Telephone Answering Systems - Computer Telephony the Two Independently Designed Enterprise Te

Computer telephony (CT) represents a powerful integration of two historically separate enterprise technologies: the telephone system and the computer system. Both traditionally facilitated the flow of information within an organization. However, recent technological advancements allow these systems to unite, creating a much richer and more efficient channel for data exchange. CT harnesses the power of the computer for telephone functions, seamlessly merging these two worlds. It's not a single product, but rather a category of products that combine these capabilities to benefit businesses.

What are the Benefits of Computer Telephony?

For network managers, implementing computer telephony offers significant advantages, primarily by reducing costs associated with planning, managing, and administering separate network infrastructures and their internal and external connections. Integrating these two worlds also allows for the consolidation of device requirements, leading to lower-cost systems.

Beyond cost savings, this technology simultaneously delivers substantial end-user benefits:

Users can experience a richer user interface on their computer, as CT leverages the computer's visual capabilities for communication tasks.
End-users can utilize a wider range of interpersonal communication skills, rather than being limited to single-media tools like voice-only telephone calls or text-only email.
Computer telephony merges several communication tools into one, simplifying tasks by combining the key strengths of each individual tool.

How Does Computer Telephony Differ from Traditional Telephony?

To effectively plan for computer telephony applications, it's crucial to understand the fundamental differences between traditional telephony and data networking. The two main distinctions lie in circuit versus packet networking and the inherent intelligence of the end terminals.

Circuit-Switched vs. Packet-Switched Networks

The traditional telephony world uses a circuit-switched technology paradigm. This means that a dedicated physical line is established and used exclusively to transmit communication signals between two or more parties for the duration of a call. The initiating party instructs their telephony network node to connect through a sequence of private and public telephony switches to the desired recipient's phone. A dedicated path through these switches is maintained for the entire call and then dismantled when the call ends. Voice signals are transmitted in the order they were spoken, ensuring the listener can understand the conversation.

This circuit-switched model differs significantly from the packet-switched model of data networking. In data networking, a stream of communication is broken down into a series of separate data packets. These packets are transmitted through a network infrastructure to the destination device and then re-created using header details associated with each packet. For data, it doesn't matter if packets arrive out of order; the header details provide enough information for the receiving device to reconstruct the original communication correctly. Furthermore, multiple separate communication events can be transmitted concurrently through a single physical line due to the optimization and efficiency characteristics inherent in the packet-switched model.

The Shift in Intelligence: From Switch to PC

The second major difference between telephony and data is the inherent intelligence of the end terminals. With traditional telephony, the typical terminal is a device with 12 keys, a microphone, a speaker, and perhaps a numeric single-line display. The telephone acts as a remote extension of a telephony switch, which handles the intelligence for call routing and management. In the data world, over 90% of corporate end-users have a Microsoft Windows-based personal computer, which possesses far more intelligence and power than many users fully utilize. Most tasks are accomplished using a full alphanumeric keyboard, a graphical interface, and connections to various network services. Computer telephony exemplifies moving this intelligence from the telephony server out to the end devices, while simultaneously leveraging the power of these devices for communication tasks.

What is Integrated Messaging and Why Does it Matter?

The centralization of all "store and forward" communication tools into a single application is driving market expansion and business consolidation, and for good reason. Integrated messaging, as this product category is known, delivers clear benefits. It streamlines communication tasks by combining all store-and-forward tools, delivering all non-real-time communication in one place, through a single interface.

Key advantages of integrated messaging include:

Reduced Training Costs: Users only need to learn one application, simplifying training.
Lower Remote Access Costs: Variable costs of remote message access are lower, as a single connection can retrieve all message types, eliminating separate calls for voicemail, dial-up for email, and fax retrieval.
Lower Infrastructure Costs: This integration also means lower infrastructure costs, as fewer connection ports are needed.
Enhanced Security: Fewer entry points to the internal network inherently enhance network security.
Enables Virtual Teams: Integrated messaging is a key enabler for businesses moving towards virtual teams, delivering on the promise of continuous connectivity regardless of physical location or time zone.

Ultimately, the technology of integrated messaging helps businesses achieve their goals of optimizing their human resources.

How Does CT Enhance Real-Time Call Control?

A significant portion of real-time, non-face-to-face communication occurs via telephone. Computer telephony (CT) allows call placement and reception to be managed from the computer. Within a call center environment, this integration can lead to reductions of milliseconds in call duration, which translates to significant cost savings in toll charges and staffing when millions of calls are handled monthly.

For the individual user, CT calling allows the use of the richer computer interface for call placement, permitting users to dial by name rather than by a number. It also streamlines inbound call reception by displaying caller ID on screen along with a toolbar of options like "answer now," "let ring until hang up," or "route immediately to voicemail." Products like the Phone Ware family from Q.Sys offer extensive capabilities for immediate call control, even allowing you to retrieve a missed call from the voicemail system and route it back to your phone. Most modern PCs are multimedia-ready, making the transition to CT call control primarily a matter of back-end infrastructure and client software.