I hate to use the word "holistically" (or its even cheesier, more new-age spelling, "wholistically") since it was one of the most overused words of the 1990s, referring to everything from business processes to herbal supplements to snack foods, but it applies to the call center industry so, well, wholly, that it merits dragging out of retirement. There are areas of the call center that ought to be planned holistically but sometimes aren't (traditional IVR menu design, for instance), areas where process are seldom applied holistically except in the best contact centers (CRM, for instance) and areas where the process must be holistic or it just won't work. Speech technology falls into the latter category. If it's not planned right from start to finish, it will represent the equivalent of lighting up hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of dollars with a butane lighter and watching the money burn. In a speech implementation, if each department has different ideas and requirements and they don't get involved in the multi-step process from start to finish, they will be left out, and the company will find an end result that suits, at best, one department. At worst, the finished product will suit no department at all, and will leave your customers baying for your blood.
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