The Enterprise Application Gateway protocol (GED-145) provides a mechanism for Intelligent Contact Manager (ICM) or Contact Center Enterprise (CCE) the ability to communiate with an external application using a simple request/response mechanism. Application Gateway requests are managed from within the ICM/CCE routing script. The call router, under control of the script editor, will be able to make queries of a host, and base subsequent routing decisions on the results obtained. This could include: a) Controlling where and how the call is routed. b) Passing arbitrary data to the site receiving the call (via translation routing). The Enterprise Application Gateway interface is a TCP/IP socket based protocol. There is no SDK for this interface and therefore a developer is required to write directly to the socket layer. Alternatively, Cisco Advanced Services has a set of pre-built software integration packages which can be used to integrate external applications. Standard interfaces include ODBC, Web/XML, WebSphere MQ, as well as a COM-based API/SDK. These packages are a cost effective option in order to reduce development time and accelerate time to market. Customers should first review the Advanced Services offerings before building their own Application Gateway. Details on these integration packages and the Application Gateway Specification are available in this Technology Center.