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Most telephone equipment today (switches, PBXs) is just specialized computers.
Inevitably, these are moving to open architectures so they can be integrated
with other computer systems - and computer systems are moving in the opposite
direction. Soon they will collide and you won't be able to tell them apart.
CTI was one of the hottest topics a couple of years ago, with the technology
press promoting it relentlessly as the "next big thing". Since then, it has
faded severely from the spotlight, but it is still inevitable. Computer
networks and telephone system are headed for merger.
What's holding CTI back?
- CTI vendors are nearly all focused on one market - large
call centers. Hardly anybody is paying attention to small business.
- VARs are hesitant to commit to CTI, fearing that if it becomes widespread
the telephone companies will take it over and destroy their investment.
- Harry Newton, who controlled most CTI magazines, promoted Windows NT for
CTI as if he got a commission on every sale (hint). Systems that actually
worked fell from favor, stalling the whole shebang.
- Reliability: the Intel based PC, especially combined with Windows NT, is
perceived as unreliable compared to normal telephone equipment.
- Harry Newton isn't promoting CTI anymore, so it's become dull.
- Everyone is concentrating on the Internet right now.
- Vendors keep trying to make systems closed and proprietary.
- Business managers have been unimaginative in applying CTI, and haven't yet
been forced to do better by their competitors.
Low cost 2-line and 4-line voice response and fax cards, and easy to use
scripting languages, make it possible for smaller businesses to deploy
customized voice and fax systems tailored to their exact needs. It's time
to start thinking about it (and perhaps doing something about it) before
competitors do.
We recommend all business managers consider how CTI might make
operations more efficient. CTI encompasses many applications. Some of the
most popular are:
- Voice Response - Voice answers to customer's telephone queries
- Fax Response - Fax answers to customer's telephone questions
- VoiceMail - Auto attendant and voicemail boxes, as simple, or as complex as you need
- Telemarketing and Surveys - Predictive Dialing,
Call Distribution, Autodial, AutoFax, Call Recording, Session info and Follow-up
ticklers, Adaptive Scripting, Screen Pops from prospect database and much more
- Customer Support - Database screen pops, Call distribution, Auto voice/fax
- Computer PBX - Private Branch Exchange
Voice Response
"Press (or say) 1 to be put on indefinite hold"
"Press (or say) 2 to leave voicemail that will be ignored"
"Press (or say) 3 to hear an advertising message"
"For an immediate response, please call our competitor"
This is the CTI application we all love to hate, because it is so often
done poorly. Done right, it can save time for everyone and is the entrance
portal to all other CTI applications, but there should always be an easy way
to reach an actual person. Even the best design can't cover all possibilities.
Voice response systems used to be very expensive, rigid and difficult to
change, but today, easy to use scripting packages make it affordable and
easy to customize, modify and integrate with other applications.
Fax Response
The objective of fax response is to make it easy for people to obtain documents
from your business at any time of day or night, and without labor and/or
postage costs for you, and without big racks of flyers and brochures (where
you are certain to be out of the only one anyone wants).
One nice trick is to coordinate the fax response system with the
business' Web pages. Web pages are translated into fax documents for the
benefit of people who are not currently using the Web, but do have a fax
machine.
Voice Mail
This is one CTI application that is already fairly widespread, because even
telephone equipment makers could appreciate its value. Once you get beyond
two people, answering machines just don't do the job and voice mail
becomes essential. Every person (and every department) can have his own
mail box. Today's hard disk sizes make message storage a non-issue.
If you opt for a computer based voicemail system, make sure it is easy to
integrate with other CTI applications you may wish to add, even if it means
paying a little more. If you are contemplating any other CTI application,
make sure voice mail can be integrated into it.
Many telephone systems now have voicemail as an option. Given the telephone
equipment makers' penchant for reliability, these are usually based on OS/2
rather than Windows NT. Computer based voicemail is also available running
on OS/2, Unix and QNX for those who don't want to have to reboot their
voicemail system every so many days.
Telemarketing
Telemarketing is one of the two applications CTI vendors are really interested
in (the other is customer support), because big telemarketers are willing to
spend big dollars to cut down their labor costs. Even at minimum wage, all
those bodies add up. Many applications may be combined in a telemarketing
system.
- Automatic Dialing: The telemarketer needn't dial phone numbers.
Autodialers do it by "point and click" or just by going down a prescheduled
list, dialing the next number every time the telemarketer tells it to.
- Predictive Dialing takes autodialing a step farther. The
telemarketing department has a single autodialer which is made aware how many
people there are to answer phones and how long it takes to finish the average
call. The dialer dials every time it thinks a telemarketer will be ready by
time someone answers.
- Automatic Fax allows the telemarketer to fax marketing information
right from within the telemarketing session without having to go to a fax
machine. All the documents are in a database and the telemarketer just gives
the system the fax number and document numbers.
- Call Recording allows telemarketers to accept legal commitments
by customers. It can also allow supervisors to review performance and allow
lawyers to find supporting evidence should a dispute go to trial.
- Call Distribution is used where significant incoming traffic is
handled. It is kind of the reverse of predictive dialing and tries to
rout incoming calls to a group that is ready to answer.
- Session and Follow-up information can be recorded at the keyboard
as the telemarketer talks to the prospect. Follow-up calls are scheduled
right then, along with pertinent information on what to say.
- Adaptive Scripting provides a sales script or survey script right
on the screen. The telemarketer recites a script step and enters response
from the prospect. The script then branches to the next step appropriate to
that response. This greatly reduces the skill and training required of
telemarketer and survey personnel.
- Screen Pops from the prospecting database appear on the screen,
including records of previous calls keep the telemarketer informed and
ready. If the call is incoming, the screen pop can be launched by caller
ID.
Small telemarketers may use programs like GoldMine, Act! or Telemagic to
provide many of the benefits enjoyed by large telemarketing operations using
custom fit software.
Customer Support
Customer support is the other application CTI vendors are interested in.
Again, very large customers are willing to spend a lot of money to cut down
their labor costs, and here the labor is likely to be well above minimum wage.
The needs of a big customer support department are pretty much the same as
for a telemarketing operation, but differ in emphasis (and predictive dialing
won't be needed). Scripting will be for trouble shooting rather than marketing,
and database screen pops will relate to trouble tickets.
Computer PBX
If a PBX (Private Branch Exchange) is simply a specialized computer, why can't
a standard computer act as a PBX, making it easier to integrate other CTI
applications than when dealing with a proprietary PBX? In actuality, it can.
Several companies now make PBX stand-ins.
Computer PBXs are properly based on highly reliable industrial grade PCs,
rather than the kind you buy at the local Office Depot.
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Computer Telephone Integration