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FAQ
Who is Vayusphere?
What does Vayusphere do?
What is the Vayusphere Instant Response Server?
What's inside the Vayusphere Instant Response
Server?
Who needs a Vayusphere Instant Response server?
What is an example of Vayusphere Instant
Response Server in action?
What types of Instant Response does Vayusphere
Instant Response Server support?
What are the business benefits of
using Vayusphere Instant Response Server?
What are the unique features and benefits
of Vayusphere's Instant Response Server?
What enterprise applications can Vayusphere
Instant Response Server connect to?
Is Vayusphere Instant Response
Server an integration server?
What desktop and mobile IM
clients does Vayusphere Instant Response Server support?
What mobile networks does Vayusphere
Instant Response Server support?
Can the Vayusphere Instant Response
Server also be used to connect enterprise applications to
customers and partners?
Who are Vayusphere's partners and what benefits
does Vayusphere provide to its partners?
How can Vayusphere's
Instant Response Server benefit Wireless Carriers and Location
Service Providers?
Who
is Vayusphere?
Vayusphere is a private enterprise software
company headquartered in Mountain View, California. It was
started in June 2000. Vayusphere solutions are deployed at
companies
such as General Electric,
Lehman
Brothers, Intuit, Network Appliance, and Level 3 Communications.
By enabling both application-push (find and notify) and worker-pull
(investigate and resolve) interactions between enterprise
applications and distributed enterprise workers, Vayusphere
provides a single, secure platform for closed-loop Instant
Response.
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What
does Vayusphere do?
Vayusphere is the leading provider of Instant
Response (IR) server software and solutions. Vayusphere's
unique Instant Response Server, IRiS, connects enterprise
applications to distributed enterprise workers in order to
rapidly resolve mission-critical business problems where the
cost of delayed response is high.
Vayusphere offers four product families:
- Vayusphere Instant Response Server (IRiS)
- Vayusphere Instant Response
SDK
- Vayusphere Instant Response Solutions, a family
of Instant Response solutions built on the IRiS Instant
Response Server platform
- Vayusphere Instant Messaging (IM), a free
secure and scaleable corporate IM platform designed for
real-time communication and collaboration between distributed
workers.
Vayusphere provides out-of-the-box
Instant Response Solutions for:
Vayusphere InstantResponse solutions support
all popular Instant Messaging Servers including: Vayusphere
IM, IBM Lotus Sametime, Microsoft Live Communication Server,
AOL Instant Messenger,
MSN
Messenger
and Yahoo! Messenger. You or your customers can use one or
all of these products simultaneously, eliminating the need
to install new software on the customer end.
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What
is the Vayusphere Instant Response Server?
Vayusphere's unique Instant Response Server,
IRiS, connects enterprise applications to distributed enterprise
workers in order to rapidly resolve mission-critical business
problems where the cost of delayed response is high.
Vayusphere IRiS performs two unique functions
that significantly reduce the time and cost of resolving time-sensitive,
mission-critical business problems:
- IRiS enables enterprise applications
to automatically and intelligently find and notify distributed
enterprise workers of business problems that require instant
response. IRiS's Presence, Availability and Location (PAL)
Server dynamically tracks workers' ability to respond to
problems using real-time data about where they are, what
they are doing and whether or not they are qualified to
solve the problem. IRiS notifies selected workers, securely
and in real time, using Instant Messages sent to their desktop,
PDA, pager or phone.
- IRiS enables workers to collaborate with
other workers and other enterprise applications, remotely
and in real time, in order to rapidly investigate and resolve
business problems. IRiS's Response Agent Server manages
bi-directional interactions between enterprise applications
and enterprise workers. Response Agents enable distributed
workers to interact with enterprise applications remotely
using Instant Messages sent from the same Instant Messaging-enabled
device that found and notified them.
By enabling both application-push (find
and notify) and worker-pull (investigate and resolve) interactions
between enterprise applications and distributed enterprise
workers, Vayusphere provides a single, secure platform for
closed-loop Instant Response.
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What's
inside the Vayusphere Instant Response Server?
Vayusphere IRiS combines four powerful technologies
in a single platform for Instant Response:
- Presence, Availability and Location
Server. IRiS provides a PAL server to dynamically
track and aggregate real-time information about
the ability of workers to respond to time-sensitive business
problems. In addition to basic presence information
(e.g., are they using a desktop or mobile IM-enabled device
by which they can be reached) and availability information
(e.g., are they busy or are they available to work on a
problem), the PAL server can also track additional, customer-defined
information that may be used to further refine the selection
of a qualified employee to work on a business problem. Examples
of such additional information include location (i.e.,
are they close to a place where they are required to be
in order to fix the problem), skill set (i.e., do
they have the skills and experience required to solve the
problem) and tools and materials on hand (i.e., are
they carrying the specific tools or replacement parts required
to solve the problem).
- Response Agent Server.
IRiS includes a Response Agent Server that enables companies
to develop Response Agents that describe and manage bi-directional
interactions between enterprise applications and enterprise
workers. The Response Agent Server provides enterprise applications
with a single point of access for all enterprise workers.
Similarly, the Response Agent Server provides enterprise
workers with a single point of access for all enterprise
applications. Response Agents enables distributed workers
to interact with enterprise applications remotely, using
any IM-enabled desktop or mobile device, using simple keystrokes.
The type of application interactions, and the keystrokes
that invoke those actions, can be dynamically controlled
based on each worker's seniority, skill set and device type.
For example, a junior field technician may only be able
to query and close work orders in a field service application
whereas a more senior colleague may also be able to create
new work orders. Similarly, a technician using a PDA with
limited screen size might require a more simple set of keystrokes
for remote application interaction than, say, a technician
using a laptop computer connected to the IRiS server via
a wireless modem.
- Instant Messaging (IM).
IRiS enables secure and scaleable real-time communication
and collaboration with enterprise workers. IRiS includes
an embedded IM server, Vayusphere IM, and an IM Gateway
that enables IRiS to communicate with enterprise workers
using popular third-party IM products such as MS Live Communication Server
IM and IBM Lotus Sametime, as well as consumer IM networks
such as AOL Instant Messaging, MSN and Yahoo Instant Messaging.
IRiS also supports communications using non IM-based communications
tools such as SMS and email.
- Enterprise Application Integration
(EAI). EAI servers enable secure, authenticated
connections to enterprise applications. IRiS provides both
native integration capability plus an EAI Gateway
that enables the IRiS server to connect to enterprise applications
using third-party EAI products such as those from IBM, Tibco
and WebMethods. IRiS also supports standards-based interactions
with enterprise applications using current and future industry
standards such as Web Services. IRiS also supports remote
notifications from an enterprise application via Web Services,
SMTP or HTTP.
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Who
needs a Vayusphere Instant Response server?
Any company that needs to rapidly resolve
time-sensitive, mission-critical business problems with the
following characteristics can benefit from Vayusphere IRiS:
- Need for enterprise applications to automatically
and proactively find and notify enterprise workers, customers
or partners of a time-sensitive business problem that requires
immediate resolution.
- Need for identification and notification
of distributed workers based on their presence and ability
to respond.
- Need to enable notified workers to query
enterprise applications and collaborate with other workers
- remotely and in real time - in order to investigate and
resolve a business problem
- Significant cost of delayed human response
(eg lost revenues)
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What
is an example of Vayusphere Instant Response Server in action?
Consider the following example of a telecommunications
company resolving a network outage problem. This problem requires
instant response in order to minimize lost revenues and SLA
violation penalties resulting from network downtime. The following
sequence of events explains how Vayusphere IRiS would accelerate
the resolution of this time-sensitive, mission-critical business
problem:
- A customer reports that the network is
down and demands rapid restoration of their network service.
A trouble ticket is created in Remedy Help Desk.
- Remedy immediately and automatically
notifies IRiS of the new trouble ticket.
- Using dynamically tracked presence and
availability information, IRiS automatically finds the nearest
contactable technician who is available and qualified to
work on the problem.
- Having found a qualified technician,
IRiS instantly sends a secure notification to the technician's
IM-enabled mobile device. Since IRiS knows the technician
is both available and able to respond, delivery of the notification
is immediate and assured. The notification includes a pre-defined
set of Response Actions that allow the technician to remotely
interact with Remedy, or any other enterprise application,
in order to investigate and resolve the problem. Examples
of these Response Actions include AcceptTroubleTicket, AddComment,
ReassignTicket, etc.
- The technician uses Response Actions
to acknowledge receipt of the trouble ticket. IRiS sends
a notification back to Remedy to update the trouble ticket
and simultaneously sends a notification to the customer
who reported the problem so that they know that someone
is working on it.
- The technician then investigates the
network problem, remotely and in real time, using the same
IM-enabled device that first notified him of the problem.
In short order, he communicates with co-workers and interacts
with multiple enterprise applications, remotely and in real
time, to gather the information he needs to identify and
fix the problem. IRiS manages all interactions between workers
and enterprise applications. All IRiS communications with
the distributed workers are secure and encrypted. All IRiS
interactions with the enterprise applications are secure
and authenticated.
- Having identified the solution, the technician
resolves the problem by again interacting with enterprise
applications using his IM-enabled mobile device. Having
resolved the problem, the technician closes the Remedy trouble
ticket from the mobile device. IRiS notifies both Remedy
and the customer who reported the network problem that problem
has now been resolved and the network is now restored.
- The network problem has been resolved
in the fastest possible time by compressing every step in
the Find-Notify-Investigate-Resolve problem resolution process.
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What
types of Instant Response does Vayusphere Instant Response
Server support?
Vayusphere IRiS supports three types of
interaction. A typical Instant Response solution will utilize
all three modes of interaction.
- Application to Worker.
This mode of interaction is also referred to as application
push. Interactions between enterprise applications and
enterprise workers are initiated by an enterprise application
and managed using Response Agents. On receipt of a notification
from an application, a Response Agent logs into IRiS as
a proxy for the application, provides the application with
information about enterprise workers' presence and availability,
and serves as a conduit for communications between the application
and one or more workers. Using application-initiated Instant
Response, applications such as CRM applications can find
someone to instantly respond to customer issues. By using
presence and availability information to find and notify
a worker who is known to be present and available to respond,
this approach eliminates the time and cost inefficiencies
associated with traditional notification methods such as
email, voice mail or paging.
- Worker to Application.
This mode of interaction is also referred to as worker
pull. Interactions between enterprise applications and
enterprise workers are initiated by an enterprise worker
and managed using Response Agents. On receipt of an interaction
request from an enterprise worker, a Response Agent logs
into the application as a proxy for the worker, and serves
as a conduit for remote interactions between the worker
and one or more applications. Using worker-initiated Instant
Response, distributed workers such as field technicians
can instantly access enterprise applications to gather the
information they need to solve a field problem. By enabling
enterprise workers to access enterprise applications remotely,
using simple keystrokes on a mobile device, this approach
eliminates the time that would be wasted if the worker had
to physically find application-specific clients and log
into the applications directly.
- Worker to Worker.
In this mode of Instant Response, IRiS facilitates bi-directional,
real-time communication and collaboration between multiple
enterprise workers. IRiS supports both one-to-one and many-to-many
(chat) communication and collaboration. In an Instant Response
scenario, workers will often need to collaborate with other
workers in order to get advice or information, or to secure
approvals or authorizations.
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What
are the business benefits of using Vayusphere Instant Response
Server?
Vayusphere enables companies to significantly
reduce the time and costs associated with resolving time-sensitive,
mission-critical business problems. Vayusphere's compelling
ROI is driven by the following time and cost savings:
- Improved productivity of dispatch
staff. By using presence, availability and location
information to notify only workers who are known to be present
and available to respond, IRiS eliminates the time and cost
inefficiencies associated with traditional notification
methods such as email, voice mail and paging. This can significantly
increase the productivity of dispatch staff, enabling fewer
dispatch staff to manage more distributed workers. In some
cases, automating the location and notification of qualified
workers can reduce or even eliminate the need for manual
dispatch staff.
- Increased utilization and productivity
of distributed workers. IRiS can significantly improve
the utilization and productivity of enterprise workers by
only notifying them of problems they are available and qualified
to solve. In addition, by enabling enterprise workers to
access enterprise applications remotely, using Instant Messages,
IRiS eliminates the time that would be wasted if the worker
had to physically find one or more application-specific
clients and log into each application directly.
- Reduced rework. By ensuring
that workers are only assigned to resolve problems that
they are available and qualified to solve, IRiS significantly
increases the chances of getting the job done right on the
first attempt. This can significantly reduce rework costs.
- Reduced cost of delayed response.
By accelerating the resolution of time-sensitive problems,
IRiS can significantly reduce the cost of delayed response,
such as lost revenues or Service Level Agreement (SLA) violation
penalties.
- Increased customer service and
satisfaction. Faster problem resolution, and real-time
updates on resolution status, drives significantly higher
levels of customer service and satisfaction.
- A simple ROI model that
assumes a 20% reduction in dispatch costs and a modest 5%
increase in distributed workers' productivity yields a payback
in less than 6 months.
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What
are the unique features and benefits of Vayusphere's Instant
Response Server?
Vayusphere IRiS is the first end-to-end
solution for enabling closed-loop Instant Response. Vayusphere
IRiS is the first and only commercially available Instant
Response Server that combines a Presence, Availability and
Location Server, Response Agent Server, Instant Messaging
and Enterprise Application Integration capabilities in a single
integrated platform. This unique and powerful combination
provides the following advantages:
- Smart Find. IRiS's Presence,
Availability and Location (PAL) Server allows enterprise
applications to intelligently find and notify enterprise
workers of time-critical business problems using dynamically
maintained information about their online presence and ability
to respond. IRiS ensures that the right person is always
working on the right problem at the right time.
- Assured Notification. IRiS
only notifies workers that it knows are present and available
to respond. This information, coupled with the use of Instant
Messaging to send the notification, ensures near-guaranteed
message delivery.
- Actionable Response. IRiS's
programmable and extensible Response Agent Server enables
companies to define bi-directional IM-based interactions
between enterprise workers and popular enterprise applications
such as Remedy Help Desk, Siebel Field Service and Computer
Associates Service Desk. IRiS creates actionable messages
that include application context and an action list that
enables notified workers to respond to and interact with
the originating application using simple keystrokes on their
mobile device. Using Response Agents, the enterprise worker
can also query other applications and collaborate instantly
with co-workers, again using a few simple keystrokes from
their mobile device. By enabling enterprise workers to access
enterprise applications remotely, this approach eliminates
the time that would be wasted if the worker had to log directly
into the applications from multiple application-specific
clients.
- Secure and Scaleable. Using
Vayusphere Instant Messaging (IM), IRiS supports full encryption
for secure communications between IRiS and enterprise workers,
and integrates to enterprise authentication services such
as LDAP and Active Directory. IRiS IM scales to support
over a thousand concurrent users with sub-second response
times.
- Multi-Modal. Using Vayusphere
Instant Messaging (IM), IRiS provides the broadest support
for wired and wireless communications in the industry. Vayusphere
IM clients can run on Microsoft Windows desktops, Java-enabled
devices, Palm OS devices, Pocket PC devices, RIM devices
and WAP-enabled phones.
- Powerful Message Management. IRiS
provides powerful features for implementing rules-based
message delivery, queuing and escalation. IRiS can automatically
forward Instant Messages to non-IM devices, using SMS or
email, in the event that the recipient is offline.
- Seamless Integration with Third-Party
IM Products. IRiS's IM Gateway enables enterprise
workers to communicate with other workers using popular
third-party IM products such as MS Live Communication Server IM, IBM Lotus
Sametime, AOL Instant Messaging, MSN Instant Messaging and
Yahoo Messenger.
- Seamless Integration with Non-IM
Communications Tools. IRiS can communicate with
enterprise employees, customers and partners using wide
range of non-IM communications tools, including SMS and
email.
- Comprehensive Administration Tools.
IRiS provides both web-based and command-line administration
of IRiS servers, the PAL server and the Response Agent Server.
- Standards Based. IRiS is
written in Java and can run on any Java platform including
application servers. In addition, IRiS provides a rich set
of APIs for programmatic access to IRiS functions such as
the PAL server and the Response Agent Server. Supported
APIs include Web Services, Java, Perl, SMTP and HTTP.
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What
enterprise applications can Vayusphere Instant Response Server
connect to?
Vayusphere IRiS enables secure, authenticated
connections to Remedy Help Desk, Siebel Field Service and
CA Service Desk. IRiS also includes an EAI Gateway that enables
IRiS to connect indirectly to any enterprise application that
can be accessed through third-party EAI products such as those
from IBM, Tibco and WebMethods. IRiS is also architected to
support standards-based interactions with enterprise applications
using current and future industry standards such as Web Services.
IRiS also supports remote notifications from an enterprise
application via Web Services, SMTP or HTTP.
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Is
Vayusphere Instant Response Server an integration server?
They are complementary but different. Both
focus on streamlining and automating mission-critical business
processes. However, while integration servers connect enterprise
applications to other enterprise applications, IRiS connects
enterprise applications to enterprise workers. Integration
servers focus on business processes in which most of the processing
steps are performed by applications, whereas IRiS focuses
on business processes in which most of the processing is performed
by enterprise workers. IRiS can leverage and extend an existing
EAI investment, but with its own integration capabilities
it does not require an integration server to be present in
order to provide Instant Response solutions.
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What
desktop and mobile IM clients does Vayusphere Instant Response
Server support?
The answer depends on whether Vayusphere
IRiS is deployed with Vayusphere Instant Messaging or a
third-party
IM product. When deployed with Vayusphere IM, IRiS provides
IM clients that run on Microsoft Windows, Java-enabled devices
such as web browsers (on most platforms), Palm OS devices,
Pocket PC devices, RIM devices (e.g., BlackBerry) and WAP-enabled
phones. IRiS also provides an IM Gateway that enables IRiS
to communicate with enterprise workers using popular third-party
IM products such as MS Live Communication Server, XMPP/Jabber
and IBM Lotus Sametime. IRiS also supports communications
using
non
IM-based
communications
tools such as SMS and email.
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What
mobile networks does Vayusphere Instant Response Server support?
IRiS supports
Instant Messaging over any Internet-based network including
packet-switched networks, such as GPRS, CDMA, iDEN and Wi-Fi/802.11
Vayusphere IM also supports
Instant Messaging over SMS networks (e.g., for cell phones)
and paging networks.
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Can
the Vayusphere Instant Response Server also be used to connect
enterprise applications to customers and partners?
Absolutely. Vayusphere IRiS can be used
to support secure, bi-directional, real-time communication
and collaboration between anyone using an IM-enabled device,
regardless of whether they are an employee, customer or partner.
In many cases, a time-sensitive business problem will require
collaboration between internal employees and external customers
or partners. And, providing proactive, real-time status updates
on the resolution of an urgent problem to all affected customers
is an excellent way to improve customer satisfaction.
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Who
are Vayusphere's partners and what benefits does Vayusphere
provide to its partners?
Vayusphere partners with a variety of complementary
product and service providers including system integrators,
packaged application vendors, device manufacturers, wireless
carriers, and Location Services Providers.
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How
can Vayusphere's Instant Response Server benefit Wireless
Carriers and Location Service Providers?
Messaging revenues from people-to-people
mobile-originated messages can be increased by an order of
magnitude when Vayusphere IRiS is used to enable application-to-people
messaging, and desktop-to-mobile messaging. In addition, IRiS's
PAL server can be used by carriers to monetize their own PAL
information.
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