Even with SMS, email, chatbot, and social media options available, many people still prefer phone support when reaching out to customer service. Phone conversations can help customers feel heard and enhance their overall experience with a business This is why call center solutions are a must for businesses to promoting brand loyalty and improving customer experience.

While phone calls are considered a traditional form of customer support, it doesn't mean you have to choose outdated technology to meet your customers’ needs. Without the right call center solution, your business can end up spending more resources unnecessarily and lose the chance to analyze valuable insights. In this guide, you will learn about different types of call center solutions, key features you must consider for your business, and the best call center software available for businesses.

What Is Call Center Software?

How Can a Business Set Up Contact Center Software?

Key Differences between Cloud Contact Center Software and Call Center Software

Essential Call Center Software Features

Best Call Center Software Solutions You Need to Check Out

Choose a Call Center Software Solution that Works for You

A call center software is a program that enables businesses to connect customers to agents and handle a large volume of inbound and outbound calls. These software usually have a plethora of features to streamline customer support operations and provide top-notch service to customers.

With the right software, agents can automate the routing process by utilizing features like Interactive Voice Response and caller information collection. These programs can also transfer callers to other channels and trigger prerecorded FAQ answers to provide ease to clients.

These days, call center platforms are based on the cloud and use Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) systems, allowing users to make web-based calls. Some software can also offer multichannel communication messages, live chat, social media, email, and voice calls. This way, customers can enjoy a seamless experience and have their concerns resolved effectively.

While both call center software and contact center software are crucial to customer service, there are major differences between the two types. A call center software is a virtual or on-site business communication solution that allows sales teams to call potential customers and customer support teams to receive calls for help from existing clients.

On the other hand, a contact center software offers a more diverse range of features and services in addition to that of a call center. A multichannel contact center solution may provide technical support using video or in-app chat, share order status updates via SMS, or tend to sales inquiries received by email. To help you choose the right solution, here are some key differences between the software solutions you need to consider.

There are a variety of solutions available depending on the software you use. While some solutions are geared toward inbound calling, others are perfect for outbound calling. Most solutions are a combination of the two.

All types of inbound and outbound solutions can be on-premises, hosted, or cloud-based, and you can choose the most suitable one for your needs accordingly.

1. Types Depending on Customer Service Offered

Inbound Call Center Solutions

The main difference between an inbound call center and an outbound call center solution is the type of features each software offers to facilitate inbound and outbound calling. Inbound call center solutions allow businesses to receive calls from prospective or existing customers regarding inquiries, complaints, and other services.

These call centers provide their client base with one or several toll-free numbers they can dial without incurring charges. Inbound call centers usually offer features like automatic call routing and IVR self-services that allow callers to contact the most suitable quickly and even seek support without speaking to a live agent.

Outbound Call Center Solutions

Outbound call center platforms are used for making outgoing calls to get in touch with clients for prospecting, callbacks, or selling. These calls can be made to new customers to introduce services, existing clients for upselling, or for conducting market research. Many outbound call center software offer dialing modes such as predictive, progressive, and preview, which help save agents time on out-of-service numbers and voicemails. These solutions are best for sales teams and large businesses that make a large number of outbound calls.

2. Types Depending on Delivery Method

On-premise Call Center

The way your software solution is hosted can affect the maintenance cost associated with the system. An on-premise software system, which means the software is stored and managed by your own server and is located on business property, is the most expensive option. This is because it requires you to take care of maintenance, updates, and costs of the server.

Hosted Call Center

A hosted call center is an extensive solution for businesses that is situated off-site at a third-party service provider's location or data center. These systems are much more scalable and affordable than on-premise call centers since there is no added infrastructure or maintenance required.

Cloud-based Call Center

Software solutions on the cloud save your system and data on the server of a third-party such as Amazon or Google and are usually the most cost-effective solution of them all. This is because the provider usually handles all updates and troubleshooting. Moreover, there are multiple servers in various locations to offer geographic redundancy, and businesses can allow for greater mobility/ flexibility for the employees.

The features of call center software depend on the brand or type of software you choose. The most important features you should focus on while picking a call center software are as follows:

CRM Integration

If customers have to repeat their problems and concerns every time they speak to a new representative, it can affect their experience with your support team and business. With CRM integrated with your systems, your agents can receive more context about the caller and provide effective and quick assistance to them. They can sift through past interactions the company has had with the customer and even observe trends for product usage to ensure the customer doesn't face the same issue again.

Many brands also offer Computer-Telephony Integration (CTI) pop-ups that identify a customer through their previous interactions and phone number through the browser. By understanding how your chosen software supports integrations, you can provide your agents with helpful context for great client communication.

Pricing Per Usage

When choosing software for your call center, you must carefully look at the software’s pricing per phone call or use. The overall charges may depend on how your software assigns you phone numbers and might be more than expected for each minute on the phone. Therefore, it is best to confirm the prices and charges before committing to a new system. This way, you can fully understand what is included in the package and how much each minute or call may cost.

Call Routing to Optimize Efficiency of Live Agents

With intelligent or automated call routing, customers can get connected to the right person quickly without waiting for too long. It is a key feature that not only saves valuable time but also improves customer experience significantly. No matter which software you choose, it is crucial to understand how your call routing will work. Most systems are quite complex and difficult to update quickly. Therefore, it is best to set them up and change workflows if possible so that you don’t get stuck with a single configuration.

IVR (Interactive Voice Response)

Want to serve your customers faster, better, and more conveniently? Choose an IVR system that helps you keep up with customer service standards and meet client expectations. It is the first point of contact for a customer when they ring in for support. The setup can assist customers with their problems without involving a human agent and can help your business achieve faster resolution time, 24/7 support, call prioritization, and offer conversational customer service as well.

Analytics and Reports

Call center analytics allow managers to observe their employees’ transfer rate, missed and declined calls, average handle time, total resolution time, call abandonment rate, customer effort score, and so much more. By noting these, supervisors and agents can understand where they need to improve and how to achieve better performance. Metrics like call volume, call trends, and agent efficiency are also important and allow a business to plan for the future while understanding their team’s performance. Reporting can help a company look into gaps in its support coverage, highlight common issues customers are facing, and even focus on potential training opportunities.

Cloud-based Calling

Cloud-based call centers require a calling system based on the cloud to align with their online database. This type of calling or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a phone system that runs through the internet instead of a phone line.

These software are more highly preferred than on-premises systems since they provide flexibility and affordability. Moreover, these systems also allow teams to work remotely and hire the best talent without limiting themselves to a local market. In most cases, the vendor takes care of maintenance, support, and updates which allows your IT staff to focus on internal tickets instead of handling the system.

You can have phone numbers in a variety of locations and scale much more effectively than a physical phone system. It can also enable conferencing between remote workers, no matter where their location might be.

Automation for Better Customer Experience

A few contact center solutions, such as 8x8, offer businesses the chance to automate tasks like call management. It allows companies to record customer information and call details such as the number the customer called from, their location, talk time, and the focal agent handling the call. More related features, including artificial intelligence, chatbots, and virtual agents are also great for saving customer service teams’ time and effort.

Supervisor Tools

Only by empowering your customer support supervisors can you get the best results from your teams. The best way to encourage call center managers is to provide them with a range of supervisor tools since it promotes help and responses in real time. A few tools that help deliver great results are Work Optimization Reports, Team Messaging, KPI Monitoring, and Gamification.

Omnichannel Contact Center Integration

A call center software may allow you to connect with your customers through their preferred communication channels through some contact center integrations. An omnichannel software solution offers a full customer view for each customer interaction across all channels, providing access to key customer information and context an agent needs. This way, a business can offer a consistent, on-brand, and personalized customer experience, no matter if an agent provides assistance on an incoming call, email, or live chat.

An added benefit of choosing these integrations is that it offers enhanced coordination and customization. Since all information regarding a client profile is gathered in one place, every department and agent can enhance the response or approach when interacting with clients and generate overall better results.

8x8

Don’t want to compromise on security and reliability to get the best call center software features? 8x8 promises businesses better collaboration and customer engagement with a range of functionalities that empower managers and agents. You can effortlessly manage inbound and outbound interactions with Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) and IVR and utilize omnichannel routing features as well.

With historical and real-time analytics, managers can keep track of every employee and customer interaction with ease. Moreover, agents can communicate with customers across their channel of choice and personalize the customer journey with access to their previous data. The contact center reporting, interaction journey analytics, and real-time dashboard systems allow companies to keep an eye on all aspects of their business and ensure all facets of performance are optimized.

Most importantly, they can unlock their support agent potential with intelligent insights using 8x8 Workforce Engagement Management tools and keep track of performance and quality. Additionally, 8x8 offers businesses the chance to include a wide range of integrations and even benefit from APIs, CRMs, and Team Messaging features.

Features:

• Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)
• Integration Options for CRM
• Contact Center Reporting
• Interaction Journey Analytics
• Quality Management/ Coaching
• Workforce Management
• Intelligent Interactive Voice Response
• Chatbots
• Virtual Assistant
• Omnichannel Routing
• Speech & Text Analytics
• Customizable Dashboards
• Smart Collaboration Tools
• SMS, Email, & Social Media Channel Features

Zendesk

Zendesk is an extensive customer service platform that offers contact center solutions for businesses of all sizes. Zendesks’ range of help desk features can allow agents to tend to customers across every channel and even take advantage of automatic ticket creation. It allows users to track and measure customer interactions and find a suitable pricing plan for their needs.

Features:

• 90+ Telephony Providers
• Call Recording
• IVR
• Outbound Caller ID
• Advanced Reporting
• Text Messaging
• Priority Phone Numbers

Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk is a CRM, website builder, help desk, and especially a popular call center product. Similar to its other products, Zoho Desk’s software is cloud-based and comes with a friendly user interface that integrates well with other Zoho products. If your business only uses Zoho products, making the shift or implementing, using, and maintaining the software would be fairly simple. Moreover, its other integrations can make customer and agent experience smoother. However, to access the call center features, you may have to opt for the Zoho Desk’s Enterprise or Professional plan.

Features:

• Call Queue Management
• Call Logging
• Call Transfer, Recording, Hold, or Mute
• Integration of Zoho Desk CRM
• Agent Availability Tracking

HubSpot

HubSpot is another all-in-one solution that offers a variety of call center tools to businesses. It is much more suited to sales teams and has features like click-to-call and capabilities like using data from the CRM. It also allows agents to prioritize calls, schedule emails, conduct live chat, and set up a daily call queue. HubSpot also offers reporting and automation features and even provides free tools if you want to test a solution for sales or service.

Features:

• CRM Integration
• Reporting
• SLA Management
• Omnichannel Support

LiveAgent

Just like most software mentioned in this list, LiveAgent is more than just a call center software. It provides great capabilities such as multichannel support, ticket management, live chat support, and more and ensures your agents can provide assistance through multiple channels. The All-inclusive plan has most of the call center features of LiveAgent that can be suitable for small and medium-sized companies.

Businesses that are only looking for simple software for their call centers may find extra features with LiveAgent that they don’t necessarily need.

Features:

• Automated Callbacks
• Advanced Analytics and Reporting
• Outgoing Calls
• 24/7 Support
• APIs and Integrations

CloudTalk

CloudTalk is a new call center software that offers users the chance to try out innovative tools. For instance, the custom queue feature allows support teams to choose where any incoming call may be distributed, preventing call transfers that may impact the client experience. Another customizable feature by CloudTalk is their personalized voicemails option which allows customers to leave a message that agents can address with a prepared solution later.

CloudTalk also has powerful and easy-to-use integrations, intelligent dialing, and two-way sync, which makes it a good choice to consider. However, with even three packages billed at varying price points, you will need a custom plan billed at a flat rate for outbound calling features.

Features:

• SMS Capabilities
• Skill-based routing
• Mobile App
• Real-time Dashboard
• Open API
• Workflow Automation
• Advanced Analytics

Webex

Webex is a good choice for companies who are looking for easy implementation, good features, and reliability for their software needs. This solution is based on the cloud and can empower enterprises and even small businesses to start their call center with ease. It provides internal collaboration tools like video conferencing and even a range of productivity tools for your needs. You can choose the Call plan for your call center software needs or combine it with their Meet plan for productivity tools and call center functionalities.

Features:

• Unlimited Messaging
• Conference Calls
• Screen Sharing
• Visual Voicemail
• Call Waiting, Hold, Forwarding, and Transfer

Nextiva

Nextiva is a call center software on the cloud that can accommodate the needs of businesses of all sizes. Users can design call routing workflows with their Call Flow Builder, benefit from features like IVR and Call Queuing, and use a Visual Editor for their needs without any experience in development. It is a great option for businesses that want to equip their small customer team with hardware as well as new software. With Nextiva, companies can communicate with more callers in less time with a smaller number of agents. They can also optimize agent call flow, leverage virtual agents, and easily streamline the caller experience.

Features:

• Call Recording
• Unlimited SMS for Business
• Unlimited Calling in the US & Canada
• Popular Tool Integration
• Real-time Analytics

Five9

While catering to widely dispersed customers or incurring long-distance charges, the costs for call center software can begin to pile up. Companies can use Five9 to keep providing their agents and customers with a good user experience while reducing operational costs. Five9 allows businesses to set up their software on existing equipment with no-fee long-distance calling, all depending on the business’ needs. With additional solutions, workforce management, and business VoIP, Five9 is a good provider to consider for a contact software solution.

Features:

• Workflow Automation
• Predictive Dialer
• Outbound Dialer
• Historical and Real-time Dashboards
• Intelligent Virtual Assistant
• Web Call Back
• Omnichannel Routing

CallHippo

CallHippo is a smart software for call centers that simplifies outbound and inbound calling for support and sales teams. This solution is cloud-based and comes in four different types for enterprises, startups, small teams, and SMBs. However, if your business requires more sophisticated features, you may have to choose a higher-tier plan for your needs. CallHippo also provides add-ons for features like voicemail transcription, custom caller ID, and call transcription.

Features:

• Skill-based Routing
• Call Queuing
• Call Barging
• Power Dialer
• Free Call Recording
• Multi-level IVR
• Call Script

Aircall

Aircall is a good solution that has added productivity-enhancing tools for sales and support teams. Businesses can set it up using their own hardware, take advantage of a plethora of integrations, and use real-time monitoring and project management features. If businesses can integrate Aircall with their CRM or help desk, they can also access more useful features such as call activity monitoring and automation.

Features:

• Webhooks and APIs
• Call Analytics
• Intelligent Dialing
• Call Tagging
• Post-call Automation
• Click-to-dial
• Call Monitoring & Whispering

3CX

Call center agents and managers can work from any location with 3CX and conduct virtual meetings online with web conferencing and phone and live chat customer service. Moreover, for added flexibility, 3CX provides software options with hosted, cloud-based, or on-premise options.

Features:

• Click to Call
• Call Journals
• Call Pop-ups
• Contact Synchronization
• 3CX Browser Extension

RingCentral

RingCentral is a flexible phone system that offers support to both mobile and desktop users. The RingOut feature is quite unique and enables calling from any internet-enabled computer and phone. It has powerful call delegation and answering rules which allows businesses to rest assured that calls are always routed to the right person. With RingCentral, you can get the best of their workforce optimization and unified communication solutions that allow companies to focus on providing superb customer engagement.

Features:

• Cloud-based Calling
• Omnichannel Support
• Escalation Management
• APIs and Integrations

The best software solution for you isn’t the one with the most features or the one that's most popular - it is the one that meets your business needs best. Before choosing a call center software, it is recommended to assess how your customer service teams currently work, what improvements you would like to make to your call center operations, and how you want to support clients throughout the customer journey.

Whether it be for a healthcare organization or a booming ecommerce business, you need to select a solution that can scale with your business, has manageable operating costs, and improves agent performance and customer satisfaction.

8x8 offers fantastic call center solutions for all industries and sizes of businesses. No matter if you would like to pick inbound calling features, focus on outbound calling capabilities for sales teams, or customize your phone system according to your needs, 8x8 can make it happen for you.

To test our services and determine how they can benefit your company, feel free to contact our Sales team to request a demo.