Computers perform traditional functions like making phone calls, faxing, and email. Computer-phone integration (CTI) includes VoIP and call centers with features like caller ID and teleconferencing. CTI works through dedicated applications that store and track phone call data. CTI can be as simple as a person using a computer to route a call or as complex as a call center with third-party control.
Computers these days are performing more and more functions that have traditionally been performed in other ways. An example of this is using a computer to make a phone call. This is called computer-phone integration, or CTI.
One major form of CTI that gets a lot of press these days is VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol. This technology uses an Internet connection and a computer to make a phone call. VoIP is one form of integration, but it’s by no means the only one.
One of the more traditional forms of CTI is when a computer acts as a call center. Computers can take the place of human operators, routing calls from the caller to the recipient. And it’s not just phone calls. This technology allows the transmission and reception of FAXes and of the aforementioned telephone calls via the Internet. This also includes email, as sending an email message mimics a phone call. CTI also offers features traditionally found on non-computer telephones, including caller ID, call forwarding, voice mail, and teleconferencing.
Technically, CTI works through a dedicated application that handles phone calls every step of the way. This naturally makes it possible to store and track phone call data, including the number called, call duration, call charge, and so on. Whether the user wants it or not, this data is there for the taking.
In its simplest form, CTI is a person calling another person and using a computer to route the call. In this case, enforcement is usually what is called firsthand control. The person making the call controls its form and function, and the recipient does not need to have an application or CTI device to receive the call.
The most complex form of CTI is a call center, which can handle hundreds, thousands or even millions of calls per day. Call centers typically have these devices and applications everywhere, tracking, facilitating, and storing phone data. This is called third party control which means that neither the calling party nor the receiving party is in control of the process, but control is in the hands of the call center.
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