Dear Aircall, it is time to tap out.

Compare Aircall vs Freshdesk Contact Center. Find out what freedom feels like.

There’s this unique thing with combat sports, or for that matter, running a business. The contenders fire on all cylinders against each other. Yet, the one with the better fight strategy wins.

As the legendary boxer Lennox Lewis once said,

“…Create a strategy to beat each new opponent…”

But, when it comes to running a call center, having the right phone system is like the signature move of a boxer. It will help you execute your business strategy with finesse.

Aircall for one has remained a strong contender in the cloud telephony space. But, is Aircall the best call center software that your business deserves?

Maybe it is time to look for an Aircall alternative that can reinvent your call center and also save some dollars in the process.

But, before you go looking for an alternative, you need to know the feature build-up of an ideal business phone system. Here are some pointers to help you make the right choice next time.

The feature build-up of a champion business phone system

In boxing as well as for a phone system, there are certain traits that set apart the champions from the also-rans. Here are some features evident in a champion business phone system.

  • Instant Launch: Be it for a weeks-old startup or a decades-old enterprise, time is too big a luxury to have. An ideal phone system should let the business go to market in a flash. The whole exercise of signing up, buying local/international numbers and setting up the call queue, adding a call center team, etc. should be less time-consuming.
  • Easily scalable: A business that grows rapidly needs a phone system that can be easily scaled to handle fluctuating call volumes. Scalability should happen swiftly with no room for rigidity.
  • A real problem-solver: The call center software should help agents solve their customers’ problems quickly. It should not act up and create call handling problems for agents themselves. Hence the need for fundamental features like call routing, multi-level IVR, real-time call queue and agent availability, call monitoring, etc.
  • Wallet-friendly: A fitting phone system should not cost a bomb yet, deliver high on features. Ideally, it should be available on a free trial with phone credits so that you can take it for a spin and figure out which plan will best suit your needs.

What makes Freshdesk Contact Center a mightier alternative to Aircall?

To begin with, the pricing. If you are a cost-conscious business who wants to get positive RoI for every dollar spent, we have some news for you. Freshdesk Contact Center delivers high on features compared to Aircall, for less the price.

If you are a cost-conscious business who wants to get positive ROI for every dollar spent, we have some news for you. Freshdesk Contact Center delivers high on features compared to Aircall, for less the price. Aircall in a way lands an under the belt punch for its users with heavy pricing tied to setting up and buying phone numbers.

The hard-hitting cost of getting started — Aircall pricing Vs Freshdesk Contact Center pricing

Aircall pricing plans consist of three packs, namely Essentials, Professional and Custom. The Aircall Essentials pricing plan (the beginner one) requires a minimum of 3 users. Whereas Freshdesk Contact Center allows you to begin even with a single user.

Here is how the number of users would affect the cost estimate:

Aircall: $30 per user per month * 3 users = $90. (Annual cost = $90 * 12 = $1080).

Freshdesk Contact Center: $19 for per user per month * 1 user = $19 only. Even if you have 3 users, Freshdesk Contact Center would still cost you only $57 per month

Also, if you opt for the annual pricing plan, Freshdesk Contact Center will still cost lower at ($15 per user * 3 users) * 12 = $540.

The annual cost difference between Aircall and Freshdesk Contact Center amounts to $540 ($1080 – $540). That is exactly half the cost you are saving. 

Let’s delve deeper into how many call minutes you can save with the cost savings. 

With a cost savings of $540, you can make 25,545 call minutes of outbound phone calls or  33,750 call minutes of inbound calls (*).

(*) 

Outbound US phone calls @ $0.022 ($540 / $0.022 per minute = 25,545 call minutes).

Inbound US phone calls @ $0.016 ($540 / $0.016 per minute = 33,750 call minutes).

Below the belt cost of phone numbers

You can get 6 phone numbers from Freshdesk Contact Center for the price of one Aircall number. (Based on number rates for US phone numbers).

Here is how it works. Aircall gives 1 local or toll-free as part of plans. The one-number provision remains rigid across all plans, including the advanced plans. Any extra number that you would require will have to be purchased at a price tag of $6 for each additional number, per month.

Annually, the cost works out to an additional $72 ($6 per number * 12 months) for every additional number. If you are buying 2 numbers instead of one additional number,  it will cost $144.

Compared to Aircall’s pricing plan, Freshdesk Contact Center has a phone number pricing plan that is affordable. With Freshdesk Contact Center you can pick a local, mobile or toll-free number for as low as $1 per month. The annual cost, even with two numbers will be in the ballpark range of $24. (*Based on number rates for US phone numbers).

Well, that’s how you can get 6 numbers from Freshdesk Contact Center for the cost of one extra number from Aircall.

 Freshdesk Contact Center is available in three plans. You can pick all the plans with a single user and a single number and scale as you go. You can take a quick look at the plans and their associated features from the Freshdesk Contact Center Pricing page.

All Freshdesk Contact Center plans can be started with a single user and upscaled or downscaled anytime. It offers unlimited local, international and toll-free numbers (even with the $0 plan!). You can scale the number of users, phone

numbers and phone credits as you go.

Aircall vs Freshdesk Contact Center – Let’s get ready to rumble!

Aircall let's get ready to rumble

Moving out of your comfort zone usually means you have to make a few sacrifices and put up with a few roadblocks. But, when you move from Aircall to Freshdesk Contact Center you don’t have to give up on any capabilities. We did a comparison of features across all the plans of Aircall and Freshdesk Contact Center and found that both the options have similar features, except for the higher pricing that Aircall charges.

Here is a feature parity list of major features that Freshdesk Contact Center provides just like Aircall.

The pre-match handshake – Feature parity between Aircall and Freshdesk Contact Center plans

FeaturesAircall
(For $30 Essentials Plan)
Freshcaller
(For $19 Blossom Plan)
Calls to mobiles & landlines
Conference calls
Local & International numbers
Toll-free numbers
Voicemail
Business hours
Call recording
Call forwarding
Multi-level IVR
Agent availability status
Android & iOS Mobile apps

Freshdesk Contact Center’s Garden plan is available for $39 (monthly) and $29 (annually) and comes with a host of proprietary features in addition to the above-mentioned.

So, if all the same features are covered, what makes Freshdesk Contact Center a better Aircall alternative?

How Freshdesk Contact Center lands a stronger punch than Aircall

 Freshdesk Contact Center can land some heavy punches that Aircall cannot.

FeaturesAircallFreshcaller
Start with a single user🤕💪 (All plans)
Vanity numbers with no extra charge 🤕💪 (All plans)
Unlimited agents🤕💪 (All plans)
0$ plan🤕💪 (Sprout)
Smart Escalations🤕💪 (Garden)
Call Masking🤕💪 (Blossom & Garden)
Unlimited callers in queue🤕💪 (Blossom & Garden)

10 extra features (to begin with). That’s how feature-different Freshdesk Contact Center is from Aircall. Now let’s see in detail how some of these features can make a difference to your call center.

Smart escalations

Every missed call is a missed opportunity to serve your customer.  When your rate of missing calls spikes up, it is natural for customers to categorize your business as one that does care for its customers. But, there could be days when the call traffic is higher than the average making it difficult to answer all calls.

Moreover, your call center agents also need a break from constant phone conversations. In any case, you need a backup plan to ensure that the calls are not abandoned, instead routed in a smart way to balance both customer service and call center downtimes.

Smart Escalations in Freshdesk Contact Center allows you to set call rules which will escalate the call to another team or to voicemail when your agents cannot attend them. You can also send them to voicemail and include a personalized voice message to promising the customers that you will revert to their queries. 

Smart Escalations_Skype alternative

Smart Escalations in Freshdesk Contact Center

Call masking

Your business can have a long list of local and international numbers from which you call your customers. But, your customers may not be comfortable receiving calls from a single personal number of your business that they know and that they trust.

With Freshdesk Contact Center’s call masking feature, your business can call from any business number, yet make it appear to be coming from a personal number or a business number that they recognize. Another inherent benefit of call masking is that your business numbers will not be flagged as spam. You can retain a single business number that your customers know and approve of as trustworthy.

Vanity Numbers

Carry forward your branding efforts even to your phone number. Get a local, international, toll-free or mobile number that stands for your brand name, tagline, or any other brand preset. You can even set your brand name or tagline as your toll-free number with vanity numbers that are easily memorable for your callers.

You can also set up vanity numbers for specific campaigns or purposes that will help your call center agents attend to call in a customized manner. To cite a few examples: 1 (800) FLOWERS, 1 (800) CONTACTS, 1 (888) BEACHES, etc.

Routing automation

As a customer-centric business, you could be using a host of software solutions to manage your customer service operations. You could also be using a CRM system to run your sales motion. Should you be managing the call flows for both these critical functions separately? That’s impractical and will only lead to unnecessary confusion.

It is here that routing automation can prove to be a welcomer respite. It can automate the entire call routing process with the help of CRM or helpdesk data. This would lead to delivering a personalized customer experience which ultimately elevates customer satisfaction.

Move to Freshcaller Aircall Alternative

The Final Bell: Why should Aircall tap out?  

Well, the facts speak for themselves. Aircall is priced a notch higher than Freshdesk Contact Center. And, Freshdesk Contact Center brings to the table more features for a lesser bill. All in all, Freshdesk Contact Center has a chokehold on Aircall that should make it tap out.

You don’t have to remain tethered for a weaker call center software that also costs more. You can migrate to Freshdesk Contact Center easily without flinching your call center process.

How hassle-free is switching from Aircall to Freshdesk Contact Center?

 Freshdesk Contact Center is designed to be an intuitive call center software that is easy to set up and use on a regular basis. 

Also, Freshdesk Contact Center comes with number porting which will help you migrate from your existing call center system or software to the new cloud-based system easily. The migration will take care of everything including carrying forward your contacts from service providers like Google Voice, Skype, Twilio, and of course, Aircall.

The Bout Wrap Up

 Freshdesk Contact Center with its arsenal of features and affordable pricing is a better contender as your call center software than Aircall.

Sign up for a 21-day free trial of Freshdesk Contact Center and you will know what we are talking about.

Illustrations by Nikhil Kanda 🙂