Cloud contact center: What it is and top 6 solutions for 2024

To handle high volumes of customer interactions, you&#;ll need a cloud contact center that helps your agents stay organized and efficiently handle issues while creating a great customer experience. Here are some key features that can help your team thrive.

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Omnichannel support

Traditional communication tools exist in a disconnected workspace, with channels siloed in individual systems or windows. Cloud contact center software enables by integrating your communication channels into a unified platform.

Agents can view and respond to customer inquiries across calls, emails, chats, and social media interactions from a single dashboard, providing a holistic and real-time view of customer interactions. Agents can easily switch between channels, access customer history, and maintain context, fostering more cohesive and personalized engagement throughout the .

Advanced routing and IVR

Cloud contact center software enhances customer interaction management through and features. With sophisticated routing capabilities, incoming interactions are intelligently directed to the most suitable agent based on predetermined criteria such as skills, availability, and customer interaction history.

Additionally, cloud contact centers leverage IVR systems that allow customers to interact with automated voice menus to route their inquiries or complete . You can customize these IVR systems to guide callers through options, gather information, and route them to the appropriate department or agent.

Unified customer profiles

Cloud contact center software excels in creating unified customer profiles by connecting data from different channels and key business systems. Unlike traditional setups where across different systems, a cloud-based solution gathers information from multiple sources such as , billing tools, and more. This holistic view of interaction history can lead to greater customer satisfaction.

Real-time monitoring and historical reporting

Cloud contact center software can offer , which gives organizations valuable insights into their contact center operations. A cloud contact center with built-in lets managers oversee ongoing interactions, track , and identify potential issues using live dashboards, allowing them to make immediate adjustments to optimize efficiency and customer service.

On the other hand, historical reporting features enable in-depth analysis of past performance trends and customer interactions. By collecting data over time, organizations can identify patterns, measure the effectiveness of strategies, and make data-driven decisions to enhance overall contact center performance.

Workforce optimization tools

Look for a cloud contact center solution with workforce optimization tools designed to enhance , performance, and overall operational efficiency. features, like the tool from Zendesk, can assist in forecasting and scheduling, ensuring the appropriate number of agents with the right skills are ready to handle anticipated .

Quality monitoring tools can also enable supervisors to assess agent interactions, providing valuable feedback for improvement. With a solution like Zendesk, businesses can use the tool to automate quality assurance tasks, like performance and conversation analysis, to identify areas for optimization. Additionally, coaching features allow managers to provide targeted training and support to agents while agents interact with customers.

Apps and integrations

The digital nature of cloud contact centers makes it easy to extend their capabilities by integrating them with external systems and tools. Some solutions are ready-made with pre-built integrations to supercharge your current system and enhance customer and agent experiences.

Businesses commonly choose to integrate their contact centers with:

• Marketing or
• Billing and shipping tools

It&#;s also important to look for a solution that offers a robust selection of integrations, too. The , for instance, provides access to over 1,500 pre-built apps and integrations that businesses can use to extend the functionality of their contact center.

Security

Cloud contact center software delivers comprehensive and security measures to safeguard sensitive information and maintain the integrity of communication channels. Cloud providers implement robust security protocols, including data encryption, secure access controls, and regular security audits to ensure compliance with industry standards. Multi-factor authentication can add an extra layer of protection, preventing unauthorized access.

Additionally, cloud contact center solutions often include features like real-time monitoring for suspicious activity and automatic security updates to address potential vulnerabilities promptly. It stores information in secure data centers with redundancy and disaster recovery measures to ensure business continuity.

Our list of the top six cloud contact center solutions provides an overview of key features and pricing to help you better understand your options.

1.

Zendesk offers an agile cloud contact center solution that helps you provide a great customer experience while setting your teams up for success and keeping your business in sync. Our enables you to track, manage, and respond to customer inquiries over the alongside all your other channels. Agents receive a unified view of the customer, with easily accessible profiles that add context to each customer&#;s history with the company.

Zendesk also delivers a fast time to value: Most teams are operational in three days or less, and you can integrate the software with your current systems with code and no-code functionality. Armed with ready-to-use tools, like pre-trained , your team can hit the ground running so you can start seeing your return on investment (ROI) faster. On average, teams experience a 20 percent drop in operating costs and a 27 percent increase in productivity with Zendesk.

We continually invest in our cloud contact center to empower your teams and agents to deliver exceptional CX. Cutting-edge advancements include voice AI that enables call transcription and summaries, intelligent triage that detects and intent, and seamless handoffs between chatbots and live agents to provide the rich, personalized conversations customers expect. With access to advanced analytics, your team can also discover actionable insights to optimize the customer journey.

Features:

• Omnichannel communication
• Advanced routing and IVR
• Unified customer profiles
• Real-time monitoring and historical reporting
• Workforce optimization
• AI-powered chatbots
• Call recording
• Agent workspace
• Outbound dialer
• Call button for website
• Voicemail transcription

Pricing:

• Suite Team: $55 per agent/month
• Suite Growth: $89 per agent/month
• Suite Professional: $115 per agent/month
• Suite Enterprise: Talk to sales
  *Plans are billed annually.

Explore more .

Free trial:

14 days

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Businesses can use the RingCentral Contact Center to corral over 30 communication channels in one place. Its skills-based routing feature helps direct incoming calls to the most qualified agents based on their skills, expertise, and availability. When customers can&#;t immediately connect with an agent, they can request a callback without losing their spot in the queue.

Additionally, the contact center includes pre-built reports, letting teams track resolution rates and queue times, among other metrics. Users can customize reports to track what matters most to the company and schedule the software to pull data at regular intervals.

Features:

• Omnichannel communication
• Advanced routing and IVR
• Unified customer profiles
• Real-time monitoring and historical reporting
• Workforce optimization
• Apps and integrations
• Security
• Automatic callback

Pricing:

• Contact RingCentral

Free trial:

Unavailable

3.

Nextiva's cloud contact center solutions provide omnichannel communication tools. The speech-enabled IVR uses voice recognition technology that allows callers to interact with the system using spoken language to route calls more accurately than with a number system.

Companies also have the option to add a call button to their website so visitors can contact support without switching to a new device or application. On the agent side, the outbound dialer automates the outbound calling process so teams can contact customers and leads without repetitively punching numbers.

Features:

• Omnichannel communication
• Advanced routing and IVR
• Real-time monitoring and historical reporting
• Workforce optimization
• Apps and integrations
• Security
• Call button for website
• Outbound dialer

Pricing:

• Essential: $18.95 per user/month
• Professional: $22.95 per user/month
• Enterprise: $32.95 per user/month
  *Plans are billed annually and based on pricing for 20&#;99 users.

Free trial:

Unavailable

4.

CloudTalk is a cloud-based contact center solution that offers tools for inbound and outbound communication. Teams can use it to forecast call volumes and align staff schedules to match anticipated customer needs.

CloudTalk also offers a call recording feature, which can automatically record and store customer interactions for review, training, and auditing purposes. Additionally, the software offers a call transcription capability that can instantly transcribe conversations.

Features:

• Omnichannel communication
• Advanced routing and IVR
• Unified customer profiles
• Real-time monitoring and historical reporting
• Workforce optimization
• Apps and integrations
• Security
• Call recording

Pricing:

• Starter: $25 per user/month
• Essential: $30 per user/month
• Expert: $50 per user/month
• Custom: Contact CloudTalk
  *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

14 days

5.

Talkdesk provides a cloud-based contact center to manage customer interactions and agent performance. Managers can use interactive data visualization tools to measure agent conduct against established benchmarks, providing insights into key performance metrics, team productivity, and customer satisfaction.

The solution&#;s knowledge base lets customers locate answers to common questions and features a 24/7 virtual agent to field customer questions. The virtual agent is powered by AI and can also handle routine tasks.

Features:

• Omnichannel communication
• Advanced routing and IVR
• Unified customer profiles
• Real-time monitoring and historical reporting
• Workforce optimization
• Apps and integrations
• Security
• Virtual agent

Pricing:

• CX Cloud Essentials: $75 per user/month
• CX Cloud Elevate: $95 per user/month
• CX Cloud Elite: $125 per user/month
• Experience Clouds: Contact Talkdesk

Free trial:

Unavailable

6.

8×8 offers a cloud-based contact center solution enabling omnichannel customer communication. Real-time monitoring allows supervisors and managers to oversee ongoing interactions and agent performance. This functionality provides live dashboards displaying metrics such as call volume, wait times, and agent availability.

Are you interested in learning more about Cloud Call Center? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!

The software also lets businesses customize post-call surveys to collect insights on the quality of interactions, agent performance, and overall customer satisfaction. 8x8 also includes voicemail transcription, converting voicemail messages into text for review and analysis.

Features:

• Omnichannel communication
• Advanced routing and IVR
• Real-time monitoring and historical reporting
• Apps and integrations
• Security
• Post-call surveys
• Voicemail transcription

Pricing:

• Contact 8x8

Free trial:

Unavailable

The right cloud contact center solution will align with your business's specific needs and goals. Follow these steps to make an informed decision.

Try before you buy

Trying a cloud contact center software before making a purchase is crucial as it allows you to assess the system's compatibility with your specific needs and operational requirements. With the Zendesk free trial, for example, you can explore the software's features, user interface, and functionality in a real-world context for up to 14 days, gaining hands-on experience with its capabilities.

A trial period enables you to evaluate how well the software aligns with your workflow, integrates with existing systems, and meets the unique demands of your customer service operations. It also provides an opportunity to identify potential challenges or limitations before committing to a long-term contract.

Look for tools that create great agent experiences

When you make things easier for your employees, your business will experience better results. Judge the software based on the range of tools it provides and how easy it is for your agents to use. In addition to the key features laid out in this guide, look out for:

• Automation tools for repetitive tasks
• Chatbots and AI

Evaluate the total cost of ownership

Beyond the initial licensing costs, factor in additional expenses such as implementation, customization, training, ongoing support, and potential scalability costs. Assessing the total cost of ownership (TCO) involves considering the software's long-term operational and maintenance expenses.

Cloud solutions often provide cost savings by eliminating on-premise hardware and reducing IT infrastructure management, but you should carefully analyze subscription models, potential overage charges, and hidden costs. For instance, Zendesk users can easily set up and customize their cloud contact center tools without hiring an army of developers, contributing to the software&#;s low TCO.

Running an efficient call center has become an essential process for many businesses striving for success. It&#;s what we often call &#;a good problem to have.&#;

There will come a point when maintaining customer satisfaction will require the ability to handle large call volumes. While this might be a new expense for your company, it also means that you&#;re becoming more successful. Simply having a room full of contact center agents, however, isn&#;t going to be enough. You&#;re going to need call center software in order to properly manage these calls. Unfortunately, not every call center solution is equal.

There are a variety of call center systems available for businesses, but it really comes down to which option can meet your unique needs. Some companies need contact center software that merely directs callers to the appropriate department. Of course, other organizations may prefer systems that improve contact center customer engagement or offer artificial intelligence (AI)  and interactive voice response. Whether you need minimal call center software features or an entirely cloud-based system, modern contact center solutions can get the job done.

The following guide will provide everything you need to know about this invaluable software. By the end of this article, you&#;ll understand how such a solution can benefit your customers, call center agents, and your organization as a whole.

What is a call center system software?

Call center system software is a platform that focuses on streamlining customer service solutions in a contact center environment. There are various types of software that fall under this umbrella, and some platforms even offer several of these tools.

For instance, a basic type of call center software may only offer interactive voice response (IVR)&#;a system that merely directs calls based on input provided by the caller. However, a more complex solution may include IVR, computer telephony integration, automatic call distribution, and call center monitoring.

These call center systems are meant to fix many of the issues encountered in a traditional call center environment. For instance, instead of having three agents working on mundane tasks (e.g., making payments, updating information), callers can use self-service options and free up agents to handle more complex issues.

The most basic software in contact centers offers benefits, but even more advantages come when you opt for a cloud-based call center system.

Such benefits include greater scalability, reduced costs, increased efficiency, and superior security. Additionally, cloud contact center software offers the opportunity for remote work&#;which has been shown to increase employee productivity.

Why should I be considering a call center solution?

The benefits of switching to a cloud contact center are many, but it&#;s really the technology&#;s improvement over modern systems that stands out. Tech has come a long way since LIFE magazine opened the first call center in the s, but far too many companies use the same dated technology. Such systems typically don&#;t allow for the integration of customer relationship management (CRM) software, and this means you can&#;t even handle the basic functions of modern customer service solutions.

Cloud-based call center systems also allow your support teams to focus on service without worrying about hardware issues. While even the cloud requires some form of hardware in your contact center (e.g., modems, routers), there are far fewer components that can experience issues. This means less downtime than traditional legacy systems, and if problems do occur, it&#;s much easier for tech support teams to identify the underlying cause and get you back online.

Even these impressive advantages over old-school call center solutions don&#;t come close to covering the best features available when you choose the right contact center software.

5 best features to look for when choosing the right call center software.

Choosing the top call center software doesn&#;t have to be a burden. You certainly want the best option for your particular demands, but as long as your contact center solution meets a few basic requirements, it should be able to meet your needs and improve operations. These are the top call center software features you should seek out when choosing a solution:

• Integrations
• Implementations
• Call routing and IVR
• Analytics and metrics
• Scalability

1. Integrations.

Even call center systems that handle every potential aspect of customer support calls can&#;t be standalone solutions. Your business utilizes a variety of different software platforms to improve call center and overall productivity, and it&#;s essential that all these platforms can integrate seamlessly. Your help desk software, CRM systems, workforce management tools, marketing tools, and even social media platforms would work together in an ideal world. When choosing the best call center software, integrations should be a top concern.

2. Implementation.

Ease of implementation is another essential aspect of any great call center software. With the advanced solutions available, it shouldn&#;t take more than 1-2 hours to fully implement even the most feature-heavy systems. Ease of implementation is essential since your contact center capabilities may be reduced during this time.

3. Call routing and IVR.

Some executives believe they don&#;t need call center solutions merely because they have live agents that answer their calls. Unfortunately, this also creates the possibility of putting clients on hold or even missing their calls.

Call routing and interactive voice response (IVR) systems removes this potential issue. The simple fact is that not every caller needs help from a live agent, and even when they do, getting them to the right department doesn&#;t mean an employee has to transfer them.

The right call center software can take an inbound call and direct it based on caller input. This could be something as simple as having customers &#;Press 1 for you&#;re a current patient, press 2 if you&#;re a provider&#;. With this technology, your business system can handle many simple solutions for your customers&#;and with smart call routing, you won&#;t waste time and resources trying to get callers to the right department.

4. Analytics and metrics.

No call center software solution is complete without the ability to measure analytics and metrics. Call center metrics will show you just how well your agents and new system are functioning, and it can identify areas where improvement may be necessary. For instance, if one of your agents has a higher average call time on inbound calls than other employees, you&#;ll know that it&#;s time to use the live call monitoring function to see exactly what&#;s going on.

The ability to track both individual and team metrics is equally important, and this is true for both inbound and outbound call centers. That&#;s because data is everything in the modern business world. It can help you handle tasks ranging from improving workforce management to making inbound and outbound calls more efficient. If you&#;re using business systems that don&#;t track metrics and provide analytics, you&#;re doing your entire organization a disservice.

5. Scalability.

Many businesses choose their call center software based entirely on price. This should certainly be a consideration since selecting the right cloud contact center pricing model will play a major role in your return on investment. However, this doesn&#;t mean you should simply opt for the cheapest call center management software you can find. That&#;s because a system with a single low price typically won&#;t have scalability&#;and this is an essential aspect of a successful call center.

Scalability refers to the ability of a call center software solution to shrink or grow based on your needs. For instance, imagine a company that deals in beach supplies. Their call volume will obviously be highest during the summer, so why should they pay for summer infrastructure needs during colder months?

Additionally, contact center software options should be able to grow with your company. As you become more successful, you may need to handle higher call volume and even increase focus on outbound campaign management. Scalability offers such possibilities.

Talkdesk &#;&#;cloud contact center solutions for better customer experience.

If you&#;re looking for the best call center software for your business, you need to look no further than Talkdesk. Our cloud-based contact center software has all of the most important features we&#;ve just discussed, and our solutions are fully scalable for businesses of all sizes.

Whether you need a basic system to help your two-person customer service team or an entire tech infrastructure to handle thousands of calls per day, we have the systems to meet your needs.

Of course, anyone can promise to offer an amazing call center solution along with the best customer service in the industry. Seeing is believing, and we&#;re ready to offer a free demo to show you just how focused we are on customer satisfaction&#;for both our customers and yours. Request a demo by clicking below and learn just how much our customer service solutions and call center software can do for your business.

For more information, please visit Two-Way Communication Service.