Comparing Call Center Solutions for Salesforce: Talkdesk vs Service Cloud Voice vs PhoneIQ
7 min
Setting up a modern call center offers your business the opportunity to produce compelling customer experiences that can significantly impact customer satisfaction and sales conversion rates. If your organization already uses the Salesforce CRM for managing customer data and interactions, establishing call center functionality is only a few steps away. To start taking and receiving calls through Salesforce, all you need to do is implement a call center solution for Salesforce.
There are plenty of call center solutions available for Salesforce, but how can you know which one is best for your operation? Find the answer by reading on to learn more about the different criteria you should evaluate before choosing a call center solution.
What To Look For In Salesforce Call Center Solutions
Salesforce-integrated app options are highly varied. This makes it more difficult to select a call center platform to pair with your Salesforce instance. Fortunately, we have created a select list of criteria that you should seek in Salesforce-integrated call center solutions.
Computer Telephony Integration (CTI)
In today’s data-oriented marketplace, it is almost always essential to have your telephone systems linked directly to the business applications being used by your agents. This offers your company the ability to make, take, and manage calls without using a physical phone. All functions are available through their computer, simplifying the entire process.
Pure Cloud Call Center Platform:
Having cloud based solutions makes your call center operation more flexible and adaptive. You do not want a call center solution that hingest on connecting you to legacy, on premise telephony infrastructure. Instead, seek one that brings you telephony infrastructure purely in the cloud.
A pure cloud platform is ideal because they are multi tenant platforms. This enables them to make upgrades and updates seamlessly, ensuring that your call center is equipped for the future. Cloud-based call center solutions also allow low latency architecture to thrive behind globally distributed teams because they connect users to data centers in their area, rather than a distant data center.
Automated Dialing
Automatic dialing allows you to make calls without any need to manually input numbers and select call recipients. You can use automated dialers to leave pre-recorded messages or, in some cases, connect live agents to people directly. This is useful because it allows companies to increase their call volume to a wide, targeted audience.
Dashboards
Through a CTI dashboard, your agents can access relevant information about their work instantly. This removes the need for other applications that may complicate your call center workflow.
- With a CTI dashboard, a variety of information can be made available, including:
- Sales cadences
- Performance metrics
- Sales targets
- Management notes
- Customer notes
- Caller authentication
- Screen pops
Management and Coaching Tools
A call center solution can improve training workflows and productivity in your call center. With an effective CTI solution, your sales leaders and training staff can create opportunities for agents to listen to recorded calls, engage in three-way calls, listen in on calls, and get coached during calls. For example, the whisper function included in the PhoneIQ Salesforce call center solution allows managers to speak to agents during their calls without the person on the other end of the call being able to hear them. This offers unique opportunities for training and communication.
Mobile Workforce Support
Many call centers operate with a mobile workforce. These agents may use their work smartphones to conduct business, meaning they need access to their call center solutions while on the go. Look for systems that offer support for iOS and Android, while also regularly syncing activities with your Salesforce CRM.
The Best Features Available in Call Center Solutions
When you understand what capabilities a call center solution needs to be effective, you are in position to start learning more about specific features that are available in these platforms. If you are in the market for a new Salesforce-integrated call center solution, here are some features you should look out for.
Inbound Call Center Features
1. Web Based IVR Management
IVR management offers complete control over automated phone answering campaigns. Using IVR systems, call centers can process inbound calls, play recorded messages based on information in the database, and route calls appropriately depending on caller information. These platforms are essential for call centers that wish to manage a large influx of inbound calls using automated responses.
Using this Salesforce-powered call routing capability, you can ensure that callers are directed to the right agents. Factors used to determine who gets a call include lead information, opportunities available, language spoken, and other contact information.
2. Automatic Call Distribution Queues
If you do not have live agents available to take all of your calls, you need some means of managing the distribution of callers. Call center solutions that offer automatic call distribution queues will keep callers on hold until an agent becomes available to take the call. Once that agent is available, the call is automatically forwarded to them.
With certain call center solutions, you have the option to customize the on-hold experience for callers. Options include playing music, instructions, and other relevant audio sources.
3. Automatic Queue Call Back
Sometimes callers do not have the time to wait on hold for their turn to speak to an agent. The automatic queue call back feature will hold a person’s position in the queue by allowing them to request a call back. By giving the option to receive a call back, you increase the chances that they will actually get to speak to someone from your company.
Automating the call back process makes it easier for customers to reach you because they do not need to speak to someone in order to request a call back. In some systems, you can even allow callers to pick a time where they should be called back. This improves customer experiences, because many customers are not happy to sit on hold for long periods.
4. Skills-Based Call Routing
If you direct someone to an agent who does not have the ability to handle their problems, that customer may become frustrated. Skills-based call routing allows you to route calls directly to someone who is equipped with the skills needed to handle a specific caller’s issues. This saves time because callers will not need to speak with someone who does not have the ability to help them.
5. Call Notes and Tags
Being able to document aspects of a conversation you have had with a caller can save time during future calls. The ability to take notes during calls is valuable, especially when those notes are saved in a CRM like Salesforce. Other agents will be able to access those notes too, which ensures a holistic service experience for your customers.
Outbound Call Center Features
1. Click-to-Dial
Typing numbers into a phone can take immense amount of times when you have a high outbound call volume to manage. With click-to-dial functionality, you can initiate calls with just the click of a button.
2. Screen Pops
Whenever a call is taken or received, a screen pop will show up onscreen, displaying relevant profiles, cases, opportunities, and other objects that could be helpful. Screen pops allow you to get the information you need to handle a call effectively without needing to visit other apps or sections of your CRM during the call.
3. Import Dialing Lists
If you are already using Salesforce to track contacts, the ability to import those lists can be incredibly helpful in an outbound call center. Fortunately, many call center solutions allow you to import lead, contact, and account call lists directly from Salesforce. These lists can then be dialed using one of several automated dialing systems.
4. Automated Outbound Call Recording
Keeping track of previous calls can help you understand what potential customers need or have already received. If you forgot the content of a specific call, but to forgot to record the call, there could be issues down the line when that customer reaches out again. Many call center solutions will automatically record outbound calls, ensuring that your agents have access to the information they need to make the sale.
Comparing The Best Call Center Solutions
There are many call center solutions on the market and many are touted as having amazing features that can be beneficial to any call center operation. Some frontrunners in this industry include Talkdesk, Salesforce Service Cloud Voice, and PhoneIQ. Here is a quick comparison of the three:
Talkdesk
What Talkdesk Does
The Talkdesk call center solution offers computer telephony integration with leading CRM platforms, like Salesforce. It offers many of the features listed previously in this article, including click-to-dial and call recording, as well as analytics and insights that leverage artificial intelligence to inform your operation. This platform is designed to enhance customer experiences through integration with a variety of business tools.
Through Talkdesk’s contact center solution, you can improve your ability to provide top-tier customer service. The platform also has a user-friendly interface, making it easy for your agents and managers to perform their jobs.
Talkdesk Reviews
Talkdesk is held back by the fact it is not designed specifically for use with Salesforce. Therefore, it usually requires organizations to do more work to achieve full integration. To this end, you can also expect that Talkdesk customer support will not be capable of helping with niche issues that only someone who is familiar with Salesforce could solve.
Another issue with Talkdesk is that the company does not offer free trials for their software. This means you will need to make some form of financial commitment to try their product. If you are happy with it, this may not be a problem, but if you are dissatisfied, this can increase your costs when shopping for call center solutions.
According to Capterra reviews, many people are satisfied with their overall experience using Talkdesk. Though, some are unhappy with the customer support they have received from the company. Others are dissatisfied with the platform’s poor mobile app integration and inability to interface with critical platforms, like Google Voice. There are also comments that show frustration with the platform’s lack of proper support for other voice service providers.
Talkdesk Pricing:
Many Talkdesk users consider the call center solution to be on the higher end in terms of pricing. If you are looking for an affordable enterprise solution, this may not be the best option for you. Though, if you are willing to pay a premium to access their high-end user interface and useful features, Talkdesk is not a bad option to consider. 4
PhoneIQ
What PhoneIQ Does
PhoneIQ is a call center solution that is designed specifically to work with Salesforce. Some key features on this platform include local presence, automatic call recording, click-to-dial, power dialing, queue management, voicemail drop, and call-routing. Like other solutions, PhoneIQ provides a full scope of data tracking and analytics capabilities. The program links smoothly with Salesforce, allowing you to access contact records and track KPIs to optimize your inbound or outbound call center operations.
PhoneIQ Review
A valuable perk of PhoneIQ is that the customer support for this solution is well-versed in all things Salesforce. They can help with any implementation issues you experience, though there is one drawback here. Because PhoneIQ is Salesforce-exclusive, you will not be able to use it if your company operates on another CRM. Furthermore, PhoneIQ is not fully supported on iOS and Android.
While a majority of users are happy with their PhoneIQ experience, some have had minor difficulties finding out why certain aspects of the program were not working. While PhoneIQ was able to quickly address such issues through their customer support team, the frustration of things not working temporarily has been reported by several users. Other users have also reported that PhoneIQ could benefit from enhancing their conferencing features.
Overall, PhoneIQ is a highly-rated call center solution that brings a lot to the table. With a lightning fast customer support team ready to solve any issues that arise, you can be confident that this platform will prove valuable to your team, despite any minor glitches or implementation issues.
PhoneIQ Pricing
PhoneIQ offers affordable pricing for businesses of all sizes. Their base pricing is $25 per user, with enterprise plans starting at $75 per user. This is with an annual contract.
PhoneIQ also offers a 7 day free trial for new users, allowing prospective customers to get a taste of what this powerful platform has to offer. You can also request a personalized demo to have a specialist show you how the platform could be used in your contact center.
Salesforce Service Cloud Voice
What Service Cloud Voice Does
Salesforce actually has their own call center solution on the market. Service Cloud Voice is designed to give customers a positive phone-based experience, regardless of where agents take or receive calls. The platform offers enhance visibility of interactions, allowing agents and managers to gain a better understanding of how well they are performing. AI insights also offer information that can be used for improvement across all metrics.
Service Cloud Voice Review
While the Salesforce Service Cloud Voice system has many benefits, it is only available in Lightning Experience and is not supported as an add-on license in Service Cloud or Sales Cloud. Furthermore, there is no support for mobile devices. Likewise, it can be difficult to allow anyone other than the owner of a voice call recording to listen to a call. Though, you can change the settings on a per-recording basis to allow others to listen to calls.
There are also many reports of this platform being complex and difficult to get started with. Lack of effective customer support makes this issue even more complex. Though it works well once integrated, the setup process can be immensely difficult even for someone who is relatively familiar with Salesforce platforms. Another stated issue is that this platform is more expensive than the other options listed here, like PhoneIQ.
Capterra reviews describe Service Cloud Voice as clunky and hard to use. Although, once users have become accustomed to the platform, they admit that it offers the functionality they need to operate their contact centers efficiently. Unfortunately, there are other drawbacks, such as inability to search or sort the chat feature. This makes it difficult to find specific conversations that agents may need to revisit.
Service Cloud Voice Pricing
Service Cloud Voice has a higher pricepoint than alternative options, like PhoneIQ. In fact, their base package is twice the price of PhoneIQ, starting at $50 per user per month. Their enterprise option costs significantly more, at $125 per user per month. There is also no free trial available for this call center solution, though they do offer you the chance to experience a demo before buying.
PhoneIQ vs Talkdesk vs Service Cloud Voice
Which call center solution is best for your organization depends on a few things. For example, companies that are not familiar with Salesforce but are hoping to implement a Salesforce solution may struggle to use platforms like Talkdesk because it is not Salesforce native. A similar issue could arise with Service Cloud Voice because many users report that this platform is not user friendly during the setup process.
There is also a high barrier to entry in place for Talkdesk and Service Cloud Voice; neither of these platforms offer a free trial. This means you need to purchase the software to try it out, which can be frustrating if you decide that it is not a good fit for your company. PhoneIQ does not have this problem, as they offer a 7-day free trial for new users.
PhoneIQ is also the least expensive option of the three, yet it is still packed with most of the functionality you find in Talkdesk and Service Cloud Voice. With PhoneIQ, you can also expect higher quality customer support and service compared to Talkdesk and Service Cloud Voice. With these factors in mind, consider requesting a free trial with PhoneIQ to learn more about what this powerful software can offer your call center operation.
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