Acall center CRM is software that combines inbound and outbound calling features with sales pipeline management tools that help you better support your customers or leads via phone. The top call center CRMs include built-in dialers, call tracking, support ticket routing, workflow automation, and more features. To help you choose the right one for your business, we’ve rounded up the top seven options, including their use cases.
Here are the seven best CRMs for call centers:
- Freshsales: Best overall call center CRM for pricing and features (free starting price)
- EngageBay: Best call center CRM for an intuitive user interface (free starting price)
- Bitrix24: Best free call center CRM with premium upgrades (free starting price)
- Zoho CRM: Best call center CRM for sales team collaboration (free starting price)
- Pipedrive: Best call center CRM for workflow automation and routing (14-day free trial)
- Salesforce Service Cloud: Best CRM option for customization (14- to 30-day free trial)
- Nextiva: Most complete business phone system with CRM features (7-day free trial)
Although all CRMs on our list are great options for call centers, we found Freshsales to be the best overall, scoring the highest for cost and tying for ease and customer support. Check out how each platform fared regarding pricing plans, features, and primary use cases. To learn how we scored our top options, skip down to our evaluation explanation.
Note: All per-user prices are with a one-year commitment unless noted.
Freshsales: Best Overall Call Center CRM
Offers automatic inbound calling, call monitoring, and other key features at an affordable price.
Price Range: Free to $69 per user, per month (21-day free trial)
Freshsales by Freshworks is a top sales CRM with robust customer management tools and call center features. Inbound calling features like ticket routing and call management allow you to answer calls from leads and get them to the right person, while its outbound built-in dialer helps you call by auto-dialing the number in client records. These, along with Freshdesk integrations, make Freshsales a good choice for call centers looking for strong yet affordable tools.
While Freshsales offers many important features for call centers at a price most can afford, its free version lacks many of these tools. If a free plan is one of the most important factors for your team, consider Bitrix24, which provides robust features even in its no-cost tier.
Freshsales Pricing
- Growth: $15 per user, per month (free for 3 users)
- Pro: $39 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $69 per, user per month
- Free Trial: 21 days
- Access to Freshworks Marketplace and integration with Freshdesk
Freshsales Key Features
- AI Scoring: In Growth, identify and prioritize sales-ready prospects using Freddy AI.
- Chat Campaigns: Deliver personalized messages through trigger-based campaigns.
- Call Logs and Voice Notes: Log calls automatically and take notes for future use.
- CRM Reporting: Customize reports and visual dashboards for data-driven decisions.
EngageBay: Best CRM for an Intuitive UI
Provides built-in CRM features and call center tools that are easy for teams to learn to navigate.
Price Range: Free to $91.99 per user, per month
EngageBay is an easy-to-use CRM that provides marketing, sales, and customer support tools in its All-in-One package. It’s easy to set up, doesn’t require any coding, and has an intuitive user interface and dashboard to easily access call reports and customer history. Menu items, including tools like call automation, are also simple to find and implement. If you need help when you’re using the CRM, EngageBay has excellent customer support according to users.
Although EngageBay is easy to use, it has pricey higher tier plans, and its free plan lacks native call features. If you’re looking for a CRM with robust built-in features at an affordable price, check out Freshsales.
EngageBay Pricing
- All-in-One Free Version: Support for unlimited users
- All-in-One Basic: $13.79 per user, per month
- All-in-One Growth: $45.99 per user, per month
- All-in-One Pro: $91.99 per user, per month
EngageBay Key Features
- Integrations: Integrates with JustCall, MightyCall, RingCentral, and similar tools.
- Predictive Lead Score: Identify leads most likely to close using predefined criteria.
- Call Recording: Automatically record calls and store them into a digital audio file.
- Autodialer: Increase agents’ productivity by automating outbound calls.
Bitrix24: Best Free Call Center CRM
Combines robust free call center tools and telemarketing features, plus the ability to upgrade for more functionality.
Price Range: Free to $325 per month for 5 to 250+ users (15- to 30-day free trial)
Bitrix24 is a customer management software that combines comprehensive call center features and essential CRM tools. Its free version offers inbound and outbound phone calls, IVR, call recording and forwarding, and typical CRM features like workflow automation and robust lead management. If you need advanced features later, like analytics tools and sales intelligence to help turn leads into paying customers, you can upgrade into its paid tiers.
Bitrix24 provides a wealth of call center and CRM features in its free plan, which offers good value for your money. However, it has a complex user interface and limited customer support. For a free CRM that’s easier to use, check out EngageBay
Bitrix24 Pricing
- Free Version: Support for unlimited users
- Basic: $46 per month for 5 users
- Standard: $87 per month for 50 users
- Professional: $175 per month for 100 users
- Enterprise: $325 per month for 250 users
- Free Trial: 15 to 30 days
- Access to Bitrix24.Market
Bitrix24 Key Features
- Telephony: Handle support calls efficiently through smart routing and automatic dialing.
- Queueing and Request Processing: Assign calls and support tickets to a certain agent.
- Collaboration Tools: Use an online workspace, shared calendars, and more team tools.
- Integrations: Connects to relevant tools like Zadarma Free PBX and Predictive Dialer.
Zoho CRM: Best CRM for Collaboration
Enables teams to connect, collaborate, and share real-time updates from one platform.
Price Range: Free to $52 per user, per month (15- to 30-day free trial)
Zoho CRM is a sales and marketing CRM that offers a wide range of call center tools for sales teams. Team collaboration features like a shared CRM dashboard, tagging, and a call roster help teams stay connected and manage leads and prospects. Zoho CRM integrates with Zoho Desk for a more simplified service process that includes call management and ticket routing. Zia, its AI companion, also centralizes existing data so everyone on your team can easily access it.
Zoho CRM is a great option for collaborative sales teams, but its customer service is lacking. For a CRM that has great customer service plus some collaboration tools, learn about Freshsales or EngageBay.
Zoho CRM Pricing
- Free Version: Support for 3 users
- Standard: $14 per user, per month
- Professional: $23 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $40 per user, per month
- Ultimate: $52 per user, per month
- Free Trial: 15 to 30 days
Zoho CRM Key Features
- Collaboration Tools: Stay connected through real-time updates and an interactive feed.
- Zia AI Assistant: Manage information and forecast sales for better decision making.
- Third-Party Apps: Integrates with call center tools like RingCentral and Twilio.
- Automated Workflows: Schedule activities like sending emails and assigning tasks.
Pipedrive: Best Workflow Automation & Routing
Features a visual sales pipeline with robust workflow automation and call distribution tools.
Price Range: $14.90 to $99 per user, per month (14-day free trial)
Pipedrive is an easy-to-use sales CRM offering a wealth of pipeline management functionality as well as calling features like automatic call recording and communication history. You can set up robust workflow automations that route incoming calls to the most appropriate agent according to preset rules, as well as automatically input important data into contact records. You can then schedule follow-up activities based on the outcome of your last interaction.
Pipedrive’s core call center features are useful, but many of its advanced features need integrations or add-ons. Try Nextiva if you need a CRM that has more complete phone system features, including automations.
Pipedrive Pricing
- Essential: $14.90 per user, per month
- Advanced: $24.90 per user, per month
- Professional: $49.90 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $99.00 per user, per month
- Free Trial: 14 days
- Access to Pipedrive Marketplace
Pipedrive Key Features
- Workflow Automation: Set up rules and triggered events to automate tasks.
- Call Tracking: Transfer call info automatically and monitor team performance.
- Customization: Design your pipeline, add custom fields, and create reports.
- Analytics: Build interactive and easy-to-understand sales reports for your team.
Salesforce Service Cloud: Best for Customization
Offers a fully-customizable platform to personalize and automate call center services.
Price Range: $25 to $300 per user, per month (14- to 30-day free trial)
Salesforce Service Cloud is a well-known CRM ideal for teams with long or complicated sales cycles. Its vast customization and integration features help you create specific softphone and user profile layouts as well as multiple custom call reports and dashboards, email templates, roles, and more. Upgrade to Professional to build unlimited custom apps so your CRM functions in the exact way that works best for your customers (on the frontend) and you (on the backend).
Vast options for customization and integration can be overwhelming and a bit hard to use, especially for small businesses. If this is the case for you, check out EngageBay, which has a simpler interface but still provides robust features and a good amount of customization.
Salesforce Service Cloud Pricing
- Essentials: $25 per user, per month
- Professional: $75 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $150 per user, per month
- Unlimited: $300 per user, per month
- Free Trial: 14 to 30 days
- Access to Salesforce AppExchange
Salesforce Service Cloud Key Features
- Customization: Modify self-service pages and integrate third-party applications.
- Case Management: Route cases automatically to the best agent for the job.
- Omnichannel Routing: Talk to customers through messaging, voice, and more.
- Customer Service Incident Management: Track and fix issues with proven workflows.
Nextiva: Best for Phone System Features
Provides a full range of high-definition VoIP phone services with advanced CRM features.
Price Range: $22.95 to $43.95 per user, per month (7-day free trial)
Nextiva is a customer service CRM with a robust VoIP phone system. Its auto attendants route inbound calls to the right agent and prioritize calls from toll-free numbers, while its AI-powered customer service tool provides advanced responses to customer inquiries through voice and text. Sales and service representatives can record unlimited inbound and outbound calls in the cloud, as well as recall and share details from fast-paced conversations.
Although Nextiva offers a complete business phone system, it could have more sales and marketing automation tools. For more comprehensive features at an affordable price, consider using Freshsales.
Nextiva Pricing
- Essential: $22.95 to $28.95 per user, per month
- Professional: $27.95 to $33.95 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $37.95 to $43.95 per user, per month
- Free Trial: 7 days
- Access to Nextiva Network
Nextiva Key Features
- Call Routing: Receive and route inbound and outbound calls at any device or location.
- Auto Attendants: Gather info from callers, then transfer them to the right agent.
- Voicemail Transcription: Transcribe voicemail messages into written text.
- Voice Analytics: Record, view, and assess call performance in real time.
Top 5 Call Center CRM Features
The best call center CRMs have these primary features in common:
Call Routing
Call Monitoring
Support Ticket Routing
Workflow Automation
Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
Call routing, aka lead distribution, automatically directs inbound customer calls to an agent or department based on predetermined rules. This feature speeds up waiting times and helps in resolving customer issues faster.
How We Evaluated the Best Call Center CRM Software
To determine the best CRM software for call centers, we divided our scoring into six major categories, each of which included several weighted subcriteria. Using the subcriteria, we assigned each of 10 quality CRMs an overall score out of five. Finally, we assigned primary use cases to the seven options that scored highly enough to make our list.
Bottom Line: Best Call Center CRM
Call centers should have CRMs that allow you to track your responses and actions and provide you with customer insights. The most fitting industry-specific CRM software will have the essential tools to manage customer interactions and integrate with phone providers and third-party applications. Read through our list of the best options, consider our rankings and primary use cases, and try the call center CRM software that will serve you best.
The above options include a mix of general and industry-specific CRMs; however, some industry or service-focused options lack the robust general features you’d expect out of a standard sales CRM. If a general CRM sounds more right for you, check out our article on the best overall CRM software.