PDF of this tutorialDefinition
Computer telephony integration (CTI) is a term to which many are becoming accustomed. It encompasses an entire industry, devoted to the closer integration of telephony systems with computer-control devices, as well as an ever-expanding range of applications. At the forefront of this industry are innovative products, built using hardware able to terminate digital telephony tier 1 (T1) and E1 (T1 European equivalent) trunk interfaces, fax and voice processing resources, voice-over–IP (VoIP) technology, and other standard peripheral devices. Typically, these operate in industrialized chassis housings and act as switches, voice-mail servers, automatic call distributors (ACDs), and nearly any other kind of telco equipment imaginable. The CTI revolution has led to a generation of such equipment, upsetting traditional notions of how telephony networks should be built.
Overview
Over the years, various standards and specifications have been adopted to propel CTI technology. Recently, a new generation of standards emerged, at the forefront of which is CompactPCI.
CompactPCI is a new standard for computer backplane architecture and peripheral integration, defined and developed by the peripheral component interconnect (PCI) industrial computers manufacturers group (PICMG) and capable of dramatically raising the stakes in the world of computer telephony. Combining the practicalities and real-world economics of the conventional personal computer (PC) world with the kind of features long-demanded by telcos, CompactPCI sets the standard for a new generation of CTI products. For the first time, integrators can cheaply and efficiently build rugged, high-density systems with the added advantage of hot swappability.
