CTI (Computer Telephony Integration) Providers
What is CTI (Computer Telephony Integration)?
CTI is one of the core components of a modern contact centre operations enabling the contact centre phone system to connect to a computer system and enabling them to interact together. This enables contact centres to be more efficient and provide a much better customer experience.
In practical terms as an example, when the contact centre system is connected to a Customer Relationship System (CRM), it enables the contact centre platform to identify the customer who is calling (by recognising the phone number) and then populating relevant information immediately to a contact centre agent like the identity details, last order, last correspondence etc.
Or, when combining the phone system with the IVR (Integrated Voice Response) and your CRM tool you can identify the value of the customer and route them to a different queue or to your most skilled agents (or even the same agent they spoke to last time).
Benefits of Computer Telephony Integration in a contact centre
CTI is very common in modern contact centres as it offers a host of benefits including:
- A better customer experience - Contact centre agents can be immediately armed with the right information to help the customer saving them time and the need to repeat information. You can also identify VIP customers and provide them with priority over other callers.
- Reduced costs - There are a few components to this but a key benefit is a reduction in Average Handling Time which has a direct correlation on reduced operating costs for a contact centre. Some studies have shown by having CTI can reduce AHT by 30% - a significant saving.
- Improved data - With CTI you have the ability to capture information about all the customer touchpoints with your organisation enabling intelligent analysis and decision making.
- Increased revenue - Arming the contact centre agent with the right information can lead to increased revenue, e.g. "I can see you last ordered product x 3 months ago, would you like me to organise another delivery for you today?".
How can you access CTI?
Most modern contact centre platforms already include tools and methods to integrate with your other systems through the use of APIs or other custom-built tools. In fact, many of the leading contact centre platforms are ready to integrate immediately with CRM tools like Salesforce, Zendesk etc or Knowledge Management Platforms like Livepro, Panviva, Knosys etc saving you a lot of time and expense.
Like most technology, purchasing it is one thing but getting it to work correctly or efficiency is another! The vendors listed below will be happy to provide you with further information or you may want to look at engaging a specialist contact centre technology consultant who can help you with everything from procurement, implementation and optimisation.
You can also contact us on 03 9008 7287 or send us a message and we can provide you a free, no-obligation discussion on the best solutions for your business.