8/28/2007 -- Cisco Systems Inc. notched a major customer win earlier this month when telecommunications giant AT&T announced that Cisco's Unified Contact Center (UCC) had been certified for use with its still-incubating IP Toll-Free Service, which launched just four months ago.

The win is a coup of sorts for Cisco, as AT&T -- thanks to its acquisition of the former BellSouth and Cingular -- is the largest U.S. provider of local and long-distance, as well as wireless, telephone services.

The deal calls for technology collaboration, too, particularly in the area of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). Over time, both companies plan to integrate SIP extensions into their products or services.

"SIP-based VoIP enables call transfers to occur before or after calls are answered; information-delivery extensions allow for efficient delivery of more data in more formats to the final called party," said Cindy Whelan, a senior analyst for business network services with consultancy Current Analysis. "AT&T and Cisco anticipate that new capabilities resulting from the partnership will enhance call-handling efficiency and resource optimization, reducing customers' costs."

On the other hand, because the accord involves AT&T's VoIP service, IP Toll-Free, its potential impact will be limited in the short-term by lackluster business adoption of VoIP -- in the call center, at least.

"Large call centers are not going to move directly to a VoIP-based solution. There will be a slow migration as they acclimate to the technology," Whelan said.

On the plus side, both vendors have anticipated as much: "AT&T and Cisco are working together to support hybrid IP and TDM solutions, and to enhance call-handling capabilities with the aim of reducing the cost and complexity of call center services," Whelan said.

However, she added, AT&T has been slow to embrace VoIP on the whole. Its accord with Cisco should help it to quickly make up for lost time. "[E]ven though large contact centers are moving very slowly toward IP, AT&T was well-behind some major competitors in launching even preliminary VoIP-based services for its contact center customers," she explained, citing competition from Verizon Business and Qwest, in particular. "[Both vendors] have had IP Toll-Free and some SIP-based ECR services for over a year, and Verizon Business touts an extensive list of IP-enabled call center features."

On the other hand, AT&T isn't too late to the party -- and Cisco, as its premier VoIP partner, will almost certainly benefit.

"[S]ince contact centers are just beginning to look at migration to IP-enabled services, AT&T's announcements of IP-enabled contact center services are timely," Whelan said. --Stephen Swoyer