CRM and Call Center Integration

VoIP News Article - February 7, 2008

We recently came across the article below, titled "Uniting CRM & Call Center Telephony" on VoIP News.  It is an interview with David Peterson, CEO of Powerhouse Consulting, and discusses the undertaking of integrating a CRM solution with contact center technology.

You don't have to be in a call center to integrate your applications.  TeleVantage has CRM integration capabilities  built around the industry standard Microsoft Telephone Application Program Integration  (TAPI) and a published application programming interface that allows for custom CRM integration.   

For  example, Alternate Access has internally integrated TeleVantage with our CRM  system since 1999 .  When the caller ID is recognized, it pulls up the contact's record or main company record.  This is a huge time saver and makes for a more intelligent call  handling and analysis . 

Uniting CRM and Call Center Telephony

Expert advice from David Peterson, an integration expert and CEO of PowerHouse Consulting

~ By: Cindy Waxer

Integrating your call-center telephony with a CRM application is a massive undertaking that typically involves multiple departments. After all, linking inbound and outbound communication channels with customers' historical data — such as buying patterns and product preferences — calls for the pairing of disparate systems and wide-ranging functionalities.

The flip side, however, is that successfully integrating CRM applications with contact-center telephony can result in a seamless user interface, enhanced customer interaction, first-call resolution of issues and increased agent productivity, benefits that are well worth the odd integration hiccup. David Peterson — CEO of PowerHouse Consulting, a company that specializes in call-center management and telecommunications technology — spoke about the ins and outs of marrying CRM applications with contact-center telephony.

VoIP-News: What headaches can companies expect when integrating their contact center with a CRM application?

David Peterson: There are many possibilities here. The first is determining how the CRM application will communicate with the contact-center/PBX system. For older systems, there usually needs to be an intermediary server that converts the proprietary language of the telephony system into a standard means of communicating with the CRM system. This is widely known as CTI [computer telephony integration], and each manufacturer has their own approach. In new server-based systems, the integration can use a variety of communication protocols that are more readily understood by IT departments, such as ActiveX, COM and so on.

VoIP-News: How can a systems integrator or consultancy help ease the process?

David Peterson: Most of the professional services integrators already have developed the integration modules for the major CRM providers, so the project can really focus on how the integration will be deployed. Most companies start with a “screen pop,” the ability to use some piece of information about the caller in order to open their record in the CRM package. This could be the calling number or some customer-entered digits such as account number or Social Security number. The integrator should also know about any expected conflicts with the two systems being able to run on the desktop, such as conflicting versions of JVMs [Java Virtual Machines], which many of these applications use.

VoIP-News: How important is management buy-in when overseeing this process?

David Peterson: It is imperative. Otherwise, you end up with finger-pointing and chaos. Management must have a very clear set of expectations from all parties before the project begins, and [they must] demand accountability throughout the process.

VoIP-News: Are on-demand CRM solutions easier to integrate than on-premise, or vice versa?

David Peterson: There isn’t any major difference in the integration. The added complications are adding reliance on the network connections that are out of your control. And ongoing revision updates that an ASP [application service provider] may do to their platform that may affect the integration.

VoIP-News: What are the risks of a shoddy integration?

David Peterson: Pretty simply, problems will arise that will be very difficult to troubleshoot. Also, performance will not be at a level that meets expectations. One of the most important steps in a project of this sort is to conduct a “proof of concepts” implementation that includes a “stress test” of the system before it is rolled out into production. This method gives the greatest possibility of success.

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