Every interaction today is a golden chance for you to connect, understand and make a difference for your customers. Imagine a contact center where the goal isn't just to answer questions but to build bridges with customers, to really get what they need and offer solutions that hit the mark.
This is the essence of seeing your contact center as a value center. But it's not just about good feelings — but about tangible benefits, when you look at customer service as a value center, your bottom line boosts.
Don’t settle for less. Explore our fresh dive into the market’s absolute best contact center software with its top features, in-depth research and unbiased verdicts — all to help you narrow down the perfect fit for your business.
What is contact center software?
Contact center software is a dynamic set of applications designed to automate vital functions in a contact center. It streamlines key processes in customer support, such as inbound and outbound calling, multichannel customer support and data management.
Types of contact centers often dictate the functions each partake in. For example, inbound contact centers handle incoming customer inquiries and support requests, whereas outbound contact centers proactively reach out to customers for sales, surveys or notifications.
The software can help both types in two main ways: on-premises or as a cloud-based service (SaaS). On-premises solutions offer more control but come with the added responsibility of IT maintenance, including hardware management, updates and security. Cloud contact centers, growing in popularity, are vendor-managed and more flexible. They scale operations effortlessly to align with seasonal customer activities or evolving contact center trends, offering businesses a responsive approach to customer service.
Contact center software hosted on the cloud also brings distinct benefits like reduced infrastructure needs and cost savings, making it a favored choice for businesses aiming for an efficient, scalable customer service model.
Learn More: How Does a Cloud Contact Center Benefit You?
10 best contact center software
Choosing the right contact center provider is a journey filled with diverse options and important details. Each vendor brings something unique to the table, with varying strengths and areas of expertise. Our 2023 research has led us to curate a comprehensive list of leading contact center providers. We provide an in-depth look at their key features, pros and cons, pricing, reliability index and our verdict.
Important Note for Readers
The below tools are in no particular order of ranking or popularity. Still, they are independent picks by Sprinklr’s editorial team based on our research and publicly available information on the review sites. It is crucial to note that software or platforms may evolve over time, and the company may address some of these concerns in newer updates or versions.
Sprinklr
Sprinklr Service is contact center software that empowers your support team to deliver great service on 30+ digital and traditional channels, including voice, chat, social and email. It’s built on a unified architecture that streamlines service interactions, avoiding the pitfalls of disjointed, siloed solutions. This platform serves as a powerful analytical engine, delivering insights that enhance both immediate response and long-term strategy.
Seamless customer transitions across different channels, maintaining context and continuity
A unified customer view for agents, enriched with generative AI and integrated dashboards, enabling swift, relevant solutions
Insightful performance data becomes a tool for making smart, effective business decisions
Supervisors gain clear visibility into their teams' performance, helping them spot areas for growth and optimize the contact center workforce
🚀 Top features
Omnichannel customer service: Sprinklr understands that your customer's journey might zigzag across various channels — a tweet in the morning and a follow-up email by night. But its omnichannel customer service makes that leap feel effortless across 30+ channels. Sprinklr doesn't just pass messages along — it smartly directs conversations to your customer's preferred channels. So, when they switch from a tweet to an email, the omnichannel routing and call deflection ensure the conversation continues just where it was left off without missing a beat.
Unified Agent Desktop: Sprinklr Service's Unified Agent Desktop enhances customer interactions by combining its proprietary AI with voice and digital channels. Agents get instant, complete views of customer profiles, including activity history, CRM data and survey feedback, leading to quicker, more informed resolutions.
Quality management: Sprinklr Service enables you to manage quality in contact centers by evaluating interactions against 30+ criteria, such as conversation opening/closing quality, introduction, promptness and use of compliant language. Using Sprinklr AI, you can score all daily conversations based on these parameters, including active listening and customer empathy.
AI scoring simplifies agent training because you can identify each agent's strengths and areas for improvement, to ensure continuous upskilling and improvement in service quality.
Verdict: Sprinklr lets you manage conversations with zero loss of context, maintaining continuity across all digital channels, times and complexity of cases. The platform integrates with generative AI for ultra-personalized experiences and is equipped with a solid trust center for enterprise-grade security. This seamless blend of technology, however, positions it as a premium option for businesses with strict budget constraints.
Customer testimonials
💪 What works best
“Sprinklr is a powerful platform with various features. Among others, they provide nice tools to manage all of customers voice, feedback and complaints without delay or hassle. With their intelligent service such as automated conversation routing, real-time sentiment analysis, customer service improved far more than expected.”
💡 What could be better
“There's no downside of using Sprinklr. Only sometimes, there's a glitch and cases get assigned late. Notifications also come late at times, but such glitches are solved instantly, and things go back on track.”
Price: $249 (1 seat/ month-billed annually). Check full pricing.
Free trial: Sprinklr offers a 30-day Free Trial
NICE
NICE CXOne, formerly NICE inContact, provides a top-tier cloud contact center solution. The CXone platform combines various elements like omnichannel routing, contact center analytics, workforce management and AI-driven automation on an open cloud base. This configuration helps businesses improve customer experiences by delivering more intelligent and faster responses to customer needs.
🚀 Top features
Multichannel access
Customer self-service
Journey orchestration and routing
CX analytics
Verdict: NICE CXone is a great fit for large companies with its strong workforce engagement management system and an IVR that's both flexible and good at data reporting. The agent console is streamlined, helping with focused problem-solving. It's best for businesses with a good budget, though smaller companies might find the pricing complex and the analytics a bit limited. Be mindful of potential wait times for specialized support and gradual feature updates.
Customer testimonials
💪 What works best
“This cloud-based platform has a very user-friendly interface, a lot of bells and whistles and love the prebuilt reports. It's nice to have the supervisor tools to listen in to calls and very easy to search and find recorded calls. Love the coaching and interaction options and schedule management tools built into the system.”
💡 What could be better
“At times, the system may be difficult to access but clearing cookies usually resolves these issues. On some tools, there is limited flexibility. For example, we cannot add unexcused absences as sometimes different from any other time off in WFM.”
Price: Digital agent pack starts at $71/agent/month. Offers more plans.
Free trial: 60-day trial available
Avaya
Avaya OneCloud, a cloud-based contact center platform, elevates both customer and agent experiences for businesses. It includes functionalities that aid agents in improving customer interactions, along with customer self-service and comprehensive reporting capabilities. The software includes various engagement options across voice and digital channels, self-service automation and resources aimed at enhancing agent productivity.
🚀 Top features
Voice
Web chat
Email
Speech analytics
Auto dialer
Administrator access
Verdict: Avaya is fairly easy to set up, and users often commend its quick deployment times. The interface is quite intuitive and suits small businesses with basic channel needs. However, it may not meet the demands of larger enterprises seeking advanced channel flexibility and in-depth customer interaction analytics. It does simplify contact center operations, but users requiring significant customizations should weigh their options carefully.
Capturing real-time insights on your conversations is no longer just a good-to-have. To serve your customers better, lend a listening ear to them when they need it. Sprinklr’s Conversational Analytics lets you discover trending topics on customer intents and sentiments across 100% of your conversations — painting you a clear picture of factors that critically impact your NPS and CSAT.
Customer testimonials
💪 What works best
“It quickly adapts to the changes made or setting made on the tool so it will be integrated accordingly to our Ipscape tool. Very convenient for us and the agents as well.”
💡 What could be better
“Nothing much to dislike, but one thing that stood out is that the UX could be much better. The use of this overall is excellent, but I feel it could be much more user-friendly and interactive.”
Price: Contact sales
Salesforce Service Cloud
Salesforce Service Cloud is a leading contact center software empowering companies to confidently embrace AI in customer service. It unifies AI and data on a single platform, enabling quick AI adoption and transforming service across various customer touchpoints. This includes self-service, engagement, processes, automation and operations, enhancing efficiency and reducing costs.
🚀 Top features
Multi-channel integration
Ticket and case management
Automated guided workflows
SLA management
Verdict: While Salesforce is a household name in the CRM industry, it has made solid strides in customer service automation, too. It's great for setting up a cross-platform communication system with a holistic, single-point customer view. However, multiple features can be overwhelming for new users who are just starting out. Some users also report challenges in contractual compliance and lengthy migration processes from other platforms.
Customer testimonials
💪 What works best
“I love that our users are able to track customer cases and stay on top of their work, regardless of how we were contacted (email or phone). We use email-to-case, queues, escalation, and a fair amount of dashboards to help our service teams across departments to manage their workload and ensure the customer remains in touch with us.”
💡 What could be better
“While the platform is highly customizable, users find the process complex. It might require a skilled administrator or developer to implement and maintain customizations effectively.”
Price: Multiple plans start at $25/user/month
Free trial: Available for 30 days
Cisco
Cisco’s Webex Contact Center is a cloud-based contact center platform that seamlessly bridges digital and human interactions over various channels, creating unified customer experiences. It provides agents and supervisors with tools for actionable insights and effective collaboration tailored to meet business goals. This ready-to-deploy, customizable contact center tool balances adaptability with high-level security.
🚀 Top features
Multichannel integration
Agent and supervisor desktops
Reporting and analytical insights
Verdict: Cisco stands out in the contact center software market for its dependable service, stable infrastructure and high uptime. Their customer service team is quick and agile to solve global tenant issues, and the platform offers program guides for easy setup. However, users report building performance reports and configuring dashboards to be convoluted. High influx of queries may also tend to overwhelm the system.
Customer testimonials
💪 What works best
“The seamless integration of Webex Contact Center with CRM systems is a standout feature. The platform's ability to sync customer data, interactions, and support history directly with our CRM system streamlines our workflow. This integration ensures that agents have access to comprehensive customer information, allowing for more personalized and efficient interactions.”
💡 What could be better
“The multi-channel support is effective, having more advanced automation options for channel-specific workflows would be beneficial. This would allow us to tailor the automation processes to the unique characteristics of each communication channel.”
Price: Contact their sales team to know more
Talkdesk
Talkdesk, a global provider of cloud contact center software, optimizes customer interactions across phone, email, chat and social media. Its platform excels in streamlined call routing and ticketing, backed by real-time analytics. Emphasizing contact center AI and automation for enhanced customer experiences, it also offers flexibility through API-based third-party integrations.
🚀 Top features
Voice
Email
IVR
Session queuing/routing
Reporting and dashboards
Verdict: Talkdesk excels with its studio features, intuitive UI and seamless integrations (including with Dynamics 365). What often stands out with Talkdesk is the simplicity of configuring, designing and managing call flows. Some issues that users report include no call recordings, limited visibility of agent status, audio delays and a less intuitive reporting system.
On the other hand, Sprinklr’s Supervisor Console almost equips you with a sixth sense to steer your team to be its best. You'll see everything – from current workloads, backlogs, and real-time status to emerging issues and escalations. And when your team needs you the most, AI-powered alerts will let you know just when to step in.
Customer testimonials
💪 What works best
“This aids to provide and deliver better service by giving crucial context details/information about a customer as soon as the call is received. Talkdesk has easy-to-use access to users which helps reduce agents' time to resolution and tailor customers' experience.”
💡 What could be better
“TalkDesk support interactions have been the most challenging part of the experience so far. We have had some open tickets that have not been solved in several months but TalkDesk has let us know that they are still working towards a solution. Email reporting and routing have been challenging as well.”
Price: Starts at $75 per user/month. Offers multiple plans.
Dialpad
Dialpad's AI Contact Center offers a robust solution for both inbound and outbound calls, streamlining customer engagement across all channels. It features AI-driven capabilities, including real-time call transcription, note-taking and surfacing of relevant information, enabling agents to handle customer queries more efficiently. This omnichannel platform combines a sleek workspace with advanced AI tools to enhance both customer interactions and support resolution speed.
🚀 Top features
Call tracking
IVR
Call routing
Reporting and dashboards
Verdict: Dialpad gets a lot of things right. Positively, its call management, AI transcription, multi-device usability, seamless integration with other apps, and mostly error-free performance stand out. Users also appreciate regular system updates without downtime. However, some also report inconsistent service, call quality and media rendering issues.
Customer testimonials
💪 What works best
“I like I can see past calls that I have made during the day. I like that I can text customers back & easily look up their number in the search bar. I think its great that dialpad shows you incoming texts & calls & you can easily look up chat conversations.”
💡 What could be better
“A more dynamic dashboard to monitor queues in real time, agent status and time in a particular state”
Price: Beginner plan starts at $15 per organizer/month
Free trial: Available for 14 days
Genesys
Genesys Cloud CX delivers a versatile contact center solution, enhancing customer engagement across multiple channels through AI-driven automation and analytics. It's designed to optimize service workflows, manage inquiries and map customer journeys effectively. Genesys transcends traditional phone systems, enabling timely interactions via websites, social media and live chats, blending automated and human agents for a smooth customer experience.
🚀 Top features
Inbound and outbound
Workforce management
IVR
Analytics and reporting
Verdict: Genesys is a veteran player in contact center solutions, offering seamless service across geos. The software comes equipped with robust documentation, a strong library of resources and a developer forum to help you along the way. Users, however, report unreliable uptimes, lack of extensive customizations and frequent maintenance disruptions.
Customer testimonials
💪 What works best
“Built using microservices and being the API first platform, Genesys Cloud CX is clearly a highly recommended contact center platform. The huge documentation available on the resource center, its community and developer forum just adds to it.”
💡 What could be better
“To improve user experience, Genesys Cloud CX could consider simplifying the release of new features and increasing transparency around pricing. Additionally, providing clear channels for users to escalate and resolve issues, particularly those related to custom API development, would be beneficial as businesses continue to build on the platform.”
Price: $75 for voice and $115 for voice and other digital channels
Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk, known for its versatility as a CRM and helpdesk solution, also offers a robust contact center platform. This cloud-based software features a user-friendly interface and integrates seamlessly with the Zoho suite of apps. It offers multi-channel service delivery and streamlines call assignments to agents by their department or team and routes calls to agents already known to customers.
🚀 Top features
User role and access management
SLA management
Ticket management
Reporting
Verdict: Zoho Desk is known for its smooth integration with Zoho's suite of applications, a big plus for businesses heavily using Zoho tools. The platform is also often commended for its real-time reporting features — the software’s analytics hub helps to spot trends and improve contact center agent productivity. It’s worth noting that some users report difficulties in initial automation setup and limitations in administrators' access to cross-department tickets and simultaneous SLA overviews.
Customer testimonials
💪 What works best
“It appears to be feature-rich, even at the more affordable levels. Automation seems robust, and I was able to quickly set an auto-assignment to all emails sent to us. This would have been a deal breaker but now it's looking really promising.”
💡 What could be better
“Because Zoho Desk offers so many features, it does get a little confusing and overwhelming sometimes. Luckily their help center is pretty useful and I'm able to find things quickly.”
Price: Start at $20/user/month. Multiple plans available.
Free trial: Available for 15 days
RingCentral
RingCentral provides an omnichannel contact center to ensure customers are met on their preferred channels. Its smart IVR and efficient routing quickly connect customers to the right agents. Plus, it integrates nicely with popular CRM systems, which streamlines the workflows really well.
🚀 Top features
Multiple channel access
Call queuing and routing
Auto dialer
Session recording and summary
Verdict: When considering RingCentral, it's a mixed bag. While it offers a broad spectrum of features, they may not fully align with specific contact center needs. Users have noted unexpected costs, and the extensive online training could be more intuitive. Reporting and forecasting often require a hands-on approach, and while customer support is available, prompt solutions aren't always a given. However, from an administrator's perspective, the efficiency and ease of managing messages, calls and even faxes are commendable, offering a degree of control and simplicity you may appreciate.
Customer testimonials
💪 What works best
“When I first used this Ring Central contact center, I was surprised because of the way it was being utilized at the company. I like that you can dial in-company extensions easily via directory display, I also like that there is a desktop, mobile, online and hard desk phones at your disposal. The implementation of its tiny IVR tree was surprisingly simple.”
💡 What could be better
“I have not come across many dislikes about this platform. The only thing that does come to mind would be that there is so much information on the home screen that it can look cluttered.”
Price: On a need-to-know basis for two plans, RingCX Intelligent Contact Center and RingCentral Contact Center Enterprise
Free trial: Available for 14 days to new subscribers only
Why use a contact center solution
Contact center software has emerged as the knight in shining armor for customer service teams battling point solution chaos and disjointed customer experiences. For the ones keen on agility and deep customer engagement, the tangible benefits of contact center platforms are too significant to ignore.
Benefits of contact center solutions
Using a contact center platform brings a plethora of perks, grounded in its expertise, robust infrastructure and commitment to service excellence. Let's break down what you stand to gain:
🔧 Custom fit solutions: Powerful contact center solutions tailored to meet specific demands, whether it’s adapting to seasonal fluctuations, integrating with existing tools or catering to unique communication channel needs.
🚀 Quick to launch: These platforms are ready-to-go, allowing you to get up and running fast — a crucial factor during peak times or sudden shifts in the market.
📈 Easy scalability: As your business grows, whether it’s launching new products or entering new markets, your contact center software seamlessly scales to handle increased customer interactions.
✅︎ Always up-to-date: Stay ahead with continuous updates. Best contact center software gets freshly updated with features in customer service analytics and security.
⏰ Round-the-clock expertise: Access to 24/7 support minimizes downtime, and comprehensive training ensures your team fully leverages the platform's capabilities.
💰 Predictable costs: A fixed subscription model means no surprises, making financial planning smoother compared to traditional systems that may require irregular hardware or software updates. Moreover, using contact center software that shifts your operations to a cloud contact center brings financial benefits.
🛠️ Robust disaster recovery: With cloud-based redundancy, operations continue uninterrupted, even in the face of unforeseen server issues or cyber threats.
Key features of the contact center tool
For every unique service problem today, there's a solution waiting. The choice you make must meet all your contact center software requirements. Why? So, your team’s flexible enough to jump over any hurdle. Check out some of these essential features of a contact center tool.
Capability | Value |
Inbound call management | This system efficiently handles incoming calls with automated call distribution. IVR collects caller info and directs calls to the right agent, while call queuing manages high volumes when agents are busy. |
Outbound call management | This capability includes features like predictive dialers that smartly bypass voicemails, connect agents to live callers. Progressive and preview dialers optimize call pacing and provide pre-call information, enhancing agent readiness. Scheduled callbacks also ensure timely customer interactions. |
Omnichannel support | Beyond traditional voice calls, it extends to email, web chat, SMS, and social media, ensuring a consistent omnichannel customer experience. |
Workforce management (WFM) | WFM includes shift scheduling and adherence monitoring to maximize efficiency in the contact center. |
Quality management | Regular features like call monitoring, scoring, and screen recording maintain and manage quality standards in contact centers. |
Third-party integrations | Contact center tools integrate seamlessly with external systems like CRMs and email platforms, ensuring fluid data integration and management. |
Customer self-service | Offers tools like chatbots, knowledge bases and self-service portals to empower customers, reducing their dependency on direct agent interaction and minimizing wait times. |
How to evaluate the best contact center provider
Consider these factors to evaluate and find the best contact center provider for your business.
Scalability
In business, it's all about moving forward. Your contact center solution should be a partner in this journey, ready to grow and adapt with you. If you're running a small operation, basic features might be all you need. But think ahead: as your business expands, your contact center software should effortlessly keep pace, especially during those busier times, without breaking the bank.
Financial clarity
When assessing contact center software costs, it's crucial to dig deeper than the initial quote. For example, advanced call routing – geo or skill-based routing might seem appealing for better customer handling, but they can bump up your bill more than standard routing setups. Be cautious of tiered pricing, where an increase in data usage or call volume might push you into a higher cost bracket. Also, be mindful of surge pricing during high-demand periods and rigid plans that may seem affordable now but lack flexibility for future growth. Long-term contracts could lock you in with steep exit fees.
Security systems
Today, every customer interaction leaves a trace. So, assessing the security measures of contact center software is critical. Here's what to look for:
Data protection: Look for robust encryption and data sovereignty measures to safeguard sensitive information.
Proactive threat management: Ensure they use advanced tools like AI for anomaly detection, firewalls, and intrusion prevention to tackle threats immediately.
Access and endpoint security: Check for strong access controls like role-based access, multi-factor authentication and secure endpoint management.
Compliance with regulations: The software should comply with industry-specific security standards, ensuring its services are trustworthy and transparent.
Learn More: How to Ensure Contact Center Compliance in 2023 and Beyond (+Checklist)
Analytics and Insight
Data from your business tells its unique story. A top-notch contact center solution does more than throw numbers at you — it reveals the patterns and trends behind them, offering insights you can act on. Opt for contact center software that goes beyond basic data reporting. Look for predictive analytics to foresee customer behaviors and trends.
💡 Pro Tip: Deepen your agent training with insights that go beyond surface-level performance metrics. Understanding the reasons behind performance fluctuations is key.
For example, Sprinklr AI+ uses generative AI to automatically identify performance issues and surface precise actions you can take to fix them.
Join hands with Sprinklr to automate your contact center
Customer service today is complex. Where users want effortless interactions, they often find themselves tangled in isolated systems that leave them adrift.
Sprinklr Service understands your customer’s pain. Built atop the world’s only truly omnichannel customer experience management platform, it optimizes your contact center operations to help you:
Use AI to efficiently blend inbound and outbound communications during quieter times
Connect with customers on 30+ channels, ensuring your service is always within reach
Create a comprehensive customer profile, ensuring uniform interactions across all platforms
Provide round-the-clock support with AI-powered voice bots and chatbots
Simplify the agent experience with a single-screen interface, streamlined workflows and handy widgets
Keep a close eye on agent performance to avoid missed SLAs and enable swift team adjustments
Give it a free 30-day go.
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