HUMAN RESOURCES

Companies

that can recruit the best talents, and retain them, will have

an edge in the long run.

Attracting

the best professionals is never easy, no matter what industry

segment we consider. The telecom and IT field pose a tougher

challenge, since Indian professionals are in great demand-nationally

as well as internationally. A McKinsey report on HR rightly

says, "Talented persons are like frogs in a wheelbarrow,

who can jump at any point of time when they sense opportunities".

The job of HR professionals has become all the more difficult

today. They not only have to recruit the best talent, but also

retain them so that the company has a distinct advantage over

its competitors.

A recent

survey of All India Management Association (AIMA) on "Retention

Strategies in Corporate India" talked about the problems

in retention of employees and the measures to be incorporated.

The survey was carried out in 135 companies spread across six

cities. The companies questioned had a turnover of more than

Rs 25 crore. The study focussed not only on sunrise industries

like the telecom and IT but also touched industries in the services,

marketing, and traditional sectors.

Overview of JTAPI

Why Java?

Java is a new object-oriented,

component-based computer programming language. These architectural characteristics make

programming easier and more flexible by supporting modular, reusable components (logical

code with specific functions) that enable plug-and-play design.

Furthermore, Java Beans component

technology allows developers to use application builder tools to easily employ components

to create new applications. Computing hardware platform and operating system independence

is achieved by the concept of a Java VM. A Java VM emulates a computer in software,

allowing Java applications to execute and behave as if they were computers. Sun promotes

the Java promise of "Write Once, Run Anywhere". As a result, no modifications

are needed to the application to run on different platforms. Applications are written once

and can run on Windows, UNIX, OS/2, Macintosh, etc.

Java can be used to write programs that

can be downloaded and executed on any computer. For example, you can create Java-based

programs to make web pages more interactive. Java applications can run standalone as Java

programs or they can run inside a browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer and

Netscape Navigator, as Java applets imbedded in web pages.

In the market-place, we are seeing a move

towards web-based computing, where networked personal computers are linked to server-based

applications. Companies around the globe are providing access to enterprise applications

and tools through web browsers on their enterprise intranets. This is in contrast to the

Eighties trend of putting more and more applications resident on the desktop. Network

computers and "thin clients" are emerging to fit this new architecture. The cost

of the desktop throughout corporate enterprises and call centres can be lessened by such

network computers.

The network computer is typically

configured with only a display, keyboard, processor, and some limited memory. It accesses

network resources, making use of a centralized server for common administration and

maintenance of shared applications. There can be significant cost savings associated with

this model. Network computers are ideal for the call-centre agent where most of the

activity is accessing and inputing information, with no need for intense number crunching

or graphics creation.

Why JTAPI?

The goals for JTAPI are simple: to create

a TAPI that allows applications to run on a variety of operating systems and hardware

platforms, against a variety of telephony networks.

Leveraging the promise of Java, JTAPI is

portable in that it provides software, operating system, and hardware platform

independence. Applications can run on a wide range of configurations wherever Java

run-time can be used. Applications can be written once, with less work and re-writes. This

means faster time to market for application developers and investment protection for

customers as they grow and change their computing environments.

JTAPI is intended to be a simple API as

well. JTAPI still requires application developers to be knowledgeable about telephony, but

reduces the amount of implementation-specific knowledge required to develop applications.

The "target markets" for JTAPI

ranges from the largest call centres, to desktop systems, to network computers, to network

telephones. This range is the reason for the "core plus extensions" organization

of JTAPI. (See the JTAPI specification for details about the set of modularly-designed

JTAPI packages: Core API plus extensions.)

JTAPI spans borders. It spans across

first-party and third-party call control and it ultimately will span across call control

and media control, blurring the distinction. The next release of the JTAPI specification

will add a media extension package supporting robust IVR applications fully integrated

with JTAPI call control. Lucent is a primary contributor to this effort.

JTAPI is not "just another telephony

API". It was also designed to allow implementers to build on top of existing TAPIs,

such as TSAPI.

What is JTAPI? SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000">

JTAPI specifies the standard telephony API

for computer-telephone applications running under Java. It defines a reusable set of call

control objects that bring cross-platform and cross-implementation portability to

telephony applications. It is a simple, modularly designed, object-oriented model that

addresses a broad range of computer-telephony functions. Applications written using JTAPI

are portable across various computer platforms and telephone systems, and even JTAPI

implementations.

JTAPI is a specification that enables the

integration of computing and telephony using the Java programming language. It is an

industry specification that defines telephony objects that allow application developers to

write Java-based programs that integrate the telephony/voice systems with their data

systems. Two important characteristics are:

• Operating system-independent
  
  programming language (Java).

• Telephony object definition
  
  (i.e., it is an object-oriented TAPI).

The JTAPI call model describes the objects

that correspond to the actual entities in the real telephony world. Examples of such

objects are the Provider, Call, Connection, Terminal connection, Terminal, and Address.

The Provider object represents the telephony sub-system.

This could be a fax/voice card in a

desktop computer where the JTAPI application is running on the desktop itself and

controlling the fax/voice card. As an alternative, the Provider object could be a PBX

switch or an ACD where the JTAPI application is running somewhere in the

"network" and has access to the switch using CTI links. Call objects are

associated with a Provider object. Call objects represent telephone calls. Address objects

represent telephone numbers. An address object represents the logical endpoint of a call.

Connection object represents the link between a call object and an address object. (For

detailed information about the actual JTAPI reference specification, go to the JTAPI

specification URL, http://java.sun.com/products/jtapi/.

)

Here are some of the JTAPI design goals: SIZE="1">

• Support both third-party and
  
  first-party call control scenarios.

• Compliment existing call
  
  control specifications and applications programming interfaces such as TSAPI and TAPI.

• Simplicity, one of the basic
  
  themes of the Java language.

• Compatibility with the Java
  
  Media framework (multimedia interoperability at application level).

• Extensibility of core
  
  functionality (Core JTAPI API + extensions for call centre, media, etc.).

• Support for wide variety of
  
  telephony applications and systems.

• Support for all environments
  
  capable of running a Java VM.

• Support for call control, media
  
  stream management, physical phone control, and switch-specific communication. SIZE="1" COLOR="#ff0000">

This article is a

white paper



by Lucent Technologies,


dated 27 October 1997.