10 Vital Call Center Statistics for 2021
80% of American consumers say that a positive customer experience depends on speed, convenience, knowledgeable help, and friendly service. They also prefer to talk to a real person for their customer service needs. This is where call center software shines.
Despite explosive growth over the last year, the contact center industry is still facing substantial staffing problems. The pandemic generated explosive investment and also exposed vulnerabilities.
The following statistics show how contact center software is taking these challenges in stride in 2021.
Click on a Section to Explore:
10 Essential Call Center Statistics for 2021
- The global market for call centers is estimated at $339 billion in 2021. (Strategyr 2021)
- The global market for call centers is expected to reach $496 billion by 2027. (Strategyr 2021)
- Calls rated as “difficult” by customer service reps increased by 100% during the Covid-19 pandemic. (HBR 2020)
- 88% of service teams say the pandemic has exposed their technology gaps. (Salesforce 2020)
- Less than 10% of contact centers have agents reaching proficiency in less than two months. (CallCenterhelper 2021)
- The average turnover rates for the call center industry currently lie between 30-45%. This is the highest of any industry. (CallCenterhelper 2021)
- 55% of call centers spend 6-12 weeks training and onboarding new agents. (CallCenterhelper 2021)
- 71% of Americans would rather interact with a human than a chatbot or some other automated process. (PWC 2019)
- 76% of customers who contact customer service do so over the phone. (CFI Group 2019)
-
89% of companies with “significantly above average” customer experiences perform
better financially than their competitors. (Qualtrics 2020)
Who’s Winning the Contact Center Market in 2021?
Over 1.2 million software buyers use TrustRadius each month. Many of them are shopping for call center software—so we took a closer look at our data to see which products attract the most attention.
According to buyer interest, the top 9 leaders in today’s contact center market are:
- Twilio
- Nice Cxone
- Genesys Cloud CX
- Talkdesk
- Five9
- Cisco Webex Contact Center
- 8×8 Contact Center
- Avaya OneCloud CCaaS
- Vonage Contact Center For Salesforce
Out of those companies, we’re seeing clear winners when it comes to market share:
- Twilio is the leading call center software in 2021, commanding 33% of the market share. (TrustRadius 2021)
- Nice Cxone commands 23% of the contact center market share in 2021. (TrustRadius 2021)
- Genesys Cloud CX commands 13% of the contact center market share in 2021. (TrustRadius 2021)
- Gyneys Cloud CX is the most frequently compared call center software. (TrustRadius 2021)
Call Center News in 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a massive increase in investment for the contact center market. The crisis instantly changed the nature of customer service. Emerging technologies are also key players in this evolution. All of this has seen an explosion in investment in the call center sector.
One innovating company, Asapp, saw remarkable investment after growing twofold in the last year. The AI-driven customer service company raised $120 million, and saw a $1.6 billion valuation this year. The company is using AI to bridge gaps between the reality of working from home and customer service needs.
Other call center companies are also investing in technological developments post-Covid. BT recently raised a whopping £2.2 billion. The company, among other things, is investing in fiber internet connectivity for its UK locations. With the goal of further disrupting telecommunications and customer service BT will use this money for the near future.
Other significant fundraisers include
Contact Center Future Trends for 2021
The Rise in Cloud Contact Centers
While in-person call centers have been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for them has not. This is where cloud call center software has shone. Contact center companies are seeing increased productivity, security benefits, and better employee satisfaction. In an industry with record turnover, the latter makes this a key trend to watch in 2021 and beyond.
Contact Center AI Integrations
While AI is touching nearly every industry, perhaps none are more impacted than call centers. Accenture predicts AI will increase contact center productivity by 35% in the US alone by 2040.
AI allows for smarter workflow pipelines, making both customer and employee experiences more positive. Automation of routine tasks, more personalized customer experience, and increased targeting are all bolstered by AI. The customer service industry is utterly dependent on satisfaction and AI increases this in all aspects. As such, this is a trend unlikely to go anywhere soon.
Is Video Chat Replacing Voice?
While 2020 was the year of the Zoom call, the future may see this stay in customer service circles. This is an emerging trend, with limited adoption, but the potential benefits are strong. In troubleshooting departments, a visual component can be essential to both solving the problem and limiting frustration. Anyone who has tried to talk someone through a process on the phone will understand the difficulty of voice-only troubleshooting.
The exact nature of the future contact center video chat is uncertain. One-way video is an emerging contender. With more individuals used to Zoom and FaceTime, this may be an unexpected lasting impact of the 2020 lockdowns.
Your Guide to Call Center Software Pricing
| Contact Center | trScore | Starting Price | Free Trial | Free or Fremium | Premium Services | Setup Fee |
| Twilio | 8.3/10 | Pay-As-You-Go |  |
|
|
Optional |
| Nice Cxone | 8.3/10 | Contact Vendor | |
 |
|
None |
| Genysys Cloud CX | 7.9/10 | $75 | |
|
|
None |
| Talkdesk | 7.8/10 | Contact Vendor | |
|
|
None |
| Five9 | 7.7/10 | Contact Vendor | |
|
|
None |
| Cisco Webex Contact Center | 8.8/10 | $102.99 | |
|
|
None |
| 8x8 Contact Center | 7.8/10 | Contact Vendor | |
|
|
None |
| Avaya Onecloud CCaaS | 7.6/10 | $82 | |
|
|
Required |
| Vonage Contact Center For Salesforce | 6.2/10 | Contact Vendor | |
|
|
None |
Our reviewers have tons to say about the products they use. Here are our average ratings on ROI, marketing promises, and usability from real buyers on TrustRadius:
- Twilio is the highest-rated contact center software on the 2021 market, with an 8.8/10 trScore on TrustRadius. (TrustRadius 2021)
- NICE CXone is second highest rated contact center software, with a 8.3/10 trScore. (TrustRadius 2021)
- 95% of contact center customers would buy their product again, across all contact center software. (TrustRadius 2021)
- 97% of NICE CXone customers say they would buy the product again. (TrustRadius 2021)
- Only 54% of customers said their call center product lived up to sales and marketing promises. (TrustRadius 2021)
- 75% of Five9 customers said their call center product lived up to sales and marketing promises. (TrustRadius 2021)
- 71% of Twilio customers said their call center product lived up to sales and marketing promises. (TrustRadius 2021)
- Just 42% of NICE CXone customers said their call center product lived up to sales and marketing promises. (TrustRadius 2021)
- The average usability rating for contact center software is 8.18/10. Winning companies with higher usability ratings include Twilio (9.48), Talkdesk (8.99), and NICE CXone (8.48). (TrustRadius 2021)
If you’re looking for your next contact center solution, check out reviews on TrustRadius. You’ll see 100% authentic reviews from buyers just like you.
Sources
- The Global State of XM, 2020 (Qualtrics 2020)
- Call Centers (StategyR 2020)
- The State of Contact Center Training (CallCenterHelper 2021)
- Experience is Everything (PWC 2019)
- Contact Center Satisfaction Index (CFI Group 2019)
- State of Service (Salesforce 2020)
- Supporting Customer Service Through the Coronavirus Crisis (HBR 2020)
- 10 Vital Constant Contact Statistics for 2021 (TrustRadius 2021)
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