{"id":5647,"date":"2020-09-10T15:56:35","date_gmt":"2020-09-10T20:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kmbrian.com\/blog\/?p=5647"},"modified":"2020-12-08T13:23:45","modified_gmt":"2020-12-08T19:23:45","slug":"best-call-center-software","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/kmbrian.com\/blog\/best-call-center-software\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best 20 Call Center Software for 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

While alternative ways of communicating with businesses are growing in popularity, phone calls remain the main way that customers get in touch. Managing these calls requires a team of skilled agents, and software that enables them to excel.<\/p>\n

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What is Call Center Software?<\/h2>\n

Call center software is more than something that connects agents to customers. It\u2019s a system that contains a multitude of features, designed to support every aspect of a contact center. Regardless of whether you deal with inbound calls, outbound calls, or a combination of both, call center software can help you streamline your customer support in order to provide exemplary service.<\/p>\n

Contact centers don\u2019t only focus on phone calls, and many solutions offer omnichannel support. This means you can manage all communication from one platform, creating a seamless customer experience.<\/p>\n

Previously, only larger companies had the capability and space to set up physical hardware to create a call center. Software based solutions enable smaller companies and those without fixed offices to host virtual call centers, as well as reducing the up-front cost for on-site centers, too. The best call center software will have computer telephony integration, allowing it to run alongside existing phone set-ups (be that physical, VoIP, or something else). This means you don\u2019t need to upgrade everything in order to take advantage of its benefits.<\/p>\n

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Important Call Center Software Features<\/h2>\n

When deciding on which call center software to choose, you need to weigh up what features are on offer and how they would benefit you. While an all-in-one solution sounds great, it might be costly if you don\u2019t actually need everything it offers. After all, if you outsource your social media management, then you won\u2019t need to invest in a solution that encompasses it. Features to consider include:<\/p>\n

IVR.<\/h3>\n

IVR (Interactive Voice Responses) are a staple of any contact center. Inbound callers are usually greeted by automated responses. These responses could include an acknowledgement of the call and an estimated wait time, attempted redirection to the website, or a prompt menu.<\/p>\n

The ability to customize a prompt menu is particularly helpful for routing calls, as it allows the caller to narrow down the department in advance of being connected. This is useful if you have a single phone number, but can also be used for smaller departments, too, as different agents might have different specialisms.<\/p>\n

Skill-based call routing.<\/h3>\n

Some systems will auto-route calls based on the quickest available agent, but skills-based call routing is often more efficient long term. IVR alone can go some way towards helping this, but good contact center software will allow you to implement this strategy with more data. The dialled number, caller details (for instance, the number they\u2019re calling from), and responses given through IVR can be used to assign the call to a relevant agent.<\/p>\n

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For instance, if you provide SaaS to businesses, you may find that one particular business has a lot of employees and often calls in with complicated queries. Rather than placing them in the queue for the next available agent, call center software makes use of ACD (automatic call distribution) and recognizes the number they\u2019re calling from.<\/p>\n

This ensures they get put through to a higher-tier support agent who is familiar with their history and creates better customer experience. That\u2019s not just for those getting routed to specific agents, but also to those with minor queries who can be dealt with more quickly at the lowest support level.<\/p>\n

Voicemail or external routing.<\/h3>\n

Unless you\u2019re running a 24\/7 contact center, there will be times when no agents are available. A good system should be able to route to voicemail or an external call center if you have a contract with one.<\/p>\n

As well as routing, call center software should provide voicemail management. You should be able to customize the greeting and choose how you want to receive notifications. Email notifications can be helpful here, especially when voicemails are left for a particular extension.<\/p>\n

Many call center solutions allow you to sort voicemails visually, showing you the caller ID, the time a message was left, and any other details it has access to. This can make it much easier to respond to voicemails the next working day, as you can prioritize them in a way that suits – either going oldest to newest, or dealing with the ones you were expecting call backs from first.<\/p>\n

Omnichannel support.<\/h3>\n

The above features focus on phone calls, but contact center software shouldn\u2019t just focus on these. Most companies use a multichannel or omnichannel approach, and their software should reflect this.<\/p>\n

Rather than having a separate team responding to website inquiries, livechat, email, social media, and phone calls, omnichannel support lets you manage it all in the same place. This allows you to see a customer’s history with your company, which is useful as 70% of customers<\/a> expect connected processes and 59% of customers consider personalized interactions based on their past history important.<\/p>\n

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It also helps your agents provide excellent customer support, as they can refer to previous correspondence on other platforms if needed, rather than having to start entirely from scratch.<\/p>\n

CRM integration.<\/h3>\n

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software is equally important, and call center software should be able to integrate with it. Rather than manually transferring data between the two, integration allows you make the best use of all your customer data.<\/p>\n

This is particularly helpful if you have a ticketing system, regular callers with particular needs, or for localizing services when you have centers in multiple locations. It can also be helpful for predictive and automated dialing, using a data set already gathered for an outbound campaign.<\/p>\n

Cloud-based calling.<\/h3>\n

With working from home becoming more common, you need your solution to be able to accommodate a remote workforce. Call center software that is cloud-based avoids a reliance on on-site servers and infrastructure, allowing your workers to access it anywhere. It also avoids local limitations, so that you can have phone numbers in a variety of locations – perfect for a global market.<\/p>\n

Cloud-based calling also allows you to scale much more effectively than a physical phone system – meaning you can have more agents available on more lines at peak times, without those lines costing you money to keep idle during quieter periods.<\/p>\n

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There are advantages for internal communications here, too. A cloud contact center can enable conferencing between remote workers, regardless of their hardware or location.<\/p>\n

Outbound campaign management.<\/h3>\n

If you have ongoing call campaigns, you\u2019ll want a solution that helps with this. There are two key features that are worth looking at here – click-to-call and automatic dialing. Click-to-call is exactly what it sounds like – rather than having to type in every number you want to call and double check for accuracy, you can simply click and it will dial for you. Automatic dialing takes this one step further, simply calling the next number from an assigned list as soon as an agent finishes a call. Auto dialers can even take into account time zones\/workday length and ensure you only call at the right time. Depending on where you\u2019re based, the best call center software will be fully up to date on local regulations – meaning you don\u2019t manually have to ensure you\u2019re meeting them. These features save your sales team<\/a> a lot of time, and are worth considering if outbound calls will be your focus.<\/p>\n

Reporting and analytics.<\/h3>\n

Contact center software can do more than assist with calls, however. It\u2019s ability to record metrics, analyze them, and create reports is a great way of creating an efficient team. Some things to track include:<\/p>\n