CTI stands for Computer Telephony Integration, and it was enabled by the modern computing era when companies started having their own Application Servers in their own Data Centers. Now that computers can act as the Phone Central, it’s allowed for seamless integration between the software, which managed the voice communications, and any other IT systems in a given corporate landscape.
In terms of leveraging Operating Cost Reduction, the event of CTI led to the following changes and leaps forward:
Digitization of Voice Communications meant that phones were now a periphery of the IT Landscape and therefore voice would be traveling over the IP network (VOIP). This by itself represented a reduction in costs related to both maintaining and installing voice infrastructure.
With a CTI solution in place we can have our phone as a software tool in our workstation (Desktop or Laptop), as well as our Tablet or Smartphone, so any user can answer or dial from their office phone, independently of physical location or client equipment (as long as there is an Internet Connection). This enables cost savings in accessory communications or having to dial from your mobile phone number when away from the office.
Ultimately, the concept of Unified Communications emerged and that added the ‘off the shelf Integration Suite (platforms) approach’ by which the Voice Server (former Phone Central) now had the necessary software and APIs which allowed it to be easily connected to all “flavors” of email Services, Video and Chat, mobile devices, Databases and Corporate Systems.
In the beginning, the entire effort towards integrating the IT landscape represented a huge investment towards having a CTI solution or a Unified Communications solution in place, but with the arrival of widespread Cloud Services, the market momentum made integration much easier.
How did we do good work before CTI solutions?
In the past, if you were on the phone with someone and suddenly you needed to access the shipment dates and last invoice details about a corporate client, you would need to put the phone on hold, then search your ERP to get the invoice details, and the Logistics System client UI for the shipping dates. Now, a CTI Unified Communications solution will let you get all that information with a few “clicks” from a single UI, without needing to have corporate software application clients installed.
Now, what about the potential for generating additional revenue?
Having a wide span CTI IT Landscape will provide users with a number of different abilities to more effectively do their jobs.
Get answers to business queries faster when dealing with clients, which means being able to address more clients with accurate information from any place at any time, therefore raising the effective potential of closing more deals and, generating more revenue.
Teams will become more productive and effective, and although that does not mean they will generate less cost (although they will), it means they will generate more revenue and become more profitable.
CTI implies bringing into the “integration pot” information sources like new media (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and so on). Getting the information that flows on these channels integrated and available to you on any client device gives you more of a knowledge base to work with, and ultimately, a competitive edge.
Now, we all know that the client/customer should be at the center of any business focus, right?
So, let’s look at what any given client wants from a Service Desk or Call Center alike:
Single point of contact (capable of addressing all issues)
24x7 availability
How many times have you called a Service Desk and had to be re-routed to someone else to get the support or information you needed?
Most times this happens because teams only have access to a small portion of the corporate information about you and the service you have hired or are a potential buyer for. Enabling access to integrated data and information to those teams will represent most both cost savings as well as increased revenue.
A CTI solution contributes to the potential of increasing the revenue stream by:
Improving the customer experience and therefore enhance customer loyalty
Significantly reducing time to market
Now, we have been speaking about the CTI, which means integrating things like:
ERP
CRM
Production and Logistics Systems
Social Media
Voice communications
So, what does the future look like for CTI businesses?
Jumping a few years into the future and bringing AI and IoT into this solution context, imagine an employee (Janice) who works at a Sales Call Center dialing an identified prospect (John) to get a new state of the art fully automated lawn mowing machine.
Once Janice dials John’s number (or Skype alias, other) aiming to sell him the entry model of this new product, the CTI UI will lookup the connected systems and show Janice that John:
Has changed his address and now lives in a house with a much larger lawn surrounding area
Had one previous product from the same brand that presented 3 consecutive problems before having been fixed
The AI will then get some written transcripts of “bitter” words that John said over previous phone calls during the course of those consecutive complaints, as well as recent unpleasant social media remarks he has posted about the brand and the product
The AI engine then advises (on screen) Janice to start by asking if over the last 6 months (since the last repair intervention), John has had any issues with the equipment.
Since no mention of problems has been registered either on the CRM tool or mentioned over social media, either John has stopped using the product or it has been working without any problem ever since.
When John states that the machine now works fine, the AI advances Janice to tell him that there is this brand new product which has a problems ratio of just 1 in each 1000 (while the previous one had a 1 in each 100 ratio) and that although the price tag is of $1000, given his past experience as a customer he can benefit from a 50% discount.
CTI solutions not only provide better and more streamlined customer experiences, but they also afford more revenue. By being able to address complaints, potential sales, onboardings, and more all from a single UI, employees can generate more revenue for their companies.
