The call center software space is teeming with vendors promising you the best call center software the market has to offer. In reality, what one company in your space identifies as the best call center software won’t necessarily work well in your own environment. You have to do the leg work by identifying the needs of your organization, comparing the available solutions and testing them within your environment to identify the best call center software to meet your needs.

Best Call Center Software for Process Improvement

While it’s true that call centers rely on technology to optimize performance, it’s still important that you leverage the best call center software according to what works for your environment. Call center software solutions address such tasks as agent scheduling, agent desktop monitoring, call routing, skill-based training and coaching, call distribution, call monitoring and so much more. What processes do you need to improve with the best call center software? Understand the challenges you are trying to overcome so you can consider the right solution sets.

Include all Departments When Selecting the Best Call Center Software

The call center may use the best call center software the most often, but other departments are affected by the information your agents capture and pass along within your organization. Do you need to capture information on service requests, open invoices, technical problems or more? Different divisions within your organization need data captured in these interactions to address the customer issue and make necessary internal changes to prevent further problems, or identify opportunities for up-sell or cross-sell situations. When all integrated divisions have a say in your call center software selection process, they stand to benefit from the interactions.

Compare and Test Solutions to Identify the Best Call Center Software

It’s important to compare and test solutions to identify the best call center software for your specific environment. Companies like Five9, inContact and Contactual offer call center software through a Software as a Service delivery model that allows you to test the power of their solutions without actually downloading anything. All providers should offer you the opportunity to test their solution to determine how well it will perform within your environment. Schedule these tests during a high volume calling time to truly test the power of the platform. Run a test campaign for every department that will interact with the software, gauging its performance for each key player.

Features and Support Matter with the Best Call Center Software

It really is about the features and support when it comes to the best call center software. If you need social media integration, skills-based routing and workforce management capabilities, this should be identified up-front. Hosted call center software providers can extend out the features you need, eliminating the waste of paying for those you don’t. Compare providers like Zeacom and Monet Software to measure the depth of their features and the strength of their support. Remember that your call center is your key to customer satisfaction, so support guarantees must be industry best-practices to qualify as the best call center software.

The call center is still the single interaction point between you and your customers, demanding that you invest in the best call center software to ensure these interactions are optimized for excellence. Customers won’t stick around for a bad experience – it’s up to your call center software to support your agents in delivering an experience that sets you apart from the competition.