Virtual call center: The 5 best software for 2024

Even in a digital-first age, customers still prefer contacting businesses by phone, especially for high-stakes or urgent issues. However, with the rise of swift and seamless digital channels like AI-powered bots and messaging, service expectations have increased. Today, customers expect fast, personalized, and effortless service across all channels.

Virtual call center software can meet these expectations, enabling teams to deliver excellent support from any location. In this guide, we explore five virtual call center options to help you choose the right one. Discover how this technology can enhance your call center operations and enable exceptional customer experiences from anywhere.

More in this guide:

• What is virtual call center software?
• Virtual call center solutions comparison chart
• The 5 best virtual call center software
• Benefits of virtual call center software
• How to choose the right virtual call center service for your business
• Frequently asked questions
• Upgrade your virtual call center with Zendesk

Virtual call center software is a cloud-based computer program that allows agents to make and receive phone calls directly from their computers to work from different locations, including regional and work-from-home offices. This boosts call center productivity and lowers operations costs by ensuring teams can deliver efficient phone support from anywhere.

Unlike legacy on-premise call center solutions, virtual call center software allows you to manage operations remotely. It enables you to track performance in real time, identify coaching opportunities, and deliver personalized voice interactions regardless of your team's location. It uses a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system, allowing voice calls over a broadband internet connection. Consequently, virtual call center software sets up quickly without high overhead costs, providing immediate value.

Discover more about virtual call center solutions with our comprehensive table, detailing pricing, free trial options, and key features.

Now, let’s explore an in-depth overview of the software options on our list to help you make the best choice for your needs.

• Zendesk
• Aircall
• CloudTalk
• Talkdesk
• Five9

1. Zendesk

Zendesk virtual call center software combines generative AI, scalability, reliability, and customization, facilitating a seamless customer experience no matter where your agents are working. Our user-friendly software sets up quickly and easily, with no technical expertise required.

Zendesk AI is pre-trained on more than 18 billion real customer service interactions, so it automatically understands your customers from day one. With Zendesk generative AI call center tools, you can decrease call wrap-up times and enhance agent efficiency by automatically creating call transcripts and summaries. Meanwhile, intelligent call routing and transfers ensure callers are routed to the right agent or department every time.

With Zendesk AI-powered QA and WFM, you effectively manage remote and regional teams, track productivity, and monitor performance in real time. Zendesk QA can review 100 percent of your calls across languages and business process outsourcing. It leverages AI to automatically detect issues in service quality, flag churn risk, and uncover coaching opportunities that you can use to improve agent performance and drive customer retention. Zendesk WFM—which also uses AI—enables managers to forecast call staffing needs and automatically schedule agents based on those insights.

The Zendesk Agent Home unifies all of your customer conversations, enabling your team to manage calls from the same interface as all of their other support channels. Agents get access to robust customer profiles directly within their workspace, arming them with key customer context to personalize interactions. And with enterprise-grade security, you can rest assured that your customer data is safe.

The Zendesk integrated voice software also includes an easy-to-use IVR scripting and workflow builder, enabling you to customize your IVR menu to your call center’s needs. With it, you can provide recorded responses for frequently asked questions, deflect calls by allowing callers to switch from a live call to a text message, and direct callers to the right place.

Finally, Zendesk includes real-time analytics so managers can monitor agent performance, track KPIs, and share insights with stakeholders seamlessly.

Features:

• Omnichannel support
• Interactive voice response (IVR) software and self-service
• Intelligent call routing and transfers
• Advanced reporting and analytics
• Generative AI for voice
• Workforce engagement management (WEM)
• Security
• 1,500+ apps and integrations
• Agent status
• Auto answer
• CRM integrations

Pricing: Plans start at $55 per agent/month, billed annually. 14-day free trial available.

Explore more Zendesk pricing plans.

2. Aircall

Aircall is a business phone and communication platform for sales and support teams. The product is suitable for both in-house and remote call center operations.

The virtual call center interface lets teams field calls through computers or mobile devices, and the unified dashboard helps managers monitor team activity and performance. The IVR feature helps businesses route customer calls to support agents, while business text messaging allows teams to communicate with customers via SMS and MMS.

Features:

• IVR and self-service
• Call routing and transfers
• Reporting and analytics
• Generative AI for voice
• Security
• Computer telephony integration (CTI)
• Activity feed

Pricing: Plans start at $30 per license/month, billed annually. A seven-day free trial is available.

Recommended reading: Learn how Aircall integrates with Zendesk.

3. CloudTalk

CloudTalk is a virtual call center software that helps remote teams with onboarding, agent productivity tracking, and performance monitoring. The product allows for worldwide calling, so organizations can assist international customers.

Features like call tagging, smart dialer, and call transfers can help support virtual call center agents track and interact with customers. Managers can use workflow automation features to automate repetitive tasks and agent reporting to monitor the availability and productivity of their team.

Features:

• IVR and self-service
• Intelligent call routing and transfers
• Reporting and analytics
• Generative AI for voice
• Workforce engagement management (WEM)
• Security
• Call tagging
• Agent status
• Auto answer

Pricing: Plans start at $25 per user/month, billed annually. A 14-day free trial is available.

Recommended reading: Learn how CloudTalk integrates with Zendesk.

4. Talkdesk

Talkdesk is a cloud contact center platform suitable for businesses and teams in several industries. Its AI features assist with customer service, automation, and general issue resolution.

Talkdesk’s interface can allow teams to build custom user dashboards and reports. The Builder capabilities feature no-code and low-code development tools that teams can use to customize workspaces and integrations. Additionally, interactive voice response can direct customer calls to the right support agent.

Features:

• Omnichannel support
• IVR and self-service
• Call routing and transfers
• Reporting and analytics
• Generative AI for voice
• Workforce engagement management (WEM)
• Security
• Custom reports and dashboards
• Talkdesk copilot
• Proactive outbound engagement

Pricing: Plans start at $85 per user/month with a three-year commitment.

Recommended reading: Learn how Talkdesk integrates with Zendesk.

5. Five9

Five9 is cloud contact center software for businesses in industries such as healthcare, financial services, and retail. The product takes a multichannel approach, allowing support agents to communicate with customers on several channels.

Five9’s routing capabilities allow businesses to route customers to support agents based on custom criteria. The Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA) is a chatbot that helps customers with basic problems or self-service resources. Five9 also has performance management and gamification features.

Features:

• Omnichannel support
• IVR and self-service
• Call routing and transfers
• Reporting and analytics
• Generative AI for voice
• Workforce engagement management (WEM)
• Security
• Gamification
• Intelligent Virtual Assistant
• CRM integrations

Pricing: Plans start at $175 per concurrent user/month.

Recommended reading: Learn how Five9 integrates with Zendesk.

Choosing the right virtual call center software can offer numerous benefits for your customers, agents, administrators, and overall business operations. Here are some ways it can enhance your call center.

Enhanced agent experience

Virtual call center software enhances the agent experience by introducing greater flexibility into call center operations. It allows service agents and managers to work remotely from any location with an internet connection. This flexibility boosts job satisfaction and helps reduce agent burnout.

Moreover, virtual call center technology empowers employees to perform their jobs more effectively. AI-powered QA enables managers to virtually monitor agent performance, identify training opportunities, and celebrate top performers. Additionally, AI-powered workforce management (WFM) helps create more efficient schedules across various work locations, preventing understaffing and ensuring optimal coverage.

Upgraded customer experience

Customers expect quick, effective, and personalized service, regardless of your team’s location. Virtual call center software can help your team meet these expectations. Features like omnichannel agent workspaces provide support reps with access to comprehensive customer profiles, including order history, loyalty status, previous support interactions, and other crucial data. This context allows agents to resolve issues promptly and efficiently.

Ensuring customer information is secure is also paramount. Choose solutions that offer the necessary compliance certifications and memberships to protect employee, customer, and company data.

Boosted call center efficiency

AI-powered virtual call center tools can elevate your team’s performance. For example, AI can automatically generate call transcripts and summaries, reducing call wrap-up times. Additionally, intelligent call routing ensures customers are always connected to the right agent or department, decreasing call transfer rates and improving resolution times.

AI-driven QA tools can identify churn risks, allowing your team to address potential issues proactively. WFM software can also forecast staffing needs, enabling more efficient scheduling for your virtual team.

Increased scalability

Traditional call centers typically require physical expansion to accommodate more support agents, such as buying more equipment and expanding office spaces. Virtual call center software can easily scale up or down to meet customer needs since teams can often work remotely. This allows businesses to be agile and empowers them to maintain high service levels regardless of fluctuations in customer demand.

Decreased costs

Organizations can lower costs by switching to a virtual call center business model. Businesses don’t have to worry about the physical costs of running an in-office support team. Additionally, virtual call centers can be quick to set up and more cost-effective to maintain than traditional call centers—aspects that will lower your overhead and improve your bottom line.

Not all online call center solutions are created equal. While the best tool for your business will depend on your specific needs, here are a few key areas to focus on:

• Prioritize AI: Artificial intelligence can help virtual teams boost productivity through AI-powered QA, WFM, intelligent routing, and more. Look for AI tools that are easy to use to increase adoption and lower implementation costs.
• Assess your needs: Some teams may need a solution to help with cold calling, while others might need one to help their CX. If you’re looking for the latter, prioritize a virtual call center software that’s purpose-built for CX, like Zendesk.
• Evaluate the software’s customizability and flexibility: For any software to be useful to your organization, it must integrate seamlessly with your tech stack. Prioritize solutions you can configure around your current processes. Look for options like Zendesk that can integrate all your channels and offer plug-and-play apps and integrations so you can customize the software to fit your needs.
• Calculate ROI: Consider how new technology will financially impact your business—both in terms of how it can save you money and help you drive more revenue. Also, prioritize solutions with transparent pricing and avoid software requiring a team of developers to implement.
• Evaluate time to value and ease of use: Consider how long it will take your team to get up to speed and how long it will take to start creating value. The sooner you can realize the product’s full potential, the better.
• Consider a free trial: Research is useful, but it helps to see the software in action. Free trials allow you to thoroughly explore a product's features and functionality, helping you determine if it meets your needs.
• Go for security and reliability: Businesses need to safeguard customer and company data. Look for software like Zendesk that has a wealth of compliance certifications and memberships to ensure your information is in good hands.

Depending on your business, you may need to weigh other considerations—like if you are better suited for inbound call center software or outbound call center software. That said, the above tips will get you on the right track.