7 Best CRM Call Center Software
Jess served on the founding team of a successful B2B startup and has used a wide range of sales and marketing tools over the course of her 15-year career. She uses her industry knowledge to deliver the best answers to your questions about sales tools and sales management.
Bianca is a staff writer at Fit Small Business who specializes in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software.
This article is part of a larger series on CRM.
Customer relationship management (CRM) call center software tools not only offer tools for contact and lead management—they also have telephonic features that allow you to manage and track calls, as well as generate call-centric analytics reports. The best CRM for call centers offer these features at an affordable price point. We compared dozens of call center CRM systems and narrowed it down to our top seven.
Our top picks and their best uses cases include:
- Freshsales: Best overall for businesses wanting essential calling features for sales enablement combined with an easy-to-use, customizable CRM
- Zoho CRM: Ideal option for small businesses looking for a low-cost, operational CRM with call center functionalities
- Nextiva: Great call center solution for companies that want robust call center automation tools
- Pipedrive: Recommended option for an easy-to-use contact center CRM with workflow automation and call routing
- HubSpot CRM: Top CRM for call centers with conversational intelligence features
- Voicent: Excellent choice for companies looking for call center CRM systems with advanced features like an auto-dialer, phone surveys, and call routing
- Bitrix24: Suitable for businesses that want call center features combined with project management tools
Not sure what type of CRM to choose? Read this article that guides you through the process of choosing between an industry-specific CRM and a general-use CRM.
Best CRM Call Center Software Compared
Provider | Free Plan | Starting Price for Paid Plans* | Free Trial for Paid Plans | Key Call Center Management Features | Customer Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Yes (Unlimited users) | $15 per user/month | 21 days | Freshdesk Contact Center integration and outbound call performance analytics | 24/7 support via phone, chat, and email |
 | Yes (3 users) | $14 per user/month | 15 days | Private branch exchange (PBX) system integration and call analytics | Self-help resources, community forum, and tier-based customer support |
 | No | $28.95 per user/month | 7 days | Call automation with post-call surveys and case prioritization | Professional implementation and 24/7 support via email, chat, and phone |
 | No | $14.90 per user/month | 14 days | Workflow automation, call routing, and easy contact importation | Knowledge base and 24/7 email and chat support |
 | Yes (Unlimited users) | $45 per month for 2 users | 14 days | Conversation intelligence for coaching and call analytics | Self-help resources and email plus in-app chat support |
 | No | $19 per agent, per month | 30 days | Automated outbound phone surveys, interactive voice response (IVR), and auto-dialer | Self-help modules & videos + email, & phone support |
 | Yes (Unlimited users) | $39 per month for 5 users | N/A | Project management features and PBX system integration | Help desk, online training, chat and email support |
*Based on annual billing
Take our quiz to find out which CRM call center software can help you manage and track calls.
Which call center CRM provider is the best for you?
Answer a few questions about your business, and we'll give you a personalized product match.
Freshsales: Best Overall CRM Call Center Software
Freshsales
Overall Score:
4.58 / 5
What We Like
- Freshdesk Contact Center (Freshsales’ call center software) product offered within the platform
- Both the CRM and call center options offer a free plan
- Analytics feature measures sales of individual performance based on outbound calls made, pipeline process, and customer interactions
What's Missing
- Can get expensive if you want all features offered by both the CRM and Freshdesk Contact Center
- Mobile app is known to have issues with crashing and unresponsiveness for the call features of the CRM and Freshdesk Contact Center
- Freshdesk Contact Center can’t transfer to the live chat systems of Freshchat while on a call
Freshsales Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Unlimited users (limited features)
- Growth: $15
- Pro: $39
- Enterprise: $69
- Freshsales Suite (Sales + Marketing CRM): Ranges from $0 to $69
- Free trial for paid plans: 21 days
Add-ons for paid plans:
- Additional workflows: $5
- Phone credits: Starts at $25
- CPQ (Configure, Price, and Quote): $19
*Per user, per month pricing is based on annual billing. Monthly pricing is also available at slightly higher rates.
Freshsales by Freshworks is an intuitive CRM with built-in cloud telephony tools, such as automatic inbound call routing, click-to-call functions, call recording, and call queues. Its easy-to-use call center tools include sales call and team performance analytics. It also comes with a mobile app that lets you take calls on the go, log calls, and link them with a contact, deal, or account.
If you want access to more advanced call center features, you can sign up for Freshdesk Contact Center (free or starting at $15 per agent, per month). This smart call center software within the Freshworks platform offers expanded call center functionalities, such as international phone numbers, vanity numbers, call blocking, voice bots, and abandoned call metrics.
For small businesses, Freshsales offers a great price point for a CRM system with solid basic call center features. However, the cost of many agents, number of calls, call duration, and subscription to both Freshsales and Freshdesk Contact Center could soar. Check out its Call Center Estimator to learn more about the specifics of your total operational costs. Alternatively, consider Zoho CRM or HubSpot CRM for basic CRM for call center options with more budget-friendly pricing schemes.
Freshsales Features
- Core CRM: Contact management, account management, contact lifecycle stages, activity timeline, auto-profile enrichment, sales activities (tasks, appointments, and notes), and activity home dashboard
- CRM customization: Rename modules, custom fields, profile avatar for contact/account, record tags, product catalog, email template tags, workflows, and auto-assignment rules
- Sales pipeline management: Deal management, visual sales pipelines, collaboration with Slack, rotten deals, multiple sales pipelines, sales goals, and sales forecasting
- Cloud telephony: Built-in phone, buy local and toll-free numbers, inbound caller ID, call masking, call recording, voicemails and voicemail drop, call queues, bring your own carrier (BYOC), conference calling, holiday routing, virtual hold, and warm transfer
- Chat: Chat widget, conversation threads, chat assignment rules, canned responses, private notes, FAQs (frequently asked questions) articles, auto-resolve rules, IntelliAssign (auto-assign chats based on agent availability and workload), and chat campaign
- Freddy AI (artificial intelligence) assistant: Predictive contact scoring, lead gen bot, smart matches (deduplication of data), chatbot, deal insights (close rate, trending, at risk, or cold), and forecasting insights
- Integrations: Messaging channels (short message service, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Apple Business Chat), website (classic forms, smart forms, and website tracking), application programming interface (API) access, and Freshworks Marketplace
- Mobile app: Android and iOS apps, contact, account, and deal management, voice notes, book Uber from CRM, Google Maps integration, caller ID, location check-in, automatic call logging, documents, and offline access
- Help and support: 24/7 support via phone, chat, and email; access to dedicated account manager for Enterprise users
Read our Freshsales review to discover how this software can benefit your growing business.
Zoho CRM: Best Cost-effective CRM With Call Center Features
Zoho CRM
Overall Score:
4.39 / 5
What We Like
- Integration with PBX systems provide precise analytics on sales calls-to-deals made, allowing call strategies to be adjusted for better performance
- Call reporting analytics are displayed in an easy-to-understand format
- Call center software included in Zoho Desk, customer service software within the Zoho ecosystem
What's Missing
- Free plan has very few features and is limited to three users
- Limited customer support; premium support requires separate purchase
- Most of the CRM customization is only available in the highest-priced plan
Zoho CRM Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Up to three users (minimal features)
- Bigin: $7
- Standard: $14
- Professional: $23
- Enterprise: $40
- Ultimate: $52
- Zoho CRM Plus: $57
- Free trial: 15 days
Add-ons:
- Additional file storage: $4 per month per 5GB
- Additional data storage: $2 to $4 per 100 MB
- Additional data backup: $12 per request
*Per user, per month pricing is based on annual billing. Monthly pricing is also available at slightly higher rates.
Zoho CRM offers a free option with basic features and robust yet affordable paid plans. It has a built-in telephony system, allowing you to buy local or toll-free numbers and assign unique outgoing numbers to your agents. This solution integrates with Zoho Desk, so you can access email ticketing and help desk capabilities at no additional cost. You can also connect it with other telephony and PBX programs, such as Ring.io, Amazon Connect, and Zoho PhoneBridge.
One of the challenges of using Zoho CRM is navigating around its robust features since this is an all-inclusive sales solution that offers a broad suite of tools. If you prefer using call center software that is not as complicated as a full-featured CRM, consider choosing Voicent or Nextiva.
Zoho CRM Features
- Sales force automation: Leads, contacts, accounts, deals, tasks, events, call logs, notes, sales forecasting, email insights, multiple currencies, scoring rules, assignment rules, email parser, and multiple pipelines
- CRM customization: Page customization, rename tabs, custom fields, custom modules, page layouts, and custom list views
- Telephony: PBX integration, single-click dialing, reminders for upcoming and missed calls, automate scheduling of calls and post-call activities, auto-log calls, update call status, and save notes
- Zia (artificial intelligence): Data enrichment, conversational AI assistant, reminders, best time to contact, smart automations, assignment suggestions, AI for emails, and best recommendations
- Reports and analytics: Standard and custom reports, scheduled reports, charts, key performance indicators (KPIs), funnels, target meter, comparator, cohorts, anomaly detector, dashboard, webform analytics, webform A/B testing, and workflow reports
- Social: Enrich data with Twitter and Facebook profiles, social tabs, automated lead generation from social media, and social interaction with leads and contacts
- Marketing automation: Email templates, email opt-out, mass email, marketing campaigns, customer segmentation, and auto-responders
- Web forms: Web-to-lead, web-to-contact, and web-to-case forms
- Team collaboration: Motivator (gamification), calendar, status updates, direct messages, attach file to leads, tagging, and groups for team collaboration
- Inventory management (for Professional and higher plans only): Products, price books, sales quotes, sales orders, invoices, vendors, and purchase orders
- Integrations: Apps for online meetings, telephony and PBX, team collaboration, office productivity, storage, analytics, email marketing, customer service, finance, business operations, website visitor tracking, and maps and route planning
- Mobile app: Android and iOS apps manage deals, contacts, tasks, analytics dashboards, RouteIQ (route planning), and mobile card scanner (convert business cards into CRM contacts)
- Customer support: Knowledge base, FAQs, community forum, training, videos, webinars, e-books, and Zia on-screen tips; tier-based customer support via email (24/7), phone (critical cases only or 24/5), and live chat (24/5)
If you want to learn more about this software’s features and capabilities, read our Zoho CRM review.
Nextiva: Best for Automating Call Center Functionalities
Nextiva
Overall Score:
4.33 / 5
What We Like
- Offers 24/7 customer support via phone, live chat, and email
- Drag-and-drop call flow builder for setting up the phone system
- Known for having a high percentage of uptime and minimal outages
What's Missing
- Does not offer a free plan
- Training is limited to videos
- Doesn’t offer email marketing
Nextiva Pricing at a Glance*
- Essential: Starts at $28.95
- Professional: Starts at $33.95
- Enterprise: Starts at $43.95
- Ultimate: Starts at $73.95
- Cloud contact center: Contact sales for pricing
- Free trial: 7 days
*Per user, per month pricing is based on annual billing. Monthly pricing is also available at slightly higher rates, while 24-month, 36-month, and pre-pay 36-month agreements are available at lower rates.
Nextiva offers business communication plans that consolidate phone, video, chat, and collaboration tools into a single app. Its features include unlimited HD calling, call routing, screen sharing, and custom caller ID. While it does not function like a traditional CRM, it has excellent automation features that allow you to automatically deploy surveys after calls, prioritize cases with poor customer feedback, and direct emails to new leads.
Nextiva is an excellent tool for business communication management, but it may not be the best choice for you if your business requires robust customer support features. In that case, consider Freshsales or Bitrix24, which both offer free and affordable call center CRM software options.
Nextiva Features
The call pop feature provides a view of all relevant customer information and interactions on a single screen. (Source: Nextiva)
- Voice calling: Unlimited calling within the U.S. and Canada, free local and toll-free number, 1,500 to 12,500 toll-free minutes, high-definition (HD) voice, auto-attendant, unlimited internet fax, and free number porting
- Voice productivity: Call pop (complete customer information view), voice-to-email notifications, voice-to-SMS notifications, voicemail transcription, team presence (agent status and availability), shared line appearance, professionally recorded greeting, single sign-on, hold music, and call group
- Meetings: Unlimited conference calls, unlimited video calling, and HD video calling
- Collaboration: Team messaging and collaboration, private group messaging, screen sharing, mobile SMS and MMS (multimedia messaging service)
- Voice analytics and reports: Call history, call log reports, and voice analytics
- Voice administration: Admin portal, user portal, dashboard, real-time system status alerts, and call recording
- Phones: Bring your own device (BYOD), desk and conference phone rental options, desk phone, and conference phone
- Integrations: Nextiva CRM, Salesforce, Microsoft Outlook, Google Contacts, HubSpot, Zendesk, NetSuite, ServiceNow, ConnectWise, and Microsoft Dynamics
- Mobile app: Android and iOS apps; Nextiva Anywhere (inbound and outbound calls from your own mobile device)
- Customer support: Multisite support, real-time system alert status, professional implementation, and 24/7 support via email, chat, and phone
Check out our Nextiva review to find out if this is the right solution for your growing business.
Pipedrive: Best Call Center CRM With Workflow Automation
Pipedrive
Overall Score:
4.30 / 5
What We Like
- Has workflow automation for calls
- Offers automatic call routing features
- Extensive third-party software integrations
What's Missing
- Lead generation and marketing features cost extra
- Does not offer a free plan
- Calling features are available only in Professional and Enterprise plans
Pipedrive Pricing at a Glance*
- Essential: $14.90
- Advanced: $24.90
- Professional: $49.90
- Enterprise: $99 (minimum of 10 users)
Add-ons:
- LeadBooster (Lead generation tools): $32.50 per company, per month
- Web Visitors (visitor tracking): $41 per company, per month
- Campaigns (email campaigns and templates): $13.33 per company, per month
- Smart Docs (trackable documents): $32.50 per company, per month
*Per user, per month pricing is based on annual billing. Monthly pricing is also available at slightly higher rates.
Pipedrive has its own contact center CRM software that allows you to easily import contacts and automate your call management workflows. You can automatically route or assign incoming calls to specific agents and add important data to contact records. It also allows you to schedule follow-up activities based on the nature and outcome of your last call.
You can use its built-in dial pad or integrate it with third-party phone systems like Aircall and Justcall to place calls to your customers. Aside from that, it comes with call recording features and storage for your call scripts.
While Pipedrive is a solid option for call center CRM software, it lacks some native out-of-the-box sales and marketing features in its basic plan. For instance, email templates and workflow automation are not included in its Standard plan. However, Freshsales and Zoho CRM offer the same features across all tiers. You can also use Nextiva if you need a multichannel business communication solution with call routing and unlimited HD calling.
Pipedrive Features
Pipedrive’s built-in caller (Source: Pipedrive)
- Sales CRM: Offers lead and deal management features that include customizable pipelines, products catalog, leads inbox, deal rotting, and custom fields
- Call center software: Includes features for automatic call recording and logging, making and receiving calls, auto-assign inbound calls, and automatically store callers’ data
- Communication tracking: Tools for tracking updates on leads and deals, activities, and email opens; includes automatic scheduling of emails, meetings, and video calls
- Smart Docs: Built-in document management tools for monitoring quotes, proposals, and electronic signature gathering
- Built-in appointment booking tool: Sends calendar links to leads via live chat, then syncs meetings to the sales rep’s calendar through Pipedrive Scheduler
- Smart contact data feature: Provides extensive information on leads using email addresses and publicly available data such as Google+ and LinkedIn
- AI sales assistant: Gives sales representatives tips for improving performance based on past customer behavior and data within the CRM
Check out our Pipedrive review to explore the other benefits that your company can gain from using this software.
HubSpot CRM: Best Contact Center CRM With Conversational Intelligence
HubSpot CRM
Overall Score:
4.28 / 5
What We Like
- Conversation intelligence helps sales team managers in coaching reps
- Seamless integration with Aircall for phone support
- HubSpot Service Hub includes shared inbox, live chat software, and self-service tools
What's Missing
- Built-in caller is available only in paid plans
- Lacks project management tools
- Does not offer more than one pipeline on the free plan
HubSpot CRM Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Supports an unlimited number of users
- Starter: Starts at $45 per month (2 users)
- Professional: Starts at $450 per month (5 users)
- Enterprise: $1,200 per month (10 users)
Add-ons for paid plans:
- CRM Suite: Starts at $45 per month
- Additional user: Starts at $23/user/month
*Based on annual billing. Monthly pricing is also available at slightly higher rates.
HubSpot CRM offers powerful yet easy-to-use call center software in the form of its Service Hub. It helps your team improve the quality of customer service with its advanced automation tools and insightful analytics reports. In addition, it comes with a shared email inbox, live chat software, call tracking, and self-service features. Its seamless integration with Aircall (plans start at $30 per user, per month) lets you provide phone support to your customers.
This platform enables team managers to coach their reps efficiently through its conversation intelligence. This feature automatically takes notes of commonly mentioned keywords and provides transcription for voice data in your CRM. Using the insights it produces, managers can identify performance patterns, leave feedback, coach reps, and help them overcome objections and close more deals.
One of the disadvantages of HubSpot CRM is its lack of project management tools. If your business requires a CRM system with integrated project management features, consider using Bitrix24. If you are looking for more affordable alternatives that are also equipped with advanced call center management tools, subscribe to Freshsales or Zoho CRM.
HubSpot CRM Features
Making an outbound call from a contact record (Source: HubSpot CRM)
- Sales Hub: Tools for managing and segmenting contacts, sending emails, deal tracking, creating sales documents, chatting with visitors, and making voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) calls
- Marketing Hub: Attract leads through blogs and social media; convert visitors into customers using landing pages and email marketing automation, and run inbound marketing campaigns
- Service Hub: Deliver quality customer service with conversational tools, help desk automation, knowledge base functionality, customer surveys, and reporting
- Call center software: Automatically track and log sales calls, make outbound calls, conversational intelligence
- Custom workflow automations: Create tasks based on lead-triggering activities
- Quotes: Easily generate professional quotes using click-to-quote tools
- Communication features: Built-in telephone and email communication tools
- Event management feature: Data from marketing events can be stored and managed through integrations with event planning and scheduling applications like Eventbrite, atEvent, and Attendease
- Appointment setting tools: Built-in meeting scheduling tools for leads to set appointments
Read our in-depth HubSpot CRM review to learn more about how this platform helps small businesses grow. Plus, check out how HubSpot CRM compares to another robust CRM product in our comparison review of Insightly vs HubSpot.
Voicent: Best for Advanced Call Center Features
Voicent
Overall Score:
3.71 / 5
What We Like
- Has a built-in email campaign tool
- Includes automated phone survey even for outbound calls
- Offers predictive dialing features, which can drastically improve calling productivity
What's Missing
- Certain features like inbound call center caller ID and workflow automation cost extra
- No mobile application
- Free customer support is limited to self-help modules and tutorial videos
Voicent Pricing at a Glance*
- All-in-One Voicent Cloud: $19 per agent, per month
- Usage fees: Starts at 1.5 cents per minute
- Free trial: 30 days
Support and Training:
- Professional Support and Training: Ranges from $149 to $499 one-time fee
- Annual support: $99 per month (paid annually) or 30% of software purchase
- One-time product help phone support: $185 per hour
Add-ons:
- Inbound call center with number: $15 per number
- Two-way text message campaign tool with number: $15 per number
- Additional inbound/outbound voice channel: $7 per channel
- Workflow automation and customer journey management: $99 per account
- Caller ID: $2 per ID
- Email campaign tool: $5 per user
- Call center manager: $10 per user
- Dedicated cloud account: Starts at $250 per month
*Based on annual billing. Monthly pricing is also available at slightly higher rates.
Voicent is a communication platform that offers a built-in CRM with basic contact and lead management functionalities. It is equipped with call center-specific tools that help improve agent productivity, such as automated outbound phone surveys, IVR, and an auto-dialer. It also integrates with other CRM platforms, including Zoho CRM, Salesforce, and SugarCRM.
Among the glaring disadvantages of Voicent are its lack of a mobile app, few third-party integrations, and limited customization options. It also does not offer online marketing campaign tools. You have to pay extra for other call center features like inbound call center caller ID, workflow automation, and email campaigns. If you need a CRM with phone capabilities and more customization options, choose Agile CRM or Zoho CRM.
Voicent Features
- CRM: Contact management, CRM import wizard, save search filters, custom fields, custom sales pipeline categories, custom displays, agent access management, and custom agent roles and permissions
- Business automation: Capture leads (via phone, email, and web), track website visitors and web forms, workflow triggers, contact activity tracking, record daily sales and potential deals, agent performance and activity, custom caller experience, and automatic CRM pop-up on phone calls
- Call center tools: Auto-dialer, predictive dialer, PBX phone system, outbound call center, inbound and outbound IVR, email and SMS marketing, phone and SMS surveys, and inbound call center
- Help and support: Product usage self-help module and YouTube tutorials; paid support includes product training, standard setup, professional support, remote login, and free upgrades, license transfers, remote support services, maintenance, and email and phone support
Bitrix24: Best for Combined Call Center & Project Management Tools
Bitrix24
Overall Score:
3.16 / 5
What We Like
- Phone features work anywhere in the world
- Relatively inexpensive when evaluated per user
- Call center software includes collaboration options that integrate well with the project management tools
What's Missing
- Does not offer any customer phone support
- User interface can be difficult to navigate
- Unlimited call recording is only available in higher-priced plans
Bitrix24 Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Unlimited users
- Basic: $39 per month (5 users)
- Standard: $79 per month (50 users)
- Professional: $159 per month (unlimited users)
*Based on annual billing. Monthly and quarterly pricing are also available at slightly higher rates.
Bitrix24 is a CRM system with integrated project management features that can be used for specific call center functions. For example, you can assign inbound calls as tasks within a project. You can also automatically generate leads for answered and missed calls logged in the contact center. In addition, you can connect your phone to your CRM to link calls to deals.
This solution is excellent if you need additional tools for human resources and website design. Its telephonic features allow you to call your staff or clients directly from your CRM app. You can also easily access relevant contact data, such as company position or order details before you start a call.
Much like Bitrix24, Zoho CRM also offers tools for managing human resource tasks. When it comes to project management features, Bitrix24 has the edge because of its Gantt chart generation and Kanban board functionality. However, it does not offer phone customer support, and its user interface can be overwhelming for beginners. Freshsales, on the other hand, offers unlimited support and has an easy-to-use interface.
Bitrix24 Features
Bitrix24’s telephony solution (Source: Bitrix24)
- CRM: Unlimited leads, deals, contacts, quotes, and invoices; lead and deal conversion, product catalog, sales pipelines, sales automation tools, custom fields, document generator, custom stages, client profile, activity timeline, recurring deals and invoices, automatic duplicate detection, payment and delivery, and inventory management
- Contact Center: Connect different channels (phone, email, live chat, and social media messaging) to your CRM; built-in telephony call back widget, website widget, and email copy storage
- Telephony: PBX integration, unlimited incoming and outgoing lines, call routing, call transfer, VoIP integration, internal extensions, work hour settings, voicemail and greetings, call-to-all distribution mode, missed call forwarding, export call details, automatic dialer, client conversation rating, interactive voice response (IVR) menu, queue groups, automatic call transcription menu, and call recording
- Communication: Chat, HD video calls, video conferencing, company drive, calendar, company social network, newsfeeds, workgroups, extranet (private network with controlled access for outsiders), announcements, polls, appreciation badges, video announcements, company knowledge base, and smart search
- Tasks and projects: Tasks, Kanban boards, project management, autofocus mode (automatically sort tasks based on priority), scrum, efficiency KPI, task automation, attach files from drive, integration with workflows, access permissions, and report builder
- Sites and landing pages: Visual website builder, connect sites to Bitrix24 call tracking, free website hosting, website widget, customer journey tracking, and site import/export
- Ecommerce: Online store builder, products, orders, checkout scripts, order processing, payment processing, access rights, coupons, cumulative discounts, automation rules, fixed shipping costs, shipping cost calculator, and inventory management
- CRM marketing: Customer segmentation, segment-based email marketing, audience search, Facebook advertising, advertising automation rules, and email templates
- Sales intelligence: Automatic customer journey tracking, analytical reports, automated ad management, call tracking, and offline ad tracking
- Human resources (HR) tools: Company social network, employee profile page, company structure, employee directory, quick employee search, work time tracking, absence management, work reports, company knowledge base, and meetings
- Mobile app: Android and iOS apps; deals, contacts, companies, invoices, offers, products, tasks, and projects
- Customer support: Help desk, online training (tooltips, FAQs, video tutorials, and webinars), chat with tech support, and email support
We have created this Bitrix24 review to help you decide if this solution fits your business needs.
How We Evaluated the Best CRM Call Center Software
Excellent call center CRM software provides state-of-the-art features specific to phone calling activities within the platform or through a third-party app integration. The software should also offer users reporting functionality to track call logs and call center activity. Additionally, great CRM providers deliver solid customer support, are easy to use, and offer attractive pricing options—some of the core CRM features that small businesses need.
Based on our evaluation, Freshsales is the best CRM software for call centers because of its ability to offer unique call center features like Queue Callback (virtual hold), Bring Your Own Carrier, and supervisor call center controls, all in addition to CRM sales and marketing tools.
The tabs below offer more insight into our evaluation process for selecting the best free customer service software:
30%
Niche-specific Features
20%
Ease of Use
20%
Help & Support
10%
Pricing
10%
General Features
10%
Expert Score
30% of Overall Score
The most important evaluation criteria involved the features relating directly to managing and tracking contacts, leads, and calls. For call-center CRMs, it is essential to have a built-in phone system and tools for generating call-centric analytics reports. Other essential features we evaluated include lead scoring, email and SMS (short message service) marketing, and workflow automation.
20% of Overall Score
The solutions were also evaluated on platform usability. This was analyzed in terms of the expertise required to set up an account and integrate with native or third-party applications, and the skill needed to operate the CRM’s contact, lead, and call center features. We also reviewed the overall intuitiveness of navigating the system’s interface.
20% of Overall Score
Extensive support and service help prevent poor customer experiences and outcomes users may encounter while using any of these systems. Help and support were evaluated in terms of customer service hours and the availability of support via phone, live chat, and email. We also looked at online resources for users to review, like tutorials, forums, or training modules.
10% of Overall Score
Pricing takes into account free plan availability, various scalable pricing options users can purchase affordably, and the availability for a subscriber to either pay monthly or save by paying annually. Additionally, we looked at the costs specifically for its call management features.
10% of Overall Score
In addition to call center-specific and core CRM features, we looked at the overall functionality we feel is necessary for a CRM. This includes various CRM integration options, reporting and analytics tools, customizable sales pipelines, and a mobile app. We also evaluated other common capabilities in most CRM systems, such as task management and automated workflow options.
10% of Overall Score
In addition to firsthand experience with these contact center software systems, we evaluated what users say about each product. These criteria consider how customers feel, based on their reviews, to gain insight into platform popularity, ease of use, and overall value for the price.
*Percentages of overall score
