Technology is increasingly central to business models, allowing companies to be more efficient, communicate more smoothly, and provide better customer service. Integrating Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) is a great way to ensure this communication is accessible and beneficial to your business. Most customers prefer to contact business customer services through email or phone.
This article goes into more detail about what CTI is and its benefits, hopefully helping you decide whether it should be added to your business model.
What is CTI?
Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) is a technology that connects business telephones with other online forms of communication, supporting team and customer needs. The system can connect company telephones with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems to support a helpdesk solution.
Any calls will be automatically linked to specific team member computers and can send information from the call, making note-taking and customer reports or queries more streamlined.
Benefits of CTI
More efficient workplace
Because basic telephone-based tasks are automated with CTI, workplace operations can run more smoothly. The automatic functions include:
- Routing calls to the right place
- Logging details and information about the call
- Building a connection between CTI and CRM – screen pop-ups of customer information sent to employees
- Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which allows the systems to work without the internet
These features allow the customer/employee conversation to go more smoothly, as the employee can focus on the question at hand.
Better customer experience
One of the main aims of integrating CTI is to improve customer service and support. CTI means that employees can get filtered, relevant information when customers call, including their previous enquiries or purchases. This means employees receiving the call can provide personalised information or deals, saving time as they do not need to ask for repeated information.
This also benefits customers, who do not feel they are waiting through a call process where they repeat the same information each time, resulting in a better customer-company relationship.
Improved analytics
Customer data can be collected based on phone call interactions. This data includes:
- Call duration
- Phone pick-up times
- The call solution/outcome
This allows the company to look at patterns from employees, so they can figure out what approach tends to work best.
Better future for business growth
All of these features allow the business to be prepared for customer service and address patterns to work toward a better future.
As CTI is scalable (will grow with your business), it is a no-brainer for expanding businesses. Regardless, CTI works for businesses of all sizes and can accommodate any number of users.
How to implement CTI
Implementing CTI is done through CTI software that must be compatible with your current CRM. However, to do this most effectively, you will want to assess your company’s needs and install software that best aligns with those needs and optimises your business performance.
Obtaining guidance from an outsourced business IT services provider ensures that your chosen software is suitable and beneficial. Equally, they can support and educate your team members on how to best utilise it for long-term company growth. For many businesses, especially newer or rapidly growing ones, this external support is a no-brainer.
Implement CTI in your business model
If these benefits appeal to you and you feel that they would improve your business productivity and customer satisfaction, why not go for it?
Establish what your business needs and decide whether that can be addressed in your current team or if you need external support. Then you’re ready to start and see the new CTI software improve your everyday operations.
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