Computer Telephony Integration for Sage 50, ACT! and Microsoft  Outlook

CTI for Sage is a desktop based Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) product. It is designed to help you get the most out of your business telephone system by linking it with your IT infrastructure. This section explains how to use CTI for Sage's basic functionality. 

CTI for Sage can be used to link to various CRM software packages - Sage 50, Sage ACT! and Microsoft Outlook:

Functionality:

• Making Calls - Making calls from your computer is straightforward with CTI for Sage. It will increase your productivity by saving you time and reducing the number of misdialled numbers.
• Receiving Calls - CTI for Sage can be used to tell you who is calling before you answer the phone. This can prove beneficial in many ways. When you are busy working on a project it can allow you to be selective about which calls to answer. Also, it can allow you to greet the caller in a more personal way. When receiving a call it is very easy to store the caller's name for future use. Also with CRM integration, callers' details are quickly searched and displayed.
• Transferring Calls - CTI for Sage provides an easy method to transfer calls. Through the presence window it allows users to see the availability of their colleagues and make intelligent decisions when transferring calls.
  
  Users can perform an immediate transfer to quickly distribute calls. Or they can easily use CTI for Sage to consult with colleagues and switch between calls.
• Application Dialing - CTI for Sage supports several methods of dialling from applications. Many applications can be enabled to allow dialling directly from within the application.
• Bespoke Dialing - CTI for Sage allows developers to add dialling support directly from their applications. Instructions are provided within the software.
  
  Alternatively, CTI for Sage can often be configured to work with existing applications to save any development work. See Application dialling for more details
• Internet Dialing - CTI for Sage supports two separate ways of dialling from web pages.
  
  Hyperlink Dialing
  Web pages can be scanned for valid telephone numbers and, when found, they are turned into hyperlinks to make dialling easy.
  
  Text Box Dialing
  Also, CTI for Sage can be configured to provide dialling directly from many web-based CRM packages.
  
  Note:
  Hyperlink dialing is supported across Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome. At present only Internet Explorer text box dialing is supported.
• Address Book - The Address book provides an easy way to create and share contacts with colleagues. Users can search for existing contacts or create new ones easily while on the telephone. The Address book is extended to include CRM contacts when integration is used.
• Call History - The Call history window contains a list of an extension user's recent calls. By default, the most recent 50 calls are displayed.
  
  Users can page through to see earlier calls. Users can make calls directly from the Call history window.
• Chat Messaging - Sending Messages to your colleagues is easy with CTI for Sage. It’s even possible to have multiple chats with one conversation per window, or to include multiple users and or extensions in the same conversation. Messages can be sent from both the Presence window and the New Messages window.
  
  Messages are threaded – meaning previous messages in the conversation are displayed. It is also possible to send and open hyperlinks (web page links).
  
  Rich text is supported by CTI for Sage, allowing you to make text bold, underlined and or italicised.
• Dialling DDI Number - For inbound calls, CTI for Sage allows users to see the Direct Dialling Inward number and name displayed. This shows the number of the person/company the number that has been called, thus allowing users to know who they are taking the call for. Users can then tailor their greeting accordingly.
• Presence - The Presence window allows users to see the availability of their colleagues. It can be configured to show a list of all the extensions or all of the users or a mixture of both. The window also allows a user to provide more information about their own availability to help other users.
• Security Policies - Security Policies in CTI for Sage provide a way for to control the features that users are able to use, as defined by the server administrator. Multiple user policies are available to allow for different user groups to have access to different features of CTI for Sage (e.g. Sales may be allowed to use some features that Reception are not).