What is CTI, and what does it do for a business?

CTI stands for computer telephony integration. It means your phone system and your business software talk to each other. When the phone rings, the caller's record opens on screen. When the call ends, what happened on it is saved against that customer without anyone typing it.

What CTI does, in practice

• Screen pops. The caller is matched to a customer record before anyone answers, so the person picking up knows who it is and what happened last time.
• Click-to-dial. A number in your CRM becomes a button. No misdials, and the call is logged automatically.
• Call logging. Every call, inbound or outbound, is recorded against the right customer with its time, length and outcome.
• Bookings during the call. The diary opens from the call, so an appointment is made while the customer is still on the line.
• Recordings and notes in the right place. Stored where your rules say they must be, not in a separate system nobody checks.

What it needs

Two things. A phone system that can be connected, which most modern hosted systems can, and someone to build and maintain the connection to your particular software. Off-the-shelf connectors exist for the big CRMs. For anything else, the connection is built.

When it's worth it

If your staff type caller details into a system during or after calls, look records up mid-call, or forget to log calls, CTI pays for itself in time saved and mistakes avoided. If your business takes a handful of calls a day, it probably isn't worth the cost.

What to ask a supplier

• Does it work with the phone system and the software we already have?
• Who builds and maintains the connection when either side updates?
• Where are recordings and notes stored, and who can see them?
• What happens if the phone system or the software changes supplier?

Related: CRM and phone system integration