Guest Post

This is a guest post by Prajakta Samant (LinkedIn, Twitter)

The Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) simply means connecting the telephone systems and computers. Typically, it comprises of a software installed on the desktop (softphone) that is used for interacting with customers or prospects and a server-based component that is used for automatic call routing.

However, in order to improve the efficiency of users, it is necessary to use it in conjunction with a CRM system so that system can match incoming phone calls with the correct customer and conversations can be more relevant.

Salesforce is a world-class CRM that is completely cloud-based. Earlier to use CTI with Salesforce a desktop adapter had to be installed on the user machine. However, realizing this was not a truly cloud-based approach Salesforce introduced Open CTI with their Summer ’12 release.

Salesforce telephony integration brings your call centre from being a standalone system to inside the CRM making it one complete customer success platform.

So what does it do?

Here is what you are going to get when you integrate Salesforce & CTI

1. Screen-Pop – Salesforce + CTI will pop up all the relevant information about the caller (customer) on agent’s screen even before the agent has answered the call. This can be a delightful experience for your customer when the agent already knows who they are and what this call might be about.
2. Click-To-Dial – Convert the phone number fields in Salesforce into clickable links, reducing the manual effort and possibility of dialling wrong numbers
3. Intelligent Routing – Create customizable rules inside Salesforce that define who should answer the incoming call and when instead of letting the system decide it randomly
4. Up-To-Date Call Reporting – Generate accurate reports for inbound and outbound calls with all the rich data inside Salesforce that is up-to-date with latest conversations of agents.
5. Multi-Tenant System – Cloud-based system ensures everyone is using the same system and that there is no disparity of data or usage

And how does this benefit? 

These are just some of the tangible benefits for your sales as well as service team

• Better Customer Experience – Salesforce CTI integration enables you to route the incoming call to the right agent, who will have all the information about the customer on his or her screen. This gives a better customer experience and is highly efficient in reducing customer dissatisfaction score.
• Engage With More Prospects – Ability to call the leads from inside Salesforce with click-to-dial enables your sales reps to quickly and efficiently reach more prospects that can lead to generating more opportunities and in turn more revenue.
• Increase Lead Conversion – When your reps call the prospects and have meaningful relevant conversations based on the information stored in Salesforce it is very likely to increase the rate of lead conversion
• Improve Call Center Efficiency – Call centre reps are better equipped to reduce the call handle time as they have all customer information right in front of them with a screen pop up. Managers can view reports and dashboards in Salesforce to track key performance indicators (KPIs) like the number of calls handled, average call duration, cases closed and reopened.

These 2 systems are very strong independently and complementary together, just like 2 individuals who are exemplary individuals and even better when together.

I cannot think of a better analogy to describe this pair apart from ‘match made in heaven’

This is a guest post by Prajakta Samant (LinkedIn, Twitter)