Best Call Center Software Shortlist
Here’s the shortlist of the best tools that I’ll cover in this article.
Many organizations implement call center software to provide positive, reliable customer service. Slow customer service can put your business at risk of losing customers and seeing a sales decline. In fact, 96% of consumers say excellent customer service builds trust. So, you can see why adding a call center platform is crucial for your company.
Call center software will help your teams effectively manage high call volumes and improve your customers’ experience with your company. Adding phone support capabilities to your organization is an excellent way to interact effectively with your customers. To do this, you need to have excellent representatives on your team and a call center platform that will help you have meaningful engagements with consumers. I’m here to help you find the latter.
What is Call Center Software?
Call center software is a system that helps companies perform customer communications. A call center’s primary purpose is to provide phone support and enable outbound calls efficiently. Call centers can have an enormous number of calls daily. This software will help you manage these conversations with call queueing, routing, and reporting features.
Good call center tools will help make two-way communication with your customers easier. Typically, call center software pulls customer details from one system and pushes data to another while configuring calls based on your guidelines. It will also give your customer service reps an all-inclusive, centralized dashboard that organizes their daily tasks.
How I Selected the Best Call Center Software
Perhaps you're wondering how I selected the best call center software for this list? To build this top list, I evaluated and compared a wide range of call center software with positive user ratings.
After determining my long list of top choices, I further honed my list by using the selection criteria below to see how each platform stacked up against the next one. I also drew on my years of call center software experience to pinpoint the features that add a lot of value.
If you have general questions about call center strategy or how to pick the best call center software for your organization, take a look at our frequently asked questions section below. Or, you can skip directly to my detailed software summaries, if that's what you need the most.
Selection Criteria
Here’s a short summary of the main selection and evaluation criteria I used to develop my list of the best call center software for this article:
Omnichannel:
Customers aren’t happy with calling a 1-800 number and waiting for 10 minutes so they can speak with your team. They need more options to interact with your company. I look for call center software that enables customer service teams to manage several communication forms in one place. These communication methods include chatbots, email, and SMS messaging. This allows your customer to contact you by using the channel they want to use.
Customizable:
Using a call center platform with robust customization capabilities will help you ensure it fits your business. Customization also ensures that you can make the necessary changes to the platform as your company grows. I look for software that allows for significant customization levels without too many restrictions on your activity.
Automation:
Customers who have to wait in a call queue and are directed to the wrong department will have a negative view of your business in the future. If they share their experience with friends and family or on review sites, the impact can be detrimental. So, I look for call center software with an automatic call distribution system that ensures calls go to the right department and representatives, and your reps answer every call.
Software Integrations:
The call center software you use can help you provide personalized service when you integrate it with other tools, such as customer relationship management platforms. These integrations can also help your teams track customer behavior, so they can manage customers accordingly when they identify a trend. I look for call center platforms that can work with the systems your business already relies on so you can track prospects and customers.
Pricing:
Many platforms price their software according to the number of reps on your staff. This will start to become more expensive as your team grows. They should offer multiple tiers so you can choose which is right for you, with exceptions for vendors that only offer custom pricing. I look for options that have reasonable pricing subscriptions.
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Overviews of the 10 Best Call Center Software
You can use the simple overviews of each tool below to understand how each tool stands out from other call center software.
Talkdesk
Best for answering customers’ questions
Talkdesk puts vital customer information in front of your customer service reps to help them answer any question.
Why I picked Talkdesk: Many platforms put a customer’s information at your team’s fingertips, but Talkdesk sets itself apart because it does the same thing without your agents having to answer the call. It does this by using an interactive voice response function that allows your customer who calls in to complete tasks and get the information they need. Talkdesk’s interactive voice response tool is easy to configure, thanks to its visual customer journey builder.
Talkdesk is a suitable option for businesses that need a system to handle a small number of calls. Its advanced routing features can ensure your customers connect with the right representative, team, or department based on their needs. If you have multiple reps that are right for the customer, Talkdesk’s ring groups feature will distribute calls to various agents simultaneously.
Talkdesk Standout Features and Integrations
Features include omnichannel engagement, management tools, employee collaborations, customer experience analytics; low-code, no-code, and custom-code tools; enterprise-level uptime service level agreement; and artificial intelligence applications.
Integrations include Freshdesk, Pipedrive, Userlike, OnePageCRM, Zendesk, Salesforce, Slack, Zoho CRM, Nimble, LiveChat, Shift, Keap, and Gong.io.
Talkdesk costs from $75/user/month. Talkdesk doesn’t show any free trial information.
Pros
- Take calls from anywhere.
- Efficiently organizes customer data.
- User-friendly platform.
Cons
- Limited analytics.
- Slow at generating reports.
Twilio
Best for customization
Twilio enables businesses to build a custom call center and get control of the features they need.
Why I picked Twilio: It’s a programmable call center system that provides high-level customization and flexibility. You can use Twilio to build a call center based on your requirements, integration needs, preferred communication channels, and other crucial factors. It’s not necessary to have coding expertise when customizing your call center in Twilio, but the vendor publishes guides to help you set up popular features.
Twilio works for any sized business that has more unique call center requirements than what the competition offers. The platform will automatically scale with your business as your needs scale up or down. No contracts are required to start using Twilio; you only pay for what you need when you need it.
Twilio Standout Features and Integrations
Features include real-time agent activity, call transfers, speech recognition bot, queued callback, text-to-speech, call transcription, smart voice assistance, audio and voice conferencing, call routing, and collaboration tools.
Integrations include NetSuite Oracle, Zendesk, Zapier, Pipedream, Symbl, Replicant, and an API that allows users to connect to their current systems.
Twilio costs from $1/hour or $150/month. Twilio offers a free trial with 5,000 active hours for new users.
Pros
- Very affordable.
- No-code options.
- Easy setup.
Cons
- Poor customer service.
- Needs more analytics features.
Dialpad
Best AI functionality
Why I picked Dialpad: The platform’s AI provides a significant enhancement to the software’s contact center capabilities. For example, Dialpad can automatically transcribe your reps’ phone calls and identify specific keywords in the conversation, such as “refund.” Then the AI will display helpful references on the rep’s screen to help with the call. The AI can also alert your managers to potential issues in real-time by detecting your reps’ conversation sentiments - each conversation will have a label of “positive,” neutral,” or “negative.”
Dialpad is excellent for small businesses wanting smarter, more effective conversations in a fully functional virtual call center. It provides deep, real-time call center metrics across voice, social media, and digital communication channels. Also, the software can generate scripts for your reps facing difficulty answering customer questions.
Dialpad Standout Features and Integrations
Features include flexible call routing, automated voicemail and callback, interactive voice response, real-time speech analysis, live caller sentiment, real-time coaching, and quality management.
Integrations include Hubspot, Zapier, Clio, Domo, Wingman, Intercom, HappyFox, Helpwise, Kizen, Salesforce, DataGrail, Recruitly, AutoReach, Microsoft Teams, and Gong.
Dialpad offers custom pricing upon request. Dialpad offers a free 14-day trial for new users.
Pros
- Pinpoints follow-up topics.
- Easy for new users.
- Intuitive and supportive reports.
Cons
- Few customization options.
- Export feature can be buggy.
Nextiva
Best for phone, SMS, video, & email
Nextiva helps businesses communicate with customers from anywhere possible with its virtual call center capabilities.
Why I picked Nextiva: The platform uses its VoIP solution, Nextiva One, to provide voice, video, fax, text, and team chat features. It’s 100% cloud-based, which makes it perfect for remote teams. Your support representatives can simply log in to Nextiva’s desktop or mobile app and start handling incoming calls. If your call center experiences a large call volume, you can automate routine tasks in the platform, allowing your support agents to focus on crucial calls.
Nextiva is excellent for companies of any size - from small-to-medium businesses to large organizations. You can use the platform to get real-time insights into your team’s data, and your reps can get essential customer details to make them feel like they’re your only customer. Also, Nextiva can provide you with an integrated solution for all customer support channels and business applications.
Nextiva Standout Features and Integrations
Features include team chat, free local and toll-free phone number, extension dialing number change, auto attendant, call management, voicemail forwarding, call analytics, advanced call routing, call recording and rating, call queuing, and three-way calling.
Integrations include Salesforce, Zendesk, Hubspot, Zoho CRM, Microsoft Dynamics, Workbooks, Bullhorn, SugarCRM, ServiceNow, ConnectWise, GoldMine, Google Workspace, and Microsoft Teams.
Nextiva offers custom pricing upon request for its contact center service. Nextiva doesn’t show any free trial information.
Pros
- Reliable mobile app.
- Excellent uptime.
- Simple to manage.
Cons
- Number of features is overwhelming.
- Difficult to learn.
Aircall
Best for call monitoring
Aircall is a popular choice for modern organizations thanks to its ability to provide deep insights via real-time analytics.
Why I picked Aircall: The platform’s dashboard will give you and your sales managers instant access to your call center’s metrics to ensure everyone meets their goals. Aircall enables you to monitor your agent’s missed call rate in a straightforward, all-in-one tool. You can use the software to monitor your entire call center or narrow your focus on an individual representative on the same screen.
Aircall helps businesses in any industry that need call center software and also offers customer service tools. You’ll get the same features and capabilities of the more heavy-weight tools, such as call routing and performance reports, but for an affordable price. You can also use the platform’s phone system to manage customer inquiries worldwide.
Aircall Standout Features and Integrations
Features include insight cards, drag-and-drop IVR, skills-based call routing, third-party application data syncing, automatic call recording, live dashboard, in-depth analytics, and call whispering.
Integrations include monday.com, Freshdesk, Quaeris, Pipedrive, Cyclr, Wingman, Desktop.com, BetterCloud, Salesforce, Zendesk, Slack, Mailchimp, Zoho CRM, Hubspot CRM, and Constant Contact.
Aircall costs from $40/user/month for a minimum of three users when billed monthly or $30/user/month when billed annually. Aircall offers a free 7-day trial for new users.
Pros
- Excellent customer support.
- Accessible on multiple devices.
- Deep communication insights.
Cons
- Loudspeaker functionality is unpredictable.
- Can be buggy at times.
Freshdesk Contact Center
Best for an affordable contact center
Freshdesk Contact Center is a complete, affordable contact center platform for businesses.
Why I picked Freshdesk Contact Center: The platform provides an affordable business contact center system to enhance customers’ experience and satisfaction. Freshdesk Contact Center offers free plans for new licenses as well as affordable paid options. The free plan has limited features, but the lowest paid tier, the growth plan, has the features the free plan doesn’t and other basic capabilities.
Freshdesk Contact Center is the best option for small businesses in any industry looking for a platform that offers the tools of a contact center. The software can also work with your business as you scale and need additional features to manage your support center. Also, you can convert your rep’s responses into solutions and help articles to add to your business’s knowledge base.
Freshdesk Contact Center Standout Features and Integrations
Features include local and toll-free phone numbers, call masking, vanity phone numbers, call routing, business hour settings, multi-level IVR, shared phone lines, spam call blocking, and live call monitoring.
Integrations include ResponseTap, FrontApp, Zoho CRM, Nimble CRM, Pipedrive, Copper CRM, PipelineDeals CRM, Zendesk Sell, Salesforce, Hubspot CRM, Zapier, Shopify, and WooCommerce.
Freshdesk Contact Center costs from $18/user/month plus additional phone rates when paying monthly or $15/user/month plus additional phone rates when billed annually. Freshdesk Contact Center offers a free license tier, but users will have to pay additional phone rates.
Pros
- Detailed analytic reports.
- Flexible platform.
- Simple onboarding process.
Cons
- Mobile app is buggy.
- No calls between reps.
Five9
Best for high call volumes
Five9 is a call center solution that helps businesses that experience high call volumes engage with their customers.
Why I picked Five9: The platform offers multiple open-source call center functionalities for businesses with a high number of customer phone inquiries. Five9’s representative technology can take some of your calls, so you don’t have to hire more representatives to handle these calls. Managers will have visibility into their entire team - it doesn’t matter if they’re working from home or on the go.
Five9 is suitable for large businesses transitioning from an on-premise tool to a cloud-based solution. The software uses practical AI to increase customer satisfaction rates for all users by prioritizing calls and interactions based on urgency and selecting the resource that will be most beneficial to the customer. If a customer visits your website and leaves their contact information to get information about your product, Five9’s AI will place the contact details in front of your call queue.
Five9 Standout Features and Integrations
Features include an outbound dialer, omnichannel routing, intelligent virtual assistant, natural language processing, dashboards and reports, call disposition, data import and export, lead management, and call tracking.
Integrations include Salesforce, Servicenow, Zendesk, Microsoft Teams, Zoom Phone, Ring Central, Freshdesk, Fuze, Gong, MarketSharp, Logicbox, Sugar Sell, Balto, and Chatdesk.
Five9 costs from $149/month. Five9 offers a free demo to help you understand if the platform is right for you.
Pros
- Easy to use.
- Extensive documentation.
- Helpful whisper mode.
Cons
- Feature add-ons can be expensive.
- Reports are complicated.
RingCentral
Best for growing businesses
RingCentral is a cloud-based call center solution that provides businesses with robust features that support growing companies.
Why I picked RingCentral: In one convenient platform, RingCentral lets users set up and manage a call center as their business grows. The workforce management tools make it simple to handle your reps’ schedules and schedule calls according to traffic volumes. You can also monitor KPIs in real-time, track performance, and get detailed customer support performance analytics.
RingCentral works well for any sized business that needs a call center solution that will enable them to provide customer service from anywhere at any time. The vendor ensures the best possible service quality by continuously monitoring and enhancing the software for users. Also, the tool’s screen recording capabilities allow customer service managers to give reps feedback on how to navigate the platform and optimize performance.
RingCentral Standout Features and Integrations
Features include call recording, escalation management, voice recognition, campaign management, real-time chat, reporting and analytics, file transfer, and contact management.
Integrations include Jira, Freshdesk, Supportbench, Pipedrive, New Relic, Envoy, 1CRM, VipeCloud, Zendesk, Salesforce, Mailchimp, Slack, Hubspot CRM, and Zoho CRM.
RingCentral offers custom pricing upon request. RingCentral provides a free demo to help you understand if the platform is right for you.
Pros
- Clean user interface.
- Works on mobile devices.
- Allows for conversation reviews.
Cons
- No call conferencing capabilities.
- Customer service needs work.
Genesys
Best for small businesses
Genesys provides small businesses with advanced call center features.
Why I picked Genesys: If you’re running a small business, Genesys can help keep your reps engaged and productive thanks to its built-in unified communication and collaboration tools. You can also use its AI capabilities to understand your customer data from the insights it distills. Your teams will get advanced call center features such as automation and workforce management to help your business provide excellent customer service.
Genesys helps small businesses take their customer experience efforts worldwide. Whether you’re operating in 2 countries or 80, the platform will help you simplify customer experiences. The platform’s predictive routing capabilities will analyze your customers’ behavior patterns and identify the best outcome and representative to ensure all customers get the best experience every time.
Genesys Standout Features and Integrations
Features include quality assurance and monitoring, gamification, employee performance management, predictive engagement, knowledge management, co-browse and screen share, voice bots, and predictive routing.
Integrations include Zoom Phone, Microsoft Azure, Video RTC, Daisee, Sapling AI Writing Assistant, LumenVox, Topbox, Airkit, Eleveo, Call Journey, Replicant, and Ultimate.ai.
Genesys costs from $75/month. Genesys doesn’t show any free trial information.
Pros
- Flexible plan options.
- Strong AI features.
- Simple user interface.
Cons
- Report customization limitations.
- Slow report generation.
LiveAgent
Best helpdesk tools
LiveAgent is a call center solution that provides businesses with a helpdesk solution that integrates all communication channels into one inbox.
Why I picked LiveAgent: Where many other options require businesses to integrate another solution to get a customer ticketing system, LiveAgent is a helpdesk solution that has call center functionality. The platform offers call management features that allow you to answer phone calls and other communication forms in one place. Users can connect unlimited local numbers and route and record calls.
LiveAgent offers an array of contact center features and options, along with other customer support methods, that would be a better fit for larger organizations. These organizations will appreciate that LiveAgent provides integrations with over 200 tools, so they’ll most likely be able to integrate all their systems with the platform. Some integrations are plugin and native-based, whereas others use an API that might require using Zapier.
LiveAgent Standout Features and Integrations
Features include automatic callback, embeddable call button, call detail records, call routing, internal calls, call transfers, interactive voice response, and unlimited call recordings.
Integrations include TeleCube, Avoxi, Twilio, Zapier, TimeCamp, Haraka, Sendmail, Webflow, Zentap, Zoho Mail, vCita, Intercom, and Asana.
LiveAgent costs from $15/user/month. But, to use its call center capabilities, you will need to sign up for the all-inclusive plan for $49/user/month. LiveAgent offers a free 7-day trial if you sign up with a free email account or a 30-day trial when signing up with a company email.
Pros
- Simple user interface.
- Tons of great features.
- Easy to use.
Cons
- No rep history data.
- Minor learning curve.
The 10 Best Call Center Software Summary
| Tool | Free Option | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Talkdesk Best for answering customers’ questions | Free demo available | From $75/user/month | Visit Website |
| 2 | Twilio Best for customization | Free trial available | Pricing varies per product | Visit Website |
| 3 | Dialpad Best AI functionality | Free trial available | Plans start at $20/user/month | Visit Website |
| 4 | Nextiva Best for phone, SMS, video, & email | Not available | Visit Website | |
| 5 | Aircall Best for call monitoring | 7-day free trial | From $30/user/month | Visit Website |
| 6 | Freshdesk Contact Center Best for an affordable contact center | Not available | From $18/user/month | Visit Website |
| 7 | Five9 Best for high call volumes | Free demo | From $149/month | Visit Website |
| 8 | RingCentral Best for growing businesses | Free demo and free trial available | From $15.99 USD/user/month | Visit Website |
| 9 |  Genesys Best for small businesses | Not available | From $75/month | Visit Website |
| 10 | LiveAgent Best helpdesk tools | 7-day free trial available | Plans start at $9/agent/month | Visit Website |
Other Options
Here are a few more options that didn’t make the best call center software list:
- Zendesk
Best for unifying communications
- CloudTalk
Best for global call centers
- 8x8
Best for team collaboration.
- Bright Pattern
Best omnichannel support center.
- CallHippo
Best for outbound calling
- Calabrio
Best for workforce optimization.
- Vonage Business Cloud Contact Center
Best for call center flexibility and control.
- NICE inContact
Best for cloud-based voice processes.
- Aspect Software
Best high-performance contact center solution.
People Also Ask
What are the Key Features of Call Center Software?
What Other Customer Experience Software Should I Use?
Giver Your Customers the Satisfaction they Want
The right call center software will make the difference between happy customers who get the answers they’re looking for and disappointed customers who believe you don’t value their time. So, choosing a reliable solution will help ensure you’re always making your customers smile after speaking with them. This guide will be a step in the right direction when choosing the best one for your organization.
But what if you need more advice and tool suggestions? Where would you go? Well, there’s an answer to that too. Sign up for The CX Lead newsletter, and you’ll get the latest advice from customer experience experts and tool recommendations from our team.