DeTeWe AG & Co. KG, Berlin, and its strategic partner Estos GmbH, Starnberg, will be presenting their new CTI products at CeBIT 2003. The OpenCTI range meets the whole pectrum of requirements, all the way from simple to complex solutions. The products enable computer-aided telephony for single workstations as well as for teams, and can be deployed in heterogeneous systems and system structures as well as in networked sites.

The digital OpenCom 1000 communications portal is DeTeWe´s most powerful platform for convergent infocom technologies. Its open system architecture is your guarantee for complete, tailor-made solutions for modern communications management. It goes without saying that this convergent system also supports Computer Telephony Integration (CTI). DeTeWe´s OpenCTI products are application solutions that improve the relevant communications processes in the value-added chain, and help to optimise the user´s business processes.

Just about every modern office desk has a telephone and a computer these days, but it is only when telephony is linked with data - for example, when customer and/or product data is made available during the call - that the potential of communication is used efficiently and to the full. The deployment of CTI solutions is the prerequisite for optimum proximity to the customer, a high degree of contactability and comprehensive customer relationship management, and it also reduces costs. Good visualisation makes for ease of operation. First and foremost this requires the identification of the caller and the integration of OpenCTI in standardised or customer-specific databases and data processing environments such as Microsoft Outlook

In the case of single workplace solutions (1st-party CTI - Open CTI 510), the user’s PC is connected directly to the system telephone via a serial interface. As for the multi-workplace solution (3rd-party CTI - Open CTI 550/555), all the PCs in the network are connected to the communications system via a central CTI server. The workplace PC then communicates via the local network with the CTI server, which has standard TAPI interfaces for Windows environments. The CTI server in turn controls the respective telephone via the OpenCom 1000 communications portal.

A TAPI Service Provider (TSP) developed especially for the OpenCom 1000 communications portal establishes the interface between the TAPI interface, the CTI server and the communications portal (3rd party) or the terminal (1st party).

OpenCTI enables access to the data-processing structure and to the required information that is an integral part of a company´s workflow. Owing to the link between the CTI solution and the business applications, members of staff will always be able to give sound information, and will thus contribute to the optimisation of the business processes and the transparency of successful communication. A personal greeting and the availability of customer data are a considerable advantage: if, in addition, the notes function is used, information from the previous call is immediately available for the current one.

The clear layout of the user interface on the monitor enables easy and intuitive operation of the OpenCTI application. When a call comes in, existing contacts open automatically and the corresponding customer data records appear on the screen right away. Integration into Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes as well as the implementation in commodities management systems enable staff to deal with the customer individually. In the case of outgoing calls, the integration of OpenCTI in Microsoft Office makes it possible to dial numbers and personal contacts directly from Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel by means of telephony macros.

The staff have a number of useful team functions at their disposal. For example, all members of staff have access to the most up-to-date version of the data entered to the central database during or after a call. A further practical feature is the dialling of telephone numbers from an application. This CTI solution enables the user to mark a telephone number in any application, e.g. the Internet, then dial that number by simply clicking on it with the mouse.