North American CTI Software Markets

SUMMARY

CRM and Integration Capabilities to Drive Demand

Advanced applications such as intelligent contact routing and connectivity to enterprise CRM applications, provided by enterprise computer telephony integration (CTI) vendors form a major revenue source for the North American CTI market. Continuing CRM implementations are expected to sustain the current demand for enterprise CTI software. This is because connectivity between the CTI layer and the CRM application is necessary for the display of customer data contained within the CRM on the contact center agent's screen. Integration between hosted CRM providers is also driving market growth. On the other hand, the revenues for the basic CTI software are dipping as prices reach commodity levels and voice data convergence decreases the requirement for the basic system links. Eventually, demand for IP telephony and open standards are likely to reduce the need for connectivity through CTI.

This Frost & Sullivan research service provides an overview of and outlook for the North American CTI software market. The research service provides detailed revenue forecasts by region and by end user to help design marketing strategies and maximize growth. This enables companies to align their positioning strategies to benefit from the changing markets and obtain maximum return on investments.

Market Capitalizes on Suite-based Applications

Along with improving the existing capabilities, leading CTI vendors are also increasing the range of applications that newer products offer. For instance, they are coming out with integrated collections of CTI-based applications such as the Internet contact routing, outbound dialing, self-service, and workforce optimization. Especially in the area of the Internet contact routing, which is of strategic importance, manufacturers are developing new applications. Voice self-service is also fueling demand for CTI connectivity since it is used to integrate customer data between live routing and self-service applications.

"Another major growth driver for CTI is the expanding integration of desktop applications and telephony," notes the analyst. "Vendors are also expected to bundle CTI with other products which will result in the market branching into several application categories."

Vendors Target Mid-Market Segment

For the CTI technology vendors, whose strength lies in catering to the needs of the large enterprise market, the main challenge is in making the technology accessible to the mid-market segment. For achieving this, vendors need to separate the integration aspect from the CTI concept to lower the integration costs, as end users in the mid-market segment are very price-sensitive.

A strong opportunity for penetrating the mid-market is the emergence of hosted contact center applications. "Leading telcos are focusing on offering advanced contact center applications along with developing extensive distribution channel partnerships for these products, with service providers, outsourcers, and stand-alone application service providers (ASPs)," says the analyst. "This is creating new revenue channels for the CTI market."

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• 1. Market Overview
  • 1. Overview and Definitions
    • 1. Summary of Major Findings
    • 2. Market Engineering Measurements
    • 3. Market Trends
    • 4. Impact of IP on CTI Market
    • 5. Multmedia Integration
    • 6. Challenges
    • 7. Drivers
    • 8. Restraints
• 2. Forecasts
  • 1. Market Analysis
    • 1. Forecast
    • 2. Market Share
• 3. Strategies and Awards
  • 1.Awards
    • 1. Market Leadership
    • 2. Competitive Strategy Leadership Award
  • 2. Strengths;Weaknesses; Opportunities and Threats
    • 1. SWOT Analysis of Leading Vendors