Certification - June 2008 - (Page 27)

and drive productivity to increase revenues. This represents a unique opportunity for application developers to build new applications that previously were not possible due to cost, complexity, tools or training. The business desire for applications that integrate voice, video and data is not new. In fact, it was previously known as computer telephony integration, or CTI. However, as much as application service providers (ASPs) fell out of favor as software as a service (SaaS) gained momentum, there are fundamental differences powering the shift away from CTI. It is important to realize that this is more than just acronym swapping – ASPs are now out in favor of SaaS because SaaS enables a broader shift toward Web 2.0 and its related technologies and architectures. The shift away from CTI to a more generic and powerful unified communications platform represents a new way of building, deploying and managing applications. True unified communications platforms – powered by proper VoIP architectures – utilize and benefit from the maturation of standards such as SIP and the fusion of those standards with new Web development technologies such as AJAX, JSON and REST. No longer is the telephony domain such a specialized island – application developers who understand the Web now can build applications that leverage communications to do new, interesting things. This enables organizations to further capitalize on their investments by deploying integrated applications across multiple departments and across the entire enterprise in a much more cost-effective manner. Contrast this model to the old CTI model used for call centers, where developers were creating interactive voice response (IVR) and intelligent call routing rules (ICR) applications. These purpose-built applications relied on protocols such as CSTA, TAPI and JTAPI to integrate into a traditional time-division multiplexing environment and focused on call-center requirements, rather than the more generalized architecture and capability support applications used by all employees. Call-center applications built using these technologies were indicative of long development and deployment cycles, thus creating expensive solutions. In fact, just to build one of these applications required uniquely specialized skill sets. Not only did developers have to be aware of how traditional telephony operated, a rarity for engineers raised on the Internet, but they also had to be experts with the specialized development tools required for the telephony domain. The shift from a traditional CTI model to a more flexible and open unified communications platform created an June 2008 CERTIFICATION MAGAZINE 27

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Certification - June 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Data Stream Tech Careers Academic Connection Dear Techie Virtual Village Online Degrees: Are They Right for You? Inside Certification New Opportunities and Challenges: Are Application Developers Ready? Interface Where Have All the Help Desks Gone? Ad Index Endtag

Certification - June 2008

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