Cisco Cisco Computer Telephony Integration Option 9.0 Developer's Guide

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CTI OS Developer’s Guide for Cisco Unified ICM/Contact Center Enterprise & Hosted
Release 7.5(1)
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Introduction
This chapter provides an introduction to Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) and describes how CTI 
can enhance the value of contact center applications. This chapter also introduces the Computer 
Telephony Integration Object Server (CTI OS) product and discusses the advantages of using CTI OS to 
develop custom CTI enabled applications. 
Introduction to CTI
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 (i.e. phone, email, or web) with the customer service 
platform (i.e. customer databases, transaction processing systems, or CRM (customer relationship 
management) software packages).
Integrating communications media with the customer service platform helps agents to service customers 
better and faster in two ways. First, it enables the agent to leverage the information and events provided 
by the media to direct his workflow. Second, it increases the depth and breadth of customer information 
presented to the agent when the customer’s contact arrives at the workstation. 
What is a CTI-Enabled Application?
A CTI-enabled application is one in which the software used by the agent to service a customer request 
is driven by information generated by the presentation of the customer contact. 
Screen Pop
The most common CTI application is a screen pop. In a screen pop, the customer service platform is 
provided with customer information at the arrival of a phone call and begins processing the customer’s 
transaction at the same time as the communication begins between the customer and the agent. This 
transfer of customer information is called the call context information: a rich set of customer-specific 
data that travels with the call throughout the enterprise.