Convergys

Developed real-time dashboard with key Financial Administration metrics. Case Study: Convergys (2006) Convergys Corporation a global leader in providing customer care, human resources and billing services, needed to build an operations dashboard for AT&T Network Connection (ANC), a platform of long-distance services. Convergys requested that Armstrong Interactive (AI) design an operations dashboard intended to monitor the status of daily operations.

AI Methodology: AI projects follow a six stage methodology: alignment; analysis; design; development; transfer; and closeout. Conference calls, on-site visits, and e-mail ensured clear communication between the client and AI at all stages of the project.
Alignment: Convergys and AI signed a letter of engagement, describing the project itself; the objective, scope management, assumptions, risk, methodology, and deliverables; and the structure of the student teams.
Analysis: Based on analyses of the client, the end user, the programming, and development team planned the interactive user interface.With technical support from IMS, AI provided the client with detailed product specifications.
Design: The design stage consisted of establishing a content outline, site map, wire frames, and concept screens for the new dashboard. The client received a design document that explained design decisions and provided guidelines for updates.
Development: AI students then wrote the content for the application, wrote and created the interactive components, and produced a prototype. Next, AI conducted usability testing, revising content, and design as needed. Transfer: To ensure a smooth transition from AI to the client, students established a warranty and a plan for long-term maintenance for the application. The client received a CD, providing full access to all the files necessary to run an update the product.
Closeout: AI delivered the project closeout checklist to the client to finalize all outstanding deliverables and tie up all the lose ends of the project engagement.
End Product:
According to the client and end user analyses, the ANC dashboard needed to present data in conjunction with the following characteristics:
1) The state of the system and/or key elements should be graphically represented.
2) The state of the system should be easily ascertained.
3) The state of the system is intelligent such that missing data or new data received can change the state.
The AI teams built an expandable infrastructure/data store to receive and store key data elements. AI constructed a dashboard designed to show the state of key service levels and interfaces at any point in time. These elements included monthly event forecasts, service levels tracked with AT&T and Mediation Manager health.
Deliverables included:
1) Installable dashboard server side application developed for Windows 2000 Advanced Server.
2) Database creation code developed for Oracle 8.1.7.
3) Installation & usage manual
4) Original source files
5) Graphics Templates including both image and HTML

Student Learning: The Convergys project promoted student expertise in programming, data management and presentation, interface design, and project management. Stepping outside of the traditional classroom to develop a real product for a real client enabled interdisciplinary teams of AI students to experience the ‘real word’-excellent preparation for the demands of today’s collaborative business environment.