Rat Race Armaggeddon: Best Call Center Software

The world today is digital—but phone support still plays a crucial role in customer service.

That means having a good call center software to power your support.

According to a recent study, 48% of consumers say they prefer to communicate with companies on the phone. Furthermore, 75% of people say they want human interaction for customer support.

Call centers aren’t just for huge corporations anymore. Modern tech makes it possible for any business to set up a call center.

Software powers call centers today. That means no expensive hardware. In fact, you might be able to use your existing devices to manage your call center needs.

The 9 Best Call Center Software of 2021

After extensive research, I’ve narrowed down the best call center software solutions on the market today.

Nextiva — Best price for unlimited dialing and call queues
RingCentral Contact Center — Best for advanced features
Cloudtalk — Best call center software for remote and distributed teams
Freshcaller — Simple contact center software for teams of all sizes
8×8 Contact Center — Best contact center software for enterprise-grade security
Five9 — Best all-in-one contact center software
CrazyCall — Best call center software for outbound sales
Zendesk Talk — Best call center software for support and automated ticketing
Talkdesk — Best call center software for end-to-end customer experience

As we continue you through this guide, I’ll give you an in-depth review of each provider on this list. We’ll discuss the features, benefits, pricing, and other considerations so you can make an informed decision for your business.

Best Call Center Software Reviews

#1 – Nextiva – Best Price for Unlimited Dialing and Call Queues

Visit Nextiva

Affordable call center software
Add-on to Nextiva VoIP service
Get Nextiva One + call center for under $70
Intelligent call distribution

Get started today

The software that supports your call center reps can get expensive—fast. Often, you’re looking at an enterprise-grade solution with custom pricing, metered calling, or just a really high monthly cost (especially if you have a lot of users).

Nextiva softens the pain of boosting your call center with software, with prices starting as low as $50 per user per month for unlimited calling and call queues.

Handle as many inbound or outbound calls as you need while also not worrying about paying a boatload more than you’d like during lighter months.

You’ll need Nextiva’s overall VoIP service—Nextiva One—to get their call center software. If you’re already on Nextiva, great! You’ll only have to pay the add-on price to bolster your call center.

For $50 on top of your regular Nextiva bill, you get unlimited call queues and intelligent call distribution. The former allows you to field any number of callers, placing them in a waiting line instead of sending them to voicemail. The latter lets callers tell the Nextiva platform call router what they need and have their call directed to the right department.

Need finer control over call queues? Go a step up to Nextiva’s Enterprise call center plan and unlock advanced call queue management. That allows admins to reorder and manually route calls in the queue. That’s great for specialized needs, sales conversations, or

But what if you don’t already have Nextiva One? Doesn’t having to sign up for that make this more expensive than other options?

Not at all.

For smaller teams, you’re looking at just over $20 per user per month to get outfitted with Nextiva One’s entry-level plan. The Essential plan gives you unlimited voice and video, an auto-attendant, mobile and desktop apps, and more.

That’s plenty at the base plan for outfitting your call center. And, if your team consists of 20 or more people, you can get Essential for around $18 to $19.

So, all in, a team of 50 can get unlimited calling and Nextiva’s call center software for $68.95 per user per month. That’s a steal compared to some other plans and you’re only getting what you need. Plus, if you ever need more, Nextiva One plans are scalable to include additional features like video conferencing, call pop, single sign-on, and more.

Maybe best of all, it’s all a VoIP-based solution, so installation is nonexistent and implementation is a breeze.

Get the best pricing on call center software by reaching out to Nextiva today.

#2 – RingCentral Contact Center – Best for Advanced Features

Great for sales & service teams
40+ robust features
99.99% guaranteed uptime
Wide range of options

RingCentral ranked first on our list of the best video conferencing services, and they also ranked high on our guide of the best VoIP phone systems. These are two of RingCentral’s best-known products.

But the RingCentral Contact Center is also a top option for any business seeking call center software.

It’s an ideal solution for both sales and customer service teams.

RingCentral Contact Center has more than 40 robust features like intelligence routing, CRM integrations, and workforce management tools. You’ll also benefit from administrative and management features like surveys, call recording, and analytics.

RingCentral is safe, secure, and reliable. They have a guaranteed uptime of 99.99%, and the software gives your agents the ability to work from anywhere.

Here’s an overview of the RingCentral Contact Center plans:

Basic

Inbound voice support
Standard IVR and ACD capabilities

Advanced

Omnichannel support and integrations (email, chat, SMS, social media)
Advanced IVR and ACD

Ultimate

Inbound and outbound voice
Predictive, progressive, and preview dialing
Campaign management

You’ll need to contact the RingCentral sales team to get a quote for your business.

But as you can see, they have options for everyone. Smaller teams that only need solutions for inbound calls can use the Basic plan. The standard call routing capabilities will be more than enough for a simple phone tree.

If you want omnichannel inbound call center support, the Advanced option will be best for you. For both inbound and outbound calling, you’ll need the Ultimate plan.

This is going to centralize every channel your team uses–talk, text, voice, video, and chat–within a single dashboard. It makes your employees lives a lot easier.

RingCentral is a trusted name in the VoIP phone and video industry. Their call center software is consistent with the high-level quality you’d expect from this provider.

#3 – Cloudtalk – Best Call Center Software For Remote and Distributed Teams

Visit Cloudtalk

Great for remote teams
Smart IVR feature guides callers where they need to go
Starts at $20 per user per month
Salesforce integration with Expert plan

Get started now

Cloudtalk offers remote-ready phone center services at a great price.

With more than 2,500 call centers powered by Cloudtalk, They’re trusted by businesses like Fujitsu, Mercedes-Benz, Booksy, DHL, and more. So you’ll be in good company if you use them.

They stand out because they allow you to run virtual call centers from anywhere in the world. As the name suggests, they leverage cloud technology to give you a secure calling experience.

Their intuitive platform also includes a great dashboard that gives you insight into your customer when their call is in the queue. This gives you a chance to anticipate their needs before you even speak with them.

Cloudtalk’s Smart IVR is a standout feature. It is an interactive voice response system that routes calls to exactly the people who need to take them. You’ll also be able to choose language preferences, and map out the customer journey with their drag and drop call flow designer.

Here’s a look at their annual plans:

Starter — $20 per user per month

Unlimited inbound and intercompany calls
Click to call
Automated call distribution
Mobile app
Unlimited call queuing
International numbers

Essential — $25 per user per month

All features in the Starter plan
Advanced analytics
Real-time client dashboard
Integrations with other systems
Open API
Skill-based routing
Smart queueing
SMS messaging
Workflow automation

Expert — $40 per user per month

All features in the Essential plan
Salesforce integrations
Power dialer
Smart dialer
Call monitoring
Wallboards
Account manager
Speech to text
Sentiment score
Unlimited concurrent calls

Custom — Contact for pricing

All feature in the Expert plan
Custom onboarding
Unlimited outbound calls
Enterprise-level security
Developer support
Custom reporting
SLA

I’d go with the Essential plan at a bare minimum. The integrations and analytics tools alone make it worth the extra five bucks per user a month. Overall though, this is a solid investment for any remote or distributed teams.

#4 – Freshcaller – Most Simple Contact Center Software For Teams of All Sizes

Free 14-day trial
Cloud-based solution
Wide range of features
Used by 6,000+ businesses

Freshcaller is call center software provided by Freshworks. They’re another well-known, trusted, and established name in the world of business solutions.

Like other Freshworks products, Freshcaller is a cloud-based solution that’s both simple and modern. It’s easy for any business to use, regardless of its size and technical expertise.

More than 6,000 businesses use Freshcaller’s software for a call center. It’s used by inbound sales agents as well as customer support teams.

Pricing for Freshcaller is a bit unique. You’ll pay a monthly rate for the plan you select based on the features offered. But you’ll also pay per minute based on usage.

Let’s take a look at those plans first before we dive into the usage rates.

Sprout — $0

Best for startups and freelancers
Unlimited agents
Basic call queues
Custom greetings
Forward to phone
Custom ringtones

Blossom — $19 per agent per month

Advanced queues
Blind transfers
Import bulk contacts
BYOC (bring your own carrier)
Business hours
Call masking and recording
Custom voicemail, voicemail transcription, and voicemail drop

Garden — $40 per agent per month

Advanced call metrics
Agent extensions
Conference calling
Call monitoring
Routing during non-business hours
Virtual hold
European and Australian data cent
Click-to-call Chrome extension

Estate — $59 per agent per month

Abandoned call metrics
Service level monitoring
Omnichannel routing
Custom agent status
Answer bot
Agent activity reports
Call recording opt-in

From startups to growing teams and global companies, Freshcaller has an option for everyone.

Call rates are based on factors like device (browser vs. phone), country, and whether or not the call is incoming or outgoing. Incoming rates start as low as $0.016 per minute, and outgoing rates start at $0.022 per minute.

You can try Freshcaller for free with a 14-day trial.

#5 – 8×8 Contact Center – Best Contact Center Software For Enterprise-Grade Security

Customized solutions
Omnichannel routing
Real-time analytics
Improve agency productivity

The 8×8 Contact Center is perfect for enhancing the customer experience from a single touch point.

Top features include skills-based call routing, queued callback, web callback and IVR (interactive voice response). 8×8 also has inbound chat, email, and social channel contact solutions for your call center software.

You’ll also benefit from real-time analytics and reports. This information is available from any device. It details customer journeys and wait times for every customer across all channels.

8×8 also helps you improve productivity. A private knowledge base, expert connect, simple interface, and comprehensive communication hub ensures that all customer communication is handled quickly and efficiently.

Your 8×8 Contact Center integrates with CRMs like Zendesk, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, and more.

8×8 is a top solution for large businesses and enterprises. It has advanced features with a global reach.

The 8×8 Contact Center has exceptional security. It’s compliant with HIPAA, FISMA, and more. 8×8 has tools to ensure privacy for sensitive data entry fields as well.

You’ll need to contact the 8×8 sales team for a custom quote on your solution.

#6 – Five9 – Best All-In-One Contact Center Software

All-in-one contact center solution
Cloud-based solutions
Work from anywhere
2,000+ business customers

Five9 is an all-in-one contact center solution.

The Five9 Intelligence Cloud Contact Center gives your customer service agents the power and flexibility to work from anywhere.

Five9 is completely customizable. It’s built to meet the needs of your business, regardless of your size or industry. The software delivers crystal clear voice, strong security, and a 99.99% uptime rate.

The top features and benefits of an all-in-one contact center software include:

CRM integration
Open platform APIs
Call routing
Omnichannel support
Global voice
Self-service tools
Analytics
WFO
Predictive dialing

Five9 has a wide range of solutions based on the type of business you have. They provide call center software for sales, telemarketing, customer service, collections, outsourcers, small business, medium-sized businesses, and enterprises.

The Five9 contact center is fast, reliable, affordable, and easy to use. Contact their sales team to request a demo and get a custom quote.

#7 – CrazyCall – Best Call Center Software For Outbound Sales

14-day free trial
Plans start at $11/month
Makes sales calls more efficient
Great solution for sales teams

CrazyCall is a top call center solution for sales teams. It offers features like auto dialing, call monitoring, call script, call transfers, click to call, and a callback widget.

Their features are tailormade to optimize your call center’s sales.

CrazyCall has other solutions for ecommerce shops, small businesses, and support teams, but the sales features are still the highlight of this software. It even has tools for lead generation on your website. That’s an incredibly useful tool.

Here’s an overview of the CrazyCall plans and prices:

Starter — $11 per month per user

200 free minutes per user each month
45 days of data storage
3 active projects

Team — $22 per month per user

500 free minutes per user each month
365 days of data storage
Unlimited active projects

Professional — $45 per month per user

1,250 free minutes per user each month
Unlimited data storage
IP restriction
Tailored reporting tools
Unlimited calls to US and Canada

All plans come with a free phone number, API and integrations, and 24/7 customer support. The free minutes each month apply to 122 countries. Beyond that, calls to US landlines start at just $0.01 per minute.

You can try CrazyCall for free with a 14-day trial.

#8 – Zendesk Talk – Best Call Center Software For Support and Automated Ticketing

Free lite plan
Upgrades start at $19/mo
Cloud-based solution
Integrates with Zendesk Support

Zendesk Talk is a cloud-based call center solution is built directly into the ticketing system for Zendesk Support.

Your agents will have access to the full customer history and additional features like call recording and automatic ticket creation.

The software is designed to improve your support process, while eliminating unproductive tasks. Your agents can focus on solutions, conversions, and customers, as opposed to workflow bottlenecks.

Top features of Zendesk Talk include:

Inbound and outbound calling
Custom greetings
Local and toll-free numbers
Browser-based calls
Call forwarding to phones
Call blocking
Conference calling
Group routing
Callback from queue
Inbound and outbound SMS
Advanced analytics
Real-time dashboard
Call recording and call record permissions

Similar to other call center software on our list, Zendesk Talk is based on a combination of your plan and usage.

Zendesk Talk has a wide range of plans for you to choose from. The list and features for each one are quite extensive. So rather than giving you a complete overview of those, I’ll just quickly cover the starting prices to give you an idea of the cost.

Lite — Starting at $0
Team — Starting at $19 per agent per month
Professional — Starting at $49 per agent per month
Enterprise — Starting at $89 per agent per month

Zendesk offers a paid partner edition starting at $9 per agent per month. This is for every agent taking calls with Zendesk Support. To estimate your usage rates, Zendesk Talk has a calculator tool that you can play around with.

#9 – Talkdesk – Best Call Center Software For End-To-End Customer Experience

End-to-end customer experience
Omnichannel support
Customized solutions
Used by 1,800+ businesses

Talkdesk offers tools and software for things like customer engagement, workforce engagement, and reporting.

But their contact center software is their most popular product — and for good reason. It’s an end-to-end customer experience solution designed the meet the needs and expectations of the modern customer.

These people have a certain expectation when they call your company. Talkdesk will help you improve productivity while reducing costs and increasing the customer experience.

Top features of Talkdesk include:

Outbound dialer
Customer self-service
Omnichannel support
Agent desktop and mobile agent tools
Call recording
Integrations with Salesforce, Zendesk, Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc.
AI virtual assistant
Reporting and analytics

For the most part, Talkdesk is used by businesses across a handful of major industries. This includes retail, ecommerce, financial services, healthcare, travel, and hospitality.

Talkdesk has solutions based on call center type (sales, support, BPO) and business size (small, mid, enterprise).

Contact the Talkdesk sales team today for a quote. Join the 1,800+ businesses like Peleton, IBM, and Dropbox using this call center software.

How to Choose the Best Call Center Software For Your Business

With all of these options, how do you choose which is best for your company?

This is the methodology that we use and recommend here at Quick Sprout. Use these guidelines to decide what is best for your company.

Omnichannel Support

A good call center service gives you multiple ways to get in contact with your customers.

That way, they’ll have more flexibility to reach you— helping ensure client satisfaction.

Consider if you want to integrate those communication tools like email, live chat, and social media into your call center software. This will allow your agents to better serve the needs of your customers throughout each stage of the support process.

Call Center Type

The type of call center you run will be a big determining factor in your research.

Do you need software to support inbound calls only? Or do your agents need outbound dialing capabilities? Not every solution offers both.

The purpose of these calls will also have an impact on the software you choose. There are certain options that are better for sales, while others are better for customer support, troubleshooting, and ticketing.

Integrations

The best call center software will integrate with your CRM solution.

Some of the options on our list have their own full-service CRM systems as well. So you could potentially get an all-in-one solution from the same provider.

Pricing

It’s important that you have a clear understanding of how you’ll be billed for customer call center software. Not every company lists their prices online.

In most cases, you’ll pay based on a combination of usage and support agents. The majority of call center solutions have different plans for different the features you need. Make sure to find one that best fits your needs and budget.

Compare Quotes From The Best Call Center Software

Get matched up with the call center software that fits your specific needs.

Conclusion

Every business providing phone support for customers can benefit from call center software. From startups to enterprises and everything in between, these are the top call center software solutions on the market today:

Nextiva — Best price for unlimited dialing and call queues
RingCentral Contact Center — Best for advanced features
Cloudtalk — Best call center software for remote and distributed teams
Freshcaller — Simple contact center software for teams of all sizes
8×8 Contact Center — Best contact center software for enterprise-grade security
Five9 — Best all-in-one contact center software
CrazyCall — Best call center software for outbound sales
Zendesk Talk — Best call center software for support and automated ticketing
Talkdesk — Best call center software for end-to-end customer experience

Whether you need assistance with sales, customer support, or both, there’s an option for your business on this list.

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Wednesday, November 3, 2021

Best Call Center Software