Your Comprehensive Guide to Contact Center Software
With so many different contact center software providers to choose from, it can be incredibly difficult to know which one is the best for your contact center’s needs. Plus, the increasing prevalence of vendor outages, lack of customer support and decreased overall service quality raise the stakes of your decision even higher. So, how can you choose the right platform for your business? This comprehensive guide will tell you everything you need to know, from which features you should prioritize in your search to exactly how TCN fits with your contact center and what sets us apart.
Let’s ChatKey Considerations for Selecting a Contact Center Software Platform
When you’re shopping for a contact center software provider, it’s important to select a vendor who provides the tools you need to succeed. However, that’s only a piece of the puzzle, because if those features are not user-friendly, easily integrated and supplemented with both real-time reporting capabilities and exceptional customer service, you risk being caught in a situation where your contact center software platform is holding you back.
Contact center software non-negotiables
So, how do you go about choosing the right contact center software platform for your business? Taking a look at these five non-negotiables to prioritize in your search is a great place to start.
Proactive data security
Protecting your sensitive data shouldn’t be a hassle. The right contact center software platform will make it easy for you to implement key security measures like data encryption, access control and a secure technology infrastructure, ensuring that you take a proactive approach to security and avoid the negative consequences of a data breach.
Simplified compliance
Every year, contact centers waste substantial amounts of money on avoidable compliance penalties. And to make matters worse, keeping track of all of the ever-changing regulations your business is mandated to comply with can be extremely difficult. Choosing a contact center software provider that simplifies compliance will give you peace of mind and free up your time to focus on meeting your other business goals.
Multi-channel support
Omnichannel communication is the key to optimizing your customer experience, but successfully meeting your customers where they are isn’t as simple as just broadening your communication options. Successful omnichannel communication requires seamless management of all communication channels within one interface, including easy access to analytics, intelligent call routing and self-service options.
Efficient call routing
Without selecting a software solution with tools like Automatic Call Distribution, you could waste substantial amounts of time and money transferring customers around until they reach the right person to help them. Don’t make that mistake – ensure your contact center is optimally efficient when it comes to cost, your time and your agents, all while keeping your customers happy.
Data-driven improvements
Staying in the loop about your agents, overall site performance and other individual metrics is crucial for making targeted improvements. Don’t select a contact center software vendor without being certain they have competent Reporting and Analytics tools, or else you might find yourself unable to address challenges, boost efficiency or enhance your customer experience effectively.
Red flags to avoid in your search for a contact center software platform
Now that you know which contact center software features you shouldn’t live without, it’s time to consider the warning signs that should disqualify a vendor from your consideration.
Lack of intuitive design
The technology that fuels your contact center can be complicated, but that doesn’t mean the interface has to be. In fact, if you demo a contact center software platform and you don’t find it to be simple, user-friendly and intuitive, you should definitely consider a different vendor. If you don’t, there’s a chance you could waste immense amounts of time, money and resources because you will be grappling with complex interfaces instead of meeting customer needs.
Unreliability
Contact center software platform reliability is often severely underestimated. In fact, one of TCN’s clients was experiencing up to 500 technical issues per month with their previous provider. That kind of unreliability dramatically impacted their agent downtime and call abandonment rates. Luckily, after this client switched to TCN, they started experiencing less than an hour of system downtime per year. To avoid similar costly disruptions, you should prioritize finding a vendor with a proven record of operational stability.
Scaling limitations
The ability to seamlessly accommodate your changing business needs should be naturally built into your contact center software platform. If it is unable to grow to meet increased demand or shrink back to its normal operating size when demand decreases, you should mark that as a red flag on your contact center software provider checklist. Otherwise, navigating times of crisis, busy holidays or other tough times will be even more difficult.
Inability to fully integrate
Adopting a new contact center software platform shouldn’t mean you have to let go of your favorite business applications. For instance, TCN integrates with tools like Salesforce, Zendesk, Zoho and more of your favorite partners so you can leverage a fully custom platform without worrying about technicalities. If you’re considering a platform that lacks these abilities, the truth is that if you move forward, you could miss out on the opportunity to have a platform that is fully aligned with your business objectives.
Contract requirements
Perhaps the biggest red flag you should keep an eye out for is if a vendor requires you to lock into a long-term service contract. Why? Because if a service provider is fully confident in their solutions, they would rest assured that you would choose to continually utilize their platform – not make you sign on the dotted line.
Uncustomizable pricing model
There’s no point in paying for solutions you don’t need, want or use. However, the harsh reality is that many contact center software providers offer inflexible pricing models that force their clients to choose an option that only most closely matches their needs. Luckily for you, you don’t have to settle for less! There are options, like TCN, that provide exceptional software solutions as part of a customizable pricing model, complete with no obligations, minimums or unexpected fees.
Contact Center Software Features You Won’t Find Anywhere Else
Not all contact center software platforms are created equally. That’s because there’s so much more to an outstanding vendor than just their software solutions. To get the most out of what you pay for, you also have to consider features like customer care, compliance expertise and more. To simplify your search, we’ve included below a sample of some of TCN’s unique features that deliver added value you won’t easily find elsewhere.
The best contact center software needs the best customer service
When it comes to choosing your contact center software provider, the customer support you would receive could be just as important as the technology itself. In fact, no matter how impressive the software solutions available to you are, a lack of adequate customer service may lead to disastrous results, like losing time on system outages or struggling with compliance.
But validating the quality of a vendor’s customer support team before you sign up isn’t easy. When you’re in talks with potential providers, consider asking them these questions:
Question: Will I have access to 24/7 customer support?
The answer you’re looking for: Yes. For businesses that serve customers in multiple countries, it’s doubly as important to know that you will be backed up with top-notch customer service – no matter what time it is.
Question: How quickly will my requests be responded to?
The answer you’re looking for: It’s unacceptable for it to take longer than a maximum of 24 hours for you to get the help you need after your initial inquiry. However, for urgent situations like system outages, that response time should be significantly shorter – if not immediate.
Question: Will I have to talk to a different account manager each time I need help?
The answer you’re looking for: It’s essential that you are assigned an account manager who is completely dedicated to your business. In fact, you should have their personal contact information and be able to reach out to them personally with issues, rather than a general help line where you will be transferred around until you find someone to help.
Question: What is the average tenure for your account managers?
The answer you’re looking for: The longer the tenure, the better. A short average tenure indicates high turnover rates, which could mean you may have to deal with changing out the account manager responsible for assisting your business more often than is ideal.
For instance, the average tenure of an account manager at TCN is 14 years! This is a great sign that you will develop a close and lasting working relationship with your account manager and that TCN’s employees stand behind the company’s high quality.
Question: Is your customer support tiered? Are there any additional costs associated with customer support?
The answer you’re looking for: If you have to pay any sort of additional fees in order to receive the level of support you desire, that’s a sign for you to consider a different vendor. Additionally, ensure that every single client receives the exact same level of support. This is an indication that the vendor values each of their customers, no matter how big or small their business. The bottom line is that you shouldn’t have to pay for the attention you require.
The advantage of TCN’s customer support
Let’s cut to the chase: when you choose TCN, you’re signing up for access to a dedicated account manager who will be easily accessible and provide personalized, timely support at every step of your journey. They will help you cater Operator to your needs so well that you will feel like the software was made specifically for your business. You will receive this level of support, the same support available to every single one of our clients, at no extra cost to you. That’s the TCN promise.
So what are you waiting for? Learn more about how TCN provides the best customer support in the industry.
Watch Now Learn MoreGain access to the tools your contact center needs
Contact center software solutions for compliance
Contact centers are under intense pressure to comply perfectly with a wide range of ever-changing regulations. You shouldn’t be alone in keeping track of, deciphering and complying with those rules.
TCN has made a point to become compliance thought leaders in the field, ensuring the industry is always in the loop when changes are made and simplifying compliance for our clients with an entire suite of user-friendly solutions, including:
Storing conversations for compliance audits
By keeping track of all of the conversations that occur within your contact center via Call Recording Storage, you not only keep a record to protect yourself against compliance audits, but you also have a library of resources to use to enhance your training.
Automating consent tracking
List Management Services is an advanced, AI-powered tool that helps you process all of your data files in one place, automating even complex tasks – like ensuring your consumer data and consent stays up to date – to save you time and money while boosting compliance.
Verifying that calls are compliant
As an extra precaution against compliance violations, Manually Approved Calling helps you efficiently and proactively ensure your agents are only contacting approved numbers.
Simplifying complex regulations
TCN’s Natural Language Compliance solution lets you build rules in your own words so your agents can focus on communication while our compliance engine takes care of the rest.
Certifying your business as a trusted caller
Safeguard your organization from being improperly classified as fraudulent by utilizing TCN’s compliance-based identity validation process, which is built seamlessly into our Phone Number Registration tool.
Preventing accidental compliance violations
TCN’s Reassigned Numbers Database helps you protect consumers from getting unwanted calls intended for someone who previously held their phone number – and protect your business from accidentally contacting someone you don’t have consent to contact.
Keeping you informed about compliance
Besides these top-notch compliance solutions, TCN has a multitude of free resources to help you understand the basics of all the main rules and stay informed as regulations come and go. Whether you’re looking to learn more about Reg F, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, STIR/SHAKEN, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or simply stay well-versed about compliance, you can trust that TCN has you covered.
Check It OutTired of rigid contact center pricing?
Let’s face it – the way most contact center software platforms are priced can feel less like a partnership and more like a compromise. From having to pay for features you’ll never use, getting locked into lengthy contracts, experiencing an overall lack of flexibility and being subjected to unexpected fees and rigid monthly minimums, it’s clear the average pricing model puts the vendor’s needs ahead of yours.
The good news is that you don’t have to settle for that. TCN does things better by offering cost-efficient solutions available to you via a competitive, individual pay-per-use pricing model – but that’s not even the best part! Here are all the details you need to make the best decision for your business as you’re shopping for a contact center software platform:
The problem with traditional contact center software pricing models:
- You must choose from bundles that only “most closely” match your business needs.
- You are forced to sign a contract that you will be stuck in even when your needs change or you are not happy with the service.
- You can’t start and stop whenever you need.
- You’re subject to unexpected fees and monthly minimums.
How TCN’s customizable, pay-per-use pricing model is the solution:
- You’ll only pay for what you need.
- You won’t have to sign a contract.
- You don’t have to pay startup fees (or any other unexpected fees) or meet any type of monthly minimum requirements.
- You’ll enjoy effortless scalability without having to purchase additional licenses as you grow because pricing is based on the number of agents you have.
Why You Should Choose TCN as Your Contact Center Software Provider
Selecting a contact center software provider is not only a huge decision, but it’s one that could make or break your contact center’s performance. Ultimately, whether you prioritize simplified compliance, user-friendly solutions, streamlined omnichannel communication management, effective use of data or proactive customer service, TCN is your final choice. Plus, if you’re still not convinced, you can get all of that without committing to a contract and by utilizing a customized, pay-per-use pricing model. Sound too good to be true? It’s not.
However, TCN understands that there are a lot of factors to consider when it comes to choosing a contact center software provider. That’s why we’ve compiled all the most important information from this comprehensive guide into one convenient resource: “Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Choose TCN.” Download it for free now and then request to chat with one of our dedicated account managers to see for yourself why so many of our clients happily choose TCN.
Download Now Let's ChatWhy our clients choose TCN
Easily customizable platform
“We were looking for a contact center software provider and headed straight to TCN on the back of what we had heard about the company and its service. They understood our requirements and the speed at which we wanted to work, and they achieved it in an incredible timeframe. The service and support we have received have been phenomenal. Nothing is too much trouble, and we know that we can continue to tailor the product to best suit our needs as we rapidly expand. We look forward to additional training and the weekly calls.” – Rajesh Nair, Deputy Director of BPO-ITES Business Unit
Consistently exceeded expectations
“When you told me that TCN provided excellent service, I didn’t believe you, because everyone always says that. It wasn’t until we actually became a client that we realized you were really telling the truth. It has exceeded our expectations.” – Sameer Maini, CIO at State Collections & CEO of CollaborationRoomAI
Unrivaled service and support
“I only have positive things to say about my experience with TCN. They’ve been fabulous to work with. If I need help, my account manager responds within minutes. They always seem to be on the cutting edge – they are always learning and changing. Because of this, they are able to provide the best technology for St. Luke’s and help us decide what will work best for us.” – Cindy Samuels, Senior Manager of Patient Revenue Services at St. Luke’s University Health Network