Computer telephony integration (CTI) is the middleware application that enables the telephony and computer systems to talk to each other. It synchronizes the voice call with the associated customer data when the ACD places the call to an appropriate agent. A CTI enables agents to get the customer information on the desktop and thereby improve interaction with the end customer. This also improves the average handling time of a call because it helps shortens the talk time. Thus, a CTI that is integrated with the ACD and the back-end applications can provide good returns on investment.

TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS
CTI is usually complementary to the ACD because it relays the call-event details along with the customer information to the agent’s desktop.

l Two Options: First is to have the proprietary CTI interface that comes with the ACD and the switch. However, even with a proprietary switch, there are standard CTI links available with PBX/ACD vendors such as Avaya, Nortel, Cisco, and Aspect who have developed CTI integration for working with the various database and CRM applications. Third-party customized application options are available which can integrate with the ACD platform with necessary ready-telephony APIs.

Secondly, and more recently, CTIs have taken on a distinctly PC/LAN flavor as Microsoft/Intel and Novell/AT&T are building applications on a dialogic platform. Most of the PBX and ACD vendors today have adopted the computer-supported telephony applications (CSTA) standard.

l Various Flavors: From the simple functionality of fetching caller information based on CLI/ANI to be populated on agent screen, to the more complex functions like screen transfer when an agent transfers the call to supervisor or another agent. The simple—name and address—information can be populated on agent’s desktop where the desktop application will have a ready interface to the telephony device.

l Optimizing It: Various things need to be kept in mind for optimizing the CTI deployment. First, all calls need not land up at an agent’s desk. There are many routine queries that can be handled by an IVR, and the CTI must be intelligent enough to forward such calls to an IVR. This can contribute a lot towards optimum agent utilization.

Second, one must plan the call flow meticulously, taking care not to make the call holding periods too long. Often, IVR services are too lengthy and tests the customers’ patience to the edge. It is important to remember that the IVR is deployed for better customer care therefore the customer experience must take precedence over other considerations: technical, financial, or otherwise.

Third, the success of good IVR services depends, in large measure, on having good back-end systems where information flow from the database server is synchronized properly with the IVR. The IVR can be directly connected to the corporate database, in which case costs are reduced greatly, but there will be need for elaborate security systems. This can also increase the load on the database for other corporate users, leading to high response time. Therefore, in many cases, corporates create a snapshot of the database to feed the IVR; it also improves the response time.

However, when creating a snapshot, it is very important to maintain synchronization between the local database and the central database otherwise it will again lead to increased lag in response time. Synchronization is also important for providing different levels of responses according to the time of the query. For instance, daytime and nighttime queries may require different treatments.