Benefits and Issues associated with CTI

*Based on benchmarking findings from the 2001 Call Center Best Practices - Special Technology edition

CTI

Thirty-seven percent of the call centers that contributed data to the technology section use CTI (computer-telephone integration) applications in their call center. The top applications for CTI in call centers include:

screen-pop of caller information
PC soft phone functionality on the desktop
skills-based or other intelligent routing applications
support of call monitoring

Greatest benefits from using CTI

The top two benefits of implementing CTI, specifically by using screen-pop of customer record information and intelligent routing of calls to the correct customer service representative, were:

1. improved productivity and reduced costs

2. improved customer satisfaction

Improved productivity was achieved through the reduction in handling time for the call. The reduction in talk time achieved by call centers using CTI applications is shown in Figure 17.

Figure 17 - Reduction in talk time by implementing CTI

More than one half of call centers report a five to fifteen second call time reduction from using CTI, with an additional one third of participants reporting a 15 to 30 second savings. This reduction in call time is consistent with data collected in the 1999 call center study.

Issues encountered with CTI implementation

Overwhelmingly, call centers reported that integration with their telephone switch and database applications was the number one issue for implementing CTI in the call center. Other issues encountered during CTI implementation were:

multiple matches found in customer database
difficulty with the transition to new processes and technologies with agents (CSR resistance and training issues)
reluctance of customers to use front-end automated systems to enter a PIN number to access the call center

Time for implementation

Forty percent of all CTI implementations were completed in less than six months, with most of the remaining call centers reporting six to 18 months in implementation time (see Figure 18).

Figure 18 - Time to implement CTI applications

Resources used for implementation

Slightly less than half of the participants use internal resources to implement CTI, with less than one third using their switch or CTI vendor for system implementation. About one fourth of participants used system integrators (see Figure 19).

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Figure 19 - CTI implementation resources

Future plans for CTI

Participants cited the following changes planned for the future for their CTI environment:

upgrades or improvement in routing and screen-pop capability.
integration with web-based applications.
integration with new Voice over IP (VoIP) applications.
universal queuing of all media types (media-blending).
enhanced support for CRM applications and processes.

When asked what they would do differently next time with their CTI implementation, most indicated they would be more careful during the vendor selection process. Many would also address product capability, as well as integration and implementation capabilities of the solution provider.

Find out more about the Call Center Best Practices - 2004 Special Technology edition

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