When it comes to interacting with customers and prospects, small businesses typically face a number of challenges that the right contact center software can help them overcome. But with so many contact center software solutions available out there, how do you choose the best fit for your small business?
Below, we’ve put together the list of top contact center software solutions for SMBs and outlined the list of the most critical features, capabilities, and other factors to pay close attention to if you’re looking for a reliable contact center software solution for your small business while being naturally limited in budget and resources.
What Should Small Businesses Look for in Contact Center Software?
Call management features
If voice interactions are a priority for your small business, you might want to look for a solution with a solid range of inbound and outbound call management features. These may include international calling, advanced call routing, IVR, call queue management, call forwarding, real-time call monitoring, and auto dialing. For example, with IVR, custom routing, and in-queue callbacks, you can handle your inbound call volume effectively (even with limited resources) while maintaining customer satisfaction.
Omnichannel capabilities
Today’s consumers increasingly prefer to interact with businesses across multiple channels. According to a Salesforce study, 71% of customers prefer using different communication channels based on the context. If you want to support your customers on various channels, look for a contact center software provider that allows you to integrate different platforms and manage interactions across all of them from a single omnichannel inbox.
Built-in integration options
The platform’s ability to integrate with third-party tools, such as CRM systems, helpdesk software, and other productivity apps, is an important factor to pay attention to. If you are already using certain business software, make sure to choose a contact center software provider that can be seamlessly integrated with your existing tech stack.
Scalability and flexibility
At some point, your small business will most probably grow. That means more customers, an increased volume of support requests, and more features needed to handle customer communications effectively. That’s why, when evaluating potential contact center vendors, the software’s scalability and flexibility are important considerations.
Affordable cost
Naturally, small businesses have smaller budgets and resources available. That makes cost-efficiency of contact center software one of the top deciding factors for SMBs. When researching solutions, you may want to pay close attention to any hidden fees and additional charges involved, as many providers may charge extra for add-ons, integrations with third parties, premium support, or dedicated onboarding.
Easy-to-use and user-friendly interface
While some solutions may be great for small businesses, they might require long implementation and onboarding, which can be an issue for SMBs. As a small business owner who can’t afford extensive training periods, you want a solution that is quick to implement, easy to use, and has a user-friendly interface.
Compliance and security
If you’re operating a business in one of the highly regulated industries like healthcare, finance, or banking, to name just a few, make sure you opt for a contact center software solution that offers robust compliance and data security features. These may include, for example, GDPR and HIPAA compliance and end-to-end data encryption to protect your customers’ sensitive data.
Customer support availability
Last but not least, the availability and responsiveness of customer support offered by a contact center provider is an incredibly important factor to consider. Whenever something goes off track, you should be able to get quick, professional, and efficient support. Ideally, look for a provider that offers 24/7 customer support regardless of the subscription plan.
Top 5 Contact Center Software for Small Business
VoiceSpin
VoiceSpin is an excellent choice for those looking for contact center software for small business. It offers both basic and advanced inbound and outbound call management features and omnichannel messaging capabilities and can be used by both customer-facing and sales-oriented teams. Due to an entirely cloud-based infrastructure, you can easily and almost instantly scale your operations as your small business grows. VoiceSpin seamlessly integrates with 50+ CRM systems and other third-party tools and offers custom integration options. On top of that, it provides 24/7 customer support on all pans.
Key features:
- IVR and custom call routing
- Call queueing and in-queue callbacks
- Predictive and power dialing
- SMS text messaging
- Omnichannel messaging
- Reporting and analytics
- AI speech analytics and call summaries
Nextiva
Nextiva offers a solid range of features to handle your inbound and outbound voice and digital communications across multiple channels. The platform can be integrated with the most popular CRM systems and helpdesk tools like HubSpot, Salesforce, and Zendesk, but these are available as paid add-ons. Flexible plans, affordable pricing, easy set-up, and assisted implementation make it a reasonable choice for small teams and growing businesses. What’s also great about Nextiva is that it offers 24/7 customer support regardless of the plan you choose.
Key features:
- Skill-based routing and IVR
- Voicemail with AI transcription
- Predictive and power dialing
- SMS text messaging
- Video meetings
- Omnichannel messaging
- Reporting and analytics
Ringover
Ringover is recommended for small businesses, freelancers, and solopreneurs. It offers a wide range of calling, texting, video conferencing, and omnichannel messaging features. What sets Ringover apart is that it offers unlimited calling to 90 destinations. The platform can be integrated with the leading CRM systems, including Zoho, Pipedrive, HubSpot, and Salesforce, as well as industry-specific CRMs. Quick set-up and access to the onboarding portal and help center make it a great solution for teams that wish to get set up quickly.
Key features:
- Advanced IVR and call forwarding
- Call and voicemail transcription and summary
- Video conferencing and instant messaging
- Business text messaging
- Power dialing
- Omnichannel messaging
- Analytics and reporting
LiveAgent
LiveAgent unifies calling, email ticketing, and live chat in a single communication platform. You can also integrate social media and instant messaging channels; however, these come as paid add-ons and can significantly influence the overall cost of the solution. With LiveAgent, you can set up a customer portal with a knowledge base, FAQs, and forums, enabling your customers to get self-service support. What makes LiveAgent a good choice for small businesses is that it offers a free version of the platform with basic ticket management features, so you can test it out before switching to a paid version.
Key features:
- Call routing, queueing, and IVR
- Email ticket management
- Video calling
- Customer portal
- Analytics and reporting
- Automation rules
- AI Answer Assistant
Zendesk
Zendesk offers an impressive set of features and capabilities, enabling businesses to manage their customer communications across voice and digital channels, including email, live chat, social media, and instant messaging platforms. With Zendesk, you can build your help center and empower your customers to find answers on their own, reducing the load on your team. Additionally, Zendesk has a huge library of integrations with third-party systems. Though 24/7 customer support comes only as a paid add-on, Zendesk provides a comprehensive help center and community.
Key features:
- Email ticket management
- Messaging and live chat
- Call routing and IVR
- Social media and instant messaging
- Knowledge management
- Pre-built analytics and dashboards
- AI-powered bots
Scale Your Small Business Faster with Contact Center Software
With the right contact center software, small businesses can support their customers effectively across voice and digital channels, maintain customer satisfaction, and expand operations seamlessly as their business grows. If you’re looking for a solution to handle your customer communication needs, consider one of the contact center software providers listed above – all are suited to the needs of small businesses.