Best Call Center Software

How Does Call Center Software Work?

As the name suggests, call center software is designed to automate and streamline incoming and outgoing calls. It plays a huge role in managing customer service processes. To better understand what call center software does, let’s know how it works.

When a customer calls your customer support number, then calling software for call centers, equipped with an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system provides a custom menu. After the caller enters a particular number provided in the menu, the software routes the call to the right agent as per their skill. This is known as skill-based routing.

As the software routes the call, it provides the agent with the available caller information so that the former can better cater to the latter’s needs. After receiving the call, the agent helps the customer by providing them with the required support or responses. If the agent can’t resolve the problem immediately, then the software can record the conversation so that the customer service department can look into the issue and resolve it as quickly as possible.

Based on the final response of the customer, the agent marks the status of the request or issue as resolved, closed, open, or needs follow-up. If the agent marks the ticket as closed, the call center software also helps the company in soliciting feedback.

In an outbound call center, the call center system uses autodialers to automate the dialing of outgoing calls. The software dials numbers from a list of numbers and connects the call to an agent only when a live person picks up the call. The software is designed to detect answering machines, busy tones, and deadlines.

After the call is connected to a live person, the software displays the caller’s information on the agent’s computer screen, which enables the agent to address the customer by his right title and name.

Types of Call Center Platforms

Call center platforms come in various forms, each tailored to meet specific business needs. Here are some of the key types of call center platforms:

1. On-Premise Call Center Platform

   An on-premise call center platform is set up inside a company’s own building. It needs specific hardware and software, which an in-house IT team must maintain. Businesses like this option because it gives them full control over their systems and data security. However, it can be expensive due to the costs of the equipment and ongoing maintenance.

2. Cloud-Based Call Center Platform

   Cloud-based platforms are hosted online, allowing access from anywhere. These platforms are flexible and can easily adjust to changes in call volume, making them perfect for businesses that experience ups and downs in calls. Companies enjoy lower initial costs since they only pay for what they use, making it a good fit for remote or hybrid work environments.

3. Hosted Call Center Platform

   Hosted platforms are similar to cloud-based ones but are managed by a third-party service provider. This means the hosting company takes care of system maintenance and upgrades, which eases the workload for internal IT teams. This option provides flexibility without the hassle of managing infrastructure, making it a cost-effective choice for small and medium-sized businesses.

4. Virtual Call Center Platform

   A virtual call center platform allows agents to work from different locations while staying connected through a central system. It uses cloud technology to create a seamless experience for both agents and customers. This is a suitable option for businesses that want to save money on overhead and support a workforce that is spread out across various locations.

What are The Benefits of Call Center Software?

The innovation of call center software as well as contact center solutions, transformed the customer service and support industry for the better. From automating manual activities to enhancing agents’ productivity to enhancing customer satisfaction, the benefits of call center software are countless. Let's take a look at five of them.

1. Reduced costs

   As per various statistics, businesses using IP-based phone systems can reduce their phone bills by more than 60 percent. They can reduce by up to 90 percent costs on international calls.

   When VoIP phone systems are helmed by reliable and high-quality call center software, the savings on operational costs are massive due to the automation of various manual tasks and the rise in agents’ productivity.

2. Higher agent productivity

   Regardless of the size of the business, it is essential to include the most important people early in the software selection process. A large company may consist of e-commerce teams, digital teams, IT professionals, security system integrators, and developers who work with the software.
   
   A report released by HubSpot shows that 95 percent of customer service leaders believe that CRM software enhances productivity.

3. Enhanced security

   Did you know that human errors are the weakest link in cyber security? A study conducted by IBM found that human errors are responsible for up to 95 percent of security breaches.

   As sophisticated call center software automates many manual activities, the chances of human errors are considerably reduced. Equipped with sophisticated security features, reliable call center software can keep customer interaction safe.

4. Real-time analytics

   Sophisticated call center solutions are equipped with real-time monitoring and reporting tools, which enable supervisors and managers to get an overall picture of agents’ performance as well as the status of customer complaints and resolution.

   The analytics and insights will enable representatives to identify patterns and trends in customer behavior and provide proactive customer support and service.

5. Automation of manual tasks

   In the digital era, automation is extremely critical for all businesses, including call centers. At a time when 95% of call center leaders are adopting or planning to use automation (as revealed by a new study), choosing the right call center software can help a lot.

   Call center software automates many manual and repetitive tasks such as dialing phone numbers, routing and distributing calls, queuing and scheduling calls, sending text messages, calculating various KPIs generating reports, and more.

Essential Features of Call Center Software

High-quality call center software comes with many cutting-edge features. Some of the features of the best call center software are:

1. Multi-level IVR

   Multi-level IVR (Interactive Voice Response) is an automated business phone system that offers several self-help features and acts as an auto-receptionist. Before a customer gets connected to a call center executive, the multi-level IVR offers several self-service options to help customers get faster and stress-free solutions or responses to their issues.

2. Autodialer

   As the name suggests, autodialer is a call software feature that automatically dials phone numbers from a list of contacts and connects the call to the agent only when a live person picks up the phone. It is equipped with technology to detect busy tones, answering machines, and dead connections.

3. Call recording

   This feature records all incoming and outgoing calls and stores them as digital files to be listened to or transcripted at a later stage for training and quality purposes. It can record active and conference calls.

4. Call monitoring

   This feature enables managers and supervisors to listen to conversations between customers and call center executives, as well as provide live advice and suggestions to agents without letting the customers know about it.

5. WebRTC

   WebRTC is a technology that allows websites and applications to send and receive voice calls, text messages, and video calls. By using this feature, you can enable real-time communication capabilities in your application.

6. CRM integration

   This feature enables the call center apps and software to be integrated with CRM. With proper CRM integration, call center software can work seamlessly with many CRM.

7. Skill-based routing

   This feature routes all incoming calls to suitable customer service representatives as per their skills and competence. The system uses algorithms to connect customers with the right agents who have the relevant knowledge and experience to handle their queries and requests.

How to Choose the Best Call Center Software?

If you are looking for the best call center software, then you can be overwhelmed by the sheer number of options and choices available in the market. But if you’re determined to select the best call center software for your business, you need to invest some quality time to find the right software provider.

1. Decide the type of call center software

   Before looking for call center software, you must take your goals and purpose into account. That would help you decide on the type of call center software as well as the features you need.

   When it comes to the type of call center software, you’ll have to choose between inbound call center software and outbound call center software based on the type of service you aim to provide. You’ll also need to choose from on-premise, browser-based, cloud-based, and hosted call center software based on your budget.

2. Look for trustworthy call center software providers

   When it comes to choosing the right call center solution provider, using highly focused search terms on the internet can give you the best results. You can type search terms such as “best call center software for small enterprises,” “best call center solutions,” “best call center phone systems,” or “best call center management system.”

   If you are looking for call center software in a specific country, use location-specific search terms for the best results. Search terms such as “best call center software in the US,” “best call center software in the UK,” and “best call center software in Canada,” can show you the best calling software provider in any particular country.

3. Compare features, pricing plans, and reviews

   After pressing the enter key, you’ll find about ten to eleven websites on the first search engine result page. Some websites will belong to call center phone systems providers and some will belong to aggregators in which you’ll find a list of 10 to 20 call center software providers with features, pricing plans, ratings, reviews, and more.

   Visiting the websites of software providers will enable you to know about the companies and their products in detail. But visiting the websites of some reputable aggregators will allow you to get a bird’s-eye view of various call center software as well as view the total number of reviews and ratings.

4. Shortlist and contact software providers

   After comparing various call center software, it’s time to shortlist some providers and contact their teams to know more about their products and pricing plans. By contacting the software providers, you can share your goals and objectives and you can ask if they can customize their solutions to meet your needs.

   Also, ask if they provide a free demo. If it’s a trustworthy and reputable company, it would agree to provide a free demo.

5. Get a free demo and take feedback

   If the call center software provider agrees to provide a free demo, then request it and introduce the trial version of the call center management software to your team.

   Ask them to use the software and take their feedback. If the software works well for you, then consider buying it.

Why Trust SoftwareSuggest Recommendations?

You should trust SoftwareSuggest recommendations because we are dedicated to ensuring the authenticity and integrity of our ratings and reviews. Here’s how we maintain these high standards:

• Verified Reviewers: We ensure that all reviewers authenticate their identities using professional credentials, like LinkedIn profiles or verified business email addresses. This process helps us confirm that reviews come from genuine users, eliminating the risk of biased or misleading feedback.

• Unbiased Ratings: Our ratings are transparent and impartial. Software vendors cannot influence their ratings through payments or incentives, ensuring that the scores you see reflect true user experiences.

• Rigorous Moderation: Every review goes through a comprehensive moderation process. Our team checks for authenticity, relevance, and adherence to our guidelines before any review is published, maintaining the quality of information available to you.

• Consistent Ranking Methodology: We use a consistent methodology to rank products based on satisfaction and usability scores derived from real-time data. Our algorithms operate objectively, ensuring fairness across all software categories.

• Integrity Alerts: We are committed to transparency. If we detect any unethical practices, such as vendors attempting to manipulate reviews, we issue alerts to keep our community informed and uphold our platform's trustworthiness.

By following these practices, we make sure that our users receive honest, accurate, and trustworthy information. Our aim is to empower them to make informed decisions about the software solutions that best meet their needs.

Best Call Center Software Companies with Pricing, Pros & Cons

When it comes to choosing the right call center software, one can be overwhelmed by the sheer number of options available in the market. To narrow down the choices for you, here are five best call center software companies:

1. HoduCC

HoduCC is the product of HoduSoft, one of the fastest-growing call center software providers globally. It has advanced features making it a top choice for call centers aiming to gain a competitive edge through better performance and productivity.

The feature-rich software can handle 250 agents in one server and more than a thousand concurrent calls. It integrates easily with CRM such as Salesforce, Zoho, and Zendesk.

Features

• 250 agents in one server, 1000 plus concurrent calls
• SMS integrations with Twilio and Telnyx
• CRM integrations with Salesforce, Zoho, and Zendesk
• Real-time analytics and reports

Pros

• Wide range of sophisticated features
• Extremely affordable prices
• Reliable customization services
• 24x7 support

Cons

• Relatively new
• Some features can be enhanced

Pricing

• HoduCC call center software comes with a one-month free trial period. The pricing plans are flexible for different business sizes in different countries.

2. Nextiva

Nextiva is an Arizona-based call center software provider that offers sophisticated and high-quality call center solutions for all types of businesses. Nextiva has various advanced features that make it user-friendly and innovative software for call centers. It is a good choice for businesses looking to streamline their call center operations and reduce calling costs.

Features

• Fully-integrated ticketing helpdesk
• Provides functionalities for call groups, call routing, call recording, and call extension
• Dashboards and reporting
• Sophisticated SMS and CRM integrations

Pros

• Extremely easy to use
• Wide range of high-quality features
• Customer service
• Four different pricing plans

Cons

• No free trial
• No integration

Pricing

• Nextiva has four different price plans. Essential starts at $18.95 per month per user. Professional starts at $22.95 per month per user. Enterprise starts at $32.95 per month per user. Ultimate starts at $57.95 per month per user.

3. Genesys

Genesys call center software is available both over the cloud as well as on-premises and hybrid software. The call center software is perfect for mid-sized and large businesses. The call center software is packed with several cutting-edge features to give organizations a competitive advantage.

Features

• Artificial intelligence and automation
• Automatic call distribution (ACD)
• Customer self-service
• Digital sales and service automation

Pros

• Easy to set up
• Advanced IVR and self-service options
• Real-time dashboard
• Gamification

Cons

• Customer support could be better
• Difficulty in using softphone on Linux
• Unintuitive user interface

Pricing

• Genesys call center software comes with a 30-day free trial. The starter pack is priced at $75 per agent per month. The upgraded plans come with monthly prices of $110 and $150.

4. Freshdesk

Freshdesk is the award-winning call center software from San Mateo-based software company Freshworks. The online cloud-based call center software comes with a wide range of features. Freshdesk has a range of innovative features that enhance organizational efficiency and make it a worthwhile investment.

Features

• Customizable omnichannel dashboard
• Curated and custom reports
• Customer satisfaction ratings
• Cloud-based deployment

Pros

• Highly advanced features
• Affordable pricing
• Free plan for 10 agents
• Excellent UI
• Good customer support

Cons

• No SMS and social media integration
• Limited automation and hard to configure
• Suboptimal analytics and dashboard

Pricing

• The basic plan has a monthly rate of $15 per user. The pro plan costs $49 per user every month. The enterprise plan starts at $79 per user per month.

5. CloudTalk

Slovakia-based telecom company CloudTalk’s call center software easily interconnects departments, branches, and teams. It is one of the best software to handle both incoming and outgoing calls from one place. CloudTalk call center software comes with a wide range of features and has a navigable user interface, making it a popular choice for call centers.

Features

• Supports a wide range of platforms such as Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and web-based
• Contacts personalization
• Daily Summary
• Smart power dialers

Pros

• Extremely intuitive
• Easy to set up
• High-quality and reliable features
• Supports a wide range of platforms
• Options to have multiple agents

Cons

• Difficulty in integrating with other apps
• It can add some modifications such as filter and recording

Pricing

The starter plan has a monthly price of $15 per user. The advanced pricing plans for the Expert pack are $35 per user per month.

Hosted vs. Cloud-based vs. On-premise Software

Hosted, cloud-based, and on-premise software are three popular options, each with its own pros and cons. Take a look at the below table to understand their key differences.

All three options come with unique advantages and challenges. Hosted software offers a balanced approach, cloud-based software is flexible and scalable, while on-premise software gives complete control. Choose the right model based on your organization's needs for control, cost, and scalability.

Essential Call Center Software Integrations

Integrating the right tools with your call center software is crucial for boosting efficiency and improving customer experiences. Here are some essential integrations every call center should consider:

1. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Integration

   Integrating CRM systems helps call center agents quickly access important customer information during calls, allowing for more personalized service. Agents can see a complete history of the customer, including past issues, purchases, and preferences. This not only saves time during calls but also improves the chances of resolving issues on the first contact.
   
   For example: Salesforce, Zoho CRM

2. Help Desk Integration

   Connecting help desk software with your call center system enables agents to easily create, track, and resolve customer support tickets. This ensures that every issue is properly documented, so nothing gets overlooked. It simplifies the management of customer requests and helps agents stay updated on important concerns.
   
   For example: Zendesk, Freshdesk

3. Workforce Management (WFM) Integration

   WFM integration helps call centers ensure they always have the right number of agents available. It gives insights into call volumes and optimizes agent schedules, balancing workloads and reducing customer wait times. This integration also tracks agent performance and highlights areas for training.
   
   For example: Genesys, BambooHR

4. Conversational AI Integration

   Conversational AI platforms improve how customers interact with call centers by using natural language processing, which helps computers understand and respond to human language. This integration lets call centers use smart virtual agents that can chat with customers through voice or text, giving them quick answers and support.
   
   For example: ControlHippo, Amazon Lex

5. Payment Gateway Integration

   Payment integration allows agents to process transactions during calls, creating a smooth experience for customers making payments over the phone. It speeds up the payment process while keeping sensitive information secure.
   
   For example: RazorPay, PayPal

Integrating these tools can help call centers provide a more seamless and effective customer service experience.

Call Center Software Pricing

The price of call center software can start from $50 per agent per month and go up to $1500 per agent per month. It can vary based on various factors such as features, number of users, deployment type (cloud-based or on-premises), and customization/integration needs.