Call center software as a communication tool for your customer service department is, perhaps, the best solution available in the market. Nonetheless, as with any other business tool, there is a complex difference between various call center solutions you can pick up for your business.

Cloud call center software is now the most popular and affordable solution, but is this true that cloud call center solutions are so efficient and useful compared to their competitors? Let’s find it out.

What is cloud call center software?

Cloud call center software, also known as virtual call center software or hosted call center solution, is a call center software tool that has its infrastructure located in the cloud and provided remotely by vendors as SaaS (Software as a Service).

As it follows from the definition of cloud call center software, its main feature is the use of cloud technologies. Cloud technology allows call center service providers to provide services based on a subscription model, which means buyers don’t have to invest in the infrastructure and scaling up efforts, at least when it comes to hardware. Moreover, just the fact of the use of cloud computing technologies allows cloud call center solutions to bear more advanced features, especially in the field of integrations and self-service options.

What are the other types of call center software? 

As we differentiate call center solutions by their infrastructure solution, there is an opposite solution for cloud call center software – on-premises call center software, or inbox call center solution. This solution means you have to build all the infrastructure in your place, whether it is an office or any other location.

What is the main disadvantage of on-premises solutions? Well, let’s first define what is the call center infrastructure – it is all the hardware and software you need to run your contact center properly. As you can guess, if you have to build all the infrastructure on your own, you also have to purchase all the hardware and software.

Such vital things as server licenses can cost up to 1000 dollars and even more in some cases, we don’t even talk about servers themselves. Thus, the setup and configuration of such on-premises call centers is very expensive compared to cloud call center solutions where you pay for nothing but for the subscription itself. And yes, in the case of on-premise call center software, you still have to pay for software, obviously.

What are the main features of cloud-based call center software?

Cloud-based contact center solution is a solution that offers multiple functions, including everything you require to provide excellent customer service, manage the work of multiple teams, monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and main call center metrics, integrate other business tools, and provide powerful telemarketing campaigns.

Let us define the main cloud-based call center solution features as a list below:

  1. Multichannel communication – one of the main and most important features of a cloud-based contact center solution is multichannel communication, which means customers can reach out to your customer service team through different contact channels, including phone calls, emails, live chats, chatbots, and social media. Customers can also switch between contact channels without losing the headway of the conversation. You also receive reports regarding the performance of each communication channel.
  2. Outbound calling – you can use multiple auto dialing modes to reach out to both cold and warm leads with the highest productivity rates ever. Predictive dialing mode allows you to achieve around 75% of contact rate with 100 dials per hour, Power dialer mode allows you to let one single agent reach out to up to 75 dialing attempts per hour, and the Preview mode allows you to provide agents with customer cards with detailed information about every customer before and during the call.
  3. Call blending – you can service both outbound and inbound calls simultaneously, but if there is a need to allocate a few additional agents for inbound or outbound lines, you can switch them from one line to another.
  4. Call scripting – cloud call center software includes an internal call script editor, where you can create or edit call scripts for your call center agents. Call scripts can be also built in dynamic mode, which means they will have different varieties of call flow depending on what customer responds to agents.
  5. Call monitoring and recording – you can listen to calls of your agents in real-time mode, using three different call monitoring modes – whispering, hidden mode, and call barging. Hidden mode allows you to listen to calls anonymously, whispering mode is the mode to advise agents during calls, and call barging is a mode to take part in the call as a third party – it is especially useful for conflict situations resolution. Call recording is the feature that automatically records all incoming and outgoing calls for further use.
  6. Advanced reporting – you will receive automatically compiled reports as real-time dashboards, where all key call center metrics and parameters are included. You can also customize your dashboards to include metrics and parameters that are needed.
  7. Third-party software integration – you can integrate almost any business tool through API (Application Programming Interface), and this includes CRM software, help desk systems, workforce management tools, and so on.
  8. Self-service options – you can also integrate self-service tools, such as IVR systems, chatbots, knowledge management tools, social platforms, and so on. Self-service tools are helpful to optimize the workload on agents, improve customer satisfaction and customer experience, and finally, to collect customer data before connecting with agent.
  9. Smart routing – smart routing, performed through ACD (Automatic Call Distributor) system, allows customers to be connected with the most relevant and skilled agents without long delays.