The CTI revolution

Computer-telephony integration isn't a new technology: as soon as the first data was sent over a telephone line, somebody had to install the modems. This quarter-of-a-century old business has recently started to get a lot more lively though: this year in the US alone, CTI will be worth $2.3 billion - and it's a business that 90 per cent of Vars currently don't touch. It is no surprise that CTI has the reputation for being a problem area: not only is it ill-defined, representing everything from a simple PIM to a u1 million call centre, but it is also beset with incompatibility problems. It's the networking business of a decade ago that CTI is most often compared to: technically challenging, but with great potential and a proven winner if you get it right. Getting it right means learning the tricks of the telecommunications business.