Rat Race Armaggeddon: Best Call Center Services

Call center services are crucial to any type of business.

Not only does it show you prioritize your customer support, it gives your customers multiple ways to contact your business.

But managing a call center on your own can be a challenge. In-house call centers are usually costly and labor-intensive. This is especially true for smaller businesses and startups with fewer resources.

Fortunately, call center services allow you to outsource your customer service phone support in a simple and cost-effective way.

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Call center services typically record information from incoming calls, respond to FAQs based on your company script, and take messages for specific people within your organization.

Advanced call centers can offer assistance for marketing campaigns and lead generation. Some services handle other communication methods as well, like email, live chat, and social media outreach.

If you’re in the market for a call center service, you’ve come to the right place. I’ll show you the top options for you to consider and give you more information about choosing the best one for your business.

The 6 Best Call Center Services of 2021

What’s the best call center service on the market today? It depends on what you’re looking for. After extensive research, I’ve identified the six best customer call center services for you to consider.

Nextiva — Best for distributed or remote call centers
Go Answer — Best inbound call center outsourcing service for small business
TeleDirect — Best call center service for managing reservations
Five Star Call Center — Best outbound call center outsourcing service
SAS — Best outsourced call center answering services
Signius — Best call center service for low-volume small business calls

This guide contains an in-depth review, including the top features, benefits, and other information about these companies below.

Best Call Center Services Reviews

#1 – Nextiva – Best for Distributed or Remote Call Centers

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VoIP call center from anywhere
Contract remote call center workers
Affordable, predictable pricing
Keep control of your call center

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One of the drawbacks of fully outsourcing your call center is being in the dark about the people handling your callers. It’s no good if you’re getting poor feedback from customers and you don’t have the means to train current staff to improve or replace poor performers with new hires.

Nextiva offers you an in-between solution that can still deliver savings.

Basically, Nextiva’s call center software allows you to run it entirely from the cloud. That means you can have a fully distributed network of independent contractors manning your call center phones from wherever they may be.

Sure, you’re still paying for some labor, but there’s no need for outfitting a wing of your building with a full PBX phone system and all the expenses that come with that. This way, you’re saving money while still maintaining full control over your call center and the people fielding calls.

Nextiva’s call center software runs on its Nextiva One platform. That may sound like a big investment itself, but it’s not. There’s no need for installation or new equipment. Being a VoIP solution, implementation is a snap.

Plus, it’s altogether affordable. Nextiva One starts with the entry-level Essential plan, which comes with unlimited voice and video calling, toll-free numbers, an auto attendant, and mobile and desktop apps.

Pricing scales based on the number of users. Four or fewer will mean you pay $23.95 per user per month, but it gets cheaper for larger teams.

To add call center capability. Just add $50 per user per month to that bill. You get everything you need for setting up a remote or diffuse call center at a predictable price of around $70 per user per month with no limits on minutes or callers in the queue.

Get the best of both worlds—keep control of your call center workers while still saving money by having them work from anywhere (including their own mobile phone) with Nextiva.

#2 – Go Answer – Best Outsourcing for Small Business

Specializes in inbound services
Email, web chat, and SMS
HIPPA compliant
Used by 5,000+ businesses

Go Answer specializes in inbound call services for small businesses. They also provide answering services and legal intake services. More than 5,000 businesses throughout North America trust Go Answer for their outsourced contact enter needs.

Go Answer goes beyond using the phone to communicate with your customers. They also handle communication via email, web chat, and SMS.

These are some of the top features and benefits of using Go Answer as your call center service provider:

24/7 live agents
Order entry
After-hours availability
HIPAA compliant
Appointments
Legal intake
SMS and email alerts
Real-time mobile app and dashboard

All of your messages and voicemails are available from the mobile app. You’ll get real-time updates and notifications delivered via push notification, text, or email.

The contact center services from Go Answer are designed for medium to large businesses with a high call volume. They provide customized solutions for a wide range of industries. Thee agents essentially become an extension of your team.

Go Answer supports multi-channel communication and ticketing for customer support inquiries as well.

The answering service is geared toward smaller organizations. It’s a reliable way to make a professional impression on your customers.

Go Answer boasts some of the fastest pickup times in the industry. You’ll also have free access to their mobile app, AlwaysOn. You can try the answering service risk-free for 30 days with a trial.

Some of the most common industries using Go Answer include legal, real estate, publishing, finance, and ecommerce.

Like most call center services, the rates for Go Answer are unavailable online. You’ll need to contact their sales team for a custom quote based on the specific needs of your organization.

#3 – TeleDirect – Best for Managing Reservations

Inbound & outbound services
Agents available 24/7/365
For businesses of all sizes
Friendly and professional

TeleDirect works with Fortune 500 companies, startups, and everything in between.

They offer both inbound and outbound call center services for businesses. Teledirect also has specific solutions for reservations and managing leads.

Businesses can use TeleDirect’s inbound call services for things like processing orders, qualifying leads, tech support, and help desk services. Since Teledirect has agents available 24/7/365, it’s a top solution for after-hours support and call overflows.

TeleDirect has experience handling calls from a wide range of businesses. Common industries that trust this call center service include retail, financial services, healthcare, insurance, and tech.

The outbound calling services from Teledirect are exceptional as well.

Your business can use this call center service for things like appointment setting, market research, lead generation, customer retention, event registration, surveys, and callbacks.

Teledirect specializes in registration services. They’ve handled over 1.6 million customer reservations across multiple industries. It’s a fast and efficient way to get people to RSVP. This service is perfect for seminars, events, workshops, and open enrollments.

The call center reps at Teledirect are friendly and professional. They know how to make an excellent first impression for both inbound and outbound calls, regardless of the call reason.

I’d recommend Teledirect for businesses of all sizes. It’s even a top solution smaller businesses that just need assistance with after-hours calls and overflow.

#4 – Five Star Call Center – Best Outbound Outsourcing Service

Based in the United States
Inbound & outbound services
Works with both B2C & B2B
In business 35+ years

Five Star Call Center has everything your business needs to manage customer service calls. They provide call center outsourcing, inbound voice, outbound voice, contact center software, and call center consulting.

This company has 35+ years in the call center outsourcing industry.

Common inbound call center outsourcing services from Five Star Call Center include:

Scheduling
Referral services
Tech support
Help desk
Upselling and cross-selling
Reservations
Order management
Customer loyalty programs
Consumer information

Five Star Call Center also provides outbound calling for both B2C and B2B companies. Here are some of the popular outbound calling services:

Lead generation and lead qualification
Sales for products and services
Market research, surveys, and polls
Quality assurance
Customer retention programs
Crisis management
Membership renewals
Email and direct mail follow-up
Payment reminders

As you can see from both of these lists, the services offered by the outsourced professionals at Five Star Call Center are extensive. All of the call center hubs are based in the US. There are five call centers in the midwest located in South Dakota, North Dakota, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

With over three decades in the call center service industry, Five Star Call Center knows it all. They’ve helped businesses across every industry you can imagine.

However, there are certain industries that Five Star Call Center specializes in. That includes retail, hospitality, product support, finance, healthcare, and professional services.

Many call center services on the market today offer inbound and outbound calling. But sometimes, these providers have an edge in one category over another.

Five Star Call Center definitely qualifies as a top outbound call center service.

The outbound services are extensive and results-driven. These agents go above and beyond just reading from a script. They know how to connect with the caller on the other end of the line to accomplish whatever goal you’re trying to achieve.

#5 – SAS – Best Outsourced Call Center Answering Services

Specialty Answering Service
Bilingual personal receptionists
Business & personal use
Straightforward pricing

SAS stands for Specialty Answering Service. As the name clearly implies, the SAS call center’s primary focuses is an answering service.

In addition to the answering services, SAS provides call center outsourcing, dedicated call centers, lead generation services, and virtual receptionists.

SAS has bilingual receptionists and virtual office capabilities for their live operators.

The answering service is very diverse. While it’s obviously geared toward businesses, many people use SAS for personal use. Entrepreneurs, business owners, and busy professionals rely on SAS as a personal receptionist.

SAS has dispatching services with operators that answer calls in three rings or less. They have toll-free numbers, emergency answering services, and support international calls.

Unlike most call center services, SAS has simple and straightforward pricing listed on their website. Here’s a quick overview of those plans and prices:

Economy — $31 per month + $1.19 per minute
100 minutes — $117 per month + $1.09 per additional minute
220 minutes — $199 per month + $1.09 per additional minute
500 minutes — $490 per month + $0.99 per additional minute
1,000 minutes — $925 per month + $0.95 per additional minute
2,500 minutes — $2,200 per month + $0.89 per additional minute
5,000 minutes — $4,199 per month + $0.85 per additional minute
10,000 minutes — $7,749 per month + $0.79 per additional minute

SAS has a plan for everyone. Whether you need 10 minutes per month or 10,000+ minutes per month, this answering service is perfect for you. As you can see, higher volume businesses get a better discount per minute. But even the low-volume plans are affordable.

While SAS specializes in answering services, they also provide outsourced calling for lead generation, dedicated customer service reps, and other popular call center services.

#6 – Signius – Best for Low-Volume Small Business Calls

100% US-based
Custom live call centers
Modern technology
24/7 Online reporting

Signius is a call center service that is 100% US-based. They work with small businesses to Fortune 500s and everyone in between.

Your business can benefit from a custom live call center that matches your brand image and fits within your budget. Signius offers call center services as well as answering services.

Some of their popular call center services fall into the following categories:

Customer care
Direct response
Hotlines
Help desk
Order taking
Disaster backup

Signius takes the time to understand your business. They go through this process to become an extension of your existing team. You have the ability to outsource all or just a portion of your call center functions.

Signius is known for its quick pickup times and modern technology. You’ll also have access to online reporting 24/7.

Your client portal gives you the ability to measure the effectiveness of your call center strategy. The platform gives you information related to single calls as well as your historical data at scale.

Common industries that take advantage of the call center services provided by Signius include:

Small business
Contractors
Property managers
Franchises
Government
Legal
Utility Companies
Healthcare
Universities

For me, the small business call center and answering services from Signius stand out the most.

As a small business owner, you likely won’t need a full call center of agents on-site handling phone calls 24/7. That’s obviously not an effective use of your resources. But Signius is available 24/7 and can answer calls even when your store is closed.

Signius has call transfer services, customized scripts, and bi-lingual solutions. Even if you don’t get a high volume of calls, this will be an excellent option for you to choose.

How to Choose the Best Call Center Service For Your Business

Now that you’ve had a chance to review the top call center services on the market today, it’s time to choose one for your business. But how do you know which one is the best?

There are certain factors that must be taken into consideration when you’re evaluating a prospective service. This is the methodology that we recommend here at Quick Sprout. Use this process to narrow down your options.

Services

Most call center services do much more than just answer phone calls. They usually offer a wide range of other services for things like market research, lead generation, event registration, and call forwarding.

What does your company need assistance with?

If you’re a small business owner that wants your customers to speak to a live agent instead of an answering machine when they call after hours, you just need an answering service.

But if you’re a larger organization that needs outbound calls for things like lead qualification, sales, payment reminders, or membership renewals, you’ll need a company that offers these extra services.

Availability and Call Center Locations

The best call center services have live agents available 24/7/365. I wouldn’t consider a call center service that doesn’t offer this.

In addition to their availability, you want to make sure that they have enough agents to quickly answer inbound phone calls. So it’s in your best interest to work with larger services with multiple locations and plenty of staff on hand.

If working with a call center that’s based in the US is important to you, there are plenty of great choices for you to consider. You don’t have to outsource your call center overseas if you don’t want to.

Industry

Your call center is an extension of your business. While the live agents making and receiving calls don’t work directly for your company, they become the primary point of contact for your customers.

It’s important to find a call center service that has experience working in your industry.

For example, a B2B company that is using an outbound call center service for event registrations and a doctor’s office using an answering service for post-discharge patients will have very different needs.

Custom Solutions

As consumers, we’ve all experienced phone support where the agent is clearly using a generic script. Those canned responses are applied to every business, regardless of industry or customer need.

It’s frustrating when this happens. You don’t want your customers to have this same experience.

That’s why you need to find a call center service that will take the time to understand your business and its needs. They’ll help you come up with a custom solution to improve the customer experience via phone support.

The pricing structure for most answering services will be completely customized as well. Make sure you understand how you’re being charged before you commit to a contract. In many cases, it’s the most cost-effective to be billed based on usage.

Conclusion