Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) is a cloud-delivered suite optimized for managing interactions with customers and, more broadly, the entire customer experience (CX). Almost all CCaaS platforms and solutions share the same basic features:
- Inbound routing of omnichannel interactions via automatic call distribution (ACD), interactive voice response (IVR), virtual agents, chatbots, etc. Some will also support outbound interactions.
- Analytics and reporting on those omnichannel interactions (voice, text, chat, video, messaging, etc.).
- A user interface that is tailored toward presenting the human agent with the information they need.
- Integrations to databases and other enterprise systems so agents have the data they need.
- Various tools to help the agent and their supervisors to measure their performance and improve (coaching, training, etc.).
- Support for artificial intelligence (AI) in its varied forms, from conversational chatbots, transcription and sentiment analysis to generative AI-based assistants that provide real-time agent assistance and after-call summarization that can be used by supervisors, as well.
- Workforce engagement management solutions that provide scheduling.
Who Are the Leading CCaaS Providers of 2024?
CCaaS providers all offer the same basic set of tools for handling inbound and/or outbound customer interactions. Many also include (generative) AI-powered tools, as well, for transcription, agent assistance and/or summarization. Most CCaaS providers offer different pricing tiers (from least to most expensive) that include different capabilities per tier. The following CCaaS providers are listed in alphabetical order; this list is not exhaustive.
8x8
The 8x8 Contact Center Platform is a cloud-based solution offering omnichannel support through voice, video, chat, and email channels. It provides features for managing and routing customer interactions, including ACD, IVR, and skills-based routing. The platform includes centralized administration, agent performance analytics, and reporting tools. Integrations with customer relationship management (CRM) systems and other business applications are available. Additional capabilities include self-service options like chatbots and virtual assistants. And, 8x8 introduced generative AI-powered capabilities such as agent assist and summarization. The platform also includes workforce management (WFM) functionalities for scheduling and optimization, and quality assurance tools for call recording and monitoring. Like many CCaaS platforms, 8x8 emphasizes security and compliance with certifications like HIPAA and PCI-DSS. 8x8 offers a range of pricing plans.
No Jitter has covered 8x8’s rollout of its SMS fraud prevention product, its customer LSH Auto which used 8x8 to transform its customer service operations and how the 8x8 platform incorporates unified communications features.
Amazon Connect, from AWS
Amazon Connect is a CCaaS platform from Amazon Web Services (AWS). It offers omnichannel communication channels including voice, chat, and SMS. Amazon Connect (Connect) offers scalability and flexibility via a “pay-as-you-go” model. As mentioned, Connect allows enterprises to manage customer interactions across various channels with call and interaction routing based on agent skills and availability, as well as self-service options like chatbots. With respect to agent tools and analytics, Connect offers real-time performance dashboards, call recording and transcription, and integrations with CRM and other business applications to streamline workflows. These capabilities, and others, are typically delivered via add-on packages such as Amazon Lex (virtual agents), Contact Lens (analytics), Wisdom (AI). Amazon Connect Q is the Gen AI agent assistance package which includes suggested responses and actions. Connect also offers data security and compliance with industry standards (e.g., HIPAA and PCI-DSS).
No Jitter has covered Connect’s new generative AI offering called Amazon Q and who it will help Connect customers reinvent CX, interviewed Pasquale DeMaio who heads up the Connect business. Generative AI and AWS’s plans for it were also covered here and here.
Avaya
The Avaya Experience Platform (AXP) is Avaya’s emerging flagship cloud-based contact center. It was launched in 2022 and is a multitenant contact center built for cloud and managed by Avaya. It is available only in the Microsoft Azure cloud. Avaya will actively try to migrate customers to this solution over the next few years. AXP omnichannel (voice, text, etc.) routing and management allows the contact center to handle customer interactions through various channels with ACD, skills-based routing, and unified queues. AXP also provides AI capabilities for sentiment analysis, chatbots, virtual assistants. AXP also includes real-time analytics, workforce management tools for creating/modifying schedules and monitoring performance.
No Jitter has covered some of Avaya’s new hires, how the company is re-engaging with the market after its bankruptcy and some of its milestones in the latter half of 2023.
Content Guru
Content Guru offers “storm,” a cloud-based contact center platform which is marketed as a high-volume, modular, omnichannel (voice, email, chat, etc.) solution. Storm consolidates multiple channels into a single agent interface and offers skills-based routing, integrations with existing enterprise systems (CRM, ERP, etc.) and various third-party application. Storm’s “brain” features AI-powered capabilities such as chatbots for self-service, as well as the generative AI-powered “storm Machine Agent” which provides agent assistance, interaction summarization and transcription.
Enghouse Interactive
Enghouse Interactive offers a CCaaS solution with omnichannel support, advanced routing, self-service options, agent empowerment tools, and analytics. Its omnichannel support, largely the same as other CCaaS providers, allows contact centers to handle interactions across voice, video, chat, email, social media, SMS, and web channels. It also provides ACD, skills-based routing, and predictive routing. Support for agents includes an interface that provides access to real-time data, call recording, and performance analytics for both agent- and supervisor-related tasks. The Enghouse platform also includes IVR, chatbots, and virtual assistants for customer self-service and resolution. These capabilities are further bolstered by AI for sentiment analysis, speech recognition, and predictive insights. The solution integrates with CRM, business intelligence, and other enterprise applications. It supports the standard security measures and compliance with industry standards.
Evolve IP
Evolve IP’s Contact Suite provides omnichannel supports (voice, video, chat, email, SMS, and social media interaction), integration with Evolve IP's unified communications solution and other business applications for centralized management. As with other CCaaS solutions, Contact Suite provides ACD, skills-based routing, and IVR, as well as a UI for agents which includes call recording and performance analytics. The solution also includes WEM tools for scheduling, forecasting, performance tracking, and quality assurance. And as with other CCaaS products, Contact Suite provides AI support for sentiment analysis, call transcription, and automated notifications. It also supports cloud-based or hybrid deployment options with open APIs for integrations with CRM and other third-party applications.
Five9
Five9 offers a CCaaS platform that supports omnichannel engagement (voice, video, chat, email, SMS, and social media), AI for self-service options like chatbots, virtual assistants, and automated workflows for efficiency and personalized customer experiences. The platform provides real-time and historical data on customer interactions, agent performance, and operational data. The agent interface provides access to customer context, performance dashboards, and tools for collaboration and knowledge management. The Five9 solution can include generative AI-powered tools, depending on the package selected. It also includes integrated WEM tools for agent scheduling, forecasting, and performance tracking.
No Jitter covered the latest round of Five9 acquisition rumors, its acquisition of Aceyus and how its role in the customer journey.
Genesys
The Genesys Cloud platform omnichannel support, inbound and outbound calling, WEM, IVR and ACD, as well as (generative) AI for chatbots, self-service options, and predictive insights. Genesys Cloud also includes WEM for optimizing agent scheduling, training, and engagement. The platform includes real-time data and performance analytics to monitor agent performance. Genesys Cloud comes in three different tiers with some variation in what is available feature-wise in the top two tiers. In 2021, Genesys received $580 million in funding from Salesforce Ventures.
No Jitter covered Genesys’s integration with Service Cloud Voice, its generative AI capabilities and how the company measures CX. No Jitter also spoke with Brett Weigl on how generative AI can assist contact centers.
NICE
NICE offers both on-premises contact center products as well as a CCaaS platform known as NICE CXone. Cxone handles interactions across voice, video, chat, email, SMS, and social media for streamlined customer journeys. Via its Enlighten AI toolkit, NICE has added generative AI capabilities for agent assistance and summarization. NICE also offers chatbots, virtual assistants and predictive analytics. NICE’s platform provides analytics and reporting on real-time and historical customer interactions. It includes a suite WEM tools for scheduling, forecasting, and performance tracking to optimize agent productivity. It complies with industry standard security measures and standards, and provides integrations to other enterprise systems (CRM, ERP, etc.).
No Jitter has covered NICE’s thought leadership, how it sees CX changing and its use of generative AI.
RingCentral
RingCX is RingCentral’s CCaaS solution. It debuted in the latter half of 2023. RingCX provides omnichannel support, integration with RingCentral’s UCaaS platform, and provides features like an intelligent virtual assistant (IVA) for voice and digital interactions. It provides ACD, IVR and skills-based routing, preview, predictive and progressive outbound dialing, call recordings, call summaries and transcripts, automated call scoring, keyword tracking and post-call speech analytics. It integrates with Salesforce Digital Cloud, Zendesk, and soon: Hubspot, Dynamics and ServiceNow. RingCX also includes various AI-based features, including generative AI-powered agent assist and summarization. It also includes basic WEM functionality.
No Jitter has covered RingCX, its new CCaaS offering, how well that particular solution has done, and the expansion of RingSense across its portfolio, as well as the launch of its Events product, and its research into the value of UCaaS and AI for improving productivity.
Salesforce Contact Center
Salesforce Contact Center is a component of the broader Salesforce Customer 360 platform. It focuses on integrating customer interactions with existing Salesforce CRM data for seamless experiences. It provides omnichannel supports and, via Salesforce Einstein and other AI capabilities agent assist, summarization, sentiment analysis, chatbots, and predictive routing. It also promotes the real-time collaboration between agents and other departments within the Salesforce ecosystem. The agent interface provides access to customer history, insights, and performance dashboards. It also offers basic WEM tools for agent scheduling, forecasting, and reporting to manage agent schedules and adherence.
No Jitter has covered Einstein improvements, as well as the launch of that platform and copilot, and how Salesforce combined its sales and service cloud products.
Sprinkler
The Sprinklr Contact Center is embedded within the broader Sprinklr CXM platform. It prioritizes social media integration and unified customer journeys across various channels. It supports interactions across voice, video, chat, email, SMS, and social media platforms. It provides a
consolidated view of customer interactions across all channels within the Sprinklr platform. Sprinkler’s Contact Center also leverages AI for chatbots, self-service options, and sentiment analysis. It provides an agent interface, performance dashboards, and basic WEM tools for scheduling, forecasting, and reporting.
No Jitter has covered how Sprinklr makes business more conversant and how it is disrupting the CCaaS market.
Talkdesk
Talkdesk offers a CCaaS platform focused on intelligent automation and agent experience. It offers AI-powered omnichannel support and, AI is integrated across Talkdesk’s various solutions, from self-service, employee collaboration and self-service to WEM and CX analytics.
The Talkdesk platform offers open APIs and integrations with CRM, business intelligence, and other applications for data flow and workflow optimization.
No Jitter has covered Talkdesk’s Gen AI progress and plans.
Webex
Webex Contact Center is Webex’s CCaaS solution and can be integrated within the Webex UCaaS ecosystem. Webex has taken a strong (generative) AI-focused stance with its contact center offering in addition to supporting omnichannel engagement. Its AI capabilities include chatbots, virtual assistants, and sentiment analysis. The solution provides analytics and reporting, comprehensive agent tools, WEM for scheduling, forecasting, performance tracking, and coaching. It will integrate with existing business applications and CRM systems through Webex APIs for data flow and workflow optimization. It supports security measures and compliance with industry standards. It offers a single pricing plan that will integrate with Webex’s other offerings (meetings, calling, webinars and events and CPaaS).
No Jitter has covered Webex’s contact center portfolio, Webex Go, its AI strategy in two different articles and its approach to meetings.
Zoom
Zoom Contact Center is a component of the broader Zoom UCaaS platform. It provides omnichannel engagement and prioritizes video interactions with features like co-browsing, screen sharing, and video annotations for personalized and collaborative customer service. It also supports intelligent self-service. Like other CCaaS providers, Zoom Contact Center has gone “all-in” with its support for generative AI features like agent assistance and summarization, along with more conventional AI capabilities such as transcripts, sentiment analysis and other features. Zoom Contact Center comes with a base pricing plan and four add-on packages.
No Jitter has covered Zoom AI Companion, its collaboration solution, how AI companion works, its upgraded contact center offerings, the launch of its AI Companion, and how well Zoom Contact Center is doing, as well as its addition of virtual agent capabilities.
Summary
When choosing from among the various CCaaS providers, a business should identify its customer service needs and goals which might include things like supporting multiple communications channels, offering self-service options and what it needs from a staffing and scheduling perspective. For example, will agents be working from a single facility, multiple facilities and/or will they be working from home. These last requirements alone can heavily influence what type of solution makes sense. Other considerations include compliance requirements in all the regions in which it operates (regulations vary), scalability (how many agents), will the given platform (easily) integrate with existing systems, cost, available features, reliability, security of the platform, stability of the vendor, etc. These are just a few of the major considerations involved in selecting a CCaaS vendor. Click here for No Jitter’s extensive library of CCaaS and contact center articles.
