How to Find the Best Contact Centre QA Software

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Viki Patten at Evaluagent shares expert guidance on how to effectively evaluate and choose the best quality assurance software for your contact centre.

With so many software providers to choose from, how do you start to narrow it down? Be specific in your search. ‘Contact centre software’ is going to overwhelm you, since you’ll get everything from workforce management to call recording.

We focus specifically on quality assurance and agent improvement, and integrate with a number of other best-in-category point solutions to give customers the best experience.

So, how can you narrow down your options?

Case Studies and Reviews

When researching a software provider, always take a look at their customer case studies. These usually go through rigorous sign-off processes, so can generally be relied upon for truthful representations of the customer journey. Also consider:

Does the provider have experience in your sector?
Have they worked with a competitor of yours?
Do case studies have enough breadth and depth to give you confidence?

Beyond the provider’s website, it’s also a good idea to check out reviews on external websites, like G2. Here, customers are less obligated to cover up any difficulties. Be on the lookout for:

The overall star rating
Any awards or badges received
The general commentary given about the platform
Negative reviews and how the business responds to them

Doing so will give you an idea of how the software pertains to your business – for example, things that other businesses struggle with may not be a problem for yours.

Demos and Trials

Most, if not all, platforms will offer an opportunity to demonstrate the software to you, as well as a trial period. Take them up on it! Use the opportunity to ask questions, uncover any limitations of the software, and mine for details of any dealbreakers.

At the end of a demo or trial, note down your key findings, pros and cons – not just about the platform, but the responsiveness of the team, and how satisfied you were overall. This will be crucial when it comes to making your final choice.

Return on Investment

Ultimately, the software needs to deliver more benefits than it costs you. Go back to the metrics you compiled at the start of this process – time spent on tasks, agent turnover, customer satisfaction scores – and compare this with the software you’ve seen in action, along with any case studies or additional figures the provider’s able to give you.

You should start to get an understanding of where you’ll make the most gains. One software platform may be cheaper than another but lacking in a key feature or outcome that matters to you.

Action Point: Questions to Consider

Now that you’ve done a lot of research and got to grips with some of the tools you’re considering, it’s time to get down to the granular details.

You’ll need to put any potential providers through their paces with some questions. The most important of which will include:

What integrations do you offer?
What safeguards are in place for compliance?
Can I override certain automation features if needed?
Which of your features are most associated with driving improvement?
What is your stand-out feature?
Can I view performance at an individual, team and contact center level?
How does your software support agent engagement and development?
What is your onboarding process and how much training would we get?

Naturally, you’ll also want to include anything specific to your organization’s setup, and quiz potential providers on how far the interface can be customized to suit your needs. After all, it needs to scale with your plans for it to be a success.

Presenting Your Findings

It’s up to you how you decide to present your research findings in your business case. You may want a table for comparison purposes, or perhaps a page or two dedicated to each platform you’ve considered, with key headlines to help the reader easily scan for the most important points.

Whatever the approach, you just need to demonstrate the thorough lengths you’ve gone to in order to find the best QA platform for your contact centre.

Then, it’s crunch time!