Computer Telephony

Integration (CTI)
 Introduction
Computer telephony integration (CTI) is technology that allows
interactions on a telephone and a computer to be integrated or
coordinated. As contact channels have expanded from voice to
include email, web, and fax, the definition of CTI has expanded to
include the integration of all customer contact channels (voice,
email, web, fax, etc.) with computer systems.
Working of CTI System
 Common functions
The following functions can be implemented using CTI:

•Call information display (caller's number (ANI), number dialed

(DNIS), and Screen population on answer, with or without using calling
line data

•Automatic dialing and computer controlled dialing (fast dial, preview,

and predictive dial.)

•Phone control. (answer, hang up, hold, conference, etc.)

•Coordinated phone and data transfers between two parties (ie pass on
the Screen pop with the call)
Common Controls Continued….
•Call center phone control. (logging on; after-call work notification)

•Advanced functions such as call routing, reporting functions, automation

of desktop activities, and multi-channel blending of phone, e-mail, and
web requests

•Agent state control (for example, after-call work for a set duration, then
automatic change to the ready state)

•Call control for Quality Monitoring/call recording software.

Screen Popup which provides

•Caller Line Identification (CLI)

•Automatic number identification (ANI)
•Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS)
•Information entered from an Interactive voice response (IVR)
 Forms of CTI

Generally, there are two forms of CTI.

•First-party call control

•Third-party call control

 First-party call control

• First party call control operates as if there is a direct

connection between the user's computer and the phone
set.
• An example of this would be a modem card in a desktop computer, or
a phone plugged directly into the computer.
• Typically, only the computer associated with the phone
can control it, by sending command directly to the
phone.
• The computer can control all the functions of the
phone, normally at the computer user's direction.
• First party call control is the easiest to implement but
is not suited to large scale applications such as call
centers.
 Third-party call control

•Third-party call control is more difficult to implement and often requires a

dedicated telephony server to interface between the telephone network and the
computer network.

•Third party call control works by sending commands from a user's computer to a
telephony server, which in turn controls the phone centrally.

•Specifically, the user's computer has no direct connection to the phone set, which
is actually controlled by an external device.

•Information about a phone call can be displayed on the corresponding computer

workstation's screen while instructions to control the phone can be sent from the
computer to the telephone network. Any computer in the network has the potential
to control any phone in the telephone system.
 CTI application event flow
A typical CTI application manages the event flow that is generated by the telephony
switch during the life cycle of a call.

This typically proceeds along the following

sequence:
Other call events that can
Set up be handled by a typical
Deliver (ringing) CTI solution include the
Establish (answer) following:
Clear (hang up)
End Hold
Retrieve from hold
CTI applications handle events related to Conference
automated call distribution (ACD) such as: Transfer
Forward
Agent logged in
Agent available
Agent not available
Agent ready
Agent not ready
 Computer Telephony Integration Standards
•CSTA (Computer-Supported Telephony Application) is an ECMA
(European Computer Manufacturers Association) standard for computer telephony
integration which has been ratified by the ITU.

•TSAPI (Telephony Service Application Program Interface) is an AT&T/Lucent/Novell

standard for computer telephony integration.

•TAPI (Telephony Applications Program Interface) is the Microsoft

standard for computer telephony integration.

•ANI (Automatic Number Identification) is a feature of telephony

intelligent network services that permits subscribers to display or capture
the telephone numbers of calling parties.

•ACD (Automatic Call Distributor ) In telephony, an is a device or system

that distributes incoming calls to a specific group of terminals that agents
use. It is often part of a computer telephony integration (CTI) system.

•DNIS (Dialed Number Identification Service ) is a service sold by

telecommunications companies to corporate clients that lets them
determine which telephone number was dialed by a customer. This is
useful in determining how to answer an inbound call.
 CTI Benefits

Superior total cost of ownership: The web-based

CTI architecture allows dramatically faster application
deployment. Maintenance, upgrades and new
applications are administered centrally on the server in
real-time, saving the time and expense associated with
making such changes agent by agent. Needless to say,
there is a dramatic decrease in hardware resource
utilization.

Greater Customer Satisfaction: The web-based CTI

application provides a unique rich set of data provided
from Cisco CTI server, together with information
provided from the customer back end system. Such
information will allow the agents to service the
customer better, hence resulting in greater customer
satisfaction.
Location Independence: The web-based CTI architecture allows agents access to
centralized applications from virtually anywhere, given the agent has corporate
connectivity.

Platform Independence: The web-based CTI architecture allows the agents' web
clients to work independently, regardless of the hardware or OS type.

Localization: With IST’s constant commitment and understanding of the local

market, the agent web-based application has the option to support both Arabic and
English interfaces, depending on the preferences of the agent.

Latest Technologies: The agent web-based CTI solution is built with the latest
Java/J2EE technologies using the latest version of JDK level – JDK1.5.

Outstanding Performance & Scalability: Typically increasing the processing speed

of the CTI web server environment hosted on the Oracle application server will
directly improve system performance. With the application server deployed on a high
performance server, the solution could scale to thousands of agents with no virtual
limitation.
EXPLANATION FOR IMPORTANT CTI STANDARDS
AUTOMATIC NUMBER IDENTIFICATION

•Automatic Number Identification (ANI) is a feature of

telephony intelligent network services that permits subscribers
to display or capture the telephone numbers of calling parties.

•The ANI service was created by AT&T for internal long

distance billing purposes, and is not related to newer caller ID
services. Inward WATS is purchased by customers so that
other telephone users (for example, prospective customers)
can call the number toll free. The customer is issued a
distinctive toll-free telephone number beginning with a special
area code such as 800, or more recently, 888, 877, or 866.
Subscribers to these numbers are typically called Inward
WATS subscribers.

• A related piece of information conveyed to the Inward

WATS subscriber is the Dialed Number Identification Service
(DNIS), the number that the caller dialed when accessing the
service. With the information, the service provider can have
several toll-free numbers directed to the same call center and
provide unique service based on the number dialed
Contd….

•DNIS can also be used to identify other call routing information. For example,
the WATS service can be configured to send a specific DNIS number that is
assigned to callers from geographic regions based on city, area code, state, or
country.

•ANI has two components, information digits, which identify the class of
service, and the calling party telephone number.

Privacy

•Because ANI is unrelated to caller ID, the caller's telephone number and line
type are captured by ANI equipment even if caller ID blocking is activated.

•The destination telephone company switching office can relay the originating
telephone number to ANI delivery services subscribers.

•Toll-free Inward WATS number subscribers and large companies normally

have access to ANI information, either instantly via installed equipment, or
from a monthly billing statement. Residential subscribers can obtain access to
ANI information through third party companies that charge for the service.
CONVERTING ANA
CALL ROUTING INTEGRATION
Automatic number announcement
•In telephony, an Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) is a device or system that distributes
incoming calls to a specific group of terminals that agents use. It is often part of a
computer telephony integration (CTI) system.
•Routing incoming calls is the task of the ACD system. ACD systems are often found in
offices that handle large volumes of incoming phone calls from callers who have no need
to talk to a specific person but who require assistance from any of multiple persons (e.g.,
customer service representatives) at the earliest opportunity.
•The system consists of hardware for the terminals and switches, phonelines, and
software for the routing strategy. The routing strategy is a rule-based set of instructions
that tells the ACD how calls are handled inside the system. Typically this is an algorithm
that determines the best available employee or employees to respond to a given incoming
call. To help make this match, additional data are solicited and reviewed to find out why
the customer is calling. Sometimes the caller's caller ID or ANI is used; more often a
simple Interactive voice response is used to ascertain the reason for the call.
• Originally, the ACD function was internal to the Private Branch Exchange of the
company. A system was then designed to enable common computing devices, such as
server PCs, to make routing decisions.
Contd….

•An additional function for these external routing applications is to enable CTI.
This allows improved efficiency for call center agents by matching incoming
phone calls with relevant data on their PC via screen pop.

•A common protocol to achieve this is CSTA; however, almost every PBX

vendor has its own flavor of CSTA, and CSTA is quite hard to program
because of its complex nature.

•Various vendors have developed intermediate software that hides these

complexities and expedites the work of programmers.

•Also, these protocols enable call centers consisting of PBXs from multiple
vendors to be treated as one virtual contact center.
DIALLED NUMBER IDENTIFICATION SERVICE
• (DNIS) is a service sold by telecommunications companies to corporate
clients that lets them determine which telephone number was dialed by a
customer. This is useful in determining how to answer an inbound call
•The Telecommunications company sends a DNIS number to the client phone
system during the call setup. The DNIS number is typically 4 to 10 digits in
length.

•For example, a company may have a different toll free number for each product
line it sells. If a call center is handling calls for multiple product lines, the switch
that receives the call can examine the DNIS, then play the appropriate recorded
greeting. Another example of multiple toll free numbers might be used for multi-
lingual identification.

•A dedicated toll free number might be set up for Spanish speaking customers.

•With IVR (Interactive voice response) systems, DNIS is used for dispatching
purposes by using it as routing information to determine which script or service
should be played based on the number that was dialed to reach the IVR
2. PREDICTIVE DIALER
•A predictive dialer is a computerized system that automatically
dials batches of telephone numbers for connection to agents
assigned to sales or other campaigns. Predictive dialers are widely
used in call centers

HISTORY
•The autodialer preceded the predictive dialer. While the basic
autodialer merely automatically dials telephone numbers for call
center agents who are idle or waiting for a call, the predictive
dialer uses a variety of algorithms to predict both the availability
of agents and called party answers, adjusting the calling process
to the number of agents it predicts will be available when the calls
it places are expected to be answered.
•The predictive dialer monitors the answers to the calls it places,
detecting how the calls it makes are answered. It discards
unanswered calls, busy numbers, disconnected lines, answers
from fax machines, answering machines and similar automated
services, and only connects calls answered by people to waiting
sales representatives. Thus, it frees agents from the task of
manually dialing telephone numbers and subsequently listening to
ring tones, unanswered or unsuccessful calls.
Contd…….

•A predictive dialer can dramatically increase the time an agent spends on

communication rather than waiting
•Call list is the data loaded to the dialer before commencing a campaign. The data
is generally derived from a large database such as a telephone directory or similar
listing from CRM software. Some predictive dialers generate call lists and report
call attempts. Unsuccessful calls are often analyzed to determine if the number
called needs to be called back later or needs special treatment, such as a manual or
autodialed call by an agent to listen to an answer machine message.
•Predictive dialer systems are commonly used by telemarketing organizations
involved in B2C (business to consumer) calling as it allows their sales
representatives to have much more customer contact time. Predictive dialers may
also be used by market survey companies and debt collection services who need to
contact and personally speak to a lot of people by telephone.
Functioning

The predictive dialer exhibits predictive behavior when its dialing algorithm produces
more call attempts (dials) than the number of agents currently logged in and available
to handle calls. The predictive dialing happens when the predictive dialer dials ahead
of the agents becoming available or when the predictive dialer matches a forecast
number of available agents with a forecast number of available called parties. The
matching and dialing ahead perspectives provide the large increases in dial rates and
agent productivity.

Some predictive dialers incorporate "answering machine detection", which tries to

determine if a live person or answering machine picked up the phone. This is one
cause of the typical delays that one may experience before being connected to an
agent.

If not enough calls are made ahead, agents will sit idle, whereas if there are too many
calls made and there are not enough agents to handle them, then the call is typically
dropped.
ADVANCED PREDICTIVE DIALER

•The advanced predictive dialer determines and uses many operating characteristics
that it learns during the calling campaign and adjusts automatically to the behaviour of
an ongoing campaign. Examples of such statistics include call connection rates (both
current and average for recent past days by hour of the day), average agent connection
time, geographic location dialed, etc.

•It uses these statistics continually to make sophisticated predictions so as to minimize

agent idle time while controlling occurrences of nuisance calls, which are answered
calls without the immediate benefit of available agents.

•An advanced predictive dialer can readily maintain the ratio of nuisance calls to
answered calls at less than a fraction of one percent while still dialing ahead.
SILENT CALLS
•Predictive dialing systems use algorithms to control the ratio of calls to agents.
Because a dialer cannot know what proportion of its calls will connect until it has made
them, it will alter its dialing rate depending on how many connections it manages to
achieve. Occasionally the system will get more live parties on call attempts than there
are agents available to take those calls.

•Consequently, the dialer will disconnect or delay distribution of calls that cannot be
distributed to an agent. This is known as a silent call or a nuisance call. The called party
hears only silence when the predictive dialer does not at least play a recorded message.

•The experience for those who receive a predictive dialer call can be less satisfactory.
There may be an appreciable period of silence before a call is routed to a sales
representative.

•This annoys people and also gives them a chance to hang up. If no sales representative
is available for a successful call, it is often disconnected.
Types of Predictive Dialers

•Predictive dialers perform the same function but the architecture and delivery
methods can vary greatly between manufacturers. There are several types of
predictive dialing: Software, Hardware, Smart, and Hosted dialers.

•In recent years, 'mixed' type predictive dialers have emerged. These predictive
dialers are based on simpler hardware, such as voice modems, and more powerful
software for answering machine detection and call progress detection. The biggest
advantage of this type of predictive dialers is the substantially lower cost of
ownership.

Soft dialers

•Software-only solutions use ISDN messaging, or a CTI link to provide call progress
analysis for calls made. Software-only dialers are often cheaper because they do not
require expensive telephony components, but may offer less functionality than more
traditional 'hard dialer' solutions, particularly when it comes to detecting answering
machines (AMD) and integration with other 'voice' related functions (voice
recording, IVR, speech recognition, text-to-speech etc.).

•Open Source dialers have proven themselves in the production world and enable
call centers of all sizes to lower costs.
A SOFT DIALER SYSTEM
Hard dialers

Hardware dialers use dedicated telephony boards to perform call progress analysis and
answering machine detection. Those switches usually have two main types of connections:
agent audio and external audio.

•The agent audio connections are usually simple T1/E1/ISDN etc. telephony spans which
are connected directly to an existing PBX (although other connection types that do not
require a PBX are available such as Analogue or VoIP connections).

•When an agent first logs in for the day, the dialer will place a call from the switch directly
to the phone on the agent's desk. This open phone call between the agent and the dialer
switch is then kept open for the duration of the session.

•The second type of connection is the external audio connection which is the connection
that will be used to make outbound phone calls. These connections are typically
ISDN/T1/E1 connections direct to the PSTN. When an outbound call is made and
answered, the call is immediately joined to an already open agent audio connection of the
agent selected to take the call.
Smart predictive dialers

•Smart predictive dialers combine auto dialing with voice messaging and phone agents
who are prepared to handle calls initiated by the dialer. Answering machines, busy
signals, and unanswered calls are processed in a manner similar to that of a normal
predictive dialing system. However, when a 'live' answer is detected, the dialer plays an
introductory recorded message, giving the call recipient the option to talk with an agent to
complete the transaction. This message is a consistent greeting that identifies the caller,
the nature of the call, and the option to speak with an agent.

SMART DIALER FLOW SYSTEM

Hosted predictive dialers

•Hosted predictive dialers (aka Virtual Predictive Dialers, Web-Enabled

Predictive Dialers, VoIP Predictive Dialers) use the Software as a Service
(SaaS) model to provide organizations and individuals with a predictive dialer
capability. Typically, the only requirement for a firm to use a hosted
predictive dialer system is a computer with an Internet connection and a
telephone line for each agent.
Screen pop

• For call centers that provide integration between a telephone system and an agent's PC, a
screen pop is used to display information about a call that has just been sent to the call
centre agent.

• For Inbound calls the data displayed will typically contain information about the call such
as the following:

1. Caller Line Identification (CLI)

2. Automatic number identification (ANI)

3. Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS)

4. Information entered from an Interactive voice response (IVR)

• Extended information derived from one of the above. For example, an order number entered
using the IVR is used to look up order information from a database, which is then displayed
for the agent

• For Outbound call the data displayed will typically contain information that was sent to the
outbound dialler as part of the customer call record.
Telephony Application Programming Interface

•The Telephony Application Programming Interface (TAPI) is a Microsoft

Windows API, which provides computer telephony integration and enables PCs
running Microsoft Windows to use telephone services. Different versions of TAPI are
available on different versions of Windows.

•TAPI was introduced in 1993 as the result of joint development by Microsoft and
Intel. The first publicly available version of TAPI was version 1.3, which was
released as a patch on top of Microsoft Windows 3.1. Version 1.3 is no longer
supported, although some MSDN development library CDs still contain the files and
patches.

•With Microsoft Windows 95, TAPI was integrated into the operating system. The
first version on Windows 95 was TAPI 1.4. TAPI 1.4 had support for 32-bit
applications.

•The TAPI standard supports both connections from individual computers and LAN
connections serving any number of computers.

•TAPI 2.0 was introduced with Windows NT 4.0. Version 2.0 was the first version on
the Windows NT platform. It made a significant step forward by supporting ACD and
PBX-specific functionality.
Contd…

•TAPI 3.0 was released in 1999 together with Windows 2000. This version enables IP
telephony (VoIP) by providing simple and generic methods for making connections
between two (using H.323) or more (using IP Multicast) computers and now also offers
the ability to access any media streams involved in the connection.

•Windows XP included both TAPI 3.1 and TAPI 2.2. TAPI 3.1 supports the Microsoft
Component Object Model and provides a set of COM objects to application
programmers.

•This version uses File Terminals which allow applications to record streaming data to a
file and play this recorded data back to a stream. A USB Phone TSP (Telephony Service
Provider) was also included which allows an application to control a USB phone and use
it as a streaming endpoint.

•The Telephony Server Application Programming Interface (TSAPI) is a similar

standard developed by Novell for NetWare servers.
TAPI compliant hardware

•Telephony hardware that supports TAPI includes most voice modems and some
telephony cards such as Dialogic boards.

Overview

•The workflow of a modern contact center is based on two main areas: the media for
communicating with the customer and the platform for servicing customer requests.
CTI is the integration of the communications media (that is, phone, e-mail, or Web)
with the customer service platform (that is, customer databases, transaction
processing systems, or CRM (customer relationship management) software
packages).

•An intuitive web-based CTI-enabled application will be developed & deployed for
all agents to service customer driven requests transferred from the CVP. The web-
based CTI application is one of the business applications that will appear in the
consolidated Agent Screen. The web-based CTI enabled application leverages the
Cisco CTI provided toolkits which provides numerous application programming
interfaces (APIs) for customization and integration.
TAPI HARDWARE
Ready-to-Use RFP Master

•This Ready-to-Use RFP Master™ is focused on selecting computer telephony

integration system software solutions, and provides benefits that go far beyond those
of traditional RFPs that are limited to asking vendors about the availability of CTI
software features .

•Specialized for use in complex information system environments, this RFP Master
collects information from vendors about all apects of the computer telephony
integration software implementation project they are proposing.

•Actual screens and questions from this RFP are shown below to illustrate how it
enables you to easily collect the unique metrics needed to successfully identify,
acquire, and implement the computer telephony integration software solution best
suited to your company's needs. (Click thumbnails to enlarge)
A Detailed & Comprehensive List of:

Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) System Features :

•400+ of pre-defined computer telephony integration RFP criteria ensure no

important business requirements or software features "slip through the cracks".
All are in a quantitative format that guarantees vendor responses will be
meaningful, consistent, and easy to compare.

•All questions are professionally prepared by application specialists to address

BOTH the STANDARD features and EXCEPTION CASE software functions
required.

•Unlike other RFPs that try (and fail) to gather useful solutions data about
complex computer telephony integration system features, RFP Masters are not
constrained to the use of summary-level "Yes" or "No" answers.

•This RFP Master™ uses a Feature Support Matrix™ (FSM) that identify BOTH
feature AVAILABILITY and DELIVERY Method.

•This RFP Master function is useful during both the computer telephony
integration software selection AND the system implementation phases of large
projects.
Weighted Grade Score Graph

•Compares the Weighted Grade Point Score calculated for each proposed
system. This is calculated as follows: The vendor response to each RFP
question is assigned an unweighted "raw" score. This raw score is then
multiplied by the weight factor you entered previously (default = 1) for
that RFP question to calculate the weighted score for each response. All of
these individual scores are then totaled for use in this comparison. This
score is essentially a measure of how well a computer telephony
integration software system fits your business and software needs.
Color-Coded, "Apples-to-Apples" Comparison of Proposed Systems

CTI Software Comparison

•These comparison matrices automatically change vendor response cell

background color to GREEN, YELLOW, or RED, to reflect how favorable each
response is to your needs

• Compared to the tedious task of reviewing hundreds of mono-color Yes/No answers,

these colored responses allow problem areas to be spotted more easily, and risk
assessment is made much more accurate. All required response comparison matrices are
included and ready-to-use Quickly and easily compare computer telephony integration
software system proposals side-by-side, feature by feature, in detailed comparisons you
control! Keep your project on-schedule and under-budget.

Vendor Response Input Validation

Vendors must answer each RFP question by choosing from a pre-defined list of
possible responses. See below for an example of this drop-down list. This forces all
vendors to respond to each computer telephony integration (CTI) software
question in a consistent, standard manner. Eliminates the days of time typically
wasted trying to compare the inconsistent or incomplete vendor responses obtained
by using traditional methods.
MOTHER BOARD OF A CTI
Real Time Usage of Computer Telephony Integration
 Bibliography
1) Wikipedia
2) Cisco
3) Nortel
4) IEC ( International Engineering Consortium)
5) SCIAM ( Scientific American )
6) UCN
THE END

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