TL;DR
Computer telephony integration (CTI) connects your phone system to your CRM: click a number to call, see the caller's record when the phone rings, and have each call's time, duration, outcome and recording saved on the lead. Indian teams get it three ways: a telecaller CRM reading Android call logs, a cloud telephony connector such as Exotel's, or the CRM's own calling, such as Zoho Voice.
Computer telephony integration (CTI) is the link between a phone system and the software your team works in, usually a CRM: a rep clicks a number to call, the caller's record opens as the phone rings, and each call's time, duration, outcome and recording saves to the lead without typing. In India you can get it three ways: a telecaller CRM that reads each caller's Android call log (TeleCRM costs ₹799 per user a month billed yearly), a cloud telephony provider such as Exotel with a connector to your CRM, or the CRM's own calling, such as Zoho CRM with Zoho Voice at ₹699 per user a month billed yearly.
Which route suits you depends less on the CRM than on one question: does the customer call your business number, or each caller's mobile?
What CTI does: four jobs
- Click-to-call. The rep taps the number on a lead, and the call starts from the business number or the rep's phone.
- Screen pop. On an incoming call, the phone system looks up the number and opens the matching record, so the rep knows who is calling before answering.
- Automatic call logging. When the call ends, the direction, time, duration and outcome are saved as an activity on the lead.
- Recording on the record. The recording, and in some tools a transcript or summary, is attached to the same activity.
Many setups add a fifth job, routing: LeadSquared's telephony, for example, captures leads and routes them "instantly to your internal call center reps".
Three ways calls reach a CRM in India
| Route | How it works | Examples | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone-side sync | An app reads each Android phone's call log | TeleCRM, Runo, Callyzer | Android only; customers see personal numbers |
| Cloud telephony connector | Provider logs calls and pushes them to the CRM | Exotel, Ozonetel, MyOperator, Acefone | Connector often on a higher plan |
| CRM's own calling | Dialer built into the CRM | Zoho Voice, Freshsales, Bitrix24 | Indian numbers not always available |
Phone-side sync is the cheapest way to start. TeleCRM's FAQ says "Your team can call your leads one by one from their phone", and the app uploads each call. Setup takes minutes, but the log is only as reliable as the phone's battery and permission settings, and on an iPhone incoming calls can't be logged automatically.
A cloud telephony connector logs calls at the provider, so the handset doesn't matter. Exotel's help centre lists native connectors for Salesforce, Zoho CRM, Freshsales, HubSpot and LeadSquared, among others. The cost is the plan tier: MyOperator, for example, includes CRM integrations only from its ₹15,000-a-month SUV plan.
The CRM's own calling is one bill and one login. The limit in India is numbers: Zoho CRM's built-in calling runs on Twilio, while Zoho Voice's FAQ says you can buy landline and virtual mobile numbers to call within India. So for Indian numbers, pair Zoho CRM with Zoho Voice or one of the 162 PhoneBridge providers Zoho lists for its India data centre.
What the CRMs Indian businesses use support
| CRM | Calling built in, for India | Telephony connectors named |
|---|---|---|
| Zoho CRM | Twilio-based built-in calling; Zoho Voice sells Indian numbers | 162 PhoneBridge providers on India DC, incl. Exotel, Knowlarity |
| LeadSquared | Telephony through provider connectors | Exotel, Ozonetel, Ameyo, CTM |
| TeleCRM | Calls from agents' own phones | CallerDesk, Knowlarity, Mcube, Maqsam |
| Bitrix24 | Rented number or your own PBX (SIP) | Acefone, CallHippo, MyOperator, Tata Smartflo |
| HubSpot | Not for Indian local calls since August 2024 | Exotel, Ozonetel, Acefone, CallHippo |
| Freshsales | Built-in phone; Indian numbers through support | Exotel, MyOperator, CallHippo, Tata Smartflo |
| Salesforce | Its Sales Dialer calls only the US and Canada | Exotel, Ozonetel, MyOperator, CallHippo, Acefone |
The HubSpot row matters most: HubSpot's help centre says "Twilio no longer supports local outbound calls in India as of Aug. 1, 2024", so Indian HubSpot users add a calling app, which HubSpot supports on all plans. For Salesforce, see our guide to Salesforce telephony integration, and for providers and the plans that include each connector, cloud telephony software with CRM integration.
The field map: what every call should leave on the lead
Copy this list into your setup notes and tick each field during testing. If a field doesn't arrive, the integration isn't finished.
- Call ID from the phone provider, so a retried sync updates the same activity instead of creating a second one
- Direction: incoming, outgoing or missed
- Customer number in one format: +91 followed by 10 digits
- Rep: the CRM user who made or answered the call
- Start time and duration
- Outcome from a fixed list: interested, call back, not interested, wrong number, converted
- Next follow-up date, mandatory when the outcome is "call back"
- Recording link, visible to the people allowed to play it
- Notes or summary, typed or generated after the call
Setting up CTI in 5 steps
- Choose the route from the table above. If customers call you back, pick a route that uses a business number.
- Check the plan. Confirm the connector for your CRM is included in the plan you're buying, not a higher one or a paid app.
- Clean the numbers. Convert every saved number to +91 and 10 digits before connecting, or screen pops and logging will miss.
- Map users. Match each CRM user to their phone login or agent, and decide who owns calls to a shared number.
- Test 10 calls: a known caller, an unknown caller, an outgoing call, a missed call and a transfer, twice each. Check every field above.
If calls go missing after launch, our checklist on why CRM call logs go missing covers the usual causes. If you're still choosing a CRM, compare CRMs with calling built in.
TalkEasy by GrowEasy and CRM integration
TalkEasy is a cloud business number that runs in the TalkEasy app alongside each person's own SIM, so every call to or from the business number is logged against it, whoever answers. Calls are recorded with an announcement, each gets an AI summary of the customer's requirement, objections and next follow-up, and incoming calls can be routed by team or availability.
Pro costs ₹999 a month plus GST for unlimited users (pricing) and does not include integrations; custom integration with your CRM is part of the Enterprise plan, priced on request. If you need a ready connector to Zoho or LeadSquared today, choose a provider from the table above. For small teams comparing dialers and telecaller CRMs first, see our telecalling app guide.
Last reviewed 24 September 2026.
