The Best Call Center Software In 2023

Today, the best call center software does more than just provide your business with the tools to answer large volumes of incoming calls. Rather than outsourcing these tasks to a third-party call center, which is more expensive, this allows you to keep everything in-house. Thanks to recent technological advances, the best call center software allows you two-way communication with customers via social media, short message service (SMS), video calling, email and private messaging apps as well as over the phone from the same screen. To help you find the best software, we researched the top options, scrutinizing pricing, features and ease of use to determine the ones we think are best for various businesses. Below, see our reviews of some major call center software and the specific services we feel that stand out from the crowd.

At its most basic, call center software routes incoming phone calls to individuals and teams within your business. In recent years, however, call center software has expanded to allow two-way communication via messaging apps like WhatsApp, standard SMS text messaging, email, social media private messaging and more from one platform.

Beyond call handling, the reporting and analytics functions built into call center software allow companies to measure how well individual reps and customer/technical support advisors are doing against the KPIs they’ve been set. Many call center software providers also allow companies to run outbound marketing campaigns. An increasing number of platforms are now integrating artificial intelligence, training, workforce engagement and workforce management tools into their software.

Most call center software providers charge per user, per month. They offer a range of service plans with the more expensive options offering a greater number of features. Ignore the attention-grabbing low monthly charges many providers run with and instead focus on getting a fixed quote from each provider where everything you want is included.

Prices for cloud-hosted services typically range from $25 to $225 per user, per month, although they can go much higher depending on the features you choose. Many call center software providers offer an easy-in, easy-out service, where no more than 30 days’ notice is required to either leave the service altogether or downsize to a cheaper plan.

When choosing cloud-based call center software for your company, make sure you don’t pay for the call center features you don’t need. As with all business purchases, make sure that you know what you require and why before you start contacting vendors for quotes.

Omnichannel

Most of today’s call center software platform tools offer call blending — the ability to make and receive phone calls — and the ability to use SMS and emails from their control dashboard either natively or via a plug-in app.

Some also offer the ability to receive and respond to the following types of messages in your dashboard:

• MMS: MMS, a more sophisticated version of SMS text messages, allows for the sending of more text as well as URL links, emojis, videos and images.
• Messaging apps: You can send and receive messages from customers using apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, Apple Business Chat, WeChat and more.
• Social media platforms: Customers can get in touch with you via private messaging on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and you can respond to them.
• Live chat: Often called webchat, these are pop-up windows that appear on websites where customers can ask you questions. Many live chat apps are powered by AI, handling customers’ questions initially before transferring them to an agent using their call center dashboard.
• Video chat: Video chat is a modified version of video conferencing where you can set up a one-on-one video call with a customer.

No one platform offers complete coverage of every communication platform or channel. The good news, however, is that most platforms either have APIs or integrations allowing you to extend your range of platforms and channels.

Supervisors and Managers

For your supervisors and managers, look out for the following features:

Interactive Voice Response

An IVR system can help your customer service by managing inbound telephone calls. When a customer dials in, they are greeted with a prerecorded message followed by a number of options — for example, sales, customer service, technical support and so on. They either key in or speak their response to the IVR. You can add multiple layers of menus to IVR systems to drill down precisely on what a customer wants to give them the best chance of being connected with the right agent.

Reporting and Forecasting

Nearly all call center software comes with out-of-the-box prebuilt reports with standard metrics like average call time, number of resolutions, sales revenue, and so on. They, together with custom-built reports you can tailor to your own company’s KPIs, can drive down call answer times, call durations and missed calls as well as drive up first-call resolutions and completed sales. By analyzing team and individual performance, you can also identify training opportunities and areas of service you need greater coverage in.

Some call center software packages offer workforce management tools, either as part of their system or via third-party apps. Based on historical order and call volumes, you get a much clearer idea of how many staff you need and, crucially, which staff you need depending on skills.

Routing Calls and Messages

Most call center software offers one or more of the following types of inbound call routing:

• AI routing: Using a mixture of artificial intelligence and semantic analysis, a chatbot determines whether someone getting in touch needs to speak with a sales, customer service or support agent.
• Skills-based routing: Supervisors can assign various skills to each agent to help the call center software better direct calls for first-contact resolution. For example, if someone were an expert with a particular feature, customers inquiring about that product would be directed to that agent.
• Data-driven routing: Using the option chosen by a caller on the IVR or question asked via message, data gathered from an integrated CRM and skills assigned to particular agents, the call center software directs a call or message to the agent most likely to help them.
• Omnichannel routing: Omnichannel routing allows calls and messages to reach agents from any channel, whether phone, email, SMS/MMS, social media or private messaging app.

Many of the platforms also offer queue callback. With queue callback, a caller can keep their place in the line but hang up after they give over their contact number. When it’s their turn, the call center software dials the customer’s number.

When it comes to outbound calling, some services offer an auto-dialer, which helps company reps speak to as many customers and prospects as possible. It does this by having preloaded lists of customers and prospects and getting the call center software to dial out instead of the rep.

Improving Agent Performance

Many call center software features allow managers and supervisors to train agents on the job to ensure they have the best chance of hitting sales targets and other KPIs.

Most software includes call recording. Via their dashboard, supervisors can select individual calls to listen back to for review. They can then go through these calls with the agents and point out areas for potential improvement. Some call center software systems will also transcribe calls so a supervisor and their agent can both hear and read a call under review.

Most systems also offer call whispering or call barging. With call whispering, a supervisor can speak directly to your agent on a call without the customer being able to hear them. With call barging, both parties can hear the supervisor. Some systems alert supervisors to calls that have gone on for longer than expected so they use the call monitoring function to see if they need to intervene.

Delivering Better Outcomes

Some software allows for customer tagging. For example, you can change a tag from “prospect” to “customer” so that they get connected to the customer service team when they call in instead of the sales team. Likewise, you can tag the highest-spending customers to give them priority in the call queue.

Knowledge banks are slowly starting to appear on call center software systems too. You can create a knowledge bank for customers containing instructions on how to use a product, how to access certain features and so on. A growing number of customers want self-service and knowledge banks meet this need. Likewise, you can create internal knowledge banks for your customer services and technical support teams so that they get to know the products they’re advising on better and how to handle customers on a call.

Call Center Agents and Reps

Agents and reps have dashboard screens different from supervisors specifically designed to help them do their job the best.

• A popular tool is screen pops. When a customer calls in, the call center software recognizes their number. Their details then pop up on the screen together with the service choice they made on the IVR. The customer gets served faster and your agents can process more calls during a shift.
• Particularly useful for inexperienced reps and agents are AI prompts. When a customer replies to a question or makes a request, the rep or agent chooses the most relevant option to get prompts on what to say next.
• Perhaps of greatest use to outbound sales reps is dynamic scripting. With this, they receive prompts from the system on product features, how to overcome objections and ways to close the sale.
• Workforce engagement apps, primarily designed to incentivize agents and reps to perform better and reduce staff churn, now appear in some call center software packages either built-in or as add-on apps. Part of their approach is gamification where agents and reps are rewarded for hitting KPIs live on screen.

When choosing call center software for your business, be certain to take the following four steps:

1. Do your research.

Most call center software providers offer a base set of features on a set service plan. You may have to subscribe to a higher plan to get the features and tools you want. In some cases, you may need to purchase separate apps, again at an additional cost, no matter which plan you choose.

So, before you start looking for quotes, be clear on exactly what it is you want your system to do in addition to directing calls and messages.

2. Read existing customer reviews.

When you have chosen a shortlist for potential suppliers, look for reviews from companies with similar use cases to yours. In particular, look for how easy it was for them to integrate the call center software into their current apps, the level of support they get from the vendor and whether the system has delivered what they wanted from it.

3. Go for more than one quote.

Cloud-based call center providers will compete for your business. In many cases, they will offer you a less expensive service plan tailored to your specific needs if they know you’ve done your research and you’ve gotten more than one quote. Be sure to have a quote ready to show a sales rep if challenged.

4. Reassess your chosen provider regularly.

Unlike with on-premises call center systems and software, you don’t have to stay with your software for years under contract. Many offer 30-day rolling contracts. Those requiring longer contracts rarely require more than a 12-month commitment.

The main benefits of investing in a modern call center software solution for your business are:

• More than just the telephone: Customers want you to service them on the channels they use every day. Call center software integration with email, SMS and MMS messaging, video conferencing, messaging apps and social media private messaging means you can do just that.
• Inclusive call minutes: Many call center software vendors offer inclusive minutes within their service plans, with some offering unlimited calls for a small monthly fee per user.
• Enhanced customer service: Call center software can transfer customer calls and messages directly to a person with the skills to help immediately, making a first-contact resolution more likely.
• Greater call volumes: Your company can handle more outbound and inbound calls thanks to the automatic call distribution and AI call handling built into call center software. This reduces the cost of servicing and selling to customers.
• Increased revenues: When used for sales purposes, you’re likely to sell more as the call center software connects the most qualified sales reps to inbound callers looking for more information.
• Great for working from home: It’s much easier and cheaper to configure cloud-based call center software to distribute calls and messages to staff whether they’re based in the office or remotely.

The future is looking bright for cloud-based call center software. Just 10 years ago, the majority of call centers relied on on-premises PBX and custom-written software. The movement to a voice-over-internet-protocol infrastructure enables small to medium-sized businesses to offer the same high level of service and responsiveness customers associate with larger businesses.

The U.S. contact center software market was worth $30.7 billion in 2022 and that’s expected to reach $78.8 billion in 2029, representing a 14.4 percent year-on-year growth during the period, according to Fortune Business Insights.

We expect deeper AI integrations in call center software throughout 2023. We think companies will use AI to analyze customer opinions and sentiment by constantly reviewing the content of calls, emails and messages companies receive. These insights can be used both to train live agents and to introduce more empathy into automatic responses to customer queries on chatbots, emails, SMS messages and so on.

The move to integrate with social media platforms and messaging apps has been fairly recent. There are advantages to both in moving even closer together. For social media platforms and messaging platforms, it’s another reason for clients to use their apps. For companies, it demonstrates their commitment to providing service no matter how the customer gets in touch.

There have been few startups in the call center software space since 2020, but there has been significant growth in the number of companies producing apps for call center software ecosystems. The growing involvement of third-party developers should, as it has with cell phone apps, push the boundaries of the technology further, especially so in a new era of no-code and low-code development.

In 2023, California, Colorado and Virginia introduce new privacy acts covering the storage, processing and securing of data. We expect there to be a greater emphasis by call center software providers on data security and encryption in general although most of the responsibility may fall to CRM providers that provide plug-ins to the software.