Overview

Excel and Vocalocity have developed an interface that allows enhanced speech capabilities to be deployed on an Excel Converged Services Platform (CSP). That interface is the SwitchKit Telephony Extension Point (TEP). It integrates the Vocalocity Voice Browser with the Excel Converged Services Platform (CSP). By using the TEP, Switchkit application developers reduce their development cycle significantly.

The TEP is a library that is loaded by the VocalOS Communication Framework, where the Vocalocity Voice Browser resides, and uses SwitchKit (SK) API as the native API. The TEP provides event and function mapping between the SwitchKit API and the Vocalocity Voice Browser.

For example, when a VoiceXML script needs to play an announcement to one of the CSP channels, a request from the VocalOS is sent to the TEP where it is converted into SK API (PlayFileStart, in this case) and then sent to the switch.

From SwitchKit’s perspective, the TEP is simply an application that is connected to the Low-Level Communicator (LLC). The TEP does not directly handle inbound or outbound calls from the CSP. The call signaling functions must be performed by another SwitchKit application besides the TEP. Keeping the call processing outside of the TEP provides greater flexibility to the total solution.

With this architecture, application partners can easily integrate their existing application or create a new one and not be bound to specific call handling.

The application that handles the call signaling is referred to as the Call Processing Application (CP App). The CP App and TEP communicate with one another via the LLC using a SwitchKit API message, InterAppMsg (IAM).