Data communication detail 

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Purpose

The following section details the communications between the real-time software. This information is targeted at data communications personnel who have an in-depth knowledge of Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). This is a more detailed reference than the matrix on the previous pages and should be helpful when developing firewall rules.

Agent PC to ICM server data communications

Agent PCs need to communicate with the ICM server and whatever Web servers the agent uses in the course of a call (at a minimum, the Web server the agent uses to log in). The agent logs in by accessing a Web page, populating a form with agent ID and phone extension information (and any other information requested), and then submitting the form to the ICM process running on the ICM server (TCP port 80) by way of Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The agent then communicates with the ICM server using a dynamic TCP port from the agent PC to TCP port 8101 on the ICM server.

The agent PC conducts all real-time communications with the ICM process on the ICM server, not directly with the caller's PC. As mentioned above, if the firewall or a network error causes the TCP connection between an agent's PC and the ICM process to be lost, then the next call to that agent causes the agent to be placed in the Auxiliary (AUX) work mode and the call to be lost.

TCP port 8101 must be blocked from unauthorized sources (for example, the Internet) so that hackers cannot log in to the DEFINITY ECS. HTTP sessions (TCP port 80) and TCP sessions to port 8101 on the ICM server must be allowed from agent PCs.

The following diagram illustrates agent PC-to-ICM server communications. It illustrates all data communications necessary for an agent to log in, conduct text chat and escorted browsing activities, initiate a callback, and so forth. The only other data communication taking place from the agent's PC during a real-time call is Internet browsing.

Customer communications

When a customer initiates a session to an Internet contact center, the real-time system downloads a Caller Control Window to the customer's desktop from the ICM server using HTTP, and then the Agent Control Window establishes a TCP connection to port 8102 on the ICM server. All text chat and escorted browsing functionality is done through this connection. The customer communicates with the ICM server (and the VoIP gateway if voice is used), never directly with an agent computer. Once an agent is connected to the customer, both can send and receive Text Chat and Escorted Browsing data using their respective TCP connections (the agent to TCP port 8101 on the ICM server, and the customer to TCP port 8102 on the ICM server).

Internet voice sessions

Internet voice sessions use either Microsoft NetMeeting (installed on the customer's desktop) or the Avaya Web Voice Client (WVC) (consisting of a small applet installed on the customer's desktop and the Voice Media Manager software residing on a server in the contact center) to set up a conference with the VoIP gateway. Each of the voice clients has specific data communications requirements: