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Contact center software allows companies to manage a high volume of inbound and outbound customer communications across a range of channels. This includes call center solutions, which focus on managing and handling incoming calls based on the number called and an associated database of handling instructions. Contact Centers, and related call centers, are typically part of a company’s overall customer relationship management (CRM) processes and strategy.
Many products offer the ability to track and store individual caller data. As such, previous call histories can be accessed by the agent each time a customer calls. This can reduce call average handle time (AHT) and time spent manually entering customer data. Contact center software is ideal for small, midsize, and large contact centers. It is used in a wide variety of industries.
There are two main deployment options: cloud-based and on-premise. Cloud platforms have become popular, and offer the benefits of outsourcing software and maintenance costs and being easily accessible from anywhere with an internet connection.
On the other hand, more traditional on-premise solutions are often hardware based and incur upgrade and maintenance expenses every few years. Some benefits of on-premise contact centers are that they are typically located on the same site as the company and are highly customizable.
Many contact center products are now omni-channel, or multi-channel. These products are typically cloud based and have expanded their capabilities beyond traditional call center activity. Omni-channel software has the capabilities to handle and integrate customer communications across all potential touchpoints and channels. These can include voice, VoIP, email, fax, video chat, SMS/text, and social media platforms.
Many products offer a set of basic features that focus on voice communication:
Validate callers
Outbound calling
Call forwarding
Click to call (allows one-click calling for agents)
Warm transfers
Interactive voice response (IVR)
Call scripting
Call tracking
CRM software integration (allows agents to access aggregated customer information and call history data)
Many leading Contact Center software vendors also offer a range of workforce optimization features which enable managers and team leaders to analyze and track agent performance to increase contact center efficiency.
Inbound call routing
Call recording
Quality monitoring (monitoring conversation content to track and improve agent performance)
Predictive dialing
Call analytics (KPIs such as average time in the queue, average call abandonment rate, and average handle time)
Historic reporting
Real-time reporting
Customer interaction analytics ( aggregating unstructured interaction data across channels (audio, video, email, text etc..) and formatting it so that it can be searched and categorized based on interaction patterns)
Recently, vendors have also started to offer more advanced predictive analytics and omni-channel support features such as:
Multi-channel integration (ability to collect, store, and share customer data across communication channels such as voice (phone), email, fax, SMS/text, video, live chat, and social media)
Intelligent call routing (uses machine learning to connect calls to the correct agents based off previous interaction data)
Digital Agents (Machine learning enabled chatbots used to handle more routine or simpler customer requests)
AI assistance for live agents (AI provided predictive suggestions for live agents based on customer history and real-time interaction)
Some benefits of using Contact Center software include:
Reductions in average handle time (AHT)
Eliminating manual searching
Allow agents to access customer data histories
Some vendors offer free trials of their contact center software. The paid versions are typically subscription based. Basic cloud-based packages typically start at $10-$20 per agent per month, with more extensive plans ranging between $50-$200 per month.
On-premise Contact Center products usually include a one-time licensing fee and subsequent software upgrading and maintenance costs. Most on-premise contact center software vendors do not openly disclose their prices but offer a quote upon request.
Genesys PureConnect is an omnichannel contact center platform that offers cloud-based, on-premise, or managed service deployment options. It features an SIP-based architecture, including VoIP capabilities, which allows companies to connect legacy voice systems and use existing phone systems.
Tenfold’s solution allows companies to dig deep into their business history and aggregates all data, including sales, service, and marketing, and provides a unified view of the customer that users can access in real time. All contact points and interactions with customers are captured back into t...
Fuze Voice is a cloud-based unified communications platform that includes IP-PBX voice service, video conferencing, and collaboration tools such as content sharing and instant messaging capabilities. It also integrates with a wide range of popular CTI, CRM, and click-to-call solutions.
PureEngage is the enterprise version of the Genesys Customer Engagement Platform. It is designed to handle complex workflows and business processes, for global enterprises with multiple and multi-national locations (including outsourcing) and large peak volumes and populations.
Talkdesk is a call center software offering from Talkdesk, Inc.
PureCloud is the version of the Genesys Customer Experience Platform designed for small businesses.
Five9 is cloud contact center software for inbound, outbound, blended, or multi-channel operations. This solution includes management capabilities such as campaign management, quality monitoring, real-time and historical reporting, and call recording. Optional applications include email, chat, mo...
NICE inContact CXone is a cloud-based contact center platform that manages customer interactions across multiple communication channels. It includes features such as omnichannel routing, workforce optimization, automatic call distribution (ACD), and interactive voice response (IVR) system.
Aspect Software headquartered in Massachusetts offers Aspect Unified UP, a call center solution for enterprise contact centers.
ContactWorld for Salesforce is a call center software offering from NewVoiceMedia.
8x8 offers their eponymous 8x8 Virtual Contact Center as a call center solution with in-built workforce optimization features, as well as an integration with Teleoptics to supply workforce management capabilities. The software is based at least partially on technology gained when 8x8 acquired Co...
VirtualPBX offers VoIP, analog, smartphone, WebRTC, SIP Trunking & native calling options. According to the vendor, VirtualPBX can be set up in 5 minutes, and costs 40%-80% less than traditional phone systems. The product also enables your employees to work from anywhere there's an internet c...
Zendesk Talk is call center software built on the Twilio cloud communication platform that integrated with the Zendesk Support ticketing system. This allows customer service teams to provide phone support from the same platform they use to manage all other channels. Features include inbound and...
Cloud Call Center is a call center software offering from 3CLogic.com.
Eclipse CMS is a call center software offering from Data Track Technology.
ContactWorld for Service is a call center software offering from NewVoiceMedia.
Noble Systems is a call center software offering from Noble Systems Corporation.
Nextiva headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona offers their eponymous Call Center solution in two editions, Pro and Enterprise.
Contivio.com is a call center software offering from Contivio.com.
ContactWorld for Sales and Marketing is a call center software offering from NewVoiceMedia.
Canadian company Mitel offers MiContact Center, a call center solution which can be scaled to meet the needs of SMBs and larger enterprises.
Presence Inbound is the call center platform from Spanish company Presence Technology, headquartered in Madrid.
Russian company Reksoft offers the Hyperion Contact Centre Creation Platform.
