In addition, if you can get everything from one supplier, the whole system should be compatible, fully supported and warranted as a solution. Custom-built systems will also ensure that the future needs of a business can also be adequately catered for. Most CTI applications will adapt as the business grows and the more functional a call centre is, the more chance it has of maintaining a loyal customer base and winning new ones. As a result, the CTI server focuses on providing a greater number of expansion slots for extra applications, offering an easy upgrade path for adding more telephony boards, larger disk storage and increased CPU speeds. Fault-tolerance Within an industry which is so reliant on the relationship between the phone and the computer, business continuity must be a key consideration.
Inadequate hardware equals an increased risk of crashes, equals lost time and lost revenue.
Consider some CTI applications that generate revenue, such as call routing. For every second the server is down, money is lost. The fault tolerance of the system should be a prime consideration and include features such as hot swap PSU, cooling and hot swap fans. Compare this with a good quality desktop clone, with an MTBF of 25-30,000 hours and the difference in basic reliability is immediately apparent. Inevitably, there comes a time when every system experiences a fault which, when left alone, will precipitate further problems and eventually cause a system crash.