7 Best Call Center Monitoring Software Platforms for 2023
Corey McCraw is a staff writer covering VoIP and Unified Communications. Corey has over a decade of experience in marketing, tech writing, and corporate communications and has even penned content for the former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative.
Marianne is a staff writer at Fit Small Business who covers business phone services, VoIP, and video conferencing tools.
This article is part of a larger series on VoIP.
The best call center monitoring software enables users to coach agents, track phone interactions, and analyze call data. They include call barging, call recording, and real-time dashboards—showcasing real-time metrics. These platforms utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to ensure a faster and more efficient monitoring process. We evaluated dozens of providers to arrive at the top call monitoring providers and compared them based on the needs of business owners.
Based on our research, here are the top call center monitoring software platforms:
- Freshdesk: Best overall full-featured call monitoring system with extensive agent monitoring features
- RingCentral Contact Center: Excellent call monitoring solution integrated with a business phone system
- Zendesk: Top choice for companies needing to connect with customers across various communication channels
- Twilio Flex: Ideal programmable call monitoring software for businesses with an in-house dev team
- Zoho Desk: Great choice for businesses needing a call monitoring platform with an extensive ticketing management system
- Talkdesk: Best for tech-savvy teams in need of AI-powered workforce management capabilities
- Nextiva Contact Center: Robust call monitoring software with blended multichannel inbound and outbound functionality
Call Center Monitoring Software Platforms at a Glance
Call Center Monitoring Software | Monthly Starting Price (per User) | Key Features | Free Trial | FSB Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Free or $18 |
| 21 days | 4.46 out of 5 |
 | Contact sales for pricing |
| ✕ | 4.35 out of 5 |
 | $59 |
| 14 days | 4.23 out of 5 |
 | $150 or $1 for per-hour pricing |
| Free 5,000 active user hours | 4.15 out of 5 |
 | $20 |
| 15 days | 4.12 out of 5 |
 | $75 (3-year contract) |
| ✕ | 4.01 out of 5 |
 | Contact sales for pricing |
| ✕ | 3.81 out of 5 |
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Freshdesk: Best Overall Call Center Monitoring Software
Freshdesk
Overall Score:
4.46 / 5
What We Like
- Free version includes basic contact center features
- Free incoming call minutes on paid plans
- Offers local, toll-free, vanity, and international numbers
What's Missing
- No built-in screen sharing feature
- Transcription is only available at the Enterprise tier
- Per-minute pricing can get expensive for high call volumes
Freshdesk Monthly Pricing (per User)*
- Free: Free for unlimited purchase of local/toll-free/vanity numbers, unlimited concurrent calls, outbound calling, call blocking, inbound caller ID, call notes transfer, custom greetings, call metrics, and mobile app
- Growth: $18 for number porting, call masking, 2,000 incoming call minutes, music on hold, forward to phone, voicemail drop, click-to-call extension, call queues, business hours, team routing, voicemail, call recording, call/agent summary report, and customer relationship management (CRM) integrations
- Pro: $47 for 3,000 incoming call minutes, call tagging, power dialer, conferencing calling, IVR, agent extensions, holiday routing, real-time call summary, call monitoring, advanced call metrics, and custom reports
- Enterprise: $83 for 5,000 incoming call minutes, call transcriptions, voicebot, speech-enabled interactive voice response (IVR), omnichannel routing, and abandoned call metrics
- Free trial: 21 days
*Annual billing is available for a discounted price
Freshdesk is our best overall call center monitoring system with real-time capabilities for tracking agent performance. It summarizes relevant agent information, such as availability, service level adherence, number of agents in conversation, and the number of agents online. Supervisors are able to listen in on live calls, barge into ongoing calls, or listen to call recordings.
Track call center performance anytime with real-time dashboards, giving you a complete view of call metrics, including the number of incoming, outgoing, missed, and abandoned calls. These metrics enable you to track agent activities on the spot and determine areas that need improvement. Learn more about its real-time agent monitoring features in our Freshdesk Contact Center review.
Freshdesk lags behind its competitors when it comes to workforce optimization tools. If your business prioritizes employee engagement, consider RingCentral, which provides gamification activities to incentivize agents. Employees are able to participate in challenges and win coins, badges, and prizes.
Freshdesk Features
A voicebot’s response depends on how you train it to answer customer questions. (Source: Freshdesk)
- Voicebot: An AI-powered bot that provides answers to the most frequently asked questions and transfers customers to human agents for more complex inquiries.
- Call notes: Enables agents to take notes during calls, so everyone in the team has access to the full context of the conversation during call transfers or follow-ups.
- Wait queues: Automatically informs customers about their position in the call queue while they wait for their turn to speak with an agent.
RingCentral Contact Center: Best Call Monitoring Solution With an Integrated Business Phone System
RingCentral Contact Center
Overall Score:
4.35 / 5
What We Like
- All plans are integrated with RingCentral MVP capabilities
- Supports 30+ digital channels
- Advanced application programming interfaces (APIs) and integrations for developers
What's Missing
- Unpublished pricing
- Integrations with popular CRMs are offered as add-ons
- Key features like automated dialer required add-on purchases
RingCentral Contact Center Plan Details*
- Essentials: Skill-based routing, advanced IVR, click-to-call, real-time/historical reports, 300+ API for integrations, 5GB recording storage, and integrated business phone capabilities
- Standard: Advanced voice recording and 30+ digital channels with omnichannel routing
- Premium: Quality management and screen recording
- Ultimate: Workforce management and performance management
*Contact the sales team to determine the cost per plan
RingCentral, known as the leading business phone system, brings together its unified communications platform and contact center solution to ensure easy collaboration between teams. Its deep integration with RingCentral MVP provides voice calling, video conferencing, and team messaging capabilities, allowing agents to get instant access to experts across the entire company when answering difficult customer queries.
RingCentral offers various supervisor tools to track individual performance for coaching and feedback. The call center screen monitoring feature allows managers to provide feedback to agents on how they should navigate their systems to optimize performance. Learn what makes RingCentral one of the best call center systems for boosting agent productivity in our RingCentral Contact Center review.
While RingCentral Contact Center has plenty to offer, its workforce and performance management features are locked in its highest-level tier. If you need access to these tools without upgrading to premium tiers, try Talkdesk, which offers workforce management features as an add-on package.
RingCentral Contact Center Features
The Behavioral Coaching feature tracks key behaviors like empathy, which help identify trends for coaching. (Source: RingCentral)
- SmartAssist: A conversational AI virtual agent that enables customers to communicate via natural language, whether through voice or chat. It responds quickly to support issues and carries out tasks for users.
- Digital channels: Choose from a wide range of communication channels to connect with customers, including mobile and social media messaging apps. All interactions and customer contexts are accessible in one intuitive interface.
- Real-time Interaction Guidance (RTIG) and Behavioral Coaching: Tracks agent behavior and customer sentiment during interactions. It recognizes when agents speak too fast or are not listening.
Zendesk: Best for Its Omnichannel Capabilities
Zendesk
Overall Score:
4.23 / 5
What We Like
- Comprehensive help desk capabilities
- Provides a community forum and collaboration tools
- Robust customization options
What's Missing
- Several voice calling capabilities are locked behind advanced tiers
- Steep learning curve due to advanced features
- 24/7 customer support costs extra
Zendesk Monthly Pricing (per User)*
- Suite Team: $59 for ticketing system, multichannel messaging, 50 automated answers, unified agent workspace, voicemail, text messaging, group routing, caller ID, custom greetings, call recording, warm transfer, analytics dashboard, and 2GB file storage
- Suite Growth: $99 for a self-service portal, 100 automated answers, 5GB file storage, multilanguage help center, and custom integrations
- Suite Professional: $125 for agent activity dashboard, private conversation threads, skills-based routing (live chat), business hours, conference calling, IVR, call monitoring, 500 automated answers, and custom agent status
- Suite Enterprise: $199 for custom team roles, advanced knowledge management, custom branding, 1,000 automated answers, contextual workspaces, customizable live dashboards, and 10GB per agent
- Free trial: 14 days
*Annual billing is available for a discounted price
Zendesk is a contact center monitoring software that delivers conversational support across multiple communication channels. Its lets you add messaging features to your website, mobile app, and social channels like WhatsApp and Facebook. You may also provide options based on how customers want to interact, whether over the phone, live chat, or email.
Like Freshdesk, Zendesk offers a live dashboard to monitor ongoing calls, listen in on agent conversations, or jump in on calls when agents need support or escalation. It contains the agent’s name, their group, call type, caller number, and call duration. These details enable managers to provide appropriate feedback to agents on handling specific situations. Learn more about its unique offerings in our Zendesk review.
Zendesk relies on third-party integrations to extend its collaboration capabilities. In this case, choose RingCentral or Nextiva Contact Center, which offers seamless integrations with its business phone systems. Both providers support team collaboration features, such as team messaging, task management, and video conferencing.
Zendesk Features
The Agent Workspace helps you stay connected with customers regardless of the channel they use. (Source: Zendesk)
- Agent workspace: Zendesk unifies conversations by bringing all support channels into one place. Get live message updates and respond in real time across email, chat, phone, and messaging channels.
- Community forum: A space for customers to collaborate with each other and your business. This allows them to find relevant answers and inspiration related to your product or service.
- Smart knowledge base: Share articles about frequently asked questions, product details, and policies. This makes it easy for customers to solve their issues without calling your business or sending an email.
Twilio Flex: Best Programmable Call Monitoring Solution
Twilio Flex
Overall Score:
4.15 / 5
What We Like
- Flexible pricing plans
- API integrations to extract data from ecosystem partners
- Customizable drag-and-drop reports
What's Missing
- Lacks detailed pricing and feature comparisons on its website
- Difficult to set up
- The platform is only available through a browser; no mobile or desktop app
Twilio Flex Monthly Pricing*
- Active user per-hour pricing: $1 per hour for flexible scaling with seasonal traffic or account for part-time agents
- Named user per-seat pricing: $150 per user, per month for predictable spend, regardless of activity or volume
- Free trial: Free $14.50 trial credit for 5,000 active user hours and one U.S. phone number
*Contact the sales team for volume pricing
Twilio Flex is a programmable contact center platform that enables businesses to tailor their contact center without the limitations of a one-size-fits-all solution. With the help of sample codes, developer tools, and APIs, users are able to add custom channels, create engagement workflows, and customize the call flow.
As call center call monitoring software, Twilio offers tools to allow supervisors to search or filter their agents by name or activity. The Teams View feature provides a real-time view of agents’ status and allows admins to listen to any live call or view active conversations.
Note that Twilio Flex requires programming skills to implement its platform. If your business doesn’t have its own in-house dev team, you’re better off with a ready-to-use call center solution. A better alternative would be Zendesk, which offers the flexibility to customize your support solution with tools like advanced workflow capabilities and AI-powered automation.
Twilio Flex Features
Twilio Studio works by dragging and dropping widgets and connecting them together to create an application. (Source: Twilio Flex)
- Voice insights: Provides call quality analytics and aggregation tools for analyzing calls within the last 30 days. The collected data will be compiled in detailed summaries and reporting dashboards to quickly highlight aspects of call behavior.
- Twilio Studio: A visual editor for creating, managing, and editing communication workflows. Use it to craft conversational IVRs, survey tools, and SMS-enabled chatbots.
- Twilio Conversations: An omnichannel messaging platform that lets you create conversational messaging experiences across various channels. Supported channels include SMS, MMS, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp.
Zoho Desk: Best for Its Online Ticketing System
Zoho Desk
Overall Score:
4.12 / 5
What We Like
- Integrates with other Zoho products
- Robust ticketing capabilities
- Most affordable per-user pricing
What's Missing
- Complex to set up and customize
- No desktop application
- Lacks extensive integrations
Zoho Desk Monthly Pricing (per User)*
- Standard: $20 for five email channels, five web forms, 20 ticket tags, five workflow rules, 50 custom fields (help desk), 50 custom reports, 10 custom dashboards, and five agent roles
- Professional: $35 for 10 email channels, 10 web forms, telephony, 30 ticket tags, 15 workflow rules, auto-time tracking, 150 custom fields, unlimited custom reports, unlimited custom dashboards, and 25 agent roles
- Enterprise: $50 for 100 email channels, 20 web forms, live chat, 50 ticket tags, 30 workflow rules, artificial intelligence, 230 custom fields, schedule reports, and 250 agent roles
- Free trial: 15 days
*Annual billing is available for a discounted price
Zoho Desk is a call center agent monitoring software with an extensive ticket management system. This is ideal for businesses receiving high volumes of customer queries daily and having trouble keeping up with conversations across multiple platforms. The Zoho Desk multichannel ticketing software collects support tickets from various channels and organizes them in a single interface, helping agents to stay organized and respond faster.
To monitor agent performance, Zoho Desk offers a live dashboard called Headquarters, which provides a full view of agent activity, customer sentiments, ticket traffic, and response rates. Instead of pulling out individual reports, this feature brings all the important metrics to a single screen. Check out our Zoho Desk review to discover more of its benefits for small businesses.
While Zoho Desk offers comprehensive tools for ticket management and agent productivity, users new to call center systems should expect a steep learning curve. Freshdesk is a better alternative when it comes to ease of use, thanks to its user-friendly platform.
Zoho Desk Features
Zia provides real-time updates when there’s a sudden surge in incoming tickets. (Source: Zoho Desk)
- Agent Collision Detection: Ensures no two agents are working on the same ticket at the same time. Ticket tags are provided to organize customer queries into different categories.
- Contextual AI: Zia is Zoho’s AI-powered assistant that assigns appropriate tags to incoming tickets to help agents identify which tickets match their skill sets. It also identifies the sentiment behind every ticket that comes in.
- Response Editor: Craft the most appropriate response using FAQs, templates, and customer context. This allows you to respond quickly to customer issues instead of wasting time searching for information.
Talkdesk: Best for Its AI Capabilities
Talkdesk
Overall Score:
4.01 / 5
What We Like
- Extensive AI capabilities like virtual agent and agent assistance
- Wide range of third-party integrations and API access
- Entry-level plan includes robust voice capabilities
What's Missing
- Customer engagement solution is limited to three channels
- Mobile app is not available on the base plan
- AI-powered features may be too advanced for businesses with basic contact center needs
Talkdesk Monthly Pricing (per User)*
- CX Cloud Essentials: $75 for customizable voice features, visual IVR designer, live dashboards, reporting and analytics, knowledge management, virtual agent, custom integrations, and API access
- CX Cloud Elevate: $95 for chat, email and SMS channels, quality management, screen recording, mobile app, customer surveys, and automated notifications
- CX Cloud Elite: $125 for custom reports and dashboards, and performance management
- Experience Clouds: Contact sales for custom pricing, industry-specific workspace tools, integrations, workflows, virtual agents, and 100% uptime SLA
*Prices are based on a three-year contract. Talkdesk also offers per-hour login consumption pricing and concurrent pricing.
While AI is a part of most contact center platforms, Talkdesk takes it to the next level by leveraging AI to enhance workforce management. It combines AI and automation to generate accurate forecasts, automate scheduling processes, and create customizable dashboards. The Talkdesk Schedule mobile app empowers agents with 24/7 access to engagement tools like work schedules.
To minimize time on monitoring calls, Talkdesk offers an AI-powered assistant that listens in conversations and provides automated assistance during live interactions. The Agent Assist feature suggests answers from the knowledge base and provides step-by-step guidance via Smart Scripts. Our Talkdesk review provides in-depth information about its automation features and how they contribute to delivering excellent customer experiences.
However, Talkdesk may be too feature-rich for small businesses requiring basic call listening software to assist their agents. Check out Freshdesk instead, a budget-friendly contact center platform with intuitive call monitoring features.
Talkdesk Features
Talkdesk lets you customize dashboards to easily monitor the performance of your contact center in real time. (Source: Talkdesk)
- Automated notifications: Automatically sends SMS notifications when an event is triggered, such as order confirmation, appointment reminder, or shipping status.
- Talkdesk Studio: A self-service visual routing designer that lets you create a call flow structure instead of codes. Use it to trigger call flow actions, such as menu options, callbacks, and CRM data dips.
- Real-time dashboards: Provide dashboards and wallboards for a real-time view of contact center performance against key metrics.
Nextiva Contact Center: Best for Its Blended Contact Center
Nextiva Contact Center
Overall Score:
3.81 / 5
What We Like
- Integrates with Nextiva’s business phone service
- All plans include call recording
- 24/7 customer support
What's Missing
- Pricing isn’t published
- CRM integrations are add-ons
- Screen recordings and scorecards are only offered on the Premium plan
Nextiva Contact Center Monthly Pricing (per User)*
- Core: Blended inbound/outbound, call recording, softphone, web browser log in, and geo-redundancy
- Premium: Chat, email, and SMS channels and screen recordings
- Optimum: Coaching capabilities, system security, workforce management, and proactive notifications
- Ultimate: Interaction analytics, automated workflows, prebuilt integrations, and real-time visualizations
*Contact the sales team to determine the cost per plan
Nextiva Contact Center stands out on our list with its blended capabilities in managing inbound and outbound channels. In a blended contact center, agents can take incoming calls and place outgoing calls as well. This makes it a great fit for businesses needing a cloud-based platform to provide phone support and start an outbound calling campaign. Blended contact center features include speech-enabled IVR and outbound dialers.
Nextiva Contact Center offers three types of supervisor tools to track agent activity and call performance. These include silent monitoring, barge-in, and real-time agent/queue monitoring. It also has a live dashboard with real-time monitoring capabilities, allowing supervisors to track performance indicators, such as longest waiting time, average handle time, and the number of idles.
CRM integrations are not offered on any Nextiva Contact Center plan. Users have to purchase the CRM Connector add-on to access leading CRM solutions, such as Salesforce, Oracle, and Zendesk. To avoid extra fees, choose customer service software with call monitoring capabilities. Providers like Zendesk and Zoho Desk are customer service platforms that let you monitor agent performance through real-time dashboards.
Nextiva Contact Center Features
Call Pop provides details about the customer’s past interactions before answering the call. (Source: Nextiva)
- Advanced IVR: Automated call flows powered by speech recognition and text-to-speech technology. Virtual agents autonomously handle repetitive transactions to enable your agents to focus on higher-value interactions.
- Call Pop: When an incoming call comes in, this feature will display the caller’s account information, last interaction sentiment, and account value.
- Conversational AI: Automatically detects the subject of a conversation and provides real-time suggestions. Through machine learning, this feature learns the needs and sentiments expressed during the conversation.
How We Evaluated the Best Call Center Monitoring Software
To determine the best call monitoring software, we looked at contact center platforms and customer service solutions with call monitoring capabilities. To identify our top picks, we created four standard categories, then graded each software based on weighted subcriteria. We narrowed the list down to the top seven providers and determined the primary use case for each.
Learn how we evaluated the best call center monitoring software by clicking on the tabs below:
20%
Pricing
25%
General Features
30%
Advanced Features
25%
Expert Score
20% of Overall Score
Since cost is a huge factor for budget-conscious small business owners, we analyzed each provider based on the cost of their pricing plans. We checked offers, such as free plans, annual discounts, and volume pricing discounts.
25% of Overall Score
While the main function of a call monitoring system software is to track agents’ performance, it should also offer tools to streamline call center operations. We focused on general capabilities, such as call recording, automatic call reports, automated attendants, and wait queues.
30% of Overall Score
The right call monitoring software should offer niche features to make agent monitoring more effective. We gave points to those providing custom call metrics, call barge, and software integrations. In addition, we also looked at API customizations and agent status notifications.
25% of Overall Score
We examined call monitoring companies based on our personal experience and what users have to say about their services. From those insights, we determined their overall value by looking at their standout features, popularity, ease of use, and value for money.
*Percentages of overall score
Bottom Line
A call monitoring solution is an essential tool in running a successful contact center. It offers several advantages for agents, managers, customers, and the entire company. Knowing what happens during a live call between an agent and a customer provides valuable information for agent training, quality assurance, and regulatory compliance.
Freshdesk is our top choice for the best call center monitoring software for small businesses. It comes with a real-time dashboard that allows managers to monitor or barge into ongoing calls, gain full visibility into call statistics, and keep track of their contact center’s service level. Sign up for its free version or 21-day free trial to further explore its services.
