Zendesk Talk vs Freshcaller for call centers. Find out what freedom feels like.
A call center phone system and a phone channel for customer support are worlds apart in terms of functionality and purpose. You can run an end to end contact or call center with a call center phone system. However, a phone channel for customer support will be focussed around features that cater specifically to ticketing. So, when you are looking for a Zendesk Talk alternative to run your call center, you should consider looking for a call center software with the following capabilities.
Note: If you’re looking for a support-centric phone channel, check out how the Freshdesk+Freshcaller combo is a no-nonsense Zendesk Talk alternative for customer support teams.
Basic attributes of call center software
These are some of the attributes that are essential to setting up a call center and running call center operations:
- Independent existence outside a helpdesk software
- Easy and intuitive setup for even non-technical folks
- Pricing plans with no strings attached
- Real-time call center tracking
- Highly customizable call flows
Zendesk Talk lacks some of these key capabilities. Even then, a true alternative call center software to Zendesk Talk, should have customer support embedded into its DNA. This is where Freshcaller comes in. Freshcaller is the call center software from Freshworks (previously Freshdesk). It was built after we identified multiple scenarios where a cloud call center can have an independent identity outside the realm of support tickets. At the same time, it incorporates all the learnings gathered over years from the native phone channel of Freshdesk, the customer service software from Freshworks.
Zendesk Talk vs Freshcaller, a quick call center software comparison
Here is a brief comparison of how Freshcaller differentiates itself from Zendesk Talk.
1) Independent existence outside a helpdesk software
You can purchase Zendesk Talk only if you purchase the Zendesk support software. This means, in order to set up a call center software, you’ll have to simultaneously spend money on a ticketing system too. On the other hand, you can sign up for Freshcaller without a Freshdesk account. Then later choose to sign up for Freshdesk if you need to integrate your call center with a helpdesk software.
2) Easy and intuitive setup for even non-technical folks
Freshcaller takes only a few minutes to launch. It is highly customizable as well. Moreover, call centers need thoughtfully set up IVR menus and capabilities for routing calls. Any user with admin rights can easily and single-handedly set these up from the Freshcaller admin dashboard. Here’s a video that comprehensively tells you how to set up a complete call center, in 8 minutes. You can see for yourself how effortless the entire process is.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iqm-2Us998&w=560&h=315]
An administrator’s guide to setting up Freshcaller
3) Pricing plans with no strings attached
We’ve already discussed how you can purchase Zendesk Talk only if you sign up for a Zendesk support account too. Let’s assume that you are okay with it. Unfortunately, there are more conditions and clauses coming your way. Your Zendesk Talk plan depends on your Zendesk support plan. You cannot upgrade separately to a bigger call center plan or sign up for a smaller phone plan. So, what you end up paying might not be for what you require at this point in time. On the other hand, your Freshcaller plan does not depend on your Freshdesk plan, or vice versa.
The restrictions don’t stop there. On the Zendesk Talk free plan, you are allowed to purchase only one phone number. Also, if your team has more than 100 agents, you must sign up for their enterprise plan. Again, no such compulsions on Freshcaller.
4) Real-time call center tracking
One of the biggest challenges of virtual phone teams is to monitor and track your operations in real-time. Freshcaller comes with a live dashboard that shows you the availability status of all agents, calls that are going on all queues or any specific one, callers who are on wait, etc. This makes the lives of call center supervisors so much easier. They don’t have to keep peering over everyone’s shoulder to find out what’s going on. Your agents can work from anywhere in the world and still be supervised. Supervisors can identify bottlenecks before everything blows out of proportion. They can monitor calls and get involved if an agent or a caller is in need of someone with more expertise. The possibilities are many, making it infinitely easy to set up virtual call centers and remote teams using Freshcaller.
Real-time dashboard on Freshcaller
5) Highly customizable call flows
Call flows are essential to deciding how long and how often you are available to a customer looking for you. In Zendesk Talk, calls made after business hours are sent to voicemail. Calls that are not answered within the pre-defined hold time are also sent to voicemail for the lack of a better option. The call center admin is not given a choice to route calls to another queue or team of their choice, instead of sticking to these defaults. But Freshcaller has highly customizable call flows and inbuilt smart escalations that let you route these unattended calls to call queues or teams that are less busy or active during that time.
Apart from these advantages over Zendesk Talk, Freshcaller comes with features that are specially designed for handling high volumes of inbound and outbound calls.
Benefits of setting up a call center with Freshcaller
This is how you will benefit from this rich feature set.
1) Be more available with smart escalations or call flows
Like we just discussed, you can extensively customize your call flows, ensure that no calls are missed and the least number of calls are sent to voicemail.
Smart escalations on Freshcaller
2) Increase operational efficiency with IVR systems
You can optimize your operations by segmenting your callers with IVR systems. In turn, make sure that they reach the right person in your call center on their first call itself. You can cut down on call transfers and other similar bottlenecks too.
3) Unify your call centre with shared lines
You need to buy more phone numbers on Freshcaller only when absolutely necessary. Using shared lines, multiple agents or teams can make and receive calls on the same number. Correctly set up call flows and IVR systems will ensure that your calls are answered.
4) Personalise with call masking
Sometimes your callers might prefer talking to you on your personal number. Call masking makes it easier to attribute business purposes to your personal phone. Also, this feature makes your business seem more personal.
5) Learn better with call recordings
Call recording helps you assess the performance of your agents on calls and help them improve. They also help you settle disputes or verify claims. Freshcaller comes with manual and automatic recording for both your incoming and outgoing calls.
6) Be more accessible through local, toll-free and vanity phone numbers
You can buy local phone numbers across 50 countries and set up remote call centers around the world. Vanity numbers will help you reinforce your brand to customers. You can make your business look more accessible and truly be approachable by having toll-free numbers.
Porting out from Zendesk Talk
If you are an existing user looking to switch from Zendesk Talk, you’ll also want to know how to port your numbers to Freshcaller. Well, all you need to do is drop a mail to support@freshcaller.com and our team will take care of the remaining procedures.
So, is Freshcaller the best Zendesk Talk alternative for your call center?
There’s something for everyone with Freshcaller, whether your an existing Zendesk user or you are evaluating all Zendesk alternatives to sign up for a call center software for the first time. You can sign up for this Zendesk Talk alternative, right here.
