Inbound call centre software

Every business needs a way to support its customers, but in today’s marketplace, a simple helpline number isn’t enough. Organisations need a streamlined, process-driven method for handling incoming calls – and that’s where inbound call centre software comes in.

In this article, we’ll detail how inbound call centre software works, its role in a comprehensive customer experience (CX) and how to select the right software for your operations.

• What is inbound call centre software?
• Inbound call centre software comparison chart
• The 21 best inbound call centre solutions
• Features of inbound call centre software
• Benefits of an inbound call centre solution
• How to choose the right inbound call centre software
• Frequently asked questions
• Try inbound call centre software for free

Inbound call centre software is a tool that allows you to set up, manage and optimise your inbound customer support team. With features that make it easy to discover trends and insights, look up customer information and access support tickets, teams can deliver a more personalised and effective CX.

Depending on the day, businesses could have thousands of customers calling the customer service line. Inbound call center software can distribute those calls to the appropriate customer service representative, record calls, generate reports on your call centre’s well-being and offer a host of other benefits for inbound departments.

Contrary to outbound call centre software, inbound software focuses on customers who are reaching out with questions or concerns. It therefore needs to have features that aid in delivering outstanding CX.

Below is a comparison chart of the top 21 inbound call centre software options. You’ll find a rough breakdown of each software’s price, free trial options and features.

Now, let’s jump into an extended breakdown of each software including its pricing and features, so you can invest in the best one for your business.

1. Zendesk

• Resiliency and scale: Zendesk can future-proof your business by being a product that grows with you – offering additional features when you see growth or unexpected challenges. We strive to keep your business agile to keep pace with market changes and the evolving preferences of today’s consumers.
• Easy setup Transitioning to a new inbound product should support your organisation – not throw it into disarray. Our cloud-based solution works right out of the box, empowering your team to take calls instantly, resulting in a quicker time to value.
• Lower total cost of ownership: There’s more than just purchase price when evaluating the cost of the software. At Zendesk, we offer high ROI and low TCO because of fast integration, improved agent efficiency, cost savings from deflected tickets and more.

Features:

• Industry-leading omnichannel agent workspace
• Routing
• IVR
• Reporting and analytics
• Workforce management (WFM) *feature availability varies by package
• Call recording and monitoring
• Embedded voice
• Customised greetings
• Call quality notifications

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.

• Start a free trial
• View pricing
• Request a demo
• Take a product tour
• Evaluate the ROI of Zendesk

Free trial:

2. LiveAgent

Features:

• Call monitoring and routing
• Reporting
• Reporting/analytics
• Omnichannel capabilities
• IVR

Pricing:

• Small: $9 per agent/month
• Medium: $29 per agent/month
• Large: $49 per agent/month
• Enterprise: $69 per agent/month *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

3. HappyFox

Features:

• IVR support
• Call notes
• Call routing
• Auto assignments
• Agent scripts

Pricing:

• Mighty: $29 per agent/month
• Fantastic: $49 per agent/month
• Enterprise: $69 per agent/month
• Enterprise Plus: $89 per agent/month *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

4. Nextiva

Features:

• IVR
• Voice recognition
• Workforce management and optimisation
• Alerts and escalations
• Intelligent virtual agents

Pricing:

• Essentials: $18.95 per user/month
• Professional: $22.95 per user/month
• Enterprise: $32.95 per user/month *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

5. Freshworks

Features:

• Call routing
• Omnichannel capabilities
• AI capabilities
• Automated workflows
• Knowledge base

Pricing:

• Free: $0 per agent/month (no free minutes)
• Growth: $15 per agent/month
• Pro: $39 per agent/month
• Enterprise: $69 per agent/month *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

6. CloudTalk

Features:

• Call duration and tracking
• IVR
• Call script
• Number porting
• Call queuing and recording

Pricing:

• Starter: €25 per user/month
• Essentials: €30 per user/month
• Expert: €50 user/month
• Custom: Contact sales for pricing *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

7. NICE CXone

Features:

• On-demand recording
• Network monitoring
• IVR/voice recognition
• AI routing
• Predictive dialler

Pricing:

• Contact sales for pricing

Free trial:

8. RingCentral

Features:

• IVR voice recognition
• Alerts/escalation
• Queue management
• AI Workforce management
• Business SMS

Pricing:

• Core: $20 per user/month
• Advanced: $25 per user/month
• Ultra: $35 per user/month *Plans are billed monthly.

Free trial:

9. Five9

Features:

• Automated routing
• Chatbots
• Call recording
• Gamification
• Workflow automation

Pricing:

• Core: $149 per user/month
• Premium: $169 per user/month
• Optimum: $199 per user/month
• Ultimate: $229 per user/month

Free trial:

10. uContact

Features:

• Call recording
• AI chatbot
• Real-time chat
• Omnichannel capabilities
• Dashboard and analytics

Pricing:

• Contact sales for pricing

11. Zoho Desk

Features:

• Sentiment analysis
• Customer complaint tracking
• Dashboard and analytics
• Response editor
• CRM integration

Pricing:

• Standard: $14 per user/month
• Professional: $23 per user/month
• Enterprise: $40 per user/month *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

12. Aircall

Features:

• Call tagging
• IVR/voice recognition
• Analytics
• Integrations with tools like Zendesk
• Call routing

Pricing:

• Essentials: $30 per license/month
• Professional: $50 per license/month
• Custom: Call for details *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

13. Genesys Cloud

Features:

• Call routing and monitoring
• Predictive routing
• Reporting and analytics
• IVR
• Omnichannel capabilities

Pricing:

• Genesis Cloud CX 1: $75 per month
• Genesis Cloud CX 2 (digital + voice): $115 per month
• Genesis Cloud CX 2 (digital + WEM + voice): $1555 per month

Free trial:

14. Twilio Flex

Features:

• Archiving and retention
• Omnichannel capabilities
• Event-triggering actions
• Integration with platforms like Zendesk
• Personalised interactions

Pricing:

• Per-hour: $1 per user/hour
• Per-user: $150 per named user

Free trial:

15. 8x8

Features:

• VR/voice recognition
• Quality management
• Alerts/escalation
• Personalised self-service
• Omnichannel routing

Pricing:

• X2: Contact sales
• X4: Contact sales

Free trial:

16. Convoso

Features:

• Skills-based routing
• Call blending
• IVR
• Queue position updates
• Dynamic scripting

Pricing:

• Contact sales for pricing

Free trial:

17. Talkdesk

Features:

• AI-powered workflows
• Synchronised databases
• Self-service capabilities
• Omnichannel communication
• Unified agent interface

Pricing:

• Essential: $75 per agent/month
• Elevate: $95 user/month
• Elite: $125 user/month
• Experience Cloud: Contact sales for pricing *Plans are based on a 3-year commitment.

Free trial:

18. 3CX

Features:

• Call queue strategies
• Call recording
• Analytics and reporting
• Live chat
• Messaging and text messages

Pricing:

• Free: $0 per month (up to 10 users)
• Small business: $175 per system
• Professional: $295 per system (with hosting)
• Enterprise: $330 per system (with hosting) *Plans are billed annually

Free trial:

19. JustCall

Features:

• Call routing, transfer and forwarding
• IVR
• Call recording and notes
• Workflow and analytics
• Call monitoring and barging

Pricing:

• Essentials: $19 per user/month
• Team: $29 per user/month
• Pro: $49 per user/month
• Business: Talk to sales *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

20. CallHippo

Features:

• Call barging
• Call recording
• Analytics
• Smart transfers and forwarding
• Global connect

Pricing:

• Basic: $0 per user/month (for startups)
• Bronze: $16 per user/month
• Silver: $24 per agent/month
• Platinum: $40 per user/month *Plans are billed annually.

Free trial:

21. Call Center Studio

Features:

• Call transfers
• Agent supervision
• CRM and social platform integrations
• Gamification
• Self-service capabilities

Pricing:

• Contact for a quote

Free trial:

Here are key features that inbound call centre software solutions should offer.

Interactive voice response system (IVR)

An IVR works like a chatbot over the phone, guiding customers through predetermined scripts to answer questions or transfer them to the appropriate agent. These systems automate the customer experience, providing a solution to route callers, accept payments, schedule callbacks and more to increase the efficiency of support teams.

Call routing

Companies commonly segment departments based on specialised types of care like IT or payment processing. Call routing features ensure the consumer seamlessly connects to the right department.

Our built-in routing and intelligence capabilities at Zendesk ensure all customer requests have the smoothest path to resolution. You can route call directly to a specific group of agents or a set of groups in Zendesk. Alternatively, you can route calls received after business hours or when agents are busy to an alternate phone number. This ensures customers can always connect with a live agent.

Workforce management (WFM)

Workforce management is an inbound call centre feature that helps businesses optimise their staffing and scheduling processes.

For call centres, it can be a never-ending battle to match the estimated call volume with the amount of agents scheduled. With this feature, businesses can accurately forecast and monitor labour needs.

Tip: If you want to monitor your current staffing needs, check out the staffing calculator in our instant messaging software writeup.

Omnichannel capabilities

In today’s marketplace, consumers expect to reach your business through your website, social media pages and anywhere else you have a presence. Omnichannel inbound call centre capabilities connect your customers with your team no matter where they come from.

It’s important, however, that the inbound call centre solution has the capabilities for agents to access the customer’s information easily. According to the Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report 2023, 70% of customers expect anyone they interact with to have the full context of their situation. Selecting a call centre software that offers robust customer profiles can be key to giving agents the context that today’s consumer requires.

Real-world example: Liberty, a UK-based premium department store and retailer, uses Zendesk to manage its voice calls from the same software it uses for emails. This means all contact data is captured by the same system, giving customer service agents the flexibility to take calls on various devices.

Reporting and analytics

Reporting and analytics are valuable features for businesses to see how their inbound call centre operations perform.

Quality software can track your operation’s call centre performance metrics and KPIs, such as average wait times, agent productivity and areas of improvement. At Zendesk, we offer pre-built and custom dashboards that provide an overview of essential information to keep your inbound centre running smoothly.

Here are a few benefits that inbound call centre software can bring to your operations.

Improve customer retention and satisfaction

With inbound call centre software, businesses can provide an effective CX that customers appreciate. Omnichannel capabilities allow customers to contact an organisation on their preferred communication channel. Meanwhile, efficient call routing and IVR systems can ensure these customers connect with the right support agent.

According to our CX Trends Report, 72% of customers expect immediate service, and the right solution can ensure you tend to your customers promptly.

Real-world example: Netwealth, an Australian-based financial company, turned to Zendesk after growing call volumes overwhelmed their original phone system. After implementing Zendesk for voice support, they resolved 99% of call tickets in one touch – a change that made a big difference for their customers.

Improve agent efficiency

Inbound call centre software should have features to improve agent efficiency. For example, internal knowledge bases can help support agents solve pressing issues. Meanwhile, call routing features can help them escalate or transfer calls quickly – providing a seamless handoff for agents and customers. Furthermore, managers can use call recording features for training purposes to help agents perform at their best.

Our help centre capabilities at Zendesk allow support agents to quickly pull up relevant articles and information to best assist customers. Another benefit of the help centre is that it enables customers to solve common issues independently, resulting in a lower call volume for support teams.

Streamline operations

Efficient operations are the backbone of any successful business, and inbound call centre software comes with features to achieve exactly that.

You can use workforce management applications to optimise staffing levels and schedules to meet call volume demands. Meanwhile, support data and actionable insights are crucial for identifying any bottlenecks or areas of improvement in your organisation.

Manage more inbound calls

Without software, individual customer service agents can only handle so many customers in a day – and this issue compounds when your business is growing and experiencing higher call volume.

Quality inbound call centre software prioritises scalability while providing capabilities that make agents more efficient, like omnichannel agent workspaces. These features help your reps work as efficiently as possible to deliver a great CX, even in the wake of increased calls.

When deciding which inbound call centre software is right for your company, there are some factors to consider. Before making a selection, ask yourself a few questions about your needs.

Will it integrate well with existing applications and processes?

Seamless integration is vital when introducing a new tool into your organisation. Make sure the chosen software integrates effortlessly with your existing processes to minimise disruptions and mismanaged data. Easy setup and adaptability should be top priorities to ensure a smooth transition.

At Zendesk, we provide 1,000+ pre-built apps and integrations via the Zendesk Marketplace – meaning your team can seamlessly implement nearly every tool they work with.

What level of security do you need?

In today’s increasingly technological marketplace, data breaches can pose a real threat to businesses and consumers. When selecting an inbound call centre software, you must ensure it can keep your and your customer’s data safe.

Check the security measures and encryption of any software you’re considering to ensure it’s safe for your operations. At Zendesk, we have the certifications and memberships to show we are qualified to keep your data safe.

How long will it take team members to get up to speed?

A steep learning curve can cause short-term CX disruption and long-term employee frustration when introducing new software. Prioritise user-friendliness and ease of admin. The quicker your team can get up to speed, the quicker you can see the product's benefits.

What is the total cost of ownership?

Total cost of ownership (TCO) includes all direct and indirect costs, such as maintenance, training, customisation, full-scale adoption and other factors a business may accrue while owning the product.

Zendesk ranks as the #1 software product for 2023 according to G2 – and one of the many reasons is that we are the only vendor that delivers a consistently high ROI with a low total cost of ownership. We do this through software that’s fast to set up and easy to make ongoing changes to without large IT or developer teams. Learn more in Forrester’s study on the ROI of Zendesk.

How quick will your time to value be?

A quick time to value (TTV) implies a faster return on investment and increased efficiency – and the faster your organisation can realise the benefits of a new process or software, the better. Our inbound call centre solutions at Zendesk can get your organisation up and running rapidly, helping businesses see the value of our product in days, not months.

Here are frequently asked questions about inbound call centre software.