Leveraging Productivity with CTI Integration for CRMs

Over the past few years, all contact center trends and technologies emphasize the level of automation. AI technologies and automation have streamlined the workflow and made contact center operations more feasible and quick. Contact center tools and integrations allow customer support and sales teams to work in collaboration to effectively control and manage phone and customer data together.

That’s where Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) comes into play. So, let’s explore what CTI is, how it helps businesses, what are its features, and so on.

What is Computer Telephony Integration (CTI)?

Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) is essentially a software tool that links your telephone systems with other business applications like CRM. Not only does the seamless combination simplify call processes by enabling agents to make calls with just a click from their respective systems but also leverages the agent-customer experience to personalize customer services.

In case of an incoming call, for example, CTI would display all the information of the caller such as call details, contact history, etc via the pop-up feature, thus reducing the call handling time significantly.

The Benefits of a CTI (Computer Telephony Integration)

A data-driven approach is pivotal for a successful contact center. From simplifying the call processes to enabling data access for better KPIs monitoring, CTI improves customer satisfaction. Here are some measurable benefits of deploying a CTI system:

• Improved Agent Productivity

CTI saves agents time by eliminating the time-consuming process of call authentications. Its call screening process compares the inbound and outbound calls against the customer information stored in the database. So, every time a customer calls, your agents don’t have to spend time collecting and confirming customer information for every call.

• Contextual-oriented Interactions

An agent knows about the customers well before he picks up the call, thanks to the automated screen pop-up displaying the customer’s prospects such as customer name, email id, phone number, previous interactions, etc. Agents can add a personalized touch to the conversations, all the while addressing queries promptly.

• Intelligent predictive dialing

Data is the engine that drives conversions in industries. With CTI, agents can make more proactive use of the data based on queries, algorithms, and lookups to reach out to as many leads as possible without adding to the agent’s burden. The automatic dialer places phone calls after evaluating possibilities for lead conversions, even before the agent becomes available, and quickly moves on to the next leader after an unanswered call.

• Conversation across Multiple dashboards

CTI enables a unified display of customer information via popups, thus helping agents to resolve queries promptly. Even when the agents are switching between multiple tabs, they ought not to lose the context of the conversation, thereby offering seamless services in lesser time.

• Call recording

The best way to improve customer satisfaction is to understand their intent and offer them what they are looking for, without unnecessary delays and complications. The call recording and monitoring feature of CTI offers insights into employee performance and identifies the struggle of agents and why they fail to impress customers.

Features of CTI

The most essential CTI features and why they matter for productivity are as mentioned:

• Automated Screen Pop

Agents require call contexts and user information in order to resolve queries promptly. With user information like name, email address, location, and calling history displayed on a unified screen as soon as the customer calls, the CTI system equips agents with the required information to engage the customer productively. This feature works in the case of both inbound and outbound calls.

• Automatic Dialing Modes

Did you know, agents usually go through an average of 8 cold calls to connect with a real person?

Getting through lead lists can be extremely time-consuming for agents. The CTI system remedies the scenario by eliminating busy numbers, and outdated contacts and ensuring a caller is on the other end of the line before routing it to an agent. Also, with automatic dialers agent availability is ensured to not keep the customer waiting for long.

• Complete Phone Control

Toggling between a number of applications can prevent agents from addressing calls efficiently. The CTI system with its phone control features like hold, mute, transfer, and conference can prevent distractions during interactions with customers.

‣ Call Management from Your Computer: An efficient CTI software enables call representatives to easily manage calls from their systems only. Be it transferring calls, putting them on hold, or muting, agents don’t have to switch back and forth between their CRM systems and telephones to carry the conversation through.

‣ Automatic Identification of Callers: A simple comparison of calls against the company’s database enables automatic caller authentication without having the agent put in manual labor. Secondly, it reduces customer frustration of having to repeat personal details again and again.

‣ Easy Call Routing/Transferring: The best way to address queries promptly is to make the agents suited for handling particular queries address them. This is exactly what the CTI does. Amid the vast call volumes received on a daily basis, CTI knows who should the calls be addressed for optimal utilization of time and resources.

• Ensure Native Platform CRM Integration

With the ability to make calls right from the sales or service platform, the native CTI integration enables a seamless user experience. When all the data is made to live in a single place, curbing the need to maintain separate logins, consistent customer service becomes a given.

• Call Monitoring and Analytics

In order to understand the level of customer service that your organization offers, call monitoring and analytics are pivotal. Consistent call analytics helps in enhancing employee performance leading to better customer experience. Learn here to leverage CTI connectors for delightful CX.

‣ Average call length: If customers are spending longer than they’d like interacting with your support team, they can form a negative view of your business. Better workflow automation with CTI connectors and easy access to customer information can reduce call lengths considerably.

‣ Average hold time: If your customers are waiting for longer durations while your agents look for customer or product details, it paints an inefficient picture of your customer service. Apart from unified access to information, CTI connectors also enable seamless switching to team members or supervisors helping reduce average hold times.

‣ Call abandonment rate: What does it say about your customer service if customers hang up before the agent even picks up the call? Usually call abandonments are a result of long hold times or poorly designed IVR menus. With CTI integration, agents have access to all customer information on a single unified screen that helps reduce customer frustration due to long wait times.

‣ First call resolution rates: If customers keep calling repeatedly for a single query, it not only bogs down organizational productivity but dampened future lead prospects. When agents have all communication details displayed on a unified screen before them, they ought not to toggle between multiple applications to understand customer intent and interaction journey and can easily address customer queries in the first instance.

‣ Customer satisfaction: Ensuring that customers come back to your organization is an interplay of many factors from reduced AHT, lower wait times, and first-call resolutions. An efficient CTI system not only ensures good KPI performances but also pushes for further positive customer experience by boosting their trust in the long term.

‣ Customer demographics: Did you know that customer segmentation enables better-personalized interaction between businesses and customer base? Customer segmentation on the basis of demographics gives a better possibility of lead conversions. By understanding the true nature and behavior of prospective customers, agents are better equipped to serve customers as per their preferences.

Contact Center Integration with leading CRM

The integration of your CRM and contact center automatically pass data back and forth, thus leveraging the productivity of both – people and processes- to rise significantly. Not only do you get to build a more holistic view of the customer journey but also considerably expand the value of your CRM data. From skill-based routing to resolving customer issues with relevant customer data, integrated data flow allows for insightful business decisions.

1. Salesforce CTI Integration

Salesforce CTI Integration facilitates you with a feasible way to manage your call controls and customer data simultaneously on a single platform.

2. ServiceNow CTI Integration

With ServiceNow CTI Integration you can manage ticketing operations through high-end automation and deliver an optimized user experience to enhance the level of your customer engagement.

3. MS Dynamics CTI Integration

When CTI is integrated with MS Dynamics, it streamlines your workflow and boosts customer interaction along with the productivity of your agents. This integration comes with multitudes of features like smart interfaces that automatically display customer profile information, smart dialer, etc to personalize the service experience of your customers.

4. Zendesk CTI Connector

Zendesk CTI Integration has completely transformed phone support into a full-scale digital platform where agents can feasibly access customer information and connect with them swiftly.

5. Freshdesk CTI Integration

The Freshdesk CTI Integration ensures a complete host of functionality for the Freshdesk users. This integration provides a hassle-free way to directly call from the CRM. It helps agents to handle customers’ issues quickly and delight them with satisfactory solutions.

CTI Needs for Business Verticals

As different call center tools are meant for varied purposes, there’s a need for you to understand the specific needs of your contact center departments, in order to get your hands on the right tool. By understanding your CRM capabilities, you can understand and address the gaps that remain in the functions needed by your sales and support teams. Let’s explore how CTI solves problems of productivity and enhances efficiency.

For Sales

Engaging more customers is the sine qua non for any sales team. As they try to expand their reach and engage more prospects, they ought to do it quickly and efficiently. Here’s how CTI can help:

1. Streamlining sales activities – CTI systems can breathe efficiency into the sales processes with its automation software to support workflows. The gamified dashboards and reward programs can further render activities productive.

2. Increasing the number of sales calls – More prospective customers can be engaged with a higher number of outbound calls. This, however, should not burden agents. The click-to-dial and power dialer features ensure the realization of both goals with ease.

3. Getting calls to sales and support agents that can help customers immediately – Call routing is an inextricable and productive element of CTI systems. The skills-based and time-based routing along with efficient IVR systems serves customers better.

4. Increasing collaboration within teams – Productive inter-team communication can break down organizational silos and enable faster service to customers. Features like shared contact lists, call transfers and call commenting make for a powerful intra-organizational collaboration.

5. Achieving first-call resolution – Solving problems the first time around becomes easier for agents with the help of insights cards and desktop notifications indicated by screen pop bubbles. Agents get to know about the customer preferences and prospective details, thus enabling faster resolution.

6. Improving sales training – Untrained agents can prove to be a liability for productivity in the contact center sphere. Well-trained agents are an asset who can turn prospective leads into conversions. The CTI system can aid their training with call monitoring, call recording, call whispering, etc. Thus, a well-implemented CTI system leads to increased calls and conversions.

7. Increasing productivity – With the help of automation in CTI systems, calls can be sent directly from the new leads to the salespeople. This not only saves time but also ensures smooth workflows by eliminating unnecessary intermediary steps.

For Support

Competition in today’s contact center industry pivots around a good customer experience. A tool like the CTI connector can render a competitive edge to contact centers. How? With a data-driven approach. Ensure contextual conversation to improve call quality and make new customers into returning ones with CTI systems.

1. Reducing caller wait time – A combined interplay of productive features like the IVR, queue-based routing, skill-based routing, queue callbacks, and extensions helps in shortening the call wait times significantly. A productive agent ensures customers’ queries are resolved within an optimal time limit with all concerns addressed.

2. Improving internal collaboration – The many features of CTI systems like warm transfers, shared contacts, shared call inbox, and after-call work ensures that inter-organizational communication lines are kept open. This breaks the organizational silos and improves agent response times.

3. Personalizing the customer experience – Omnichannel communication platforms and insights cards allow customers to reach out to the organization on their preferred channels of communication. By enabling the omnichannel capacities, the CTi connector keeps in line with the current trend of multi-channel communication.

4. Improving customer satisfaction – Customer’s perception of your brand helps increase positive word of the mouth. Automated surveys facilitated by CTI connectors reveal customer perception of your brand and help you improve services. Be it addressing customers by name or with the agents being informed as to why customers are calling improves personalization considerably.

5. Evaluating team performance – By measuring and monitoring KPIs, team performance can be considerably improved. Features like call storage, call logs and recordings offer an objective view of the team as well as individual performance. Proper utilization of real-time and historical reporting helps modulate staff and resources for a more productive workforce.

6. Analyzing data and gaining insights – CTI allows you to build dashboards for gaining insights into the contact center activity. With CT, every call is automatically logged and saved with the associated data in your CRM systems. Complete tracking of customer interaction history helps to improve business processes and measure agent performance along with customer experience.

Wrap Up

Operational efficiency is the need of the hour, especially in the backdrop of cutting-edge technologies constantly changing competitive dynamics. Thus, conversations today need to dig deeper than the apparent surface and gain additional information about customers in order to sell better. As customer frustration becomes more and more unbearable, proportionate to the enhanced contact center capabilities, the CTI CRM integration serves as the indispensable bridge that serves both ends of the dynamic equally well.

Take a leap of productivity and Transform CX for the better with CTI and CRM integration!