When organizations go on the hunt for a new contact center solution, they often consider the brand name Cisco. After all, Cisco has been in the business for quite some time and boasts of supporting “over 3.6 million agents across 36,000+ different enterprises.”
Cisco offers both cloud-based and on-premises contact center software that include features like AI-powered customer insights, integrated collaboration tools, workforce management, and workforce optimization. This makes Cisco Contact Center a popular platform, but is it the best choice for your business?
Let’s dig deeper into Cisco Unified Contact Center Express (UCCX)’s features, plans, and pricing to determine whether it’s the best fit for you.
Cisco Contact Center Pricing Explained
The first step to knowing if Cisco Contact Center is right for you is to understand how much you’ll be paying and what you’ll get for your money. Unfortunately, Cisco doesn’t make it easy to find out exactly how much its contact center solution costs, so we’ll need to break it down.
Licensing model
Cisco’s contact center/call center offerings are sold under a packaged licensing model and require significant professional service fees. This means that the cost will vary depending on the features you use and the number of agents or seats you need for your operation.
A benefit of this model is that it allows you to select the features you want or keep only the features within your budget. However, this also means you’re not getting everything unless you pay a premium to get every add-on. This is why many organizations tend to prefer inclusive pricing models, where everything is available at a predictable, recurring price.
Starting price
So, how much can you expect to pay for the most basic Cisco license? Unfortunately, Cisco does not publicly list its specific pricing. Instead, potential customers must contact Cisco’s sales department to get a quote or detailed pricing information for their specific needs.
With that said, sources across the web provide good approximations. Depending on the number of agents, the annual license for UCCX Basic comes to around $1,359 per user per year. Meanwhile, if you want the UCCX Enhanced license, that will nearly double the price to around $2,288 per user per year.
Cisco Contact Center features
Given the cost of Cisco Contact Center, what would you be getting out of it? Cisco has several powerful features, but keep in mind that the base price does not include everything.
Multichannel support
Cisco Contact Center is a multichannel solution, allowing agents to manage their customer interactions across voice, email, messaging, and web chat. For ease of use and access, this is all handled through a single interface.
Interactive voice response
Contact centers can set up customizable interactive voice response systems to guide callers through self-service options. This improves efficiency by helping customers get answers to their questions quickly and frees up agents for more complex tasks.
Computer telephony integration
Computer telephony integration integrates a business’s telephone system with the call center agent’s desktop, including applications like helpdesk and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. This allows clients to handle calls without needing a landline and enables features like click-to-call, intelligent call routing, and screen pops that contain important customer information.
Skills-based routing
Customers call in with all sorts of questions, and some agents are better equipped to handle certain queries than others. Skills-based routing helps ensure customers reach the best available agent by directing their calls based on individual agents’ skill sets.
Reporting tools
Cisco offers real-time and historical data reporting tools, providing insights into the contact center, individual agent performances, and customer satisfaction. This can help managers monitor operations and make informed, data-driven decisions.
Workforce optimization
You want your contact center to be fully staffed, but not over-staffed. Workforce optimization tools can help forecast staffing needs, schedule agents, and monitor performances to ensure optimal staffing levels at all times.
CRM integrations
CRM solutions help contact centers track and manage their customer interactions, including important information about previous calls or issues. Integrating a CRM like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Microsoft Dynamics 365 allows agents to instantly access customer information and automatically log their calls, saving time by eliminating repetitive manual tasks.
Artificial intelligence
Cisco offers several AI-powered features and automation tools, such as predictive analytics and automated call transcripts.
No free trial
Perhaps you’re considering using Cisco, but you’re not sure if it is worth the money or offers quite what you need. So it might be helpful to try it out first and see if it truly meets your contact center’s needs.
Sadly, though, Cisco does not offer a free trial period. When you purchase a license, you’re committed to the entire license period. If you’re on the fence, or if upfront testing and cost-free evaluation are important for your business strategy, you’ll need to keep this in mind when considering Cisco.
Other Pricing Considerations for Cisco
While the pricing for Cisco Contact Center will vary significantly, the most important thing is to make sure that you’re getting your money’s worth. Be sure to consider these factors when deciding if Cisco Contact Center is right for you.
Integrations and customization
When you purchase a contact center solution, you’ll need to consider how well it integrates with your existing tools and apps as well as how this will impact the overall cost.
Cisco’s contact center platform integrates well with other Cisco products, as well as several third-party systems. However, integrating it with a complex infrastructure can add to the overall price, even with Cisco’s APIs, meaning you’ll likely pay more than expected to use the tools you already have.
Scalability
You need a contact center solution that can grow with your business, and a good, flexible solution will let you add seats as needed.
Cisco UCCX is designed for small to mid-sized contact centers and can support up to 400 agents. (Larger enterprises will want Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise.) It can support sophisticated contact center functionalities for many agents as well as complex interaction management scenarios.
However, if your contact center isn’t that large or needs more flexibility throughout the year, it might not be the best value overall. Cisco’s on-premises contact center also requires a physical workplace location and equipment — not to mention other networking requirements.
Deployment and support costs
Many overlooked expenses go into setting up and supporting a traditional, on-premises contact center solution. Maintenance, technical support, and agent and IT training can all add extra costs to a contact center, especially for more complex solutions.
Consumers have noted that Cisco’s setup and ongoing management can be complex, often requiring additional investments for support and training. So you might end up paying more than the price you’re initially given.
Why Contact Centers Prefer Nextiva
Once you’ve considered all these factors, it’s possible that Cisco isn’t right for you. If that’s the case, perhaps Nextiva is a better option.
Organizations around the world use Nextiva’s omnichannel cloud contact center solution. Its benefits include:
👉 Transparent pricing: Nextiva offers clear pricing plans, with three different plans that have clearly laid-out features. This makes it easy to pick the plan you need at the best price. With Cisco, on the other hand, you need to directly contact their sales team or a reseller partner to get a quote, and the prices can vary significantly.
👉 Inclusive features: With Nextiva, you don’t need to mix and match contact center features. Its plans include a wide range of features, all available out-of-the-box and at no additional cost.
👉 Ease of use: Nextiva is an incredibly intuitive platform that requires minimal technical support. Setup and onboarding take very little time, and its user-friendly agent desktop requires minimal training. This keeps setup and support costs low while minimizing any delays or difficulties during onboarding.
👉 Remote and hybrid flexibility: Nextiva works across any network and can be configured for different types of teams and staff, including remote and hybrid work. This gives contact center agents and managers the flexibility and independence to work in the way they prefer.
👉 Scalability: Contact centers will often need to adjust their seats throughout the year or expand as their company grows. Nextiva offers scalable cloud-based solutions with flexible service adjustments, enabling organizations to add or remove seats as needed without paying any extra costs.
👉 Customer support: Nextiva’s customer support has been praised for its speed, helpfulness, and overall quality. Each Nextiva Contact Center plan includes exceptional customer support, so you’ll always be able to get the help you need whenever you need it.
If you’re looking for a great contact center solution, you can’t go wrong with Nextiva.
Related: Cisco Webex Contact Center Pricing: Is It Worth It?
