Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager) vs. Talkdesk

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Call Manager is a unified call control center from Cisco that supports enterprise collaboration functions across the spectrum of IP telephony, video & web conferencing, and messaging. Features include call forwarding, call back, call transfer, ad hoc conferencing, and call park.N/A
Talkdesk
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Talkdesk is a cloud-based contact center platform with voice, digital channel, and workforce engagement management capabilities. Talkdesk’s key features are its customizable user interface, built-in AI automation, and its integration with numerous CRM and helpdesk applications.
$85
per month per user
Pricing
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Talkdesk
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
CX Cloud Essentials
$85
per month per user
CX Cloud Elevate
$115
per month per user
CX Cloud Elite
$145
per month per user
Industry Experience Clouds
Contact Sales
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Talkdesk
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional DetailsMust contact sales team for pricing
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Talkdesk
Considered Both Products
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Chose Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
As per the comments earlier, Cisco's focus has finally moved to Cloud and Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager) primarily stays as it solves specific business problems that Cloud-based platforms are trying to solve, slowly but surely. Cisco Unified Communications …
Talkdesk

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Talkdesk
Cloud PBX
Comparison of Cloud PBX features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
7.4
40 Ratings
10% below category average
Talkdesk
-
Ratings
Hosted PBX9.919 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-level Interactive Voice Response (IVR)6.029 Ratings00 Ratings
User templates8.238 Ratings00 Ratings
Call reports5.137 Ratings00 Ratings
Directory of employee names8.038 Ratings00 Ratings
Call Management
Comparison of Call Management features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
7.3
43 Ratings
14% below category average
Talkdesk
-
Ratings
Answering rules7.841 Ratings00 Ratings
Call recording5.526 Ratings00 Ratings
Call park8.037 Ratings00 Ratings
Call screening7.534 Ratings00 Ratings
Message alerts7.838 Ratings00 Ratings
VoIP system collaboration
Comparison of VoIP system collaboration features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
7.7
39 Ratings
7% below category average
Talkdesk
-
Ratings
Video conferencing9.329 Ratings00 Ratings
Audio conferencing8.839 Ratings00 Ratings
Video screen sharing6.115 Ratings00 Ratings
Instant messaging6.618 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile apps
Comparison of Mobile apps features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
8.7
23 Ratings
5% above category average
Talkdesk
-
Ratings
Mobile app for iOS8.423 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile app for Android9.121 Ratings00 Ratings
Contact Center Software
Comparison of Contact Center Software features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
-
Ratings
Talkdesk
8.4
434 Ratings
1% above category average
Agent dashboard00 Ratings8.4415 Ratings
Validate callers00 Ratings8.1364 Ratings
Outbound response00 Ratings8.4380 Ratings
Call forwarding00 Ratings8.6369 Ratings
Click-to-call (CTC)00 Ratings8.9344 Ratings
Warm transfer00 Ratings8.9391 Ratings
Predictive dialing00 Ratings8.6193 Ratings
Interactive voice response00 Ratings8.3269 Ratings
REST APIs00 Ratings8.1215 Ratings
Call scripts00 Ratings8.0190 Ratings
Call tracking00 Ratings8.7385 Ratings
Multichannel integration00 Ratings8.1280 Ratings
CRM software integration00 Ratings7.9335 Ratings
Workforce Optimization (WFO)
Comparison of Workforce Optimization (WFO) features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
-
Ratings
Talkdesk
8.7
421 Ratings
5% above category average
Inbound call routing00 Ratings8.7383 Ratings
Omnichannel inbound routing00 Ratings8.5271 Ratings
Recording00 Ratings9.3405 Ratings
Quality management00 Ratings9.0366 Ratings
Call analytics00 Ratings8.9380 Ratings
Historical reporting00 Ratings8.5387 Ratings
Live reporting00 Ratings8.8381 Ratings
Customer surveys00 Ratings8.1207 Ratings
Customer interaction analytics00 Ratings8.3237 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Talkdesk
Small Businesses
CloudTalk
CloudTalk
Score 9.5 out of 10
CloudTalk
CloudTalk
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
CloudTalk
CloudTalk
Score 9.5 out of 10
Bright Pattern Contact Center
Bright Pattern Contact Center
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
Score 9.0 out of 10
Google Cloud Contact Center AI
Google Cloud Contact Center AI
Score 8.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Talkdesk
Likelihood to Recommend
9.2
(44 ratings)
8.2
(447 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.7
(36 ratings)
Usability
8.7
(4 ratings)
8.6
(263 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.8
(6 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(5 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(14 ratings)
8.6
(130 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.4
(4 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.1
(204 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(6 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(6 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Talkdesk
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
The Cisco Unified Communications Manager platform would be most suited for the below scenarios. 1. An organization with very restricted policies and compliance where can't move to cloud-based solutions for data security. They can install the CUCM on-premises. 2. An organization that is still on a legacy phone system could adopt CUCM to save costs and have better services.
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Talkdesk
Despite the cost, the ease with which you are able to navigate the system is actually tedious. We have to have specialists in the business to aid in getting some of the reports and making changes to the system. Calls are delayed between us and customers as there is no tower on our continent for the system.
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Pros
Cisco
  • This solution is extremely stable and has been running in our environment for several years without (unscheduled) downtime.
  • The ability to have voicemails automatically sent as an email message is extremely helpful in helping us to keep in touch while away from the desk.
  • The Call Manager provides us very granular settings to route our calls as we want.
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Talkdesk
  • We were able to replace on-premise solution with Talkdesk Cloud solution within project timelines
  • We were able to migrate region by region while keeping our existing IVR numbers to minimize the impact on customer.
  • We were able to integrate Talkdesk with our cloud CRM, AWS storage and reporting applications
  • The IVR flow changes are easier to understand and manage and to onboard any new team members to support the agents
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Cons
Cisco
  • Administration web page is little bit hard to understand at the beginning specially if you are not familiar with naming convention and GU Interfaces.
  • Call Detail Record interface is fine but would be desirable to include more options that fit organization needs in terms of reporting purposes.
  • Self Care Portal interface could be more useful to the end user if it includes options to manage some features without administrators involving.
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Talkdesk
  • From experience, customer service is terrible, we've had 5 account executives over 18 months, extremely difficult to get timely answers to pressing issues.
  • Integration with other tools, such as ServiceNow, is not truly integration (in my opinion). There was a marked difference between what the salesperson communicated during the evaluation period and what we actually got once we purchased and implemented the product.
  • We continue to have stability issues which force our agents to restart the Talkdesk client. I frequently receive vague error messages ('something went wrong') that can be frustrating as there's no actual detail to what happened. To be fair, it has improved since we implemented the tool, but if you were to ask our agents what frustrated them, Talkdesk would be at the top of their list.
  • Being a multi-channel platform was one of the things that drew us to Talkdesk; however, the chat channel lags way behind voice in customization and reporting.
  • Lack of training resources. The 'Talkdesk Academy' is often very out-of-date. Would be nice to have actual webinars or online training (even paid training) for various functions of the tool like reporting, WFM, IVR, etc.
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Likelihood to Renew
Cisco
We have been using this product for 20+ years and will continue too. This is a great product and new features are always coming out.
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Talkdesk
Renewing the use of talkdesk is a cost-effective solution for our company. By continuing to use it, we can leverage potential cost savings and efficiencies. For instance, talkdesk may have features that automate certain processes or enable better resource allocation, resulting in reduced operational costs. Secondly, renewing the contract contributes to enhanced customer service. Talkdesk likely offers specific functionalities that improve customer satisfaction and support. This could include features such as intelligent routing or real-time analytics that help agents provide personalized assistance and resolve issues more effectively. Thirdly, renewing the contract ensures seamless integration and compatibility with other systems or technologies used in our company. Having a unified system across different departments or functions enhances efficiency and reduces potential disruptions caused by incompatible systems. Moreover, there may be benefits gained from data sharing or streamlined workflows enabled by an integrated platform.
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Usability
Cisco
Although it's very easy to use, once you understand the concepts of IP telephony, as I said before, I think Cisco could have improved the management interface of the platform, adding modern technologies and the design language of the other platforms like DNA Center, etc. This interface hasn't had a substantial improvement for about 10 years
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Talkdesk
Talkdesk so far has lived up to its mission grants us a platform to use and engage with our population. They are able to reach us consistently and as they need with very few interruptions in services which for a tech company is not an easy thing to achieve. The platform is very simple to use and understand
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Reliability and Availability
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Talkdesk
I have never had a problem making a phone call or an issue getting a line out. More times than not it is the customer that will have a bad connection or have a lot of noise on their end. I have had experience w/ dropped calls, but never not being able to access a line
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Performance
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Talkdesk
We have never had a Talkdesk performance issue. As long as you follow the system requirements, which are MINIMAL, neither will you.
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Support Rating
Cisco
CUCM is supported by most third-party vendors for related products, so it makes finding solutions to specific needs easy. Also Cisco TAC is very knowledgeable, and we have never run into a problem they have not been able to resolve. Usually they are resolved without the need to escalate tickers either.
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Talkdesk
If Talkdesk had a dedicated phone support line I would have given this rating an overall 10. Their knowledge base is absolutely HUGE and at times very helpful. It's easy to search through and their customer support chat system works perfectly fine, but there are just some times that you need to speak to a human on the phone to ensure you are always on the same page.
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In-Person Training
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Talkdesk
I was shown how to use Talkdesk and was happy with it. I learned all I needed.
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Online Training
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Talkdesk
Training was simple as the app is easy to use. The phone has gone through upgrades since but it's very adaptive and doesn't require a complete session. There are articles available for self help in case something is forgotten. There are a lot of functions to talkdesk and we have not used all of them
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Implementation Rating
Cisco
This was the first phone system we implemented that could span multiple locations. We were very satisfied once fully implemented
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Talkdesk
Really easy to get set up out of the box. Anything I needed to understand further, I was able to just hop into the Academy and self-teach. I could then bring my team-members to those same sections so they could learn as well without me having to put together complicated SOP's / etc
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Alternatives Considered
Cisco
We have been a Cisco based shop and have looked at other cloud voice options such as MS Teams pbx, and others, but ultimately, the features, endpoints, and reliability of Cisco has been the common factor in staying with them as our voice provider. Their integrations, room systems, and hybrid design allows for us to be flexible and keep a high up time vs reliance on 100% cloud.
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Talkdesk
We were unable to easily access call metrics using WM. Since the switch to Talkdesk, we have not had to struggle with our reporting at all. All the information we need is readily available and can be exported. We are also able to modify the metrics that we need and have them compiled in different ways. The information on Talkdesk is modifiable and makes it easy for us to get the numbers that we need at the end of the day.
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Scalability
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Talkdesk
We have over 200 employees in 11 states across the United States. Everyone uses Talkdesk. I believe that says a lot about the product and its flexibility. We need to be able to rely on system in order to assist our customers. Reliability and sustainability is important to our success
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Return on Investment
Cisco
  • Communication and collaboration - Our offices are able to communicate both internally and externally due to this system.
  • Down time - Struggles with CUCM has caused a lot of down time due to the instability of the system.
  • High Costs - the cost of both the license and the maintenance was much higher than other systems.
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Talkdesk
  • Decreased average response time on emails - due to proper forecasting by our team but of course by usage of data received from this tool.
  • Increase in quality audit scores through weekly reviews by this tool.
  • Employee morale and company survey as agents are not stressing with the easy use of this tool.
  • Reduced average handle time to ensure first response is addressed or first rings are addressed immediately.
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ScreenShots