As more and more companies recognize the value of having their customer contact solutions ready-to-scale in the cloud, IT managers are ready to adopt new technology and opportunities. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning is changing the way companies deliver service, with CCaaS being the ideal option for many contact centers—offering scalability as operational needs change. If you are on the lookout for a CCaaS solution, here are some of the best options available on the market in 2022.
Understanding Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS)
Gartner defines Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) as a SaaS-based application that enables customer service organizations to manage multichannel customer interactions holistically (using self- and assisted-service) from both customer experience and an employee experience perspective. CCaaS solutions are large systems of differentiation, enabling an adaptive, flexible delivery model with both native capabilities across the four pillars of great customer service, as well as productized integrations to partner solutions, through application marketplaces. CCaaS providers enable platform standardization across the customer service organization, Gartner researchers say.
Some notable features found in CCaaS offerings include call queueing, AI-powered features, scalable architecture, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) for routing calls, call recording to listen to calls between agents and customers, coaching and training tools as well as call analytics to uncover trends and aid in workforce planning.
The global Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) market is projected to grow from $4.07 billion in 2021 to $11.76 billion in 2028 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 16.4% during the 2021 to 2028 period, according to a Fortune Business Insights report. The global impact of COVID-19 has been unprecedented and staggering, with CCaaS witnessing a negative impact on demand across all regions amid the pandemic.
Best Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) solutions
Talkdesk Contact Center
The Talkdesk Contact Center offers a complete CCaaS solution coded specifically to run in the cloud, allowing it to provide comprehensive features and third-party integrations. CX Cloud offers a full set of enterprise-level, integrated CX applications for customer self-service, omnichannel engagement, workforce engagement, employee collaboration and customer experience analytics to align and drive CX winning behaviors across the organization—all native on the CX Cloud platform.
The service offers a wide range of integrations available, such as SalesForce, Zendesk, Slack, Freshdesk, Google, Shopify and Zoho. It is also fully secure and compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) standards.
GoToConnect
In addition to standard features, GoToConnect offers extra features not advertised by other vendors, like historical call and agent reports, that along with agent summary reports can help make it easier to gain performance insights from analytics.
Of course, there are the standard voice handling features, such as call queues and call recording, as well as IVR and Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) with the option to weight and prioritize inbound calls. GoToConnect CCaaS offers enterprise-grade security, 99.996% uptime, low bandwidth usage and eleven global data centers that keep the teams running around the clock.
RingCentral Contact Center
RingCentral Contact Center offers a convincing all-round CCaaS solution, with all the main features one would expect: call handling, call screening, omnichannel routing, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) integrations, automated feedback and analytics for Agent Performance Management. This solution also offers a wide array of integrations, such as SalesForce, Zendesk, Oracle, ServiceNow and Microsoft Dynamics.
When it comes to pricing, there are three plans available for businesses with various needs. Prices are not openly advertised, so it is required to contact the RingCentral team for more information.
Avaya OneCloud CCaaS
Avaya OneCloud CCaaS is a comprehensive digital option offering a range of communication tools. It provides customer and workforce engagement solutions to connect and orchestrate all the touchpoints across the customer journey—including voice, video, chat, messaging and social elements—while leveraging AI, insights, knowledge and resources from across the organization.
Main features that catch the eye include intelligent self-service, AI-powered predictive modeling, AI-enabled digital co-workers, biometric authentication, sentiment analysis, workflow orchestration, live monitoring as well as built-in analytics dashboards.
Genesys Cloud
With its easy-to-use interface and its “one size does not fit all” pricing policy, Genesys Cloud could not be omitted from our list of the best CCaaS on the market in 2022. Genesys was named a leader in the 2021 Gartner CCaaS Magic Quadrant report.
This cloud-based contact center solution includes an IVR system and its interface supports omnichannel communications through calls, video, email and chat. There are several CRM integrations available, not least Salesforce, Zendesk, Oracle, SAP and Microsoft Dynamics.
Like all other top solutions, Genesys also promotes a blended AI approach to allow the automation of common and repetitive tasks. Genesys offers three different pricing plans, with the cheapest option starting at $75 per month per agent with annual billing.
