Call centers are a natural and obvious application for CTI technology, but until recently, computer telephony within the call center universe has focused on such applications as delivering screen pops before the agent took the call and employing Automatic Number Identification (ANI) to trigger database lookups or to determine where the call should be routed. The integration of interactive voice response (IVR) applications brought another level of automation to the modern call center, prompting the caller for keypad or spoken input to activate database-driven responses.

These and other technologies are designed to reduce call-handling times and thus increase the call handling volume of the agent. However, shifting economies are changing the way call centers are managed. For the CTI industry, the good news is that those changes are also creating an expanded new definition of computer telephony integration.

Hence the creation of ASD softswitch. The future configuration for call centers will consist of multiple, smaller operations distributed in strategic geographic locations and linked through the Internet. This distributed multi-site model will allow operators to set up shop in regions with greater employee availability. It avoids the turnover and resulting lower productivity problems associated with labor-short market locations, while still delivering the economies of scale associated with a true centralized call center. It makes use of todays most advanced connectivity and database technologies, and it leverages the more flexible, open-standards CTI solutions of tomorrow.

This new approach creates, at last, the true virtual call center of the future today. By intelligently balancing calls among geographically distributed call centers, the virtual call center maximizes the efficient use of all available customer service resources. Sophisticated measurement and analytical tools give managers both detailed and enterprise-wide perspectives on call center activities, supporting quick adjustments to reduce costs and improve service response.