Computer telephony software can be divided into a number of categories, each of which provides a set of functionality for Computer Telephony Integration (CTI).

Automatic Call Distributors (ACD’s)

Automatic Call Distributors are used by inbound call-centers to evenly distribute telephone calls between available customer service representatives.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

Interactive Voice Response systems are used to gather data from callers before transferring them to a customer service representative.

IVR systems are well known for their frequent repetition of “Press or say 1 for …”.

Screen Population

Screen pop programs take Caller-ID or ANI data and information from IVR systems and display it on the computer screen.

Software Dialers

Software dialers enable users to dial the telephone directly from their computer. This is very convenient, because computers can store address books of thousands of contacts.

Autodialers

Autodialers are a category of software dialers that are designed to dial a large volume of telephone numbers very quickly.

Predictive Dialers

Predictive dialers are a second generation of autodialer technology.

Predictive dialers examine the availability of a group of outbound call center agents and determine the number of telephone calls to place based upon the number of available agents.

Predictive dialers reduce the time that telemarketers spend waiting for calls or talking to answering machines or fax machines.

Sometimes, the predictive dialer will dial more telephone calls than there are available call agents. If you have ever received a call from a telemarketer and been asked to wait to speak with an agent, you have experienced this type of predictive dialer failure.

Computer Answering Machine Software

Computer answering machine software enables a computer to act as an answering machine. Custom greetings can be defined, IVR technologies can be integrated, and voice messages can be saved to disk, e-mailed, or sent across a network for remote access.

Voice Mail Boxes

Voice Mail Boxes act as computer answering machines for large organizations. A VMB may support thousands of individual voice mail boxes.

PBX’s

Computer-based PBX systems enable even the smallest companies to maintain their own Private Branch Exchange switches at costs significantly lower than traditional dedicated hardware PBX systems.