Glossary · Customer service
CTI (computer telephony integration)
In one sentence
CTI (computer telephony integration) connects the phone system to business software, so the caller's record appears when the phone rings and you can dial a number with one click.
Also known as : CTI · computer telephony integration · computer-telephony integration · screen pop
What is CTI?
CTI, computer telephony integration, covers everything that lets your phones and your business applications work as one. The term goes back to the 1990s, when it meant cabling an on-site PBX to a server and speaking a vendor-specific protocol. With a cloud phone system the same job is done over web APIs, and set-up is far lighter.
The idea is simple: your phone system already knows who is calling and who answered, and your CRM already knows who that customer is. CTI joins the two. In practice it answers three needs: knowing who is calling before you pick up, dialling without retyping numbers, and recording every call against the right customer.
How it works
- Screen pop. When a call arrives, the phone system passes the caller’s number to your application, via a webhook or connector. The application finds the contact and opens their record for whoever answers.
- Click-to-dial. Clicking a number in the CRM tells the phone system to place the call from the user’s softphone or webphone.
- Call logging. When the call ends, the phone system sends back duration, outcome (answered, missed), the agent and, where enabled, the recording. The CRM files it on the record.
More advanced set-ups use CRM data for routing: a key account goes straight to its account manager rather than the general call queue. Features such as automatic transcription or call summaries are AI rather than telephony; they are explained in the utio.io glossary under automatic transcription.
Example
An IT managed-services provider in Leeds supports 300 small businesses from a helpdesk platform. Before CTI, engineers asked each caller for their company name and searched for open tickets. Now the helpdesk opens the customer’s account and open tickets as the phone rings, and every call is logged against the ticket automatically. Support managers can finally see which customers phone most and why, and the time engineers used to spend identifying callers and searching for tickets now goes into fixing the problem. Because every call carries the customer’s account, the monthly service reviews with clients are built from real call history rather than memory.
CTI at Universal Telecom
Our virtual PBX connects to the main CRMs, and our developer APIs expose call events and click-to-dial so you can wire in your own software. For the most common case, see CRM integration.
Frequently asked questions
What is a screen pop?
A screen pop is the CTI feature that opens the caller's record automatically when a call rings, using the caller's number to look them up in the CRM or helpdesk.
Is CTI only for call centres?
No. Call centres made it popular, but any business that keeps customer records benefits: a solicitor's office, an estate agent or an IT support desk all save time when the right file opens before they say hello.
Do I need developers to set up CTI?
Not for mainstream CRMs, which usually have a ready-made connector. Linking an in-house system normally means using the phone system's API and webhooks, a modest project for a developer.
Related terms
- CRM integration
CRM integration connects a business phone system to customer relationship management software, so the caller's record opens when they ring, staff dial with one click and every call is logged automatically.
- Cloud PBX
A cloud PBX is a business phone system run by a provider in its data centres. Extensions, IVR menus, queues and call routing are managed from a web portal, with no PBX hardware on site.
- Softphone
A softphone is a phone application that runs on a computer or smartphone. It replaces the desk phone and connects to the company phone system over VoIP, using the business number.
- Webphone
A webphone is a business phone that runs in a browser tab with nothing to install. It uses WebRTC to make and receive calls through the company phone system on the business number.
- Telecom API
A telecom API is a programming interface that lets software control communication services: place or receive calls, manage phone numbers, send SMS, pull call history or get notified in real time when something happens on a call.
- Contact centre
A contact centre is the team, processes and software that handle customer conversations across several channels, such as phone, email, chat and messaging, using shared queues, agents and reporting.
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