Where's the elusive "killer app"?

We used to talk speculatively about CTI's future. "Where's the killer app?," we'd say. Now. a few sharp observers are quietly noticing the emergence of a new trend. Prospective customers increasingly view advanced CTI technology from the chief executive's perspective rather than that of the telecom or information systems (IS) manager alone,

What is the significance of this change? Until now. many customers bought CTI primarily as a point solution to a connectivity problem: How do I connect telecom and IS? How do I integrate my voice-based systems with my local area networks (LANs) and desktops? How do I get screen pops? By contrast, we are seeing executive teams ask the tough business questions. Who's got worldclass customer service today? What will transform the service process and give us a competitive advantage'? And how do we get there`?

Other senior executives ask: Why are we spending so much on customer service as a percentage of sales, with such questionable results? How do we keep a lid on costs and still upgrade to world-class customer relationships? Do we need to improve - or transform - our systems infrastructure? Our business processes? Many executives are now asking such questions and seeing CTI technology with new eyes. When these executives drive CTI acquisition and implementation, they raise the bar for its capabilities - and for results. Only the most robust solutions pass muster. For example, they must simultaneously integrate with all the environments where data may reside -different platforms. operating systems, applications and data formats, including legacy environments.

Recently, when one of the world's largest computer manufacturers took a fresh look at CTI, they did so not because they sought new technology. but because they faced a strategic challenge. They asked themselves such questions as: How do we become more competitive by improving the quality of customer support? How can we stay close to customers and exert more control over the service process, even when we outsource call center activities? And how can we reduce the cost?

For them. advanced CTI software became a means to answer these strategic questions and achieve the company s profitability goals. During a pilot implementation at the outsourced call center, advanced CTI proved its promise. It gave the computer maker more control over its support process by enabling the company to better track its transactions. The new software freed agents to give each caller more of their personal attention. making customers more satisfied -- another strategic objective.

While tactical benefits used to be the main reason companies bought CTI technology. these benefits now come as byproducts of a strategic implementation. The computer maker's pilot implementation, for instance, shaved so many minutes off each support call. the company now projects an 81-day payback on its investment. This means the strategic benefits, including higher customer satisfaction. will be achieved with substantial. ongoing cost savings.

So, where's the killer app? Recent experience shows that "killer" success for CTI consists of robust and flexible enterprise solutions, creatively applied. That's why prospective CTI users are increasingly asking strategic questions and driving implementation from the executive suite - not to connect a voice system to a LAN. but to make the enterprise more competitive by any costeffective means.

With the emergence of top-down strategic implementations, CTI's future is already here. And now it will gain momentum. Once early adopters of advanced CTI demonstrate its competitive advantages, other companies will follow or fall behind. Killer success for CTI won't be elusive anymore.

Jeanne Bayless is founder and president of AnswerSoft, Inc., a leading provider of client/server-based applications software and services. AnswerSofts's business process automation products - Sixth Sense, SoftPhone, SoftPages, Sixth Sense Toolkit, and the Intelligent Information Router -- improve workplace productivity and enable companies, workgroups and individuals to satisfy the people they serve with the end result of continuously improved customer service.

Copyright Technology Marketing Corporation Jul 1996
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