Navigating Change....
The PELORUS Group
Market Research and Consulting Services

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE NEW FACT OF CTI !

                            Date: November 17, 1999
                            Contact: Greggory S. Blundell
                            Phone: 908-707-1121
                            Fax: 908-707-1135
                            E-mail: info@pelorus-group.com

Raritan, NJ - Despite some sentiments to the contrary, CTI is far from dead. It is alive and doing remarkably well in its new form - eCTI, or electronic Contact Technology Integration. And, according to a new report from The PELORUS Group entitled "CTI: Path To Mixed Media" the future is brighter than many could have imagined

The report suggests that it has long been obvious that CTI is essentially plumbing, or an enabler, and that the true value is in the applications and capabilities that CTI can provide. In the new media-blended contact center, CTI, and the applications that it enables, will play a crucial role. Next-generation CTI business applications include Web browser-based sales and service applications, as well as call center applications that rely on network policies and prioritization. It is through this evolutionary path to mixed media - and eCTI - that the future of CTI can be found.

According to the report, eCTI is used to manage and track not only telephone calls, but multiple media or channel types, such as e-mail, Web call backs, fax, and eventually video, throughout the enterprise. Whether the customer contacts a company through the telephone, e-mail, or Web, the same fundamentals are required.

Blair Pleasant, Director of CTI Research at The PELORUS Group notes, "CTI companies need to convert what they have learned in the voice-centric world, and move to the next generation, or eCTI model. Telephones and call centers won’t go away, and traditional CTI will be needed for quite some time. But vendors must be ready to leverage what they know about accessing information on customers, identifying their needs, integrating data, and providing better service."

"We expect the trend toward Customer Relationship Management (CRM) will only help the CTI market, as CTI is an important element of a total CRM solution. eCTI and the movement toward Web or Internet-based contact centers, will also help spur market growth. So despite claims to the contrary, CTI is alive and looking very well indeed!"

The PELORUS Group report estimates that the total worldwide CTI market in 1998 was $1.97 billion, and will reach $2.6 billion by the close of 1999. By year’s end 2003, it will have reached $8.12 billion.