BEST CALL CENTER MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE REVIEWS
TABLE OF CONTENT:
| what is call center management and why is it important? |
| The brief description of call center management software. |
| How Does Call Center Software Work? |
| Advantages of Call Center Software |
| Features of Call Center Software |
| Costs of Call Center Software |
| Examples of Call Center Software |
| Detailed features of each software with their benefits, pricing, reviews and ratings. |
| Suggestions to buyers according to their type of call centre. |
| Comparison of different call centre management software |
CALL CENTER MANAGEMENT
Call centers play a key role in bridging the gap between the business management and its consumers. With the advent of technology, many businesses are now handling floods of customer queries and opinions. This, in turn, allows for management to better understand their consumer’s needs and problems.
WHAT IS CALL CENTER MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE?
It is a system that allows businesses to manage multiple communication channels such as phone, email, live chat, instant messaging, SMS text, and social media.
Call center software comes in many forms and functions including
- Auto dialer
- Call center monitors
- Call accounting solutions
- Call analytics
- Predictive Dialer
- Computer telephony integration (CTI)
- Interactive voice response (IVR) and
- Automatic call distributor (ACD).
It can be utilized as part of a customer support platform or help desk system with ticketing functionality to help agents respond to customer queries and resolve issues.
Despite its seemingly diminishing status and the wide availability of self-service channels, the phone is still a favoured tool by customers. A research study by Harvard Business Review found out that 57% of customers end up shifting from the web to phone (inbound call) for support.
Meanwhile, according to eConsultancy, customers prefer the following support channels when they need help: phone, email, live chat, online knowledge base, and “click to call” support automation.
On the side of businesses, a Contact Center Survey revealed that 62% of organizations view customer experience provided through contact centres as a competitive differentiator.
TYPES OF CALL CENTER SOFTWARE
The purpose of call center software is to help businesses manage customer communication coming from multiple channels and sources. Depending on how communications are processed and how the system is deployed, call centre software can be classified into the following:
- On-premise call center systems.These are usually sold with on-time utilization license where the company user takes care of the upgrade and maintenance of the call centre. These normally require the installation of private branch hardware and equipment and are the most professional type of call centres, although they are also the most expensive.
| Freshdesk’s ticket dashboard shows your key metrics at a glance. |
- Cloud-based call centre systems. These are also SaaS models with the call centre hosted in the cloud, accessible from anywhere without the need for downloading or installing the software. These are the most affordable call centre systems.
How Does Call Center Software Work?
Call centre software typically facilitates the following steps:
- The system identifies the customer by checking the unique entry in the database (DB), and if the caller is not in the DB then the software usually adds the new caller’s entry for future reference.
- If the caller’s entry is in the DB, the records are accessed and showed to the agent when they get a call, equipping the agent with enough information about the customer including issue history before handling the call.
- When the caller has provided a reply to the automated response or by verbal acknowledgement, the call is properly queued according to the mapping in the DB (usually based on agent skills set and the queue name).
- As the call is pushed to the queue, all agents that are mapped to that queue can pick up the call manually or take it as an automatic assignment based on a scheduling system.
- Upon taking the call, the agent can assist the customer by giving instructions over the call or through email, having supervisors/senior agents in on the call for guidance and faster resolution, or even by taking remote access to the caller’s system.
- If the issue is not resolved at that time, the system allows the agent to keep the interactions with the customer and can do a regular follow-up to keep track on the status and progress.
- Based on the customer’s response, an agent can indicate the status of the ticket as open, closed, resolved, or requires follow-up.
- When the status of the ticket is marked as “closed”, an automated survey call or email is sent to the customer for feedback, the results of which can be utilized by the company for its marketing strategies or other purposes.
- As you can see from the steps above, system streamlines an otherwise tedious process and makes the job of call centre agents easier and less complicated, ensuring efficiency and productivity to assigned personnel, and providing quality and prompt support to customers.
ADVANTAGES OF CALL CENTER SOFTWARE
The overall goal of a call center software is to enable your business to provide the best customer support, on time help, and optimal customer experience. Here are the following advantages of call center software:
- Lower costs.The more popular and budget-friendly SaaS and hosted solutions can provide you a call center system without the worry of installation, hardware, upgrades, and maintenance while keeping the system secured and up all the time. The definitely equates to lower cost.
- Small remote teams. Adding to your cost savings is having remote agents for your virtual call centers. They can beat any geographical location and as long as they have internet connected devices, they form part of your team.
- Enhanced security.Call center software, especially cloud or hosted platforms, carry security features to keep your call centre operation safe and running all the time. Operational flexibility. The software can be integrated with your existing apps for CRM, CEM, e-commerce, marketing solutions, and others, giving you a powerful platform. It is also highly configurable to meet all sorts of organizational needs.
- Productivity booster.Call centre software is packed with intuitive and automated features such as auto-dialers, monitoring tools, time routing, prioritization, and call route matrices. Each system works on KPIs to measure the productivity of each agent, and to reveal real-time feedback on how your customer support is actually doing.
- Improved customer relationships.Improving customer relations starts with delivering the best customer support. Call centre software gives you the means to provide optimal, reliable and prompt customer service. The customer is king, and if they feel their issues are taken for granted, they can easily churn which you wouldn’t want for your business.
FEATURES OF CALL CENTER SOFTWARE
We can only fully understand what is call center software by learning about its features. Here are some of the key functions and features of call centre software:
- Controlled Telephony. Call center software is just like your typical phone but re-engineered for call control with a mouse click enabling you to hold, transfer, or mute callers. Of course, the system can do more than just voice calls; it can do the live chat, conferencing, email, and even respond to social media messages.
- Automatic Call Distributors.ACD comprises the heart of every good call centre. It enables route calls to the most appropriate agent without you being involved in the process while monitoring performance and gathering information.
- Interactive Voice Responses.IVR is the ‘meanwhile feature’ that takes care of callers before/after they are connected to the appropriate agents. These could be message greetings, service prompts menu, or waiting for queue coverage.
- Call Queues.These are used by virtual call centres so that customers don’t ‘disappear’ after being told that they have to wait. Each department/agent gets specifically designed waiting queue where customers arrive after being skills routed, and a special dashboard is used to measure statistics based on real-time data.
- Disposition Codes.This feature tags the outcome of every call such as ‘Not interested’, ‘Transferred to IT support’, ‘Refunded’, and so on. Agents select the code from a special menu and attach it to the profile of a particular caller.
- Call Barging.Developed for new agents, this gets to transfer the call to the manager (without informing the client about it) who can drop in on the agent’s behalf using a feature called whisper coaching.
- Predictive and Power Dialers.Used primarily to inform a client when an agent becomes available, and can even make calls automatically and connect the agent to a group of callers.
- Voicemail and Notifications.These allow customers to leave a message for the agent when he is not available. Advanced systems are capable of transcribing messages, or email them to the agent to keep messages within the activity feed.
- Real-Time and Historical Reporting.The reporting feature is view and learns about metrics including the number of calls per day/line/agent/department, average duration, average abandoning rate, waiting time, service level, and more.
- This significantly extends the functionality of the system, allowing it to work with third-party apps to secure more client/caller information, process and analyze customer data, build up customer relations, and do other tasks right within a single platform.
CALL CENTER MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE REVIEWS AND FEATURES
To give you an idea of this market niche and how they differ from each other, here are top examples of call centre software.
FRESHCALLER
Freshcaller is a cloud PBX system using which you can purchase local and toll-free phone numbers in 40+ countries. It lets your team engage in contextual conversations with your callers. Freshcaller is the ideal call center for startups and small teams. With Freshcaller businesses can choose to record all their phone conversations and allow supervisors to listen and speak to customers real-time.
FEATURES:
| Route To Groups | Multi-Level IVR |
| Wait Queues | Auto-Receptionist |
| Real-Time Phone Provisioning | Agent Presence Status |
| Call Blocking | Customer Interaction History |
| Automatic Call Recording | Call Barging |
PRICING:
| SPROUT | BLOSSOM | GARDEN |
$0UNLIMITED agents + pay per min |
$19
agent/month + pay per min |
$40
agent/month + pay per min |
PRIMODIALLER
All-in-one Cloud Contact Centre giving you all the features & benefits of an advanced VOIP Dialler system from a British based team. Increase Sales.
Create a complete multi-channel contact centre, which is simple, fast and flexible. With us your customer service is faster, seamless and complete customised to your requirements. By using Primodialler can talk to more people in less time. Grow your profits instantly
FEATURES:
|
Virtual Call Center |
Queue Manager |
|
Quality Management |
Progressive Dialer |
| Premise-Based Call Center |
Predictive Dialer |
| Outbound Call Center |
Manual Dialer |
| Live Chat |
Knowledge Base |
Deployment
- Cloud, SaaS, Web, Installed – Mac, Installed – Windows, Mobile – Android Native, Mobile – iOS Native
Excellent Service, Brilliant productFeb 05, 2018 KavitaKumari, Director, United Link Human Resources, 1-10 employees Used the software for: 6-12 months
|
‘Really professional approach.’Feb 05, 2018 AsifQabal, Director, AQ Calls Used the software for: 6-12 months
|
VOCALCOM
Vocalcom Provides Cloud-based Collaboration, Communication, & Customer Contact Center offering robust features & backed by Amazon Web Services (AWS).
FEATURES
|
Blended Call Center |
Call Logging |
|
Call Recording |
Campaign Management |
|
IVR / Voice Recognition |
Inbound Call Center |
| Call Routing |
Live Chat |
| Predictive Dialer |
Progressive Dialer |
Deployment
Cloud, SaaS, Web
| The Pure cloud platform has assisted us in revolutionizing the way we do business.
Dec 19, 2017 Chris Brooks, Director, Call Center and HR Operations SHAG CLF Used the software for 1-2 years |
| Feature rich solution with simple licensing model
Feb 02, 2018 Larry Hitchcock, Global Client Technologies Manager, Genesys using the software for: Less than 6 months |
FOCALSCOPE
Web-based live chat and ticketing help desk solution which supports its users to manage large amounts of emails & provide high-quality customer service.
Trusted by companies such as Radisson, American Express and DHL to reduce response times and bring their customer support to the next level. Get a complete overview of your email communication.
Focalscoope provides collaborates across departments, use comprehensive analysis tools, SLA, IM & standard responses to do more with less effort. No implementation needed.
Deployment
- Cloud, SaaS, Web
Installed – Windows
FEATURES
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| FocalScope has been a blessing
Jan 28, 2018 Anil David CEO Agape CP Used the software for 1-2 years |
| FocalScope is a wonderful email and lives chat solution. It is so simple to use !
Nov 27, 2017 Kajsa Larsson Sales department Folkeferie Used the software for: Less than 6 months |
CALLN
Cloud based VOIP call recording solution with features such as analytics, compliance, and improved employee performance. Calln is als the good call centre management software solution.
Deployment
Cloud, SaaS, Web
| Professional, and knowledgeable experience.
Dec 19, 2017 Justin Eddison, Account manager, Macy`s Apparel & Fashion, Used the software for: Less than 6 months |
ZINGTREE
Zingtree makes it easy to create and deploy interactive agent scripts for call centres or live support. Integrates with Zendesk, Salesforce, Freshdesk or other CRM and Help Desk systems. Script history is synced with each ticket, so when a call is transferred, the new agent can pick up where the previous one left off. Managers also get full analytics to find bottlenecks, problem areas and also see how different agents perform.
Deployment
- Cloud, SaaS, Web
FEATURES
|
|
| · Call Scripting |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Amazingly intuitive software for building decision trees
Apr 19, 2016, Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: Less than 6 months |
| Make Your Own Knowledge Base
May 31, 2017 Crystal Ignatowski
Marketing Content Developer Surety Solutions, LLC |
MEGACALL
No matter the size of your business, calling any contacts from your list using MegaDialer will be completed in only a few minutes
Deployment
- Cloud, SaaS, Web
FEATURES
|
Blended Call Center |
Knowledge Base |
| Call Logging |
Escalation Management |
| Call Recording |
IVR / Voice Recognition |
|
Call Routing |
Inbound Call Center |
| Call Scripting |
Campaign Management |
| The height of professionalism
Feb 01, 2017 Paul Anderson, General Manager Onedirect Ltd. Telecommunication Used the software for: 6-12 months |
| Best dialer software company
Jan 22, 2017 Martin Thielst, Owner, Quality sales Outsourcing/Offshoring, Used the software for: 6-12 months |
XCALLY
Omnichannel solution for Inbound, Outbound and Blended Contact Centers.Asterisk call centre software HTML5, with ATI API for integrations, WebRTC, Drag and Drop Asterisk IVR and more. Engage your customers with the Motion unique technology: multichannel, real-time, powerful and effective. Xcally provide the best Customer Journey Experience using the Voice, Web Chat, E-Mail, SMS and Fax channels
Deployment
- Cloud, SaaS, Web
| Live Chat | Outbound Call Center |
| Manual Dialer | Predictive Dialer |
| Inbound Call Center | IVR / Voice Recognition |
| Blended Call Center | Campaign Management |
| Call Logging | Call Routing |
| Call Recording | Call Scripting |
| Premise-Based Call Center | Progressive Dialer |
| Queue Manager | Virtual Call Center |
CALABRIO ONE SUITE
Calabrio ONE is a unified workforce optimization (WFO) software suite including call recording, quality management, workforce management and voice-of-the-customer (VoC) analytics that transforms the contact center into a customer engagement center and a valuable source of customer insight. Calabrio is easy to Use, Quick to Install, Simple to Support.
Deployment
Cloud, SaaS, Web
Installed – Windows
FEATURES
| Call Recording | Outbound Call Center |
| Blended Call Center | Escalation Management |
| Inbound Call Center | Premise-Based Call Center |
| Quality Management | Virtual Call Center |
PanTerra
Since 2001 PanTerra has been offering the industries most advanced features for inbound call centres. We are committed to continuing to roll out new features as the technology changes, to guarantee your Inbound Call Center never becomes antiquated again.
Deployment
Cloud, SaaS, WeB
FEATURES
| Campaign Management | Virtual Call Center |
| Call Recording | Queue Manager |
| Call Routing | Escalation Management |
| Call Logging | Inbound Call Center |
What Is FreeSWITCH GUI & Reviews 2019
