Call Center Automation Software: Best Tools for 2024

These automation tools combine artificial intelligence and other technologies to optimize and streamline call center operations. They can improve customer service, reduce costs, and boost efficiency by augmenting human agents and reducing repetitive tasks.  

95% of call center leaders say they’ve already adopted or are planning to adopt automation technology. And as automation technology becomes more advanced, demand for automation tools will continue to grow. 

To help you identify the best solutions for automating your call center, we will review some of the most impressive software with a focus on vendors offering the most cutting-edge features. 

What is Call Center Automation? 

Call center automation involves using technology, especially artificial intelligence (AI), to handle and streamline customer service operations in a call center. This automation can significantly improve the efficiency of your call center, by automating routine tasks and reducing the workload for human agents.  

Call center automation is becoming more popular today as AI-enhanced software becomes more widespread and available. Automation software can come with your call center platform as built-in features or be added on later through custom integrations.  

Types of Call Center Automation Software

Call center automation software comes in a range of forms designed to address different use cases and challenges. The most common types include: 

Chatbots and voicebots  

Chatbots and voicebots are AI-powered tools capable of automating customer service interactions. They can answer routine questions, direct customers to FAQs and guides, and even complete certain tasks like checking a product’s order status. Some companies have started to replace their IVR systems with voicebots that can interact with callers and simulate a human-agent conversation.   

Forecasting and scheduling tools 

Workforce management (WFM) software leverages AI, historical data, and real-time data to help call center leaders understand patterns in customer request volumes. Using this data, WFM software can help forecast demand and distribute human resources effectively throughout the business.  

Workflow automation  

Workflow automation tools streamline traditionally manual and tedious tasks using rules-based logic. For example, they might allow you to create workflows that automatically upload customer data to a CRM after a call. They can also automate other routine tasks such as call routing, ticket creation, and follow-up scheduling.  

Agent assist 

Agent assist tools offer real-time insights into agent performance and can provide step-by-step coaching and next-best-action guidance to staff. They can also automatically surface information on an agent dashboard from other systems, like your CRM. 

Quality assurance 

Automated quality assurance tools monitor performance issues and metrics in your call center. They can instantly identify issues and automatically send out notifications to supervisors. Some can also generate scorecards for individual agents.  

The Best Call Center Automation Software of 2024

The best call center automation software for your business will vary depending on your goals and use cases. Things to consider include your business needs, integration capabilities, user-friendliness, and total cost.  

If you really want to leverage automation in your call center, you might want to consider stacking multiple forms of automation technology. For example, combining chatbots with automated workforce management tools and agent assist systems could truly transform your call center.  

Here’s a roundup of the top, industry-leading automation solutions for each of the categories mentioned above. 

Chatbots and Voicebots 

Chatbots have become widespread in call centers as customers demand more convenient and intuitive self-service solutions. 76% of companies are already using chatbots, and many are upgrading their technology with the latest innovations in generative AI.  

Here are our top picks for the best chatbot and voicebot providers in 2024: 

Ada 

Ada is an AI-powered customer service platform specializing in high-quality chatbots powered by the company’s proprietary reasoning engine. Ada’s bots can interact with customers on various channels, from websites to SMS and over the phone, and they even include machine learning capabilities, so you can optimize the performance of each bot over time.  

Features: 

Best for: Companies looking to quickly create high-powered bots and assistants, including AI-powered voicebots to replace IVR systems.   

Drift 

Drift’s AI-powered buyer engagement platform is powered by cutting-edge conversational AI technology. With the Drift platform, companies can create bots that detect customer intent, automate processes (like booking meetings), and even deliver personalized recommendations to customers.  

Features: 

Best for: Designing chatbots for marketing and sales teams that automatically move customers through the purchasing cycle, increase conversions, and boost revenue. 

Netomi 

Used by leading companies like Warner Bros and WestJet, Netomi is an AI platform that allows companies to leverage the latest innovations in generative AI. Companies can build their own generative AI experiences to deliver proactive and reactive customer service across a range of channels, from social media to SMS, voice, and email.  

Features: 

Best for: Designing chatbots to replace large customer service teams in retail, entertainment, travel and hospitality sectors.     

Workforce Management and Optimization Tools

Workforce management (WFM) and workforce optimization (WFO) tools are excellent for automating the forecasting and scheduling processes within a call center. The best tools leverage the latest AI technology and algorithms and can integrate seamlessly with your call center software. Our favorite tools for 2024 include: 

CommunityWFM 

CommunityWFM is a cloud-based platform that can help companies save time and money while boosting employee engagement. The solution makes it simple to automate critical tasks like forecasting call volumes, managing intraday schedule changes, and collecting performance data. 

Features: 

Best for: Streamlining and optimizing intraday management for call centers of all sizes.  

Verint 

Verint’s workforce management software gives companies a comprehensive view of their resources, so they can make intelligent decisions about schedules and workflows. It comes packed with AI features, such as a workload forecasting bot that can deliver schedule optimization suggestions to call center managers, thereby reducing costs while boosting performance. Verint has the highest customer satisfaction scores in the industry and is used by major companies including Google and Instacart.  

Features: 

Best for: Enterprise level companies looking for a WFM solution with intelligent bots and in-depth analytics.  

Alvaria 

Alvaria’s workforce management solution helps companies streamline schedule management and enhance employee engagement. With the full platform, companies can automatically create optimized schedules, monitor performance rates throughout the business, and even motivate their teams with leaderboards and incentives.  

Features: 

Best for: Combining intelligent schedule optimization with tools for employee engagement, like leaderboards and incentives.  

Workflow Automation  

Workflow automation tools empower agents to automatically complete repetitive tasks. These tools usually come as built-in features of your call center software. They make it simple to optimize everything from routing and queuing strategies to data collection and management. By automating these workflows, call centers can reduce human errors, increase operational efficiency, and free up agents to focus on more complex interactions with customers.  

Here are our picks for the top call center solutions with built-in workflow automation tools: 

ComputerTalk 

The ComputerTalk iceWorkflow designer is a powerful tool that helps companies map and optimize customer journeys across various channels. With it, organizations can combine various routing strategies with self-service automation, intelligent queuing and more. Plus, the intuitive graphic interface makes it simple to visualize each workflow without coding knowledge.  

Features: 

Best for: Creating powerful automated workflows without coding or design knowledge. 

Talkdesk 

Bundled along with its AI-powered CCaaS solution, Talkdesk’s workflow builder makes it simple to optimize productivity. You can create workflows that automatically upload recordings and data to your CRM, create and assign tickets to specific team members, and even deliver crucial insights to team members. Plus, with generative AI, you can design workflows in seconds using simple prompts.  

Features: 

Best for: Simplifying the workflow creation process with generative AI.  

Five9 

The intelligent workflow automation platform from Five9 provides companies with a low/no-code environment where they can connect customer data across the cloud. You can design a range of different automated workflows for everything from sales outreach to proactive customer service notifications. Plus, Five9’s contact center platform integrates with a host of other communication platforms and CRMs. 

Features: 

Best for: Bridging the gaps between your various collaboration tools, CRM platforms, and other sources of call center data.  

Agent Assist Tools 

Agent assist tools are designed to support agents in handling customer interactions more effectively and efficiently. These tools provide real-time assistance during customer calls or chats by offering relevant information, prompts, and automated functions. This can include accessing customer data, suggesting responses based on past interactions, guiding the agent through complex processes, and automating routine tasks. 

Some of our favorite agent assist tools include:  

Balto  

Balto enhances call center productivity and performance with AI assistants that guide employees through customer conversations. The platform monitors the quality of each interaction and uses both historical and real-time data to provide staff with real-time guidance and coaching. There’s even generative AI functionality built in, allowing employees to ask Balto questions and access creative responses in seconds.  

Features: 

Best for: Combining automated quality assurance with AI-driven coaching and guidance for teams.  

CallMiner 

Powered by the latest advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, CallMiner gives companies a variety of agent guidance tools in the form of the Eureka platform. The platform can automatically analyze hundreds of conversations across different channels, discover the root cause of certain issues, and coach staff members with personalized data-driven feedback. 

Features: 

Best for: Helping agents analyze their performance in real-time, track crucial metrics, and access next-best-action guidance. 

ScoreBuddy 

ScoreBuddy leverages generative AI, machine learning, and natural language processing to empower agents with automated performance scoring, summarization, and coaching. The solution can draw insights from hundreds of conversations to help identify ways to proactively improve customer experiences. Plus, companies can use the platform to create full coaching workflows, personalized to the needs of each agent. 

Features: 

Best for: Giving employees access to a range of tools, from an AI-powered assistant to an automated coaching system. 

Quality Assurance

Quality assurance is critical to running a successful call center, but scoring interactions and tracking employee performance manually can be time-consuming and prone to human error. Automated quality assurance tools combine real-time monitoring with customizable alerts to ensure the experiences offered by your call center consistently align with customer expectations.  

Here are our picks for the best QA automation tools in 2024: 

Observe.AI 

Promising in-depth insights into 100% of your customer interactions, Observe.AI gives companies the tools they need to maximize team performance. The company’s Auto QA solution rapidly scores agent performance based on your pre-defined parameters and alerts supervisors about opportunities for coaching and development. Observe.AI integrates with a wide range of CCaaS, CRM and business intelligence platforms.  

Features: 

Klaus 

The Klaus quality management platform combines comprehensive monitoring and reporting for omnichannel interactions with 360-degree feedback and analytics. Klaus helps you combine internal quality reviews with customer feedback for a full picture of agent performance. It also offers AI tools that can monitor conversation trends and identify opportunities for team development. You can even build custom scorecards that reflect your business needs and create highly granular visual reports. 

Features: 

Best for: In-depth insights into the individual performance of each employee and the trends influencing your call center’s growth. 

Convin 

Convin empowers call centers to automate quality management with AI powered tools that assess and score interactions on every channel. The platform combines recording capabilities with survey creation tools, customer feedback capture, and custom reports. It also offers tools for root cause analysis and real-time agent coaching.  

Features: 

Best for: Aligning insights into call center KPIs with qualitative feedback gathered from customer surveys.  

Choosing the Best Automation Tools for Your Call Center 

Driven by advancements in AI, automation tools for call centers are rapidly evolving and there are plenty of excellent tools to choose from today.  

AI tools, such as chatbots and intelligent virtual assistants, are handling routine inquiries with speed and accuracy, freeing human agents to tackle more complex issues. AI can also power predictive analytics, helping call centers anticipate customer needs and optimize staffing. Other automation tools, such as agent assist and QA platforms, offer even more benefits when deployed within call centers.   

When choosing an automation tool, it’s important to look at features, reviews, and integration capabilities. Choose one that will seamlessly connect with your call center software and be easy for agents to use.  

If you're looking for a call center solution with built-in automation tools, schedule a free demo of ComputerTalk by clicking here.