How much does call center software cost? (factors, tools)

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Call center software helps simplify basic business processes like call routing, dialing, and reporting — enhancing agent productivity and customer support workflows.

These tools are available at different prices, depending on features like multi-channel support, call tracking, and monitoring. Usually, call center software cost can range from $50 to $1500 per agent per month.  

In this article, we’ll cover the average cost of call center software and factors influencing the price. We’ll also discuss what features you should look for in call center software and highlight some of the best tools available today.  

This article includes:

(Click on the link to go to a particular section)

• How Much Does Call Center Software Cost?
• 5 Major Factors That Influence Call Center Software Cost
• 5 Popular Call Center Software 
• 5 Essential Features to Look For in a Call Center Software

Let’s get started.

How much does call center software cost?

Typically, an in-house call center software can range between $1,000-$1,500 per agent, depending on the size of your call center. On the other hand, you will have to pay around $50-$300/agent per month for a hosted solution

However, there are certain additional costs associated too, like support and maintenance. 

Let’s take a detailed look at the pricing of different types of call center software:

1. On-premise call center software

On-premise software is built by an organization exclusively for its needs. 

In this setting, call centers install their own servers and configure the software for their specific needs – providing more control and flexibility. They also perform maintenance and updates on their own. 

This can increase the upfront costs but help you save over the long term. That is why this model is more suitable for large call centers with 50 employees or more.

Here’s a breakdown of in-house software up-front and ongoing costs:

• Software license: $500-$2,000 one-time fee.
• Installation and set up costs: $25,000 and more.
• Maintenance and updates: 15-20% of the initial license cost.
• Software and equipment: $20,000-$500,000.

2. Hosted and cloud-based call center software

Hosted solutions are installed, hosted, and accessed from a remote server. And when the server is a cloud platform, the software is called cloud-based software. 

Hosted and cloud based software is more suitable for small or medium-sized companies as the initial investment is less. 

Usually, their basic pricing plans support features like inbound and outbound call handling, skill based routing, and predictive dialing. Costlier plans can offer advanced features like call scripting and workforce management.

For hosted services, the installation and setup can range between $100-$300. You’ll also need to pay $20-$300 for the monthly subscription. 

Additionally, cloud-based software that you can customize for your specific needs can cost you $250/month or more.

Clearly, the call center software cost varies depending on whether it’s hosted, cloud-based, or in-house. Similarly, it can vary based on factors like features and the number of users. 

Let’s take a look.

5 major factors that influence call center software cost

Here are five significant factors that can affect the price of a call center software:

1. Number of users

Most call center software solutions have pricing plans that vary with the number of call or contact center agents. And they often predict the features a call center is likely to need. 

For example, a basic plan is usually curated for small call centers, offering all the primary features like automatic call routing, making outbound calls, and call recording.

But don’t worry, you can easily scale up or down as per your needs.

2. Offered features

Call center solutions include different features for each pricing tier. 

For example, the first tier offers bulk email communication, live chat, and intelligent routing. 

On the other hand, the high-end tier of call center software may provide workflow automation, call monitoring, and speech analytics. 

Additionally, most call center software also offers customized solutions, depending on its features and workforce strength.

3. Billing structure

Call center software solutions offer various types of pricing structures like:

• Fixed monthly fee per call center.
• Monthly fee per user.
• Per-minute fee.

To pick a billing structure that suits your business needs, you need to understand the different pricing plans. 

For example, a small call center that heavily relies on a software solution may have to pay more for the monthly subscription than the per-minute subscription. 

Also, most call center software’s monthly subscriptions are costlier than their annual subscriptions. You can book a yearly plan instead of a monthly plan if you’re confident about the software’s performance. 

4. Currency

The cost of call center software may increase or decrease as you choose different currencies. This is because of the difference in exchange rates. You can make maximum use of this difference by choosing the currency that’s most economical.

For example, you can access CloudTalk’s basic plan in Euro and US Dollars from their pricing page. The tool costs €20 per user/month when you choose Euro – which converts to $23 (as of October 2021). Whereas it only costs $20 in the US Dollars option.

5. Additional costs

Most call center software solutions offer supplementary features for additional costs based on your call center’s requirements. 

Some of the features are:

• Messaging.
• Toll-free numbers.
• International prefixes.
• More storage space.
• Advanced ACD (Automatic Call Distribution). 

Now let’s look at a few well-known tools along with their key features, prices, and user ratings. 

5 popular call center software 

Here’s a detailed look at a few best call center software:

1. Genesys Cloud

Genesys Cloud is a cloud contact center software that has its presence in over 100 countries and aims to create the best customer experience. It also offers call center services that enhance agent productivity and customer journey. 

Key features

• Prioritize incoming calls based on preset criteria.
• Run campaigns across different digital channels without agents using pre-recorded messages, email, and text.
• Has out-of-the-box CRM (Customer Relationship Management) integrations like Salesforce.
• Empowers team members to carry out omnichannel routing in real-time via social media, live chat, website, and other channels.
• Offers different dialer modes like preview dialer, predictive dialer, and progressive dialer.

Pricing

Genesys Cloud offers four plans starting from $75/month or $0.68/hourly. The basic plan includes inbound and outbound voice and IVR (Interactive Voice Response) minutes. 

Similarly, it offers two other plans with additional features like unlimited email and live chat, SMS and messaging app routing, and workforce engagement.

And to get a custom quote for enterprise-level annual commitment, you’ll need to contact sales.

Customer ratings

• Capterra: 4.2/5 (100+ reviews)
• G2: 4.3/5 (500+ reviews)

2. Twilio

This cloud-based software offers simple, powerful, and adaptable call center and contact center solutions. Twilio optimizes customer experience by uniting communication across different departments like marketing and customer service. 

Key features

• Customize customer experience with features like CRM, transcription, speech recognition, and VOIP calling.
• Simplifies, unites, and strengthens carrier networks.
• Customized alerts for low balance, bill reminders, and fraud warnings.
• Protect your customers’ sensitive data with temporary phone proxies.
• Access an IVR that offers text-to-speech functionality in several languages.

Pricing

Twilio has a pay-as-you-go voice pricing, where outbound calls to local and toll-free phone numbers cost $0.013/min. Browser or app calling costs $ 0.004/min. 

Customer ratings

• Capterra: N/A
• G2: 4.5/5 (300+ reviews)

3. Cloudtalk

Cloudtalk is a cloud-based call center software that aims to reduce the time taken for each customer support inquiry and increase sales deals. This tool uses advanced technology like AI (Artificial Intelligence) to enhance customer experience.

Key features

• Offers an auto dialer to call customers from a call list.
• Rate your customer’s moods to gauge their satisfaction using emotion analytics.
• Provides a cloud phone system with call recording, automatic callbacks, and personalized greetings functionalities. 
• Supports CRM integration with software solutions like Salesforce, Pipedrive, etc.
• A smart dashboard that tracks real-time metrics on inbound calls and agent productivity.

Pricing

Cloudtalk offers a free trial for 14 days, and four paid plans starting at $25/user per month. 

It includes unlimited inbound and intracompany phone calls and access to over 140 international phone numbers. 

In addition to the above features, the tool has plans that consist of advanced analytics, Salesforce integration, call monitoring, and more.

You can also avail a customized plan from Cloudtalk by contacting their sales team.

Customer ratings

• Capterra: 4.5/5 (200+ reviews)
• G2: 4.3/5 (300+ reviews)

4. 8×8

8×8 is a contact center solution that empowers customer service teams to connect with individuals for quicker collaboration. The tool streamlines workflow using advanced technology like ACD and increases customer engagement.

Key features

• Offers omnichannel communication across live chat, video conferencing, social media, and email.
• Forecasts the number of agents required for each channel to handle ticket volume.
• Enables workforce optimization by generating schedules based on agent arrival patterns.
• Spot gaps in customer interaction and coach agents to improve customer service.
• Track agent progress and assign scores to interactions for quality management.

Pricing

8×8 offers three paid plans for contact centers, starting from $125/user per month and extending to $175/user per month.

The basic plan, X6, offers unlimited calling in the USA and Canada and supports automated and intelligent routing. The highest-priced plan supports unlimited outbound calling (voice), supervisor analytics, and more.

8×8 also offers a free one-month trial.

Customer ratings

• Capterra: 4/5 (15+ reviews)
• G2: N/A

5. Zendesk

Zendesk is a customer service software with robust and innovative tools that are easy to install. This cloud contact center software also provides unique functionalities for a better agent experience.

Key services

• Create skill categories based on language, request type, or channel for smart call routing.
• Provides customer support across all channels in different languages at all times with an AI-powered bot.
• Makes agents’ work easier by empowering them to operate from a central portal.
• Shows when a customer is typing a response so that the agent can reply in real-time.
• Integrates with powerful tools like Dialpad, Notify, and API Connect.

Pricing

Zendesk offers two different sets of pricing: SMEs and large enterprises.

For SMEs, pricing starts at $49/agent per month with features like a ticketing system and analytics and up to 50 AI-powered automated answers.

Plans for large enterprises start at $150 per user/month and offer custom team roles and permissions, customizable agent workspaces, robust APIs, and more. 

Customer ratings

• Capterra: 4.4/5 (2.5K+ reviews)
• G2: 4.3/5 (3K+ reviews)

But before you make your pick, let’s look at some essential call center software features that can help you obtain maximum profitability. 

5 essential features to look for in a call center software

Each call center has different needs. 

For example, an inbound call center may be focused on providing quick resolution to customer queries. At the same time, an outbound call center may focus on boosting sales. 

However, they all aim to provide the best possible customer experience at every touchpoint. And using effective call center software is the way to achieve this goal.

If you’re worried about spending too much on the wrong software, you’re in the right place. 

Regardless of your goal, you can refer to this list of essential call center software features to understand what exactly you’re paying for. 

Some of the important call center software features you may need are:

1. Automation of processes

Automation of simple tasks can help agents concentrate on other tasks that need their attention. This can also allow them to tend to more customers, decreasing the number of unanswered calls. 

Learn more about call center automation from here.

2. Provides insightful reports

Call center software that generates reports helps you get an insight into different aspects of business and agent performance. 

You can generate reports on first call resolution (FCR), average wait time (AWT), customer satisfaction score (CSAT), and other metrics.

For more information, check out our detailed guide on call center reporting and analytics.

3. Extends to remote workers

Flexible work arrangements are becoming popular in the customer support industry. 

However, you need call center software that can manage remote agents and guarantee seamless workflow. 

VOIP calling, agent performance monitoring, and compliance with local laws are some essential features for remote call center software.

4. Allows customization

Even though call center software is built to cater to call centers, they may not meet all your requirements. That’s why you need a solution that allows customization.

With customization, you can incorporate even the minute needs of your customer support team, making its operation more convenient.

5. Offers quality support

A call center software without quality customer support can prolong the downtime and compromise the customer experience. 

Your call center software should offer reliable 24×7 customer support, ensuring that the glitches in the software are resolved immediately. 

Looking for a way to improve your customer service?
Here are 28 call center software features that will help you. 

Wrapping up

Call center software cost depends on its features, serving capacity, billing structure, and more. 

So, before you make your pick, you need to consider your call center’s needs to make the right decision.

This article shares the price-determining factors and must-have features to guide you in choosing a budget-friendly and suitable tool. You can also refer to the list of popular call center software we covered here to get started.