Computer Telephony Integration (In North America) - from the Internet to the Desktop
Date:
By: Stephen Coates
Classification: Research Report
CTI is the technology at the core of the modern call centre. It integrates not just the organisation’s computer and telephone systems; it integrates the applications to make every phone call, inbound and outbound, smarter. And although the most widely-known CTI application is screen population or screen pop, CTI is also used by other call centre applications including quality monitoring, e-mail management, predictive dialling and CRM.
What the Reports Cover
This technology is being adopted so widely and rapidly that some vendors and some commentators, who are more enthusiastic than informed, are replacing the term computer telephony integration with the term computer telephony or simply CT. These reports take a hard look at this implied claim the CT provides architecture in which integration is inherent. CTI is the integration of applications, not just systems. So while CTI software can be purchased, CTI applications must be built. Who sells the software, what licence fees are involved and what additional costs can be expected to be incurred are discussed in detail.
The report comprehensively covers the technologies and terminologies. What’s the difference between first and third party CTI; what are CSTA, TAPI, TSAPI and the other CTI protocols in use in the respective market (28 in Europe and 23 in North America); what CTI is and what it is not; and such widely bantered terms like “open”, “proprietary”, “standard”, “legacy systems”, and CRM are explained so readers will not be befuddled by their inappropriate use.
The North American report provides the CTI software market shares in Canada and the USA. The European report does so for the Benelux countries, France, Germany, Italy, Iberia and the UK. The respective reports also provide the range of and market share weighted average per-agent licence fees (Europeans pay slightly more) and professional service charges.
Of particular interest, especially for the developers of such systems and their shareholders, are forecasts for the future of PABXs, CTI software, PC-based and LAN-based telephone systems, predictive diallers, e-mail management software and collaborative browsing software.
Following four case studies in the European report and two in the North American, is a directory of PABXs, PC-based and LAN-based telephone systems, CTI software and CTI-capable predictive diallers, audio call recording systems, e-mail management software, collaborative browsing software and CRM software available in the respective market (133 in Europe and 109 in North America). Detailed assessments have been written for about 35 companies in each report.
Each report is about 95,000 words (260 pages for North America, 280 pages for Europe) in length. The European report has 42 figures and 31 tables whereas the North American report has 38 figures and 29 tables.