Maximize Your Testing Session

As IQ Services has grown, we have worked with customers around the world to test their contact center and communication systems. Throughout this time, we have identified three key steps that help make the testing process a success: the preparation phase, the testing phase and the post-testing phase. This article will provide a short summary of each of these phases. It is my hope to provide you with a “high level” view of the testing process.

Preparation Phase

The preparation phase lays the groundwork for a successful testing session, so it’s important to spend some quality time working with IQ Services and your team during this phase.

The most important question to ask is, “Why are we testing?” We’ve learned that many customers know they want to test their systems, but they do not take time to set up definable objectives that quantify what should be accomplished during the testing process. In order to do this, you must set up pass/fail criteria for your system. These criteria will allow you to make the most of your testing session and walk away with tangible results that can help your company.

It’s also important to keep in mind the production date for your system. Typically, customers use their production date as the “end date” for testing and work backwards from there to determine a testing schedule. As you create a schedule, make sure that you leave enough time between the first testing session and the production date to allow for trouble shooting and retesting that may be required after the first testing session. The IQ Services team helps you create a testing schedule and plan that works for your company.

After setting clear objectives and creating a workable timetable, the next important element of the preparation phase is assigning responsibilities within your team for the testing project. You need to determine who will be working with IQ Services, who will be working with the internal customer and who will be working with vendors. This may be one person or several people; it is important to clarify responsibility now to ensure smooth testing down the road.

At this point, we are ready to help you select how to test your system. We help you determine what type of call scenarios will best fill your system with live traffic that simulates customer usage and best meet your test objectives. Once we determine the test cases, you provide IQ Services with any data needed as part of the input for the call (SSNs, account numbers, PINs).

The final, and most important aspect of the preparation phase is making sure that your system is ready for testing. I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve begun our set up calls only to find out that the system is not configured to function the way the customer expects. It’s important to communicate with your entire team and confirm functionality before IQ Services begins StressTest™ set up. Once we begin placing setup calls into the system, you need to freeze the system to all changes. If we begin set up calls and find the system improperly set up or run into coding changes mid-setup, your StressTest™ could be delayed hours or even days.

Testing Phase

After fully preparing, we are now ready for the actual testing session. Just before the scheduled test, IQ Services sends a small number of test calls into your system to confirm that no changes have been made to the system since setup.

You will also need to confirm the entire environment is ready for the test. Check on host availability, planned batch processes, switch maintenance and any other outside influences that might affect the testing environment. If any of these is not available, we may have to delay testing or have unexpectedly skewed results. You’ll also want to address the issue of internal logging and how it could affect the testing.

At this point, all of your team members and the necessary IQ Services team members should be present on the conference bridge. Your team should also have access to ORCA™, the Online Reporting and Charting Application™.

Since its 2004 introduction, ORCA™ has become one of the most important and useful tools for customers during the testing process. ORCA™ provides real time access to information about test progress and system response. Your team can see system issues—as they develop—through their Internet access. One of our customers maximizes their ORCA™ access and uses two PC monitors during the test. One screen displays the current testing session and the real time data. The other monitor displays ORCA™ data from past testing sessions so they can compare and track the success of changes to the system. ORCA™ has many valuable uses such as this. IQ Services can help you learn more about using ORCA™ to maximize your specific testing session.

Post-Testing Phase

After we complete the testing session, you’ll receive the data you need to evaluate the results against the objectives you set earlier in the process. IQ Services provides this data in three basic formats. The first, and fastest, is the data from ORCA™, which you can print as soon as the testing session is complete. The second and third formats are report options: the scatter diagram report and the call detail report. Once you complete the StressTest™ and experience your system performance, you will then be able to decide the report type you would like. This is an important part of the process because different types of reports can better aid you in analysis of your system. We will use our experience to help you decide what report format will be best for you.

The scatter diagram report provides a complete picture of what happened during the test and provides additional data that may not have been visible on ORCA™. These reports can focus on a variety of data, depending on customer needs. Our engineering staff analyzes the test data when they create these reports and often pick up information that was not readily seen during the testing process. The call detail report is an Excel spreadsheet that allows the customer to view the data in any manner they choose.

Other considerations for the post-testing phase include determining who will receive the reports and how this person will distribute them. You will also need to determine what objective levels indicate success or failure, and who will make this decision. A key part of answering this question that often gets overlooked is creating an action plan in the event of system failure. These plans frequently include trouble-shooting and subsequent testing sessions.

We’ve learned that following these steps and addressing the issues surrounding them at the appropriate time can help customers get the most out of their testing sessions. With well thought out goals, communication and planning, you can experience a more valuable and cost-effective testing session with clear, quantitative results.