contact center to service the Internet.

Firewall

One of the most important components of a contact center's Internet connection is the firewall. The firewall protects internal assets from the general public on the Internet. It also helps to protect against malicious damage to internal networks.