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Technological advancements now mean that call centers are no longer confined to office spaces and shops. Software services have evolved to allow clients to run and monitor their call centers from the comfort of their home. Assigning the client to the perfect agent, monitoring employee’s downtime, and scheduling agents to cover every shift are a few of the many services that can be obtained by purchasing the right Call Center Software.
However, there are hundreds of software services for clients to choose from, and a decision might be challenging to make. To help with this issue, we have created our list. We have identified the six best Call Center Software services to ensure customer satisfaction and improve employee performance.
We have identified the unique advantages, costs, and features assigned to each software service on our list. We have put in the time and effort so that you won’t need to. All that is left is to decide which software is best for your business.
Recommended Services: Top 6 Summary
- Cloudtalk – Editor’s Choice
- RingCentral – Best Agent Management Features
- Freshworks – Best Free Trial Offer
- Channels (Crazycall) – Best Customization Options
- 8×8 – Excellent Self-Sustaining Programs
- Five9 – Most Reliable Software Approach
Best Call Center Software – Service Review
1. Cloudtalk – Editor’s Choice
Pros:
- Over 60 offered features
- Free 14 day trial
- Offers a personalized demo
- Customizable pricing packages
- Quick and efficient after-sales support
Cons:
- Information can be overwhelming
Cloudtalk is a cloud-based Call Center Software currently used by more than 2500 call centers and phone systems. The company behind the software was founded in 2016 and has been rated #1 based on reviews from 6 marketplaces and platforms. The company boasts 4.8 to 5-star ratings from Trustpilot, Capterra, and FinancesOnline. Since its creation, the company has amassed local phone numbers from over 100 countries, allowing its clients to run their call center from anywhere in the world. Cloudtalk allows the seamless integration of previously owned helpdesks, customer relationship management software, and business tools such as:
- Hubspot
- Zendesk
- Pipedrive
Using a network of telco partners, Cloudtalk has maintained clear phone calls to ensure that clients are connected with customers, stakeholders, and potential investors without issue. Cloudtalk allows clients to use its services either from their desktop or mobile using its mobile apps. Cloudtalk provides access to real-time analytics, allowing clients to track their employees’ performance to improve their customer-client relationships.
At present, Cloudtalk offers more than 60 features for clients to choose from. These features are divided into 6 main categories that effectively cover every part of the call center experience, ensuring that clients receive the best service for their money. Some of the types of features included in Cloudtalk’s packages are:
- Voice Features – These include call recording, international numbers, and number porting.
- Intelligent Call Routing – This covers automated call distribution, ring groups, and VIP queues.
- Productivity – This category offers speech to text options, blacklists, and agent status.
- Integrations – This feature gives clients the option to create tasks directly from Cloudtalk and conduct workflow automation.
New clients wishing to access Cloudtalk’s services can arrange a personalized demo conducted one-on-one with a customer success specialist. Setting up a demo is quick and straightforward; visitors to the site need only fill out a registration form providing information of any customer relationship management tool they are currently using, along with the number of potential users.Â
Clients who do not require a demo or simply wish to try out the service for themselves have an option to do so free of cost by taking advantage of Cloudtalk’s 14-day trial. Unlike other companies, Cloudtalk only requests a new client’s name, email address, and work number to set up access to this promotional offer. The client will not need to enter any billing information.
Cloudtalk offers several affordable payment packages ranging from as little as $20 per month to expert packages that cost $40 per month. However, a unique feature provided by the company is the client’s ability to create a tailor-made offer to best suit their needs and budget.
With numerous features, multiple trial options, and price packages, we have chosen Cloudtalk as our top pick.
2. RingCentral – Best Agent Management Features
Pros:
- Unique agent management tools
- Available demo
- Multiple features
- Clear phone calls
- 24/7 customer support
Cons:
RingCentral is an award-winning company that has created a cloud-based platform aimed at improving the functionality of team messaging, voice and video meetings and collaborations, along with the performance of contact centers. The company aims to increase productivity by improving the coordination between international teams using numbers from over 100 countries.
RingCentral also promises clients the highest security level possible, with all its systems monitored by teams of experts 24/7. RingCentral offers clients a 99.99% uptime guarantee to reassure them that any issue that might arise will be fixed promptly, ensuring that clients can provide uninterrupted support to their customers.
To achieve the company’s goals, RingCentral offers a variety of features. The most unique of these features are those applied to the management of the client’s agents. To improve agent-customer relations, RingCentral has implemented features that focus on three main areas.
- Time Management – RingCentral allows clients to oversee and optimize an agent’s work schedule. This ensures that customer waiting times are kept to an absolute minimum while preventing frequent agent downtimes.
- Routing – To make sure that customers are allowed access to the agent who is most likely to be able to answer their questions and queries, RingCentral has offered clients the option to route certain calls to specific agents. This reduces the time when the customer is waiting to be transferred and allows each agent to provide their highest level of assistance.
- Information Analysis – RingCentral gives clients access to real-time insights and informatics that can be used to improve customer relations, monitor reports, and improve the company’s overall performance.
Tools aimed at collaborations further enhance the client’s ability to manage agents and the entire company’s performance. Using RingCentral’s services, clients can share directories between their employees, giving other agents access to their colleagues’ availability so that they can coordinate and ensure that shifts are covered appropriately. RingCentral even facilitates moving clients from local offices to contact centres using the PBX systems.
In addition to these supervisory and management tools, RingCentral allows clients to integrate pre-used tools and programs into the service to not lose any previously gained functionality.
With plans starting at $19.99 per month, RingCentral is slightly more expensive than others in its field. However, clients are offered a free trial to ensure the product is one for them, and in addition to this free trial, clients have full access to a professional multi-method customer support team. Clients also have the opportunity to expand their chosen plan whenever needed for a small additional cost.
3. Freshworks – Best Free Trial Offer
Pros:
- Best free trial option
- Competitive pricing plans
- Offers a free plan for new business
- Allows Integrations
- Offers multiple features
Cons:
- The website can be confusing
Initially launched in 2011, Freshworks aimed to create software that required minimal outside input and was easy to set up and easy to use. Since that time, the company has developed a cloud-based platform that serves as a tool to help call centers achieve their best possible performance. This software tool is known as Freshcaller.
The features offered by the Freshcaller platform are divided into four main categories. These are:
- Call Center Management
- Call Center Set-up
- Phone Numbers
- Call Center Performance
Freshworks allows clients to receive real-time data, making it easy to monitor staff’s performance and capabilities. During this monitoring, clients are also given the option to ‘barge in’ on calls, allowing them to speak with customers and agents simultaneously if necessary. Clients also have access to a real-time dashboard, enabling them to monitor waiting queues, call times, and any delays, allowing the client to make necessary changes where needed. Using Freshcaller, clients can also record all calls for training purposes or to help them better understand any complaints.
Freshcaller provides the most straightforward set-up options, allowing clients to create and arrange custom greetings, import contacts, and automatically block numbers and regions previously identified as spam callers. Clients can develop personalized voicemail greetings and allow for automated queue number announcements for customers who are waiting.
With Freshcaller, clients can access numbers from fifty countries or even mask their current number with another to prevent detection. For ease of identification, Freshcaller allows clients to create numbers that link to the company. There is also an option to buy toll-free numbers or simply keep pre-existing numbers.
Unlike the other software tools identified on this list, Freshcaller allows for a 21-day trial, one of the lengthiest trial periods offered by any Call Center Software company. The plan provided under this trial period is Freshcaller’s Forest plan which would usually cost £54 per month if obtained annually. In addition to this, Freshcaller also provides startup businesses with a chance to access one of their plans completely free. By accessing Freshcaller’s Sprout plan, startups can access limited features for unlimited agents, and it will cost them $0.
The other pricing plans offered by Freshcaller are incredibly affordable, with the lowest costing only £11 per month if obtained under an annual program or £15 per month if not.
Freshcaller allows for the integration of several pre-existing tools that include:
- Shopify
- Pipedrive
- Zoho CRM
4. Channels – Best Customization Options
Pros:
- Easy to set-up service
- Demo options available
- 7-day free trial
- Low price packages
- 24/7 professional customer support
Cons:
Report download speed is sometimes slow
Previously known as Crazycall, Channels is a cloud-based solutions app engineered to provide assistance to customer support agents. The app can be downloaded from either Google Play or the App Store, and the company boasts that it can be used by individuals with little to no technical knowledge. The company also promises that the software can be used mere minutes after set-up.
Channels offers the option of one-click calls to clients who utilize the company’s Chrome extension. This eliminates the hassle of moving between tabs when making calls ensuring that no information is missed. Customer details are also made readily available to the agents via the Customer Card provided for those on the Chrome extension.
The app compiles the information gathered and call recordings, allowing agents to share this information when needed or analyze and improve customer-agent communication. The call recordings are stored indefinitely, providing clients with the perfect tool to help train new employees. The records are also valuable in the case of audits.
The integration of help desks and customer relationship management software such as Pipedrive, Hubspot, and Zendesk is easily facilitated when using the Channels’ app. This trouble-free integration ensures that clients do not lose any of the previous advantages that these programs afforded them.
New clients are offered a product tour where they can log in and create an account using a pre-existing Google account or by creating one from scratch. Clients will need their company’s name, the company’s website, and a phone number to start. Upon filling in this information and following the steps, clients can access a demo of the site, complete with a dashboard, events history and integration tab. Clients who are still unsure of the service can schedule a 15 or 30-minute full demo.Â
Setting up Channels is one of the most straightforward processes. Clients need only enter limited business information about their company to be provided with a free number allocated to one of the more than 60 countries in Channels’ collection. Upon verifying this number and its assigned task, clients can download the Chrome extension and immediately begin to import contacts and projects. Clients who are still unsure about the set-up process can schedule an Onboarding Call, where they will be guided through the features and any questions they might want to query.
To provide additional support for unsure clients, Channels offers a 7-day free trial. However, for clients who have made up their minds about using this service, several price packages are available depending on their needs and requirements. The lowest price currently available is $15 per month for a Lite service which is better for smaller teams, whereas Pro services for established firms cost $39 per month.
Channels offer more than 40 features for clients to use, but while these features are in use, a report’s download speed can be a bit slow. This issue is not quite a disadvantage as it rarely occurs, and despite the speed, the download always completes.
5. 8×8 – Excellent Self-Sustaining Programs
Pros:
- Software maintenance
- Easy to set-up
- Superb security systems
- Affordable prices
Cons:
8×8 is a Call Center software platform aimed at streamlining and improving the Call Center experience. This goal is accomplished by providing their clients with intuitive software solutions that produce faster customer responses, reduce waiting times, and improve the business’s overall efficiency.
One of the main features that help 8×8 to provide support for clients is Omnichannel Routing. Omnichannel Routing allows the client to streamline the flow of information through the company. This approach ensures that customers are assigned to the correct agents, reducing wait times and allowing customers to receive the answers they need on their first call.
8×8 also provides clients with access to Interactive Voice Response programs that remove clients with frequently asked questions from the waiting queues while directing other clients to the correct agents to handle their query. The IVR self-service, along with 8×8’s virtual agent program, also reduces the number of agents required as it can provide assistance without the need for interjection by a live agent.
In addition to these self-sustaining programs, 8×8 gives clients access to their company’s data using highly efficient analytics. This data can be used to monitor agent call times, identifying key trends and issues that can be addressed to improve the agent’s efficiency. Automatic notifications provide warnings if an agent’s performance falls below standard or a negative trend of any form is identified.
Analytics also ensures that clients can create carefully customized reports highlighting focal issues that need to be addressed.
These features are only a few of the advantages that 8×8 Call Center Software provides. In addition to these, the company carefully maintains and updates the software as needed. This is particularly helpful for companies that do not have a technical support department.
The software provided by 8×8 is easy to set up, requiring only basic company details and the appropriate hardware before it can be launched. It also allows for the integration of not only customer relationship management tools such as Slack, Zoho, and Hubspot but also regularly used programs including Office 365.
Another advantage to be gained from using 8×8’s services is the security offered by the company. To protect the client’s data and information, 8×8 provides top of the line programs for fraud detection and secure endpoint provisioning, along with a team of experts who have amassed more than 20 years of experience in the field. The company also provides reliability by ensuring that software will continue to work in the case of a disaster. This is possible because the software is linked to browsers and can be accessed from anywhere with an Internet connection.
8×8 does not provide a specific price for their platform, which might cause difficulties for clients working on a budget. However, past quotes have indicated that services have been provided for as little as $12 per month, making it more than affordable when compared to others in the field of Call Center Software.
6. Five9 – Most Reliable Software Approach
Pros:
- Customizable cloud plans
- Reliable software
- Improves customer experience
- Provides a practical A.I.
- Customer relationship management integration
Cons:
- Installation can be difficult
Five9 provides cloud-based software for contact centers that is currently being used by over 2000 customers worldwide. The software’s numerous features and offers have garnered more than 6 billion customer interactions per year.
One of the unique features supplied by Five9 is the company’s promise to customize the cloud software to suit the client’s needs. This promise is accomplished by partnering with numerous System Integrators, including:
- Epic Connections
- PPT Solutions
- Acumen Solutions
- Summa Technologies
These partnerships allow Five9 to craft personalized software approaches that depend on the business’ requirements ensuring the most successful outcome possible for its clients.
Reliability is one of the most significant advantages to be gained when working with Five9’s software. The company boasts a 99.99% availability over the last twelve months. This claim is bolstered by its team of more than 120 Tech and Channel Partners, who help the company provide its impressive 24/7 network monitoring available 365 days a year.
Clients are provided with quarterly reviews presented by Five9’s Technological Executives to examine system upgrades and general infrastructure changes. Five9 also provides regular audits run by reputable third party organizations, along with a system status portal where clients can check the status of various systems, such as:
Five9 ensures that the customer experience encountered while using its software is intuitive but also professional. The software’s Omnichannel Routing directs customers to the correct agent without delay and allows the customer to avoid unnecessary queues and get the information they need in a timely fashion. Using the software, agents can also control the customer’s journey through the system, ensuring that they are accessing the correct departments and will not need to restart their call. If an issue does arise, Five9’s software allows agents to switch between channels and create new channels to ensure customer satisfaction.
Five9’s Practical A.I. is yet another tool that customers can take advantage of. The A.I. is capable of producing call transcripts and summaries. The program can also provide real-time training, helping agents by providing them with information gathered from the system and the call records.
Remote Control access enables supervisors to monitor remote call center agents and interact with them where needed or simply collect information about agent-client relations to further improve the service.
Five9 fully understands that most businesses utilize client relationship management tools, and as such, the company has ensured that its software is able to work with these tools. To achieve this goal, the software provided by Five9 contains Pre-Built CRM Integrations, aimed to accommodate:
- Microsoft
- Oracle
- Zendesk
- Salesforce
The installation of Five9’s software can sometimes prove to be a bit tricky, depending on the client. However, the company provides helpful representatives who can be contacted by email, phone, or chat to happily walk clients through the installation process.
What To Look For In A Call Center Software For Your Business
Several factors should play an important part when looking for new software for a call center, and one of the most important factors is security. The customer’s data and information is stored not only on your systems but also in any call recordings that you choose to keep. In order to keep pre-existing clients and gain new ones, your company must be able to ensure the safety of this data. Therefore it is vital to choose a software package that is not only impenetrable but it also an excellent practice to obtain software that includes a security team that can respond to any breaches before critical information is stolen.
The features that are offered by a particular software are also significant. Depending on the business’s size and requirements, certain features will be more needed on a day-to-day basis. Call center’s with large numbers of employees will usually benefit from management tools and features that can help a supervisor control an agent’s time schedule and the clientele they are assigned. In such cases, analytics may also be required, so tools that provide real-time data are a must. Whereas, in a smaller business, clients are often focused on building a good rapport with automated greetings and controlled waiting queues.
Another factor that should be considered is the ease of software set-up. This matter might not be as crucial for a more prominent call center that employs technical support. However, for small businesses, software that is easy to set-up can save time and money.
The software must also be easy to use. Choosing intuitive interfaces is vital for a business as agents must be able to navigate the system quickly to be able to keep up with growing customer demands.
Customer support is also essential, especially if the company in question does not have its own technical department.
The last factor is the price. Often companies will have a strict budget that they must adhere to. Shopping around and taking quotes is usually a good idea in these situations, but a low price should not indicate low-quality software.
Conclusion
With hundreds of Call Center Softwares in existence, it is essential to choose the one that suits your company’s needs and requirements. Our list has ensured that you will not have to go trawling through thousands of sites to find the best software for you and your company. Using our comprehensive reviews, making your choice should require nothing more than a quick scroll through this article.
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The reviews and statements published here are those of the sponsor and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position or views of Observer.
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