What is CTI (Computer Telephony Integration)?
What does CTI stand for? We’ve given that answer away in the heading. But what exactly is Computer Telephony Integration? In simple terms, it’s a type of technology that connects phone systems with computers, enabling a seamless flow of data between the two.
Whether your phone system is a traditional PBX or a cloud-based solution, CTI allows it to “talk” to computers or mobile devices and their applications. That means your team can make and receive calls—and carry out all related tasks—from a single interface.
We should point out here that you don’t purchase CTI as a standalone product. It’s one of the technologies that underpin solutions such as call center software or customer service software.
Types of CTI
There are three main formats for Computer Telephony Integration:
- Traditional hardware-based CTI: This connects computers with desk phones that are part of a landline-based phone system. It can do the basics, such as initiating a call from the desk phone by clicking the phone number in your CRM database. It’s also possible to connect call center headsets with built-in call controls.
- Softphone-based CTI: If a business has swapped traditional desk phones for softphones (essentially using computers or mobile devices as phones), CTI enables users to do things like click to call, access customer details, and manage availability—all within the softphone interface.
- Fully cloud-based CTI: This type of CTI connects cloud-based phone systems to other software functions, features, and tools. For example, it would enable you to integrate your communications software with ticketing software or workforce management solutions.
How does CTI work?
Now that we understand the meaning of CTI, let’s find out how it works.
We’ll start by rewinding to the earliest incarnations of CTI. Those versions enabled click-to-call functionality—so you’d find a phone number on your computer database, click on it, and your landline desk phone would call the number. These days, CTI is more likely to take the form of a phone client embedded within another computer program or app.
CTI can use direct physical connections such as wired landlines or LAN, although most modern versions connect via the internet using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology. This means users can access the phone system from anywhere, on any internet-connected device.
Either way, when users receive or place a call, CTI enables the phone and computer systems to exchange relevant data and trigger certain actions. For instance, the phone system sends the caller’s number to the CTI software, which connects with your call management software to direct the call to an appropriate agent.
CTI is often used in call centers and contact centers to integrate telephony software with CRMs. It helps agents and sales reps by pulling in customer information and displaying it as a screen pop when a call is routed to them, or before they make an outbound call.
With RingCentral RingCX, CTI enables integrations like a HubSpot dialer, which lets you place and receive calls without leaving the HubSpot app. This and the similar Saleforce integration can track all customer interactions in one central location, and automatically transfer call data into the CRM.
A little later, we’ll discuss how to use CTI in different industries.
Key features CTI enables in the call center
Through Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) technology, your cloud contact center software can enable a host of features that help your workforce improve productivity and efficiency. These advanced capabilities make your agents’ jobs easier while providing excellent customer experiences and improving workforce management.
Common functions Computer Telephony Integration allows for include:
CTI allows your workforce to use their computers as telephones for inbound and outbound calls, which allows them to answer incoming calls, dial outbound calls, put callers on hold, and terminate calls, as well as handle digital interactions.
CTI software can identify incoming calls and messages and determine if the contact already exists, as well as show the agent any open tickets or cases.
CTI can synchronize data such as interaction logs, notes, and summaries with your contact center software to provide a complete picture of the customer journey.
CTI can streamline outreach to customers by allowing the agent to simply click on the customer’s phone number in the contact center software interface or CRM rather than entering it manually.
CTI enables real-time agent guidance, listening to calls and providing information and recommendations to agents inside the interface—all based on your existing data.
CTI-enabled software can automatically dial customer phone numbers from your database, according to your own rules for who you call and when. Predictive dialers can even figure out agent availability.
CTI helps connect callers to an automated menu that understands spoken responses or keypad inputs. The IVR either resolves the query through self-service or routes the call to an agent.
Using IVR data, CTI triggers the ACD to send incoming calls to the right agents—based on availability, skillset, type of query, and caller ID.
Omnichannel capabilities: Another vital feature of CTI software integration
So, we’ve covered the main telephony functions that CTI facilitates. But contact centers handle many other types of interactions alongside phone calls. It’s essential that your contact center is set up to handle multiple communications channels—and even more important that all those channels are connected seamlessly.
Computer Telephony Integration enables you to offer a true omnichannel experience by streamlining all your communication channels in one place. Your support agents and reps will be able to handle every type of interaction without needing to hop between different apps. For instance, RingCentral RingCX uses CTI and other related tech to help you offer 20+ digital channels including web, social media, and messaging.
Every customer has a different preference for interacting with your business. Some may prefer to chat on the phone. Others prefer asynchronous conversations via instant messaging, while some choose live chat. Different channels are also suited to different inquiries, such as phone calls for complex issues and automated chatbots for basic tasks. CTI helps you meet them where they are.
CTI and other related tech means your systems can automatically pull up details of previous interactions on any channel. This lets you continue the same conversation across various channels without losing the thread. As an example, a customer might use live chat to ask for IT support. If the agent needs to demonstrate the troubleshooting steps visually, they can move over to a video call.
As well as offering omnichannel customer service capabilities, CTI technologies allow you to connect features and functions across your contact center. For instance, RingCentral RingCX integrates with workforce management and workforce optimization apps, helping you to create agent schedules and allocate resources effectively.
You can also get insights from all channels with real-time and historic analytics alongside call recordings. Managers can view every customer conversation on dashboards—monitoring performance, identifying sentiment during calls, offering whisper coaching or stepping in to help.
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Advantages of Computer Telephony Integration for contact centers
Now let’s take a look at some of the key benefits of Computer Telephony Integration, specifically for contact centers:
Omnichannel service lets customers choose their preferred contact method. Whichever channel they use, CTI pulls in details from your CRM so that agents can personalize each interaction, addressing customers by name and being aware of their previous queries and purchase history.
Not only does this make customers feel valued, but it also reduces average handle time (AHT) because customers don’t have to repeat themselves—even if a new agent picks up the baton. Lower AHT means shorter queues, which reduces frustration.
Because CTI facilitates IVR menus, ACDs, and intelligent routing, each customer is matched with an agent who is best-placed to handle the inquiry. This makes it more likely that the issue will be resolved in the first interaction.
CTI is instrumental in helping your contact center to run smoothly. Managers, agents, and reps from different departments can all access the same information and insights from a central hub, including those who work remotely. This breaks down silos and keeps everyone on the same page.
The ability to use features like Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) and IVR menus helps you to optimize efficiency, handling more interactions per day and ensuring that team members are neither overwhelmed nor sitting idle. Workforce management tools help you to schedule staff effectively.
CTI also means you can log call details automatically and monitor key metrics in real time. You can record and transcribe calls to keep an eye on performance, identify training opportunities, and offer tailored coaching where it’s needed.
Along with overall contact center efficiency, another key benefit of CTI is that it helps empower individual agents to become more productive. Time-saving features like click-to-call, auto-dialers, and on-screen phone controls mean they can interact with more customers—and spend more time with each one.
CTI also helps them to resolve customer inquiries more efficiently, with shorter call handling times and higher first-contact resolution (FCR). There’s no toggling between different apps, or pausing the call while they look up the relevant information. And there’s no need for manual call logs.
When they’re given the tools to be more productive, agents and reps have a better workplace experience (which is important in a high-turnover industry). Improved morale helps them to deliver consistent, quality service.
Computer Telephony Integration software and automated functions enabled by the tech help your teams to handle interactions more quickly and efficiently. So, as the business grows and call volumes start to increase, you won’t need a radical expansion of your workforce.
With CTI connecting your cloud phone system and apps, all teams can access the features and data from anywhere. This makes it easier to employ remote workers (locally or overseas), so you can scale up without moving to larger premises.
When you implement CTI as part of SaaS software like RingCentral RingCX, you’ll be able to add (or remove) seats and features whenever you need to, accommodating busy periods and changing customer preferences. You can easily integrate new business apps via CTI.
Introducing CTI can significantly lower your operational costs, thanks to streamlined tech and increased efficiency. Automated tools mean you can achieve more with the same amount of staff, while allowing agents and reps to spend more time on tasks that generate revenue.
CTI also helps you to optimize workforce scheduling, allocating resources effectively. As we mentioned, cloud tech means you can save money by operating remotely, and you also don’t need to buy any physical hardware such as desk phones.
By offering a better experience for customers, you’ll see an increase in sales and retention, trimming the cost of customer acquisition. Improved staff retention also helps you to maximize savings.
Applications and use cases for CTI
Who uses CTI, and why? Here’s a look at how to use Computer Telephony Integration in different businesses and organizations.
Inbound customer service and support is one of the most typical use cases for CTI. We’ve already discussed how contact centers leverage it to help agents personalize conversations and accelerate the resolution of customer queries.
It’s also useful for IT support, since agents can view previous tickets and see if the customer has already been shown some troubleshooting steps. The customer doesn’t have to repeat information when they’re already frustrated with their technical issue.
CTI enables reps in outbound contact centers to interact with more prospects and customers thanks to automated tools like predictive dialers and click-to-call functionality. They can also automate lead scoring and qualification, and check CRM data to identify targets for upselling and cross-selling.
Another common use case in outbound contact centers is proactive customer service, such as sending out surveys after an interaction or a purchase. This helps to drive customer loyalty.
In healthcare settings, CTI is highly useful because it enables admin staff and medical personnel to view patient records and notes from the database when interacting with patients via phone or another channel. They don’t have to put the patient on hold while they search through files.
As well as addressing inquiries and scheduling appointments, healthcare providers can leverage CTI and related tech to send out reminders automatically. This means fewer missed appointments, and reduced costs.
CTI has several use cases in ecommerce and retail, whether the contact center handles inbound or outbound interactions. It’s easy for customers to use an IVR menu to resolve simple queries about store opening times or to track an online order.
Agents can take over to manage more complex interactions relating to product specification or returns policies, as well as viewing details of previous purchases and recommending other products.
Financial organizations such as banks also use CTI to deploy IVR menus, helping customers to complete tasks like checking their account balance and passing them through to agents for any serious issues. It can link the phone system with security features like SMS verification apps.
CTI also helps financial institutions to comply with regulatory requirements, because all customer information from interactions is logged automatically and stored securely in one place—creating an auditable trail.
How to implement CTI in your contact center
Implementing CTI is pretty simple, as long as you choose the right contact center solution that brings the tech to the table.
The first step is to assess the current status of your contact center, in terms of performance and the tech that powers it. What do you need to improve? What’s your IT budget? Talk to your agents and reps and ask them what tools would boost efficiency and job satisfaction, and look at customer feedback about your interactions.
Once you know what you want to improve, define a set of goals and outline how CTI implementation will help. For example, if you aim to increase first-contact resolution, you might decide that screen pops enabled by CTI will give agents the data they need. Put a specific figure on each goal, such as an increase of 40 percent over the coming year.
Carry out research into the available software. Remember, CTI itself isn’t a standalone product—so you’ll be looking for an overall contact center solution that includes CTI. Look closely at the features offered by each provider, and take advantage of free trials and demos so that managers and agents can get a feel for the software and give feedback.
It’s a good idea to choose a user-friendly solution that offers simple implementation and onboarding. With cloud-based software, there’s no hardware to set up—just install the app on your computers and mobile devices and you’re good to go. Make sure you provide full training to all users, so that they know exactly how to make the most of the new system.
Once you’re up and running, keep an eye on your key metrics and compare them with previous results to see what kind of impact your CTI-enabled solution is having on contact center performance. Make adjustments if necessary, and keep monitoring to allow for changing factors like call volumes, workforce schedules, and customer behaviors.
All the benefits of Computer Telephony Integration from one intuitive solution
The best way to maximize the benefits of CTI is to choose a contact center solution with a ton of features and functionality. RingCentral RingCX makes it easy to set up an omnichannel contact center, connecting all your communications and leveraging AI for better customer and agent experiences.
In one platform, you have everything you need to manage a super-efficient contact center, from predictive dialers and intelligent routing to live coaching, workforce engagement, and real-time analytics.
Agents and reps are in control of interactions, and could even make and receive calls from within CRMs like HubSpot and Salesforce as well as having instant access to customer info, with the right integrations. The AI Assistant delivers summaries and recommended action items after every interaction.
The icing on the cake is that you can deploy the cloud-based solution in just a few days.
Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) FAQs
Let’s say you’re running an ecommerce contact center. Through CTI, you can connect your communications system with your CRM. If a customer calls about a missing order, the agent instantly sees the order history and record of any previous interactions—meaning they can resolve the query quickly.