So, the opportunity is to imbed real-time person-to-person communications directly into the workflows of the company. To imbed a 'click-to-call' link into the Purchase Order approval process where when the manager can click on the name of the originator to initiate a call with the person who can provide more information about the need and the timing and the sensitivities of the purchase.
Initiating a call doesn't have to be voice to voice. It could be an instant message to the person, or even a video call, if that's the preferred, default technique.
Another example, could be to add click to call function to the telephone number listed at the signature block of an email. Users click and the convergence client calls.
The whole idea of converging at the workflow level is to make it easier, faster and more relevant to initiate real-time, human to human, communications that impacts the business. The need and convenience of performing this convergence leads to the need for PC-based telephony.
Of course, Computer – Telephony Integration (CTI) has been an industry promise for nearly a decade (Microsoft, Nortel and Novell were pioneers here in 1995), the low cost, high performance of PCs and the multi-threading capability of modern Operating Systems are key enablers for the natural progression of call control and user interface. The days of the discrete device on the desktop just for telephone service are definitely numbered.
