At the very core of the Teleportel value proposition is the high quality of video aiming at the strong sense of presence and the best possible quality of interaction. In order to achieve the best possible experience for the kiosk user and to ensure the acceptance of your agents to work with the system, audio plays a key role. It is often overlooked, but that is a mistake : bad audio can kill your project. That is why Teleportel has put a lot of effort in perfecting the audio component of the live interaction over distance.
This page describes the various audio possibilities for the Agent Workstations. These are the units used by your 'agents' who are working from a remote location, to interact with the customer or guest at the kiosk side.
The choice of audio technology and type of device depend on your back office environment, preference of co-workers ('agents'), culture and expectations. The systems have been designed to accommodate all the different requirements.
The Agent Workstation is compatible with different technologies when it comes to the audio. Good audio is as important as good video quality, in fact, often even more important.
You do want your agents to work comfortably, without being distracted. You also want to make sure that your Kiosk user does not overhear conversations from other kiosk users. The kiosk user should hear only the agent he/she is communicating with. The audio should be crisp and clear, without 'echo' or other disturbing anomalies such as background noises or interference.
Another factor to be taken into consideration is the 'look and feel' (aesthetics) on the side of your customer, i.e. do you allow the kiosk user to see the headset ?
Or do you prefer to make the appearance of the agent as human-centric and as natural as possible (i.e. with no visible equipment such as a microphone or headset) ? Clearly, in case of the latter, you may want to avoid using a conspicuous headset.
Is it a silent, quiet environment (not a lot of noise) ?
For instance one agent being alone in the room, with no or few people in the room ?
And/or a lot of space between the people in the room ?
In this case, you can pretty much use any type of audio equipment. It will depend on the preference of the agent, how you want to appear in front of the kiosk user and on the available space on the desk.
Is it a noisy, busy environment with lots of ambient noises ?
And/or are the agents close to each other ?
And/or are there privacy concerns i.e. especially with the audio coming from the kiosk user ?
In all these cases, we recommend a cabled headset or wireless headset.
Both the mike and speakers are integrated into the Agent Worsktation.
This is undoubtedly the easiest way to use the workstation; no hassle with external devices or cables. The audio speakers can either me mounted in the front or in the rear of the unit. The microphone is integrated into the front panel. Everybody in the room can hear the conversation. The microphone will pick up other noises / voices in the room. The agent needs to be relatively close to the workstation.
Some agents prefer to have an external audio speaker on the desk, in front of the unit, within reach of the Agent. That makes it easy to control the volume of the speaker.
The microphone is omni-directional and will pick up other noises / voices in the room. The agent can be further away from the workstation.
Is more directional than the tabletop mike and will pick up less ambient noises, albeit not for the full 100% . The agent can be close or further away from the workstation. This microphone has a mechanic button to mute and unmute the microphone. The unit is sometimes in the way but it does offer excellent audio quality, when the mouth is not too far away from the microphone.
Excellent results but some agents prefer not to wear this device all day. This headset is also very visible to the kiosk user. Sometimes the cable is considered to be a nuisance. For hygiene reasons, agents prefer their own headset or at least their personal , removeable earbuds.
Small and not conspicuous. This lightweight device is comfortable to wear and no cables are ever in the way. The audio quality is very good, noise-cancelling with 4 microphones. The 'speaking' time is max 7 hours. Disadvantage : if battery is not charged in time, the system fails. . Easy to operate, even using voice activated control. Every agent will want his/her own set (hygiene).
