CTI 101: 5 Great Resources to Learn About CTI and Telephony

Computer-telephony integration (CTI) solutions can help your company connect your company’s phone system to your CRM. When a phone system is connected to a CRM, it not only enables marketers to see how their efforts are influencing the outcomes of calls, but it also enables marketers to share contextual CRM data with reps in real time. This can influence the outcome of sales deals, making your reps more successful and enabling your company to drive more ROI than ever.

Salesforce.com recently made the announcement that they’re no longer supporting the Open CTI Toolkit. If you are looking to either use OpenCTI or simply just to connect your telephony system to your CRM, here are some resources that can help your company learn more about CTI and business telephony in general.

Telephony and CTI Resources

SIP Adventures

Andrew Prokop’s has a fantastic and regularly updated blog on unified communications and business telephony. He explores all things telephony including SIP, VOIP, CTI, call routing, UC and more! Definitely a great resources for companies that want to learn more about what can be achieved with modern computer telephony integrations. Check out this post from last year on CTI.

TMC

TMC’s Peter Bernstein is a top business communication expert. He’s a great authority when it comes to telephony and CTI. Bernstein has served on Advisory Boards for 15 technology start-up firms, and recently worked as a consultant to C-level executives on all aspects of marketing communications strategy and tactics. Not only is he an expert analyst, but an engaging writer as well.

PaulbFischer.com

Paul Fischer is a SaaS expert and salesforce administrator for Bernard Health. He regularly authors thought leadership around CRM, communications, SaaS and CTI. Check out this recent article he authored about the death of salesforce.com’s CTI Toolkit. In the article, he offers viable replacements for Salesforce’s CTI, including Revenue.io.

TalkingPointz

Dave Michels is one of the world’s leading analysts, consultants and journalists on everything telecommunications-related. His site TalkingPointz is one of the best telephony resources around. His blog PinDropSoup is a great source for information on how to best leverage telecom tech.  He reveals industry news, explores communications strategies and divulges oft-controversial opinions (e.g. his piece Forget UC ROI). Michels is also definitely worth following on Twitter. Learn more about Revenue.io’s CTI for Salesforce.

Our Sales Glossary

The CTI page on our inside sales glossary defines CTI and discuses some of the functions and applications of CTI tools. This can help you understand the scope of what your business can accomplish by implementing a computer telephony integration.

Want to know more about how CTI can help your business? Contact us today.

CTI and Telephony FAQs

1. What is CTI in Salesforce?

CTI (Computer Telephony Integration) in Salesforce connects your phone system with your CRM. It enables call logging, screen pops with contact data, and click-to-dial functionality, allowing reps to have more informed and productive conversations.

2. Why is Salesforce discontinuing support for Open CTI?

Salesforce is moving away from Open CTI as part of platform modernization. Organizations using Open CTI are encouraged to explore alternative CTI providers that offer real-time CRM data, integrated dialing, and scalable telephony solutions.

3. What are the key benefits of using CTI in sales and marketing?

CTI improves call efficiency, automates call logging, displays CRM data during calls, and enhances personalization. For marketing, CTI reveals which campaigns lead to inbound calls, helping attribute ROI and improve targeting.

4. What’s the difference between CTI and VoIP?

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is the technology that delivers voice communication over the internet. CTI is the integration layer that connects telephony systems (including VoIP) with applications like CRMs to enhance call management and reporting.