Finding out the cost of switching from landlines to VoIP isn’t straightforward.

It requires digging into various pricing plans and understanding the mix of basic and extra features that meet your business needs.

The cost of a business phone system isn’t just a budget item — it’s an investment to scale your business communication.

Here, we dissect the complex topic of VoIP pricing to help give you a clear idea of what a VoIP phone system might actually cost you. We discuss the main factors affecting the cost and provide tips to ensure you make a financially smart choice for your business.

Breakdown of VoIP Cost

On average, a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system costs between $25 and $35 per line monthly. Additional features like call recording, toll-free numbers, and equipment rentals cost extra. 

VoIP phone systems provide a substantially more cost-effective solution compared to traditional analog-based phone services. While VoIP requires its own set of expenses from providers as well as indirect costs like a high-speed internet connection, the savings over legacy systems are considerable.

The costs of transitioning to a VoIP phone service can be broadly categorized into recurring and one-time expenses.

Recurring Expenses

👉 Monthly/annual subscription fees

The bulk of the recurring VoIP expenses come from monthly or annual subscription fees from VoIP providers. These fees grant access to the core VoIP capabilities that allow businesses to make and receive calls over the internet.

Subscription plans typically range from basic packages with standard calling features to more premium/enterprise plans with advanced functionality like video conferencing, CRM integration, analytics, and more. Pricing can vary greatly between these tiers.

Monthly plans offer more flexibility without long-term commitments, making them suitable for smaller businesses. However, they tend to carry a higher per-month cost compared to Annual Plans where companies can secure discounted rates by prepaying for 12 months of service.

👉 Per-user or per-line fees

Besides subscription fees, VoIP providers commonly structure their pricing model based on a per-user or per-line basis.

Per-user is best suited for businesses with a defined employee headcount, while per-line works better for call-intensive organizations requiring multiple phone lines and numbers. The more users/lines, the higher the total recurring costs.

👉 Metered calling rates

Many business VoIP providers provide unlimited calling nationwide. However, be sure to confirm the international calling rates. International calls cost up to 90% less than traditional telephone companies but will be added to your invoice if your team dials outside the U.S. or Canada.

The international calling rates with VoIP can vary depending on the destination country, call volume, and time of day. Providers may offer flat-rate plans for specific countries or discounted rates for high-volume international callers.

👉 Feature add-ons

VoIP providers charge for specific features and functionalities according to business requirements. Standard features like call forwarding, voicemail, and unlimited domestic calling are typically bundled.

However, advanced capabilities incur extra fees. Some examples of VoIP features you could be paying:

• Virtual meetings and video conferencing
• CRM integration and advanced analytics
• International calling plans
• Auto attendants and call queueing
• Premium customer support

Make sure to identify which advanced features are essential and budget accordingly, as they can substantially increase costs.

One-Time Costs

Implementing VoIP also involves some upfront one-time expenses businesses must account for:

• VoIP equipment: New IP phones or softphone licenses need to be purchased before deployment. Some VoIP providers include hardware or rental options.
• Installation/setup fees: Professional installation can cost hundreds of dollars, though VoIP services often waive these with annual contracts.
• Number porting: Transferring existing phone numbers to the new VoIP phone system incurs fees based on the number of numbers ported.
• Training: Employee training is required to effectively use the VoIP system and features. Basic training may be included but advanced sessions can add costs.

While the recurring and upfront investment for VoIP can seem high, businesses realize major cost savings of up to 90% compared to traditional telephony — especially for international calling. VoIP usage is projected to grow 35% through 2036 as the benefits justify the implementation costs for most organizations.

How Much Does VoIP Cost?

While there are some additional considerations with VoIP costs, many providers like Nextiva have simplified the cost structure by including extras like free number porting, softphone functionality, installation, and setup, so you don’t end up paying separately for each service.

Taking monthly or annual subscriptions, number of users, and variations between specific features per plan into account, here’s an example of how much top VoIP phone services could cost small businesses.

Provider	Cost/user/month (Billed monthly for 1-10 users)	Cost/user/month (Billed annually for 1-10 users)	Popular add-ons
Nextiva	Starts at $25.95	Starts at $18.95	International calling CRM integrations Performance dashboards
RingCentral	Starts at $30	Starts at $20	RingCentral rooms license Extra international numbers High-volume SMS Sales add-ons
Ooma	Starts around $20	Contact Ooma sales for a quote	Extra phone numbers International calling Ooma Premier subscriptions
Vonage	Starts around $18	Starts around $13	International calling plans Integrations High-volume SMS Video conferencing Call recording
8×8	Starts around $28	Starts around $24	Integrations with business productivity tools Call analytics Auto attendants International calling

Hidden VoIP Costs (+How to Avoid Them)

Switching to a VoIP phone system will save money in the long run, but it will only do so if you’re aware of all hidden or unexpected expenses.

There’s nothing nefarious here — these are just the VoIP costs that depend on your location or your specific business needs.

It’s essential to have a solid understanding of the additional costs involved with VoIP calls that can occur. Here’s a breakdown of some hidden or unexpected costs you might encounter:

⚙️ Network Upgrades

VoIP systems rely on internet bandwidth to deliver clear, high-quality calls. If your existing bandwidth is insufficient, you’ll need to upgrade your internet package to meet the demands of VoIP technology. 

Assess your current bandwidth and make sure it can handle the additional load the VoIP system will bring. Try our free VoIP network test to get a realistic figure of how many phone calls your network can handle. 

If an upgrade is necessary, take into account the additional costs, as they will vary depending on your internet service provider and the package you select.

💰Taxes and Fees

Just like traditional phone services (and everything else in life), VoIP services are subject to various taxes and fees. These can include federal, state, and local taxes and regulatory fees.

The tax rates and fees vary between geographical locations, making it imperative to understand the applicable taxes in your area. Phone system consultants say paying between 20% and 30% in taxes isn’t unheard of.

Remember that VoIP tax rates vary by location and largely depend on the business location and phone numbers used.

➕ Additional Features or Add-Ons

Many VoIP providers offer a basic package with the option to add extra features or add-ons, such as advanced call analytics, call center functionality, additional lines, or hands-on customer support, for an additional cost. 

Before committing to a package, evaluate the features included in the base package and identify any additional features your business requires. Understanding the cost implication of these additional features will help you avoid any unexpected expenses down the line.

Tip: Some of these add-ons can be negotiated with your sales representative, so be sure to mention them if you find them valuable, in addition to your business VoIP package.

✳️ Integrations

Integrating with existing business tools like CRM systems or leveraging advanced functions like AI can sometimes necessitate upgrading to a more expensive pricing package. 

Assess the costs of integrating your existing business tools with the VoIP system. If your business requires advanced functionalities, be prepared for additional expenses associated with these features and include them in your VoIP phone system cost.

How Long-Term Commitments Affect VoIP Costs

Before signing any VoIP agreement, it’s crucial to understand the VoIP contract terms. This ensures you know exactly what’s expected of you during the contract and also what you can expect from your VoIP provider.

For an independent explainer of common lingo found in a VoIP contract, Prince Rich has you covered.

Important VoIP contract agreement considerations include:

👉 Length of Contract: Month-to-Month vs. Long-Term Commitments

The length of the contract significantly impacts the cost of VoIP services. 

Month-to-month contracts provide flexibility and are ideal for businesses not ready for a long-term commitment. However, remember that they come at a higher monthly cost.

Long-term contracts come with discounted rates but can also include penalties for early termination. Consider this based on your business’s long-term outlook before committing to any contract.

👉 Termination Fees

Termination fees are charges for exiting the contract before its agreed-upon end date. These fees can be substantial and must be outlined in the contract agreement.

For example, you could be liable for the balance due if you cancel at month six on a 12-month term.

👉 Service-Level Agreements

Service-level agreements are your quality control assurances in a VoIP contract. 

They define the expected service quality, including uptime guarantees. High reliability is essential for business operations, and compensation clauses for service outages provide a financial cushion should your VoIP service drop out for any reason.

Tip: “Five nines” is a common phrase, which refers to 99.999% uptime. This uptime percentage means that five minutes of downtime is anticipated annually.

👉 Limitations or Restrictions on Usage

Some contract agreements might have clauses that limit or restrict certain types of usage constituted as abuse. Examples include automated or predictive dialing — a questionable practice employed by telemarketers. 

These restrictions aim to prevent the misuse of the VoIP service and ensure fair usage.

It’s important you’re aware of any limitations of this type to ensure your business operations comply with the contractual agreement.

👉 Auto-Renewal 

Contract auto-renewal clauses mean the contract will automatically renew for a similar term and price unless terminated by either party before the renewal date. This also ensures your company’s communications are always working and never interrupted.

Be aware of your VoIP contract’s renewal policy, and it’s also good practice to review the contract terms and explore other options in the market at least three months before your contract renewal date. This allows for negotiating better terms or switching to a more cost-effective provider if necessary.

The High Cost of Multiple Communication Apps

Most modern businesses use different applications and software to run their company, also known as their tech stack. Using many potentially outdated and standalone apps generally leads to increased expenses. 

However, cloud-based VoIP services come with many features that can replace or integrate with other communication apps. This alone can lead to cost savings, enhanced productivity, and a simplified communication infrastructure.

Consider the following when weighing the benefits of switching from a diverse tech stack to a centralized VoIP system. 

1. Video Conferencing Programs

Subscription costs for video conferencing platforms like Zoom can constitute a substantial part of communication expenses.

For instance, Zoom, which costs $14.99/month/user, would cost a company with a 50-person team $9,000 annually for video conferencing, something a VoIP provider likely includes as a free or more affordable extra feature.

Additionally, hardware requirements, such as headsets for optimal performance, will incur extra upfront costs.

Since many VoIP systems now come with built-in video conferencing and video calling features, separate subscriptions to Zoom and other video conferencing tools are no longer necessary.

2. Team Collaboration Tools 

Collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams or Slack are integral for team coordination. However, the associated costs could overlap with the features provided by a VoIP system — Slack, for example, costs around $12.50/user/month. 

For a 50-person team, that’s $7,500 a year.

Many VoIP services offer integrated text messaging, file sharing, and collaboration tools that can serve as alternatives to these standalone platforms.

Assessing the functionalities and comparing the costs can help make an informed decision on whether a VoIP system can replace or complement existing collaboration tools.

3. Company Cell Phones

Some companies reimburse or subsidize mobile phones and handsets for their staff — a considerable financial burden often exceeding $50/month per user. However, such reimbursements are more of a perk than the norm — it adds up, especially if someone consumes a lot of data.

Alternatively, business VoIP systems, which provide softphone mobile apps that employees can download to their personal mobile devices at no extra cost, are estimated to be just 8% of an IT department’s budget — a significant reduction for a company that previously provided cell phones and desk phones to their employees. 

4. Operational Security

Operational security is paramount, especially when immediate action is required to lock down communications — something personal SMS and messaging apps aren’t designed for.

Furthermore, if employees use non-standard communications or personal messaging apps for work purposes, this can create an increased risk for HR and legal teams.

VoIP systems provide a unified communications solution with robust security features that allow for quick action in case of security threats.

Evaluating the security protocols and features of a VoIP system compared to standalone personal communication apps offers insight into the level of control and security afforded by integrating communications onto a single platform.

VoIP vs. Conventional Phone Systems

With each system bringing its own set of financial implications, weighing VoIP vs. conventional phone systems extends beyond mere functionality. 

Knowing how each system will impact your business is important, as this also contributes to the expenses you must consider before committing to one system or the other.  

• Staffing: Traditional phone systems, such as private branch exchanges (PBX), call for dedicated staff for management and maintenance, which adds to operational costs. VoIP systems are far more straightforward and need less technical oversight, which reduces their complexity and staffing costs.
• Equipment: The costs of traditional on-premise phone systems are hefty, especially when compared to VoIP hardware. VoIP systems have far lower upfront hardware costs, leading to a more cost-effective setup.
• Infrastructure: Conventional analog phone systems rely on copper wiring, which is notoriously expensive to install and maintain. Virtual phone systems, such as VoIP, however, use internet connections.
• Switching Providers: Migrating from a traditional phone system to VoIP does come with certain costs, which include phone number porting, purchasing new equipment, and staff training. However, the transition leads to short- and long-term savings while also increasing efficiency. 
• Number of Phone Lines: VoIP systems offer better scalability, allowing for easy addition or reduction of phone lines without needing hardware changes. This directly leads to cost savings, as businesses only pay for the lines they need.
• High-Speed Internet Costs: High-speed internet is a prerequisite for VoIP but not conventional phone systems. However, most modern businesses already have high-speed internet, meaning this requirement isn’t a burden when installing a VoIP system.
• Long-Distance Calling: Long-distance calling is also cheaper with VoIP due to its real-time, internet-based nature, eliminating the need for telephony networks that drive up the cost of long-distance voice calls.
• Setup Fees: VoIP setup costs are also lower than conventional phone systems. Legacy phone systems have higher setup fees due to the need for physical hardware and wiring installations, whereas VoIP systems have lower setup costs as they leverage existing internet infrastructure.

ROI of VoIP: Is It Worth It?

Now that we’ve covered what goes into VoIP phone system costs, we need to decide whether or not investing in a VoIP system is the right decision for your company’s communications.

There are many considerations to take into account, such as lower costs, increased productivity, better customer experience, improved business continuity, and operational flexibility.

✅ Measurable Cost Savings  

The direct cost of one phone system over another is often the first thing to consider. 

For example, a business with 100 employees looking into a robust communications platform will likely consider a cloud-based phone system, or they might wonder if it’s better to use their budget to go with an on-premises PBX. Let’s dive in.

For 100 users, Nextiva Enterprise would cost just under $39,000 in one year.

You’d get every communication feature available today, including unlimited nationwide calling, video conferencing, call recording, a toll-free number, mobile/desktop apps, SMS/MMS, voicemail transcription, and several app integrations. Plus, there’s nothing you have to install — simply adjust a few settings online, and you’re done. 

On the other hand, if you go down the traditional PBX route, you’ll need to invest upfront in technology and spend a non-trivial amount of time to set it up. 

• PBX one-time costs (per user): 
  • Desk phones: $100
  • Headsets: $25
  • PBX server/hosting: TBD
  • Installation: TBD
    
• PBX monthly costs (per user):
  • Video conferencing service: $15
  • Team messaging: $12.50
  • SIP trunking service: $14
    
• PBX total based on 100 employees:
  • One-time costs: $12,500 
  • Recurring costs: $4,150 ($49,800 annually)

All in all, a PBX will set you back over $62,000 in your first year, not including the IT expertise necessary to set it up and maintain it.

It quickly becomes clear that a complete VoIP solution like Nextiva is far more cost-effective than a traditional phone system. In the example above, Nextiva saves you over 60%, excluding taxes/fees.

For international calling, some providers may offer bundled international calling packages with discounted rates for specific regions or countries or specialize in international calls and offer competitive rates for specific destinations. These providers leverage economies of scale to offer lower costs.

Besides the cost savings, there are other areas to see the upside of VoIP. 

✅ Enhanced Team Productivity

Integrating your phone system and other business applications streamlines workflow, which enhances team productivity. 

Moreover, VoIP supports remote work with advanced features, making it an indispensable tool in today’s modern, flexible work environment (in which more than 4.7 million people are now working remotely).

✅ Better Customer Experience

High-definition call quality and flexible call routing are hallmark features of VoIP, which result in an improved customer experience. 

Seamless integration with your CRM software and other key customer data platforms enriches customer interaction, making every communication more insightful and effective.

Likewise, if customers or partners call an employee and they’re not available or it’s after hours, calls can be forwarded to a preferred destination — even your cell phone. 

✅ Increased Business Continuity

In the face of unexpected outages, the quick rerouting capabilities of VoIP ensure that business communication remains uninterrupted. High uptime is often part of the service-level agreements with VoIP providers, affirming a reliable communication backbone for businesses.

Nextiva has eight redundant data centers located across North America. This means your team has ultra-high reliability and accessibility, as well as superior call quality. In addition, the network is actively monitored to ensure nothing stands in the way of you talking with your customers. 

✅ More Operational Flexibility

VoIP not only supports remote work but also facilitates global expansion by unifying communication across geographical boundaries. 

And if you decide to forego the office building, there’s not a massive undertaking you need to do to maintain reliable communication. Desktop, mobile, and web apps keep everyone connected. 

The digital call recording, storage, and easy access to call logs provide operational flexibility for modern businesses need to scale effectively. 

See the ‘Out-the-Door’ Cost of VoIP

Switching to a VoIP phone system is a smart step towards updating your business communications to match today’s digital needs. It’s both an investment and a cost. 

VoIP pricing doesn’t have to be complicated. Think about your needs today and where your company is going.

How do you envision the best way for your team to communicate? 

…It’s probably not using a patchwork of various tools.

Instead, opt for a unified communications solution like Nextiva and focus on serving your customers. 

You could follow our theoretical pricing guide, or you can find out the actual costs for yourself. 

Request a no-obligation price quote ↗

A VoIP expert will work with you to suggest the right plan and devices that fit the way you want to work. And you’ll know the “out-the-door price,” including taxes, fees, and everything else that applies to your specific needs.

In the past, call centers required substantial investments in hardware and software, as well as complex maintenance, and agents were tied to physical workspaces with limited flexibility.

But today, hosted contact centers overcome these challenges by delivering essential omnichannel support tools through the cloud on a subscription basis.

A hosted model allows companies, from enterprise to small business, to scale operations up or down as needed without capacity restraints. Agents can work productively from anywhere and management gains robust analytics and automation to drive efficiency.

In this article, we’ll explain how a hosted contact center works, explore the benefits, and share tips to choose the right hosted contact center solution.

What Is a Hosted Contact Center?

A hosted contact center is a contact center that’s housed offsite by a third-party provider and accessed remotely. It eliminates the need to install on-premises hardware and software. Instead, you access key contact center tools and features through a secure cloud service.

Think of it as renting a fully equipped contact center in the cloud, ready to use whenever you need it

Customers now demand omnichannel support and expect to reach you on their preferred platform (phone, email, social media, or even messaging apps), and hosted contact centers empower businesses to meet these demands effortlessly.

Hosted Contact Center vs Cloud Contact Center

The terms “hosted contact center” and “cloud contact center” are often used interchangeably. However, there’s a slight difference.

Hosted contact center can refer to any contact center software or solution hosted by a third-party provider, whether it’s hosted in a traditional data center or the cloud. It’s different than a traditional hosted call center as it covers many types of communication rather than just voice calls.

Cloud contact center specifically refers to a contact center solution hosted in the cloud. Cloud-based contact centers offer all the benefits of hosted contact centers, with the additional advantages of scalability, security, and accessibility. 

And it’s worth noting that a virtual contact center is used by a remote workforce that leverages cloud-based technology to provide flexibility and cost-effectiveness while managing customer interactions across multiple channels.

Hosted Contact Center vs Hosted Call Center

One last differentiation. Although these terms are also often used interchangeably, a hosted call center is not exactly the same as a hosted contact center. Here are the main differences:

• Channel Coverage: Hosted contact centers support multiple communication channels, whereas hosted call centers are primarily voice-focused.
• Features and Integration: Hosted contact centers offer more advanced features and integrations with other business systems compared to a hosted call center solution.
• Use Cases: Hosted contact centers are suitable for businesses looking for a unified communication solution to manage any type of customer interaction, while hosted call centers are ideal for organizations that mainly need to handle phone calls.

How a Hosted Contact Center Works

A hosted contact center outsources your customer communication infrastructure to a third-party service provider. So instead of owning and maintaining your own hardware and software, you rent access to it from the provider’s secure data center or cloud platform.

Here’s what you need to run a hosted service:

• Infrastructure: The contact center infrastructure, such as servers, software and telephony, is hosted by the vendor in the cloud. This eliminates the need to invest in on-premise hardware or software.
• Agents: Agents use softphones on their computers to receive and make calls, rather than traditional desk phones. They can be located anywhere with internet access rather than in a centralized contact center.
• Routing: Incoming calls are routed to available agents using the vendor’s call routing algorithms and automatic call distribution (ACD) software. Routing rules take factors like skills, availability, and priority into account.
• Applications: Agents access the contact center applications through web browsers. This includes phone controls, CRM integration, ticketing, knowledge management, chat interfaces, and data dashboards/reporting.
• Administration: The vendor handles infrastructure, application, and backup administration and management. Businesses can self-administer at the agent, call flow, and reporting level through web interfaces.
• Scalability: Cloud contact center platforms can scale up or down easier than on-premise allowing flexibility to handle call fluctuations. Businesses only pay for what they use.
• Disaster recovery: Business continuity is built-in as the infrastructure is distributed rather than centralized on-premise.

The vendor hosts the platform offsite while the business manages the agents, call routing strategies, and reporting through easy-to-use web interfaces. This provides businesses with more flexibility and time to focus on customers.

Benefits of a Hosted Contact Center

Hosted service providers offer the latest contact center technology at an affordable price point for even small and midsize businesses. Hosted contact center software offers powerful benefits compared to traditional on-premise call center software, such as the following.

1. Contact center virtualization

The days of a busy, noisy contact center in a single physical location are long gone.

Hosted contact centers use the cloud rather than relying on physical infrastructure and copper wires. Your agents can access their workstations from anywhere with an internet connection.

This makes them extremely flexible, facilitating remote work and supporting agents on the go.

2. Better visibility into contact center metrics

Modern hosted contact center features are designed for handling high call volumes across distributed teams, and include:

• Call queues to efficiently route and manage incoming calls
• Call recording, monitoring, and whisper capabilities
• Real-time agent dashboard showing availability status
• Easy ad-hoc and scheduled call transferring
• Built-in team chat and collaboration

Supervisors gain better visibility into contact center KPIs like handle time, abandonment rate, and first call resolution to optimize operations.

Supervisors gain better visibility into contact center KPIs like handle time, abandonment rate, and first call resolution to optimize operations.

3. More personalized customer experiences

Hosted contact centers simplify integration using APIs. This includes connecting your phone system to CRM platforms like Salesforce to bring up customer records automatically on incoming calls.

With the context of past interactions and purchases, agents can deliver more personalized and satisfying experiences. Integrations centralize data across systems for a single source of truth.

4. Efficient segmentation of voice traffic

Interactive voice response (IVR) provides automated self-service options to customers using voice prompts or natural language interfaces. This deflects common inquiries away from live agents.

Intelligent call routing assigns callers to agents based on configurable rules and criteria. For example, Spanish speakers could be routed to bilingual agents.

These capabilities allow efficient segmentation of voice traffic to drive faster responses and higher satisfaction.

5. Cost efficiency and scalability

The total cost of ownership and ROI of a hosted contact center is far more attractive compared to legacy on-premise systems requiring costly hardware and maintenance:

• No upfront infrastructure/equipment costs
• Usage-based pricing that flexes with demand
• Built-in redundancy and failover
• Effortless scalability for seasonal peaks
• Access to the latest software updates and features

6. Actionable reporting and analytics

Robust reporting provides visibility into contact center performance and trends over time:

• Traffic volume patterns
• The average speed of answer
• Handle time distribution
• First-call resolution (FCR) rates
• Customer satisfaction (CSAT) metrics

These insights guide operational changes to enhance efficiency while improving the customer experience.

7. More precise outbound calling campaigns

Hosted contact centers can efficiently orchestrate outbound calls to specified leads or contact lists.

After auto-dialing numbers, qualified leads get connected directly with available agents. This automates previously manual and repetitive dialing tasks, allowing agents to have more productive conversations.

Today’s feature-rich hosted contact centers empower distributed teams to deliver superior, scalable customer experiences across both inbound and outbound interactions and drive better agent performance.

Who Should Consider a Hosted Contact Center?

Hosted contact centers work best for businesses that need omnichannel support.

Modern hosted platforms handle not just phone calls, but also emails, chats, social media messages, and even video conferencing, enabling you to offer seamless customer service across all channels.

If you’re seeking new features and faster innovation, cloud-based providers are a great idea because they constantly update their platforms with new features and functionalities. In other words, with a hosted solution, you automatically benefit from these updates without additional investments.

And if you need advanced contact center features but your resources are limited, hosted cloud contact center solutions can provide sophisticated capabilities without large hardware investments or IT headcount.

The ability to scale and pay only for what you use makes it financially appealing to many smaller organizations. Startup companies can get up and running quickly without large upfront costs and easily manage fluctuating customer interactions.

Choosing the Right Hosted Contact Center Provider

Ready to choose your contact center technology? You might come across some challenges and constraints related to pricing, compliance issues, security, and functionalities when selecting a hosted contact center.

So to make your choice easier, here are a few key factors to consider.

Pricing models and total cost of ownership

Look beyond just the monthly fees or upfront costs. Make sure to factor in any additional charges for integrations, storage, support, training, etc.

Plus, be sure to understand the full cost of ownership over the lifespan of the technology. Some providers offer usage-based pricing which can scale up or down as your needs change.

Security measures and compliance standards

When reviewing contact center vendors, ask about their policies and procedures to protect your data. This can include a disaster recovery plan, redundant data centers, 24/7 monitoring, and real-time network status updates.

Additionally, check each provider’s certificates and compliance with regulations, including GDPR, PCI, SOC 2, ISO/IEC 27001, and any certificates relevant to your industry such as HIPAA.

Features, integrations, and configurability

List the features that are non-negotiable for your business communication. Then look for an integrated omnichannel approach to manage all your communication channels and expand to new ones if you need to. Otherwise, you might have to switch to a different provider once your needs grow.

Be sure to make the most of automation and intelligent routing with IVR, automatic phone call distribution, and predictive dialers. This way, you’ll maximize agent efficiency and make your workforce management (WFM) easier.

Analyze each provider’s features to double-check they offer everything you need. Consider reliability and uptime guarantees, options for geographic redundancy, and scalability add-ons.

Bots and AI-based automation

Bots and automation are here to stay. AI-based automation is the perfect match with the growing number of digital channels your customers use. With conversational AI, you can get your system to learn from each interaction and:

• Reduce hold time
• Solve customer service issues faster
• Steer calls the right agents every time
• Increase customer satisfaction

Customer experience and agent experience

Your software solution isn’t just about your customers, but also about your agents — and these depend on each other. Customers feel that an agent’s experience impacts their customer experience, and agents feel that technology plays a key role in this, a Global Contact Center Survey from Cisco revealed.

It’s essential to consider your agents’ needs and experience when choosing your contact center solution. Agents are on the frontlines with your customers, and how you equip them matters.

Empower your agents with an easy-to-use but powerful interface and maximize their focus time by minimizing distractions and repetitive work.

Set Up a Flexible Contact Center Solution

Implementing and managing a hosted contact center is key to driving better adoption, agent performance, and customer experience. 

When setting up a contact center solution, make sure to:

1. Choose a hosted provider and assess features, reliability, costs
2. Plan channels, routing, IVR, desktop tools, CRM integrations
3. Implement and conduct thorough testing
4. Train supervisors, and agents on systems and policies
5. Launch the contact center and closely monitor the performance
6. Manage operations with analytics and quality reviews
7. Continuously improve with customer/agent feedback

The best part about cloud-based communication solutions is that they’re flexible and scalable based on how your business evolves.

If you want to take more customer calls and monitor your call flow better, consider a contact center. You’ll be able to automate multi-channel customer support and build self-service options so your customers always feel taken care of, no matter how busy you get.

Nextiva’s Hosted Contact Center Solution

A hosted contact center is a powerful solution that offers numerous benefits, including cost savings, scalability, enhanced customer experience, and robust security. And by using advanced features such as multichannel support, AI-driven tools, and real-time analytics, businesses can significantly improve their customer service operations while maintaining flexibility.

If you’re considering implementing a hosted contact center, it’s important to choose a provider that aligns with your specific needs and goals. Nextiva delivers comprehensive hosted contact center solutions that can help your business stay competitive and responsive to customer needs.

Making the switch to a hosted contact center could be the transformative step your business needs to enhance customer satisfaction and drive growth.

Hosted Contact Center FAQs

Avaya has been a communication powerhouse for years, offering unified communications, VoIP, and contact center solutions. But even a strong brand can’t stand still.

Maybe your growing remote team needs a more adaptable business phone system. Perhaps affordability is a top concern, or you need seamless integrations with your existing tools.

Avaya’s pricing structure, on-premise deployment options, or feature complexity might not meet every company’s needs.

Whatever the reason, you’re ready to explore new options. And we’ve got you covered! This guide dives into the top 10 Avaya competitors, comparing features, pricing, pros and cons, and factors to consider when switching to help you find the best alternative for your business needs.

Here are the alternatives to Avaya we’ll explore in this article:

1. Nextiva
2. Mitel
3. Aircall
4. OnSIP
5. Phone.com
6. CallHippo
7. 8×8
8. Zoom
9. Vonage
10. Dialpad

Popular Avaya Alternatives

Pressed for time? Compare the top three Avaya alternatives to see which features each service offers for the price.

Feature	Nextiva	Aircall	OnSIP
Monthly Price	Starts at $18.95 per user per month (Billed annually)	Starts at $30 per user per month (Billed annually, requires minimum 3 users)	Starts at $49.95 per account per month (Billed annually)
HD Audio/Video	Yes	Yes	Yes
Auto-attendant & IVR	Yes	Yes	Yes
Call Logs & Pop-Ups	Yes	Yes	Yes
Softphone Apps	Yes	Yes	Yes
Call Analytics	Yes	Yes (Basic)	Yes
Integrations	Microsoft & Google Integrations	100+ business tool apps and integrations	–
Toll-Free Numbers	Included	Not Included	Not Included
Internet Fax	Unlimted	Not Included	Not Included
Video Conferencing	Yes	Yes	Add-on ($19.95/mo./conference suite)

Key takeaways:

• Nextiva offers the most features for the base price, including unlimited calling, video conferencing (depending on plan), and a toll-free number.
• Aircall might be a good mid-range option with a clean interface, but some features like toll-free calling and internet fax are not included.
• OnSIP is the most expensive option here and lacks video conferencing capabilities in lower-tier plans.

1. Nextiva

Nextiva is a cloud-based communication platform designed for businesses of all sizes. It combines features like business phone service, video conferencing, collaboration tools, and customer experience functionalities into a single, unified solution.

Nextiva has earned recognition from U.S. News as the best business phone system, and reviewers on platforms like G2 and Gartner consistently rank it highly.

Independent VoIP expert Prince Rich shares his in-depth Nextiva review — watch it out below:

Why choose Nextiva over Avaya?

While Avaya has a strong presence in the enterprise market, Nextiva has gained recognition for its reliability, performance, and ease of use, making it a compelling choice for small businesses and enterprises alike.

1. Cloud-based architecture: Nextiva’s cloud-based platform eliminates costly hardware and maintenance, allowing businesses to quickly scale their communications infrastructure.
2. Robust feature set: Nextiva offers a comprehensive suite of features, including HD video conferencing, advanced call routing, call recording, mobile apps, call forwarding, call analytics, screen pops, and seamless integrations with popular business tools.
3. Reliability and security: With eight points of presence, carrier-grade data centers, and 24/7 monitoring, Nextiva delivers 99.999% uptime and meets stringent security standards, including ISO/IEC 27001, SOC 2, PCI, GDPR, and HIPAA compliance.
4. Award-winning support: Nextiva’s 24/7 award-winning support team ensures customers receive prompt assistance over the phone, email, or chat, whenever needed.
5. Cost-effective pricing: Nextiva offers flexible pricing options, including monthly and annual plans, making it an affordable solution for businesses of all sizes. Pricing starts at $18.95 per user per month for the Essential plan, with more advanced plans available for larger teams and enterprises.

Key Nextiva features

• HD video calls with unlimited participants, messaging, and screen-sharing
• Advanced call routing with auto-attendant and intelligent call forwarding
• Call recording and voicemail transcription for quality assurance and compliance
• Mobile apps for iOS and Android with full VoIP functionality
• Call analytics with real-time tracking, detailed reports, and dashboards
• Call Pop for enhanced customer experience with screen pops
• Seamless integrations with popular tools like Google, Microsoft, and Salesforce
• Intuitive drag-and-drop call flow editor for automated workflows

Enterprise-level features

For enterprises, Nextiva offers robust features to meet the demands of larger organizations, including:

• Advanced call routing and queuing for efficient call distribution
• Comprehensive contact center solutions with omnichannel support
• Tight integration with Five9 for enterprise-grade contact center needs
• Scalable and secure platform for large-scale deployments
• Customizable call flows and advanced reporting capabilities

Nextiva pricing

Nextiva offers three monthly price plans for teams and companies of all sizes and needs. Pricing varies based on team size and whether you choose monthly or annual billing.

There’s something for everyone — here are your options:

• Essential starts at $18.95 per user. It includes unlimited calling, unlimited peer-to-peer video calling, a complimentary toll-free number, voicemail-to-email notifications, integrations with Outlook and Google, and internet faxing. This plan is ideal if you’re starting on a small scale.
• Professional starts at $22.95 per user. This plan also gives you audio and video conference calls, team collaboration, Call Pop, additional voicemail features, and extended integrations. This plan is great for small teams.
• Enterprise starts at $32.95 per user. You get unlimited participants for voice and video conferences, call recording, voicemail transcription, and even more integrations. This price plan is best for both small and large teams.

Pros	Cons
Unlimited calling, video conferencing, and business texting (US only)	No free plan available
Easy setup and user-friendly interface	Limited admin controls for some IT departments
Free local and toll-free phone numbers
Integrations with popular business tools (CRM, email, etc.)
Scalable solution for growing businesses
24/7 customer support

Who’s it best for?

Nextiva is a compelling Avaya alternative for businesses seeking a user-friendly, scalable, and cost-effective communication platform. Its cloud-based features and focus on ease of use make it a strong contender, especially for businesses that prioritize a smooth user experience.

2. Mitel

Mitel focuses on collaboration for organizations of all sizes. It provides both cloud-based (MiVoice Business) and on-premises PBX solutions, catering to small businesses, midsize companies, and even large enterprises.

Mitel’s advantages over Avaya

• Collaboration focus: For businesses prioritizing team communication and collaboration features, Mitel’s strong suite could be a major advantage.
• Deployment flexibility: The option to choose between cloud and on-premise solutions might be attractive to companies with specific infrastructure needs.

Key Mitel features

1. Team conferencing: Allows users to run online meetings, share screens, track agendas, and join conferences seamlessly from within the communication platform.
2. Call management: Provides advanced call management capabilities, including the ability to put calls on hold, join calls, park or unpark calls, and answer calls based on extension or group.
3. Dialer apps: With softphone apps available for Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, Mitel enables users to communicate from anywhere with an internet connection.

Reliability, security, compliance, & support

MiCloud Connect, Mitel’s cloud-based PBX, has 14 data centers around the world, hosted on Google Cloud Platform. Mitel is SOC 2 and HIPAA compliant. It offers 24/7 customer support available by phone.

Mitel pricing

Mitel offers tiered plans with different feature sets. Unlike some competitors, it allows mixing and matching plans, ensuring you only pay for the features your teams need.

Pricing starts at $20.99 per user per month for basic features and goes up to $38.49 per user per month for the most comprehensive cloud telephony features. You need to contact Mitel’s sales team to get a quote.

Pros	Cons
Typically high uptime and reliability	Requires a detailed onboarding and setup cycle
Enterprise integrations with the likes of Microsoft Outlook and Salesforce	Lack of transparent pricing on the website
Users like the powerful dialer functionality	Difficult to get in touch with customer support

📚 Read Mitel reviews on TrustRadius

Who is it best for?

Mitel works best for businesses that prioritize collaboration features and require flexibility in deployment options. Its tiered pricing and scalability make it a good fit for companies of all sizes.

3. Aircall

Aircall is cloud-based call center software for teams. Its goal is to make phone support easy to manage. Aircall integrates with key business tools like CRM platforms and helpdesk solutions (and many others).

Aircall’s advantages over Avaya

• Cloud-based simplicity: Aircall’s cloud-based nature makes it easy to set up and manage, ideal for businesses seeking a user-friendly solution.
• Focus on integrations: The extensive third-party integrations can streamline workflows by connecting your call center to existing business tools.

Key Aircall features

• IVR routing: Automate call filtering and let callers interact with a computer system before reaching a representative.
• International numbers: Businesses can obtain local and international numbers in over 100 countries, enabling them to maintain a local presence globally.
• Extensions: Aircall provides personalized three-digit extensions for team members, facilitating quick and easy internal communication.

Reliability, security, compliance, & support

Aircall reports 99.99% uptime thanks to seven worldwide data centers provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS). However, according to StatusGator, Aircall experiences reliability issues on a monthly basis. These are mostly small delays and network issues.

Aircall uses AWS as a hosting provider, which holds certifications like ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI DSS, and FedRAMP for a secure setup. It is also HIPAA and GDPR-compliant.

It operates a knowledge base and offers phone, chat, and ticket requests for support.

Aircall pricing

Aircall offers two main pricing plans, along with a custom quote option for specific needs. Both plans come with a free trial:

• Essentials: Starts at $30 per user per month and includes basic call center functionalities like unlimited inbound calls (minus toll-free), integrations, call recording, and phone support.
• Professional: Starts at $50 per user per month and adds advanced features like call analytics, monitoring, and dedicated account management.

Pros	Cons
Easy setup and deployment	Potentially unreliable with reports of frequent downtime
Growing ecosystem of integrations	Poor customer support reviews with concerns of upselling
Power Dialer and call coaching features	Users report bugs, data transfer issues with integrations
Affordable compared to some competitors (depending on features needed)	May not offer significant advantages over less expensive options

📚 Read Aircall reviews on TrustRadius

Who is it best for?

For teams seeking a cloud-based call center solution with robust integration capabilities and prioritizing ease of use and global reach.

4. OnSIP

OnSIP is a hosted PBX phone system for remote teams. It’s designed for small and medium businesses. Their VoIP solutions promise a complete phone system replacement in less than an hour, including softphone apps, useful call management features, and video conferencing.

The company was most recently acquired by Ooma. Intrado acquired OnSIP two years earlier. This suggests that the company is at least in a state of constant change and trying to prove the numbers out.

OnSIP’s advantages over Avaya

• Focus on remote teams: OnSIP’s features and functionalities are specifically designed to address remote communication needs.
• Quick setup and user-friendly interface: Setting up and using OnSIP is generally considered easy, and ideal for businesses that prioritize a hassle-free experience.

Key OnSIP features

1. Website chat: OnSIP allows website visitors to voice or video chat with the sales team directly. The Pro version also includes screen sharing and analytics features.
2. Voicemail-to-email: Receive voicemail messages in your email inbox, enabling faster response times and easier access to messages.
3. Auto-attendant: Intelligently route inbound calls to the right person or team with customizable call flows and an auto-attendant feature.

Reliability, security, compliance, & support

OnSIP leases two data centers in the United States and operates its own redundant physical networks and systems with hardware from Dell, Cisco, and Juniper. The company is PCI and HIPAA-compliant, ensuring data security and regulatory compliance.

For customer support, OnSIP has a dedicated page for real-time assistance, where users can connect with team members over the phone or through video calls.

OnSIP pricing

OnSIP offers three main pricing tiers with the option to customize each plan by adding specific features for an additional cost:

• Basic Plan: Starts at $49.95 per month per account, plus per-minute charges. This plan has limitations on some features, and increasing usage incurs additional costs.
• Unlimited Plan: Costs $18.95 per user per month and includes new desk phones or headsets for new accounts, but requires a minimum of five users.
• Sayso Voice & Video Chat: Costs up to $49.95 per month and allows you to receive voice and video calls directly through your website.

Pros	Cons
Easy setup and user-friendly interface	Call quality issues reported by some users, including dropped calls
Features like website chat and voicemail to email	Limited video conferencing availability (only in top plan)
Simple APIs for developers	Potential challenges managing call recording storage
Responsive customer service according to reviews	Frequent ownership changes might raise concerns for some businesses

📚 Read OnSIP reviews on TrustRadius

Who’s it best for?

For businesses seeking a hosted PBX solution tailored for remote teams, OnSIP is a great alternative to Avaya, particularly for organizations prioritizing ease of setup and flexible pricing options.

5. Phone.com

Phone.com is a VoIP phone service provider catering to US-based customers, including entrepreneurs and growing businesses. It offers easy implementation and enterprise-level features at a fraction of the cost compared to traditional phone systems.

Phone.com’s advantages over Avaya

• Cost-effective: Phone.com emphasizes competitive pricing, potentially offering similar features to Avaya at a lower cost, especially for smaller businesses.
• Focus on US customers: For businesses operating solely in the US, Phone.com’s US-centric approach might be a good fit.

Key Phone.com features

• Audio conferencing: Connect up to 300 participants from anywhere in the world in high-definition voice quality. Make your meetings password-protected for maximum security.
• Call queues: Route incoming calls to a specific group of phone numbers and connect with the first available agent.
• Custom (vanity) numbers: Easy-to-remember phone numbers, like 800-FLOWERS.

Reliability, security, compliance, & support

Phone.com does not disclose its redundancy methods but reports high uptimes. Phone.com uses high-grade SSL encryption and triple DES encryption for video meetings. Phone.com is PCI, HIPAA, and HITECH compliant. It also offers multilingual 24/7 support over chat, phone, and email.

Phone.com pricing

Phone.com offers three main pricing tiers:

• Basic: Starts at $12.74 per user per month and includes 500 pooled minutes and one local or toll-free number.
• Plus: Starts at $18.69 per user per month and offers unlimited minutes and texts with additional features like voicemail-to-text.
• Pro: Starts at $27.19 per user per month and includes advanced features like video conferencing, call recording, and integrations.

Pros	Cons
Competitive pricing, especially for basic plans	Limited scalability for larger businesses as minute bundles and extensions can get expensive
Feature-rich plans with options like audio conferencing and custom vanity numbers	Reported user interface complexity and challenges with setup and integration
24/7 multilingual customer support	Mixed reviews on customer support quality

📚 Read Phone.com reviews on TrustRadius

Who is it best for?

Phone.com is a budget-friendly option for US-based businesses. It’s a feature-rich solution at a competitive price.

6. CallHippo

CallHippo offers a user-friendly and internationally-focused cloud phone system. They boast a quick setup process and offer phone numbers in over 50 countries.

Callhippo’s advantages over Avaya

• Ease of use: CallHippo’s interface is user-friendly — a potentially good fit for businesses seeking a hassle-free setup.
• Global presence: For companies with international teams or clientele, CallHippo’s support for phone numbers in over 50 countries can be a significant advantage.

Key CallHippo features

• Call barging: Monitor your reps’ calls silently.
• Call analytics: Track the performance of your phone support. Measure indicators like the percentage of missed calls, agent call load, average handle time, and more.
• Global Connect: Know the timezone of international contacts so you can always call at the right time.

Reliability, security, compliance, & support

Based on CallHippo’s status page, they’ve only had one major outage in 2020, although their uptime data is limited. There’s no information available on the data centers they use or their security compliance and certificates. CallHippo offers 24/7 support through its support portal.

CallHippo pricing

CallHippo’s pricing is divided into three standard plans, with the option to create a tailored solution by adding additional features like call and voicemail transcription, call tracking insights, phone number masking, and click-to-call for an extra fee per month.

1. Bronze: Starts at $20 per user per month and includes a free number, forward-to-device, SMS (with additional charges), voicemail, teams, shared inbox, and call quality enhancement. This plan is ideal for small teams.
2. Silver: Costs $30 per user per month and includes call recording, IVR, call queuing, working hours, call cascading, pause-resume recording, and more. This plan is aimed at fast-growing teams.
3. Platinum: For $50 per user per month, you get Power Dialer, call transfer, conference calling, external call routing, reports via email, forwarding to multiple devices (with call forwarding charges), call barging, and call whisper. It’s aimed at large SMB sales, support, and marketing teams.

Pros	Cons
Easy-to-use interface and fast setup	Concerns about reliability with reported app crashes, call drops, and low-quality calls
Global reach with phone numbers in over 50 countries	Limited features in lower-priced plans, with most functionalities concentrated in the highest tier
Responsive customer support	Potential for overbilling according to customer reviews

📚 Read CallHippo reviews on TrustRadius

Who’s it best for?

Businesses with global operations seeking a cloud-based phone system with international reach and scalability. Works well for businesses prioritizing ease of setup and advanced features.

7. 8×8

8×8 offers cloud-based business phone systems. Its services include voice, video, messaging, and contact center solutions. 8×8 also offers real-time business analytics and intelligence across channels.

Key 8×8 features

• All-in-one app: Use a single app for desktop and mobile for collaboration over voice, video, private chat, and team chat.
• Analytics: See aggregated analytics for all your cloud communications. Identify trends, solve issues, and make the best decisions based on accurate data.
• Video conferencing: Schedule meetings from Google and Microsoft calendars, create dedicated virtual meeting spaces, and record meetings on the cloud for easy reference.

Reliability, security, compliance, & support

8×8 uses multiple redundant hardware and software systems to prevent downtime during outages, although specific uptime figures are not disclosed.

The company is HIPAA, GDPR, and ISO 27001 compliant, meeting NIST/FIPS encryption standards, as well as FCC and CSA standards. 8×8 offers 24/7 support through the web, live chat, phone, and a knowledge database.

8×8 pricing

8×8 doesn’t openly display pricing on its website. You need to reach out to their sales team for a custom quote.

Pros	Cons
All-in-one solution for voice, video, messaging, and contact center	Potential connectivity issues and dropped calls reported by some users
Feature-rich desktop and mobile apps	Long wait times for customer support according to some reviews
Real-time business analytics	Limited third-party integration support as mentioned by some users
Helpful customer service based on reviews	Frequent updates might disrupt service according to some users

📚Read 8×8 reviews on TrustRadius

Who’s it best for?

Businesses looking for a comprehensive cloud-based communication solution with robust analytics and contact center capabilities.

8. Zoom

While Zoom is widely known for its video meeting software, the company also offers a virtual phone system called Zoom Phone. It’s a VoIP service provider with enterprise-class features that streamline voice communications.

Zoom’s advantages over Avaya

• Integration with Zoom Video: For businesses already using Zoom for video conferencing, Zoom Phone offers a seamless integration for unified communication.
• User-friendly interface: Zoom Phone is known for its user-friendly design, simplifying adoption compared to more complex systems.

Key Zoom Phone features

• Elevate to a meeting: You can turn a phone call into a full-featured Zoom meeting without asking participants to join manually. Great for calls that spontaneously turn into more in-depth meetings.
• Voicemail notification and transcription: Get notified of your new voicemail messages and manage them from any device.
• Integrations: You can integrate your phone service with a CCaaS solution, your CRM, Google, Slack, and more.

Reliability, security, compliance, & support

Zoom uses nine geographically distributed data centers to provide stable service. Zoom experienced quite a few security issues in recent years; they finally rolled out end-to-end call encryption using AES256 in late 2020. Zoom is SOC 2, CCPA, GDPR, HIPAA, PIPEDA, and PHIPA compliant.

Zoom users have access to support from their Knowledge Base, Zoom Community, and chatbot. They can also submit web tickets. Only subscription plans greater than $50/month receive live chat support. Only customers with subscription plans greater than $200/month can access live phone support. 

Zoom Phone pricing

Zoom Phone offers three pricing plans, but you can also request paid add-ons like toll-free numbers, additional phone numbers, hardware leasing, premier developer support, and more. Their standard plans include:

• U.S. & Canada Metered: This pay-as-you-go plan starts at $10 per user each month. It includes a U.S. & Canada number, domestic SMS and MMS, inbound calling, business integrations, and outbound metered calling.
• U.S. & Canada Unlimited: Starting at $15 per user per month, this plan offers unlimited calling within the U.S. and Canada and the same features in the basic metered plan. You can also add-on calling to 19 more countries.
• Pro Global Select: Pricing starts at $20 per user per month and gives you a direct dial number, unlimited domestic calling in 40+ countries, and everything from the other plans.

Pros	Cons
User-friendly interface and easy device switching	Complex setup process and confusing admin menus according to some users
Integrates with Zoom video conferencing and various business tools	Frequent updates can cause system crashes as reported by some users
Good audio quality	Customer support is limited to text-based options for many plans, with live phone support reserved for high-tier plans
Not ideal for large-scale deployments due to potential cost issues

📚 Read Zoom Phone reviews on TrustRadius

Who’s it best for?

Businesses seeking a VoIP solution tightly integrated with video conferencing capabilities.

9. Vonage

Vonage Business offers a range of business communication features, including unified communications, a cloud contact center, and communications API. Its solutions support flexibility, mobility, and collaboration.

Vonage’s advantages over Avaya

• Mobility focus: For businesses with a mobile workforce, Vonage’s mobile-centric approach with features like call flip could be advantageous.
• Strong customer support: Reviews generally report positive experiences with Vonage’s customer support team.

Key Vonage features

• Call flip: Seamlessly transfer calls from mobile to desk phone or vice versa.
• Vonage Reach: SMS automation for creating meaningful engagement in every stage of the customer journey.
• Call logs: Get detailed call records to see call activity, directions of calls, call duration, and call volume to ensure you add or reduce your agent capacity as needed.

Reliability, security, compliance, & support

Vonage is powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and uses multi-level fail-safes, backups, and disaster recovery procedures. Their average uptime is 99.999%. Vonage is HIPAA, HITECH, HITRUST, and PCI compliant.

Vonage offers technical support 24/7 over the phone. They also let you create a case through their support portal.

Vonage Business pricing

Vonage offers three pricing plans and allows users to customize each plan with add-on features for an additional price.

• Mobile: Starts at $19.99 per month per line. Features include unlimited calls (in the US, Canada, and Mexico), unlimited SMS (in the U.S. and Canada), and unlimited team messaging.
• Premium: Starts at $29.99 per month per line. On top of all Mobile features, it adds availability on IP desk phones, as well as unlimited video conferencing for up to 200 participants, auto-attendant, and CRM integrations.
• Advanced: Starts at $39.99 per month per line. This plan adds on-demand call recording, call groups, visual voicemail, and white-glove setup to the mix.

Pros	Cons
Easy setup and user-friendly interface	Reported call quality issues with choppy sound and dropped calls
Mobile-centric features with call transfer and team messaging	Some customer reviews mention their Vonage numbers get flagged as spam more often
24/7 technical phone support (with premium plans)	Potential limitations for advanced features as many require additional costs
Clean user interface and app	App performance concerns with high RAM usage reported by some users

📚 Read Vonage reviews on TrustRadius

Who’s it best for?

Businesses that need a comprehensive unified communications and cloud contact center solution with a focus on mobility and collaboration.

10. Dialpad

Dialpad is a cloud communication platform powered by artificial intelligence (AI). It’s built for startups, small businesses, and larger firms. Dialpad connects people through voice, video, messaging, and online meetings.

Dialpad’s advantages over Avaya

• AI-powered features: Dialpad leverages AI to automate tasks, improve agent efficiency, and provide valuable insights.
• Scalability: Dialpad caters to startups, small businesses, and larger firms, offering potential scalability as your business grows.

 Key Dialpad features

• Screen capture: Record agents’ entire screens during customer calls so you can better understand agent performance and give valuable feedback.
• Voice Intelligence (Vi): Automated note-taking, customer sentiment detection, and other intelligent features that make agents more efficient.
• Call blocking: Automatically block spammy inbound calls based on a spam score. You can also send them to voicemail or get the caller to state their name before you answer.

Reliability, security, compliance, & support

Dialpad uses a global network of data centers, which gives them redundancy and protects against downtime. The company claims a 100% uptime Service Level Agreement for their Enterprise users. Dialpad is SOC 2, GDPR, and HIPAA/BAA compliant.

When researching Dialpad, you’ll find that it offers online support through its customer portal. But only their Pro and Enterprise plans include 24/7 phone support.

Dialpad pricing

Dialpad offers three plans with a range of features and with a minimum number of licenses for the higher tiers. Standard and Pro come with a free 14-day trial.

• Standard: Pricing starts from $20 per user per month. This includes unlimited calling (in your country, the US, and Canada), SMS, and MMS (US and Canada only), basic call controls, voicemail greetings, voicemail transcription, web and chat support, and Microsoft and Google integrations.
• Pro: Starts at $35 per user per month and requires a minimum of three licenses. This plan includes everything in the Standard plan, plus local support in 70+ countries, global SMS, Salesforce integration, APIs, off-hours routing, and 24/7 live agent support.
• Enterprise: A minimum of 100 licenses. This plan includes all of Dialpad’s features from the Pro plan and data retention policies, additional third-party integrations, and priority live agent support. For pricing, you’ll need to contact their sales team.

Pros	Cons
AI features for real-time transcription, post-call summaries, and sentiment analysis	Steep learning curve according to some reviewers
High uptime and reliability for Enterprise users	Reported issues with dropped calls, poor audio quality, and app glitches
Easy deployment	Limited customer support options for lower tiers, with extended wait times mentioned in reviews
Scalable solution for businesses of various sizes	Absence of automatic lead creation for inbound calls

📚 Read Dialpad reviews on TrustRadius

Who’s it best for?

Businesses that need a cloud communication solution with intelligent AI-powered features and a focus on seamless integration across voice, video, messaging, and online meetings.

How To Choose an Avaya Alternative

With a wide range of Avaya alternatives available, selecting the perfect solution for your business can seem daunting. Here’s a roadmap to guide you through the process:

1. Deployment model: Decide whether you prefer a cloud-based or on-premises solution. Cloud-based options like Nextiva, Aircall, and Zoom offer scalability and lower upfront costs, while on-premises systems from providers like Mitel and OnSIP provide more control but require larger investments.
2. Feature set: Assess the features your business requires, such as basic call functionality, call center capabilities (e.g., automatic call distribution, real-time analytics), integrations with CRM or other business applications, and scalability to accommodate growth.
3. Budget: Cloud-based solutions typically have predictable monthly fees, while on-premises systems require upfront hardware and software purchases. Evaluate the total cost of ownership and ensure the solution fits your budget.
4. User experience: Consider the ease of use and user-friendliness of the interface for your team members. Solutions with intuitive interfaces and a seamless user experience can facilitate adoption and productivity.
5. Reliability and security: Evaluate the provider’s uptime guarantees, data center redundancy, and compliance with relevant security standards (e.g., HIPAA, PCI-DSS) to ensure business continuity and data protection.
6. Customer support: Assess the quality of the provider’s customer support, including availability (24/7), response times, and the channels offered (phone, email, chat).
7. Scalability and growth potential: Choose a solution that can scale seamlessly as your business grows, accommodating additional users, locations, and potentially new features or functionality.

Related: Cisco vs. Avaya Contact Center: Which Platform Is Better?

Why Choose Nextiva? The Top Avaya Alternative

Avaya has been around for a while and has much to offer, but it falls short when compared to Nextiva. Nextiva is a top-rated and recommended VoIP service with award-winning 24/7 customer support. 

On GetVoIP, Nextiva earned a 4.7 out of 5-star rating, with over 93% of customers recommending it.

Real Nextiva users say our VoIP solution makes their lives easier, helps them increase productivity, and makes tough transitions to remote work or cloud migrations faster and simpler.

Why more customers recommend Nextiva

Nextiva puts security and reliability at the forefront. With 24/7 network monitoring, there’s no need to worry if your business phone service is working. And if you need help, Nextiva’s Amazing Service is there for live customer support.

Plus, Nextiva offers 40+ VoIP features your team can leverage to streamline business communications and maximize every opportunity when connecting with customers. If you’re looking to make the most out of communication and collaboration over the phone, video, and messaging, check out Nextiva’s pricing.

---

Avaya, Mitel, Aircall, OnSIP, Phone.com, CallHippo, 8×8, Zoom, Vonage, and Dialpad have no relationship with Nextiva, Inc. and are the registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Traditional contact centers rely heavily on on-site hardware and software, are inflexible, and expensive to maintain. Scaling up or down to meet customer demand is also complex.

If you want a modern, hassle-free customer support platform that keeps your clients happy, you should look into a cloud-hosted contact center.

But it’s not just convenience — cloud contact centers are packed with features that empower your agents to deliver exceptional service across multiple channels — phone, email, social media, and integrate with your existing business applications.

We’ll walk you through this cloud-based call center technology, its key benefits, how it works, and how to use it to meet your customer service needs.

What Is a Cloud Contact Center?

A cloud contact center is a web-based customer service solution that eliminates the need for on-premise hardware and software. It uses the internet and cloud computing to provide businesses with a scalable, cost-effective, and feature-rich platform for managing customer interactions.

A cloud-based contact center banks on call center technology hosted in the cloud. It helps contact center agents handle all types of inbound and outbound calls and customer communications, including voice, email, SMS, social media, and the web, in a single, user-friendly platform on both mobile and desktops.

The best part is that agents can access cloud contact center platforms from anywhere with an internet connection, allowing for greater flexibility and remote work opportunities.

On top, cloud contact centers offer advanced features like call routing, call recording, performance analytics, and integrations with CRM software, which you might not find in traditional on-premise setups.

As organizations add more support channels, a cloud contact center solution helps them respond to every customer request and optimize agent productivity.

How Does a Cloud Contact Center Work?

Cloud contact centers operate on a remote server infrastructure managed by a contact center provider. Businesses access the platform and its features through a secure internet connection.

Here’s a breakdown of the key functionalities.

• Cloud infrastructure: The service provider takes care of all hardware, software, and maintenance, eliminating the burden on your IT team.
• Omnichannel routing: Incoming inquiries are automatically routed to the most appropriate agent based on factors like call type, agent skills, and availability. This ensures faster resolution and a better customer experience.
• Interactive voice response (IVR): An automated system that greets callers, collects information, and directs them to the appropriate department or agent.
• Call recording and monitoring: Allows supervisors to monitor calls for training and quality assurance purposes.
• Real-time analytics: Provides valuable insights into call volume, agent performance, and customer sentiment. Customer data helps identify areas for improvement and optimize overall contact center operations.

Unlike an on-premises PBX, cloud centers don’t require telecom hardware to purchase, install, and maintain. Instead, phone calls and messages use Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology.

Cloud contact center software connects to other platforms like social media or email and integrates all channels seamlessly. Each interaction connects with a customer or prospect account and assigns incoming communications to the right agent to avoid conflicts.

A cloud contact center can also integrate with your customer relationship management (CRM) software, keeping all communication data in sync across your organization. It’s the best way to deliver a seamless customer experience across customers’ preferred channels.

Since a contact center works entirely over the internet, you just need workstations, headsets, and an internet connection for your team. While you can use special hardware, cloud contact center solutions will work just as well on the computers and cell phones you already use.

Benefits of Cloud Contact Centers vs. Traditional On-Premise Contact Centers

On-premises call centers are quickly becoming outdated.

There’s a reason IDC predicts that business cloud solutions will continue to outpace (54%) on-site technology investments (46%) in the coming years.

On-prem contact centers require employees to be physically present, demand constant maintenance, and require expensive (and quickly obsolete) hardware.

On-site call centers revolve around phone conversations, which don’t address the modern customer experience. For these reasons and more, cloud-based contact center solutions are the right approach for high-growth companies.

Cloud contact centers are entirely different. They offer accelerated setup, improved flexibility, and real-time analytics. In the end, this means significant cost savings, gains in customer experience, and faster time to market.

Here are some compelling benefits cloud contact centers offer over traditional systems to help businesses deliver top-notch customer service:

Function	Cloud contact center	On-premises contact center
Setup	Affordable, out-of-the-box installation that can work with existing devices	Months-long process that requires hardwiring each device to a central system
Scalability	Near-infinite scalability; can add new lines in a few clicks	Each new line requires additional on-premise setup
Reliability	Enterprise-level reliability with excellent uptime and speed improvements through software upgrades	Reliability depends on existing hardware, which will deteriorate over time
Improvements	Ever-expanding set of key features using developing technologies like AI and predictive analytics	Limited to existing capabilities
Features	All traditional features plus modern improvements like IVR, natural language processing, live call monitoring, and more	Traditional features like hold, call logging, and wait music
Integrations	Extensive integrations across digital channels and tools	Limited integrations that can be difficult to set up due to installation and licensing issues
Cost	Minimal up-front cost and lower monthly cost per user	High upfront costs and additional ongoing costs for system maintenance
Remote work flexibility	Agents can work from anywhere in the world	Agents are restricted to the system’s physical location
Customer engagement	Seamless conversations across channels and departments	Each channel is handled separately

Cloud Contact Center vs. Cloud Call Center

Cloud contact centers go beyond traditional call center software, offering a multi-channel approach to customer engagement.

While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, a crucial distinction exists.

Cloud call centers excel at handling high volumes of phone calls. Agents primarily interact with customers in real time over the phone. However, cloud technology allows for scalability and remote work options.

Cloud contact centers, on the other hand, offer a wider range of communication channels. They integrate phone calls with email, social media, text messages, chatbots, and video conferencing. This creates a more comprehensive and convenient customer experience, allowing them to connect through their preferred method and receive consistent, high-quality support.

Benefits of cloud contact centers over call centers:

• Drive customer success: Go beyond reactive support and proactively build customer satisfaction.
• Empower sales teams: Provide multi-channel tools for stronger relationships with potential customers.
• Scalability and cost-effectiveness: Cloud-based infrastructure offers flexible pricing and eliminates the need for on-premise hardware upkeep.
• Enhanced reliability: High uptime, disaster recovery, and automatic security updates ensure smooth operations.

Feature	Cloud Contact Center	Cloud Call Center
Focus	Omnichannel customer engagement (voice, chat, email, etc.)	Primarily voice calls
Scalability	Highly scalable to meet changing needs	Moderately scalable
Cost	Typically pay-as-you-go pricing	May have fixed costs or tiered plans
Features	Includes features for routing, reporting, analytics, and integrations with CRM	Primarily focused on call routing and management
Deployment	Quick and easy setup	The vendor manages all infrastructure and updates
Maintenance	Security measures are in place, but your responsibility	Some responsibility for maintenance may fall on you
Security	Secure cloud environment with disaster recovery	Security measures are in place, but may not be as robust

Cloud contact centers offer a more future-proof solution with a broader range of features and benefits compared to cloud call centers. They cater to a wider range of customer preferences and business needs, driving better customer experiences and business growth.

However, cloud call centers might be a suitable option for businesses with a primary focus on phone support and a limited budget for upfront costs.

Top Features & Benefits of Cloud Contact Centers

Cloud contact centers pack a ton of powerful features and benefits that traditional on-premise systems simply can’t match.

1) Lower setup and ongoing costs

Businesses can save up to 65% just by switching from traditional landlines to VoIP. But it’s not just the monthly fees, cloud contact centers eliminate so many of the hard costs like real estate for housing equipment, backup power sources, multiple network carriers, security audits, and dedicated IT staff.

Microsoft found that 82% of small businesses reported cost reductions after moving to the cloud. Without all that hardware and excess staffing, a cloud-based contact center is far more affordable in the long run.

Cloud contact centers consolidate a bunch of tools and apps you’re probably paying for separately into one unified platform. You don’t need to juggle multiple subscriptions and vendor relationships.

Related: Small Business Contact Center Software: Overview & Key Features

2) Built for remote work

So many businesses are now on work-from-home or hybrid models, and having a remote contact center workforce is a necessity.

Cloud solutions make this seamless — agents and supervisors can stay connected and productive from literally anywhere with an internet connection. The software solution is built to work across all devices and operating systems too.

Comprehensive real-time reporting provides full visibility into performance for managers. And stringent security standards ensure customer privacy and prevent data breaches.

3) Fast installation and setup

Rather than the nightmare of traditional on-prem installations that dragged on for months, cloud contact centers can get you up and running in just days or weeks.

No complex hardware configs or endless IT requests to deal with. Customizing settings, onboarding new employees, pulling analytics, and reporting. It’s all streamlined and simple through intuitive web interfaces.

4) Superior performance

Cloud architecture also delivers major performance gains. While physical phone systems have finite resources, cloud platforms leverage virtualization to dynamically scale capacity based on demand.

No matter how many calls, cases, or interactions you have, redundant cloud infrastructure ensures maximum uptime, lower downtime, and better responsiveness.

If your local internet connection goes down, calls can simply re-route to agent cell phones or automated messaging. Reliable business continuity is baked in.

5) Improved agent productivity

For agents, the unified cloud interface boosts productivity by eliminating tool-switching and streamlining common workflows.

Everything an agent needs for efficient call handling and case resolution is right at their fingertips — no more disparate apps and fragmented data sources. Features like click-to-call, conversational AI-enabled self-service, and intelligent routing get customers to resolution faster too.

6) Plenty of room for growth

Cloud solutions are designed to scale effortlessly as your business grows. Need more users, channels, or functionality? Just provision it through the cloud platform.

No wiring nightmares or server upgrades are required. You can start lean and scale up gradually based on demand.

7) Enterprise-grade reliability, uptime, and security

Reliability and uptime are also enhanced in cloud environments.

While traditional on-prem systems are susceptible to localized outages from severe weather and network hiccups, cloud providers operate geo-redundant data centers with hefty service level agreements.

Layers of built-in and end-to-end security like call encryption, permission controls, and auditing enable compliance with regulations like PCI, HIPAA, and more.

8) Better integration capabilities

Integration capabilities are another big win. Most businesses rely on a patchwork of different systems and apps, but cloud contact centers can sync all that data to provide a seamless, unified experience across all customer channels and touchpoints.

Contact center agents get full context into account histories, past interactions, and potential opportunities within a vibrant integrations ecosystem.

9) Real-time analytics

Speaking of context, real-time analytics dashboards and custom reporting tools help surface those valuable customer insights. You get a clear, quantified view of operations, processes, and performance metrics that would require teams of data analysts to stitch together in legacy environments.

Supervisors and executives can benchmark against KPIs, identify friction points, and drive strategic improvements.

10) Better customer experience

the biggest advantage of cloud contact centers is the ability to deliver a truly seamless omnichannel customer experience. Customers want to be able to reach out on their channel of choice – voice, chat, email, messaging, social media, etc.

Cloud platforms unite those channels on the backend so agents get full context no matter how the customer interacts. That’s what builds lasting relationships and loyalty in today’s digital era.

11) Ease of management

On the management side, cloud contact centers centralize administration through simple web interfaces rather than having to dig into arcane system configs and databases. Adjusting settings, permissions, and customizations is point-and-click easy.

Cloud Contact Center Pricing

Cloud contact center, also known as Contact Center as a Service(CCaaS), offer a flexible and scalable solution for managing customer interactions. Billing is typically on a monthly subscription basis, with costs varying depending on several factors:

• Number of users: Generally, per-user pricing decreases as your team size increases. You get a better value with a larger number of agents.
• Features: The specific features you need will influence the cost. Basic plans may cover voice calls only, while more advanced plans can include features like video conferencing, chat, and CRM integrations.
• Usage: Some providers have per-minute charges for voice calls, text messages, or data storage. Understand how your usage will translate into costs.

Vendor Comparison Example

Here’s a comparison of three cloud contact center providers to illustrate the different pricing structures and features offered:

Features	Nextiva	Five9	NICE CXone
Setup In Hours	✅	❌	❌
Monthly Price	$99+ per user	$149+ per user	$94+ per user
UC + CC Integration	✅	✅	✅
Free Trial	❌	Custom Proof of Concept	60 days
24/7 Support	✅	✅	✅
Omnichannel	✅	✅	✅
Workforce Management	✅	✅	✅
Outbound & Inbound	✅	✅	✅
AI Agent Assist	✅	✅	✅
CRM Integration	✅	✅	✅

How To Choose the Right Cloud Contact Center Vendor

The cloud-based contact center industry is expected to grow by a compounded annual growth rate of 26% through 2027. But as the industry grows, choosing between providers is harder.

Selecting the right cloud contact center solution requires careful consideration of your specific needs. Here are some key factors to evaluate:

• Business needs assessment: Identify your communication channels (voice, email, chat, etc.), agent requirements (skills, training), and desired features (call recording, CRM integration) to ensure the solution aligns with your business goals.
• Features and functionality: Evaluate cloud contact center solutions based on the features most relevant to your business. Look for functionalities like skills-based routing for efficient call distribution, call recording for quality monitoring and coaching, and integrations with your CRM system for a unified customer view.
• Pricing and scalability: Cloud contact center solutions often have different pricing models. Consider your budget and choose a provider that offers a scalable solution that can adapt to your future growth in terms of agents, call volume, and features.
• Security and compliance: Ensure the cloud contact center vendor prioritizes data security with robust security measures in place. Verify their compliance with relevant data privacy regulations to safeguard customer information.
• Customer support: Reliable and responsive customer support is essential for a smooth user experience. Choose a vendor with a proven track record of providing timely and effective technical support to your agents and IT team.

Carefully evaluate these factors alongside your specific business needs to make an informed decision when selecting a cloud contact center solution that empowers your agents, delivers exceptional customer experiences, and scales with your growing business.

Scale Your Sales and Support Organization With Nextiva

Looking for a top-rated contact center solution? Nextiva was named Customers’ Choice for Midsize Enterprise and North America by Gartner Peer Insights. It’s an easy-to-use omnichannel cloud center platform paired with Nextiva’s award-winning customer support.

Thousands of companies rely on Nextiva for scalable communication solutions to grow their businesses.

Here are three reasons why Nextiva stands out from the rest:

• Excellent network reliability: Nextiva offers eight data centers across the United States that reliably connect billions of calls every year.
• Amazing Service: Every account benefits from our award-winning customer service, with 24/7 support, monitoring, and hands-on guidance whenever you want it. Our onboarding takes care of everything so you can focus on serving customers.
• Ease of use: Take the guesswork out of meeting your growing needs with powerful tools for your team. Not only are they easy to use, but they’re also easy to set up!

A contact center solution is ideal for those facing a rising tide of customer and sales requests. Nevertheless, the benefits of moving your contact center to the cloud far exceed those of an on-site solution.

You can’t go wrong with a cloud call center — it offers unmatched scalability. And when you’re ready to move to an omnichannel contact center, we’re ready.

There’s a reason why companies in industries like healthcare, logistics, and finance trust Nextiva. It’s dependable and enables them to grow faster.

Get a cloud contact center solution from Nextiva.

IVR, call recording, VoIP numbers, call routing, advanced reporting–integrated in ONE cloud platform.

Get started

Cloud Contact Center FAQs

Many businesses consider voice, video, and text as central channels for both internal and external use. While plenty of standalone tools exist, consolidating communications through a single platform is optimal.

A single communications platform means training your team to use only one tool. With only one dashboard to manage, you have a centralized place for all communications, avoiding the need to switch between multiple tools.

Here, we’ll discuss the key features and use cases of communications service providers (CSPs) and how to choose the right vendor for your business model — both now and as you scale in the future.

What Is a Communications Service Provider?

A communications service provider offers telecommunications, media, entertainment, applications, and other information-related services over networks. Its core duties are to ensure the reliable exchange and delivery of messages between people, services, and networks. 

Examples of CSPs include: 

• Internet service providers
• Cable companies
• Mobile carriers
• Television broadcasting operators
• Content and application service providers
• Satellite broadcasting operators
• Cloud communications service providers

CSPs for businesses

In the past, businesses relied heavily on landlines and emails for internal and external communication. However, given the digital transformation of the past two decades, that’s no longer the case.

There are two common types of CSPs for businesses: VoIP providers and Unified Communications (UC) providers.

Instead of relying on traditional phone lines, VoIP phone systems allow businesses to make and receive phone calls through an internet connection. You can even access VoIP systems — sometimes called cloud phone systems — through mobile apps.

VoIP systems offer the following benefits: 

• Cost-effectiveness: Often significantly cheaper than traditional phone lines, especially since they don’t require the purchase and installation of expensive hardware.
• Scalability: Easy to add or remove phone lines as your business grows or demand changes.
• Flexibility: Can be integrated with other communication tools, like video conferencing and instant messaging.

UC providers, meanwhile, combine various communication channels (voice, video, chat, etc.) into a single platform. Many UC providers offer Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS), which provides cloud-based solutions to streamline the convergence of multiple communication platforms.

UCaaS solutions offer the following benefits: 

• Improved collaboration: Streamlines communication and information sharing within teams.
• Increased productivity: Reduces time spent switching between different communication tools.
• Enhanced mobility: Allows employees to communicate and collaborate from anywhere with an internet connection, facilitating remote work opportunities.

Key Features of Communications Service Provider (CSPs)

CSPs typically have a few key features in common, making them well-suited for business communications.

High-quality voice

Clear and reliable call quality is essential for any business communication platform. Telecom services often play a central role in CSPs, so look for providers with strong service-level agreements (SLAs) ensuring high uptime and voice quality. Ideally, choose providers offering HD voice calls.

Advanced call management

Advanced call management allows businesses to automate some aspects of business communications.

Popular features include the following:

• Call forwarding and call routing
• Voicemail-to-email transcripts
• Auto attendants
• Call recording

Call management functionality can improve efficiency and provide a professional experience for customers. 

Seamless integration

A key benefit of CSPs is having all communication channels — including voice, email, video conferencing, and instant messaging — in a single platform. This simplifies workflows and improves collaboration.

Collaboration tools

Collaboration tools have become increasingly important in a communications service provider, especially as more teams utilize remote workers. Video conferencing, screen sharing, and file sharing within CSP platforms are essential for improved internal collaboration. 

What to Look for in a CSP

When choosing a CSP, consider both your business’s immediate and long-term needs. Opt for a platform that aligns with your current budget and needs, but also plan for features and usage that you may need in the future as your business scales.

Features & functionality

Features and functionality should be a core focus when choosing a CSP. Check that the CSP in question offers the specific features you need, for example, video conferencing, SMS messaging, and call analytics.

An increasing number of businesses are looking for a telecommunications service provider that offers some level of automation, including auto attendants for streamlined call routing or the option for automatic call recording.

Reliability

The reliability of your CSP is critical. After all, you can’t help customers if calls are dropped, unclear, or unable to go through.

CSPs should have uptime guarantees built into their SLAs, offering peace of mind for the service’s reliability. They should also have disaster recovery plans, outlining what happens if there’s a service outage.

Security

Businesses should never overlook the importance of security features and processes. This is particularly true in regulated industries (for example, healthcare organizations that are legally required to follow HIPAA), but even small businesses should prioritize security.

Research the CSP’s data security measures. Calls, recorded calls, and additional data, for example, should be encrypted. 

You can also look into the platform’s security accreditations. Some of the most important accreditations for CSPs include:

• HIPAA Compliance
• ISO/IEC 20071
• PCI Compliance
• SOC 2 Compliance

Cost & pricing

When considering a communications service provider’s pricing, look for the following:

• Transparent pricing structure: Avoid providers with hidden fees or complex pricing models. Check customer reviews on platforms like G2 or Capterra; some platforms mention hidden fees.
• Different scalable plans: Choose a provider that offers plans that accommodate your needs now and what you expect your needs to be in the long term. This includes plans with the right number of users, usage, and features.
• Long-term cost: Watch for platforms with higher upfront costs but lower monthly fees. Others may have a low “flat rate” price but require you to purchase individual features as add-ons.

Customer service

If your team is stuck when accessing call analytics, or if there’s an error with your recent invoice, you should feel confident that you’ll quickly get the support you need.

Always choose a CSP that offers the following:

• 24/7 technical support availability
• Responsive and knowledgeable support staff
• Training and onboarding resources for your employees

Some CSPs don’t create solid customer experiences and may lack support channels. Others may only provide prompt support to enterprise customers or subscribers of high-cost plans.

Integration with existing systems

When choosing a communications service provider, most businesses already have plenty of tools in their tech stack, so it’s important to choose a platform that will integrate with other key communication tools and digital services. Telecommunication companies should ideally be able to integrate with your CRM, email platform, and other critical business apps. Seamless integrations can save time and improve workflows.

Why Businesses Choose Nextiva as Their CSP

CSPs can help you lower overall costs by reducing on-premise hardware, staffing costs, and legacy technology upgrades. They can also make scalability simpler and more cost-effective, making it easy to scale up and down.

Every business has unique needs and concerns when choosing a communications service provider. However, almost all businesses need high call quality, advanced call management features, collaboration capabilities, and integration with their existing tech stack.

When choosing a CSP, start by finding a platform that offers all the features you need, and then consider factors like customer support, reliability, security, and pricing. Remember that, while pricing is important, it should not be the only deciding factor when selecting CSP partnerships.

Businesses that prioritize budget over reliability, security, and call quality often wind up changing providers down the road. The cost of frustrated or lost customers often severely outweighs the cost difference between competing plans.

Nextiva offers the best of both worlds, combining advanced functionality and reliability with affordable pricing. That’s why more businesses, including the San Antonio Spurs, are choosing Nextiva to deliver outstanding customer experiences.

“With Nextiva, our team doesn’t drop calls; there’s amazing voice quality, and it’s been an incredibly reliable way to connect with our fans and create a better customer experience.”

~ Chris Monroe, Associate VP of Membership

Nextiva offers transparent pricing, with plans starting at $18.95 per month. All customers can benefit from Nextiva’s 99.999% uptime and have access to 24/7 customer support. Data security is also a priority, and we have advanced VoIP features like call routing, custom greetings, voicemail-to-email transcripts, and more.

Call center quality assurance (QA) separates the high-performing call centers from the bare minimum folks.

By ensuring quality at every stage of your customer processes, you’re a step closer to resolving problems and retaining more customers.

This is why a robust quality assurance plan for your call center is essential to delivering exceptional customer service.

In this article, we’ll dive deep into call center QA, exploring its benefits, key metrics, and best practices to empower your agents and elevate your customer experience.

What Is Call Center Quality Assurance?

Call center quality assurance refers to the practices and processes used to evaluate and improve the quality of customer service interactions in a call center environment. It involves monitoring and assessing customer interactions, providing feedback and coaching to call center agents, and implementing strategies to maintain and enhance service quality standards.

Imagine you’re running a call center where customers reach out for support or to make purchases. You want to ensure they have a great experience at every contact, right? That’s where call center quality assurance comes into play.

Quality assurance (QA) is the process call centers follow to ensure all customers receive the best possible customer experience.

By maintaining standards and following set guidelines for how you treat customers and handle tricky customers, you set the bar for other call center agents and gain a competitive edge over rival businesses.

Call Center Quality Control vs. Quality Assurance

Before we dig into how we improve quality assurance, let’s clarify an often confused phrase.

👉 Call center quality control is used to ensure operational activities are in good order. These are often things like attendance, punctuality, and after-call work activities.

👉 Call center quality assurance, or call center quality management, is a process to maintain standards in your call center so your customers get the best experience. Examples include call flow, scripts, and soft skills. 

While both are important, they measure different aspects of the contact center experience. 

Consider separating operational characteristics from conversational elements when evaluating the agent’s performance.

Call center quality control	Call center quality management
Do agents arrive on time?	Was your call flow followed?
Do agents provide clear notes?	Did the agent demonstrate empathy?
Do agents maintain accurate documentation?	Did the agent realize the urgency of the call?

Why You Need Call Center Quality Assurance

Quality assurance is important in call centers as it gives you the knowledge your business is providing a consistent customer experience and dealing with objections and escalations constructively.

Your call flows, scripts, and agent training are designed for a reason. 

Deviating from a tried and tested process can lead to a drop in standards. However, there is always room for agents to suggest improvements. 

In your quality assurance framework, make room for suggestions and feedback from agents who are on these customer calls all day.

When most of your customer interactions are via the phone, it’s hard to know what’s going on with every call. 

Unlike email or web chat, you can’t check keywords and sentiment 24/7. It’s impossible to keep an eye on every negative experience.

That’s where quality assurance is most important by monitoring agent performance to find room for improvements. 

Benefits of Call Center QA

A well-designed and implemented call center QA program can significantly impact a business. Here’s how:

• Improved customer satisfaction and loyalty: Consistent, high-quality customer interactions help businesses build stronger customer relationships and loyalty.
• Increased first contact resolution rates: Effective coaching empowers customer service agents to resolve customer issues efficiently on the first call, reducing frustration and repeat calls.
• Enhanced agent performance and skill development: Ongoing feedback and coaching opportunities equip agents with the skills and knowledge to excel in their roles.
• Reduced call handling times and operational costs: Streamlined call resolution and improved FCR lead to shorter call handling times, resulting in cost savings.

Key Components of a Call Center QA Process

Call center QA can be of two types: manual and automated.

Manual QA

A typical manual call center QA process involves these steps:

1. Call monitoring

Calls between agents and customers are randomly selected and monitored by quality assurance specialists or supervisors. Quality monitoring specialists evaluate the agent’s performance based on predefined criteria, such as professionalism, product knowledge, call handling procedures, and customer satisfaction.

2. Quality scorecards

QA specialists use standardized scorecards or evaluation forms to objectively assess various aspects of the call, such as greeting, problem-solving, active listening, and closing. These QA scores provide a consistent framework for evaluating agent performance.

We typically see five main areas evaluated, which create a QA scorecard:

• Verification: Did the agent ensure the caller authenticated account access?
• Call management: Did the agent spot when they had to take urgent action?
• Call flow: Did the agent progress as per a predetermined script?
• Soft skills: How was the demeanor of the agent?
• Resolution: When the call was over, did the agent document the call appropriately?

3. Feedback and coaching

Based on the call monitoring and scorecard results, QA specialists provide feedback and coaching to agents. This may include highlighting areas for improvement, providing guidance on best practices, and offering training opportunities to enhance their skills.

4. Quality assurance metrics

Call centers track various metrics related to quality, such as customer satisfaction scores, first-call resolution rates, average handle time, and call transfer rates. These metrics are monitored and analyzed to identify areas for improvement and measure the effectiveness of QA initiatives.

5. Call calibration

QA specialists and supervisors regularly participate in calibration sessions, where they review and discuss sample calls to ensure consistent scoring and evaluation practices across the team.

6. Quality assurance reporting

QA teams generate regular call center reports that summarize call quality trends, agent performance, and areas for improvement. These reports are shared with management and help develop training programs and implement process improvements.

Call center quality assurance ensures customers receive consistent, high-quality service that meets or exceeds their expectations.

By quality, we’re not referring to call quality, which is how well people can hear each other over the phone, how well your tech is performing, and the quality of service.

It’s the fidelity that your agents can fulfill the expectations customers and the business have of them. 

Automated QA

Call center quality assurance is not just about having human specialists listening in on calls. Automated QA tools are becoming increasingly popular and can take things to the next level.

An AI-powered contact center can automatically analyze and score most of your customer interactions — voice calls, chats, emails, you name it.

This intelligent software uses speech analytics, natural language processing, and machine learning algorithms to evaluate agent tone, and adherence to scripts, and even detect potentially dissatisfied customers based on linguistic cues.

Not only does this allow for comprehensive monitoring without the need for manual call reviewing, but it also provides deeper insights into customer sentiment and conversation patterns. You can quickly identify recurring issues, frequent customer pain points, and opportunities for process improvements.

Plus, with automated QA, you get real-time alerts when potential problems are detected, like an agent going off-script or a customer becoming frustrated. This allows immediate intervention and coaching, rather than waiting for a human QA specialist to flag the issue days or weeks later.

Combining automated and human-driven quality assurance efforts can take your call center to new heights in terms of efficiency, consistency, and delivering an exceptional customer experience across all channels.

It’s like having a team of tireless quality control experts working around the clock to ensure every interaction is top-notch.

How To Create a Call Center Quality Assurance Framework

With thousands of interactions to examine, call center quality assurance initiatives need focus. 

This is where a QA framework comes into play.

Think of your QA framework as a predefined scope for your program. Instead of stumbling through random data, your framework gives you specific targets.

To start, you’ll need to set some guidelines for a QA program, such as:

What KPIs and metrics will you monitor?

Choose which key performance indicators (KPIs) make sense for your needs. You might focus on customer satisfaction (CSAT), first-call resolution (FCR), or AHT.

• Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): Measures how satisfied customers are with the interaction they have with a call center agent. CSAT is typically measured using surveys sent to customers after their calls.
• First Contact Resolution (FCR): This metric measures the percentage of calls that are resolved by the agent on the first contact. A high FCR indicates that agents are effectively resolving customer issues.
• Average Handle Time (AHT): This metric measures the average amount of time it takes for an agent to handle a call. AHT can be influenced by several factors, such as the complexity of the call and the agent’s skill level.

How will you analyze them?

Decide how to balance manual call monitoring and automatic data collection. Sensitive industries, such as healthcare, limit customer or patient data. Next, determine what technology you need to conduct contact center quality assurance.

Technology plays a vital role in streamlining call center QA. You’ll typically need:

• Call recording and evaluation software: These tools allow for easy recording, storage, and retrieval of calls for evaluation.
• Speech analytics tools: Software can analyze call recordings to identify customer sentiment and agent performance metrics like keywords and phrases used.
• Gamification and performance dashboards: Interactive dashboards and gamification elements can motivate agents by providing real-time feedback on their performance and progress.

The good news is that you don’t have to run to the store to try out different software solutions. Instead, you’ll find all of these features in one cohesive call center software.

How will you act on this data? 

Choose what happens when you have the data. This could mean updating agent scripts or creating a Quality Standard Definition Document (QSDD).

When building your framework, there are three standard frameworks to draw inspiration from:

Operational digs into real-time call center performance management. 

Identifying gaps in operations filters relevant agents into the right training program, helping struggling agents.

Tactical looks at process and organizational flow. 

The data will show that if there are repeat blockers in scripts or processes, agents keep getting tripped up at the same point. Amend these processes to give agents more flexibility or be more personable.

Strategic is about making your customers happier.

Improving metrics and benchmarks like Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Effort Score (CES) leads to customer loyalty and higher customer retention.

Steps To Improve Call Center Quality Assurance

Here are some helpful quality assurance tips you can start implementing right away.

You don’t have to do all these immediately. But every minor change you make is a big step toward improving your call center quality assurance.

Recommendation	Explanation
Document everything	When something goes wrong, document the how and the why.
Encourage agent participation	Often the best process improvements come from people using them.
Include other channels	If you’re a multichannel contact center, monitor email, web chat, and social media too.
Schedule regular training	For new practices and refresher coaching sessions.
Use gamification	To inspire and motivate agents to outperform themselves and their peers.
Give low-performing agents more attention	High-performing agents don’t need as much help as new or underperforming staff. Split your coaching accordingly.
Promote from within	Use high performers to become your call center managers.
Be open to feedback	Encourage agents to challenge their actions, even if they believe they acted correctly
Share metrics and stats	Leverage call center technology to show agents they’re making an impact.
Create a QA framework	To formalize and plan how and why quality assurance exists in your call center.

Call Center Quality Assurance Best Practices

When building your own framework, make sure you have these five things on your call center quality assurance checklist.

1) Plan regular quality assurance call monitoring

Make sure you have a schedule for call monitoring and establish it as routine. 

This might be X number of calls per day, per department, or even per agent.

Here’s what you should check for when monitoring calls: 

• Did the agent greet the caller accordingly?
• Did they complete account verification?
• Did they understand the problem?
• Did the agent use approved messaging?
• Was an escalation raised appropriately?
• Did the agent ask if they could help in any other way?
• Was there an upsell opportunity?
• Did the call center agent document the call correctly?

2) Have one person responsible for quality assurance

Appoint a head of quality assurance whose responsibility is ensuring the processes get followed at all times.

The quality assurance manager’s (or QA team) role includes:

• Creating and maintaining quality assurance processes.
• Collecting feedback from QAs and agents.
• Training sessions for new protocols.
• Onboarding for new agents.
• Handling escalations from other QAs.
• Conducting in-house audits.
• Listening to calls.

While there may be a crossover with other quality assurance analysts, the QA manager holds the overall responsibility for the success of the function.

3) Make sure your goal is customer service

When you’re performing checks and listening to calls, don’t forget your purpose isn’t to call out what customer support agents are doing wrong but to help delight and retain customers.

Part of quality assurance should be the opportunity for agents to provide feedback on what does and doesn’t work well. 

In case they find something in your process detrimental to the customer experience, let them provide feedback and use that as a source of improvement.

4) Positively reinforce the good

Everyone makes mistakes. And that’s the mantra you should take when monitoring agent performance. 

There might be a good reason why Angela skipped through half of the script. But if there is no excuse for skipping customer account verification, she needs to have this addressed.

There is a right way to go about this. When reviewing calls with Angela, highlight the good and the bad. Suggest improvements rather than repeatedly calling her out on her flaws.

Factor in that your agents are real people. They have lives outside the call center, too. 

If something is going on in their personal life, punishment for deviating from your process will only make things worse.

Instead, be empathetic. Like you would with a customer. Understand why Angela had a bad call and see how you can help.

5) Measure using call center quality assurance metrics

There are many call center metrics you can choose to measure.

Each business, and sometimes each department, has its own needs.

Try these metrics out for size:

• Net Promoter Score (NPS)
• Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)
• First Contact Resolution (FCR)
• Customer Churn Rate (CCR)
• Average Handle Time (AHT)
• Call Volume
• Peak Hour Traffic
• Average Waiting Time
• Repeat Calls
• Average Call Duration

Matching these metrics to your goals and business type is crucial. 

As is making sure your call center technology gives you access to the right features and metrics.

☀️ Case Study: Titan Solar Power Scaled Its Team by 450% with Nextiva

Technology To Streamline Your QA Workflow

Your contact center software makes all the difference by analyzing and acting on the data you find from your call center quality assurance program.

Modern quality assurance programs automate data collection. A cloud-based solution such as Nextiva combines the call center features you need to stay on top of your QA process:

Nextiva’s QA software automates data collection through features like automatic call recording, call and speech analytics, and omnichannel interaction analysis.

• Automatic call recording lets you record calls for later review and rating.
• Speech analytics uses AI to flag important calls based on keywords, emotions, and metrics like silence duration.
• Interaction analysis monitors all channels like chat, email, and social media for negative sentiment and common issues.

Nextiva’s contact center software provides performance metrics tracking, including number-based metrics like average handle time, outcome-based metrics like first call resolution, and feedback-based metrics from customer satisfaction surveys.

You also get agent quality scores from QA evaluations and customer satisfaction surveys automatically sent after each interaction. Automated screen pops provide customer information for efficient verification. You can also hide sensitive portions of recordings as needed for compliance.

Leaders know quality isn’t subjective

It’s easy to stick your head in the sand when customers get frustrated. Top customer experience leaders view every interaction as another opportunity to get better.

Incorporating QA into call centers is a powerful growth driver. The best contact center solution enables you to create happy customers and keep it the norm.