CTI does need the server component in a hosted environment as well, but you can launch the CTI Server setup from any Client, as long as you have a user with full access to CRM.

You need to select the hosted options on the Connection dialog. 

If you have physical access to the CRM server, you can simply launch the setup on that server as if it were an onPremise installation.

Due to the mechanics of an IFD setup, the client will not use a SQL connection to retrieve the information, but a webservice call.

As webservice calls are more limited as SQL queries, it is recommended to create a hidden field in CRM on the entities you want to search in.

They will hold the numbers in a format similar to the one TAPI uses.

You can achieve this either via an onSave script or via a workflow in CRM, transmuting the number to a TAPI compatible format.

This is only required for caller identification, outbound calls will work with the formatted number, because they are processed by the Client application.

Explanation:

The number stored in CRM is formatted canonical, looking like +43 (316) 680880 0

The TAPI drivers delivers a number as 00433166808800.

Though the information is the same, the formatting prevents the CTI to find the number, as the webservice call is not able to resolve the formatting.

If you have a field in the CRM entity that is getting filled with the unformatted number, you can setup the CTI to use that field for the lookup and get correct results in looking up the callers, but still have a well formatted number in the CRM to display.

That’s it! We appreciate your feedback! Please share your thoughts by sending an email to support@mscrm-addons.com.