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In telecommunication, Telephony (IPA pronunciation: ) encompasses the general use of equipment to provide voice communication over distances. Rapid advancement in digital electronics is revolutionizing telephony by providing alternate means of voice communication than that provided by traditional telephone systems. IP Telephony is a modern form of telephony which uses the TCP/IP protocol popularized by the internet to transmit digitized voice data. Contrast this with the operation of POTS (an acronym for "Plain Old Telephone Service").
Computer '''Telephony''' Integration (CTI) enables computers to know about and control phone functions such as making and receiving voice, fax, and data calls with telephone directory services and caller identification. The integration of telephone software and computer systems is a major development in the evolution of the automated office.
CTI is not a new concept. Such links have been used in the past in large telephone networks but only dedicated call centers could justify the costs of the required equipment installation. Primary telephone service providers are offering information services such as Automatic Number Identification and Dialed Number Identification Service on a scale wide enough for its implementation to bring real value to business or residential telephone usage. A new generation of applications (middleware) is being developed as a result of standardization and availability of low cost computer telephony links.
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