Telephony integration market under-exploited

According to telecoms vendor ASC, the lack of expertise in computer telephony integration means that the market is being woefully under-exploited.

According to telecoms vendor ASC, the lack of expertise in computer telephony integration (CTI) means that the market is being woefully under-exploited.

Paul Manyweathers, managing director at ASC, claimed that skills are at such a premium that the appointment of an expert can boost sales by more than 10 per cent.

In response to this shortage, the company appointed Richard Winterburn six weeks ago as channel manager to support and train resellers marketing the company's communication recording and integrated CTI systems.

"In that time we have already seen a growth in overall sales of 10 per cent and we expect channel sales to account for 50 per cent of revenues in 24 months," said Manyweathers, adding that financial success in developing the channel hinges on finding experienced personnel.

"Voice recording and quality management has become a high-profile issue and call centres are growing at a rate of knots. We are trying to allow resellers to wrap this [CTI] product within their telephony offering.

"The systems that we are now developing and manufacturing provide a more viable option. People are still contacting us direct after unsuccessfully trying to find suppliers. The appointment of Winterburn is a move to put this right," he said.

Researcher IDC estimated that the UK CTI market could be worth £26m by 2001.