When does a business need call center software instead of a regular phone plan?
Summary
When callers start waiting. A regular business phone plan is built for employees to make and take calls on the company number, while call center software lines callers up in a queue, routes each one to an agent, and reports on wait times. Many teams can get a queue without leaving their phone provider: Ooma Office includes call queuing in its $29.95 Pro Plus plan. A dedicated platform like Genesys Cloud CX starts at $75 per user per month on an annual commitment, and its voice service is billed on top by usage.
Queues on plans you may already have
Several business phone providers sell some call center features inside their regular lineup:
- Google Voice lists "call queuing for ring groups" in its Standard plan.
- Ooma Office puts call queuing in Pro Plus, at $29.95 per user per month with no contract.
- RingCentral sells a Call Queues Booster add-on for RingEX, covering routing, insights, and callbacks.
- Nextiva's Engage plan offers its call center as an add-on. The Scale plan builds one in, with skills-based routing, inbound and outbound calls in one queue, and AI call summaries.
How 8x8 draws the line
8x8 splits its licenses in two. Business telephony users on X1 through X4 get unlimited, unmetered calling in their calling zones. Contact center users on X6 through X8 share a pooled fair-use allowance of 4,000 inbound and outbound minutes per user per month, and minutes past that are billed at standard 8x8 rates. Inbound calls to 8x8 toll-free numbers are metered for everyone. 8x8 publishes no prices; every product on its pricing page leads to a sales chat or a quote request.
What Genesys Cloud CX charges
Genesys lists four tiers, each per user per month and billed annually. CX 1, at $75, covers voice: call routing, a speech-enabled IVR, outbound campaigns, analytics, and recording. CX 2, at $115, adds digital channels, routing across channels, and quality assurance. CX 3, at $155, adds workforce management with forecasting and scheduling. CX 4, at $240, adds resource management and 30 AI Experience tokens per named agent, among other features.
Licenses can be named (tied to one person), concurrent (counted by how many people are active at once), or hourly interacting (charged only for time spent handling interactions). The pricing page notes that usage-based pricing may apply.
Phone service is a separate piece. Genesys Cloud Voice is an internet-based telephony service you activate for your Genesys organization, and Genesys points customers to its pricing sheets and rate schedules for the usage charges. Its help center even walks through reconciling a Voice invoice against the usage report.
Recording and consent
Call centers record, and consent rules vary by state. Federal law (18 U.S.C. 2511) allows recording when one party to the call has given prior consent. Washington requires the consent of everyone in the conversation, but treats consent as obtained when one party announces the recording in a reasonably effective manner and the announcement itself is recorded. Florida allows interception only when all parties have given prior consent.
Sources
- workspace.google.com/products/voice
- ooma.com/small-business-phone-systems/plans
- ringcentral.com/office/plansandpricing.html
- nextiva.com/nextiva-pricing
- support.8x8.com/business-phone/voice/admin-console/setup/licenses/Calling_Countries_for_X-Series_Licenses
- 8x8.com/products/plans-and-pricing
- genesys.com/pricing
- help.genesys.cloud/articles/about-genesys-cloud-voice
- law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2511
- app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9.73.030
- leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0900-0999/0934/Sections/0934.03.html
Related on this site
- How does a business phone system decide who answers a call?
- Why does Genesys Cloud CX cost so much more per user than a regular cloud phone plan?
- What does Nextiva cost if you won't sign a 12-month contract?
- How do you compare an 8x8 quote when 8x8 won't publish a price?
- What does a year of business phone service cost for a 10-person team?
- How much do call recording, texting, and AI features add to a business phone plan?
Written by Kaz (pen name). Figures are copied from providers' published pricing pages on the dates shown. We have not used these products. Corrections: contact form.