Buyers Guides for Contact Centers

2025 Software Provider and Product Assessment

ISG Research defines Contact Center systems as the technologies responsible for routing customer interactions to an automated or live representative. The fundamental tool for routing voice interactions is the automated call distributor (ACD), software that connects to a telephony switching fabric and uses intelligence to ensure the call goes to the right representative. The collection of essential contact center technology also includes an elaborate suite of applications used to manage the operations of the human workforce, including routine functions such as scheduling shifts, forecasting interaction volume and measuring the efficiency of people and teams.

The Buyers Guides for Contact Centers evaluate providers across seven software categories with a unique Buyers Guide and research for each category to help enterprises assess and select software providers.

• The Contact Centers Buyers Guide evaluates 34 software providers and products in key areas, including interaction routing (voice and digital), agent management, interaction handling analytics, automation and self-service, workflow automation and integration and AI/GenAI support. The guide assesses the following providers: 8x8, Aircall, Alvaria, Avaya, AWS, Cisco, Content Guru, Dialpad, Emplifi, Enghouse Interactive, Exotel, Five9, Genesys, GoTo, Microsoft, Mitel, net2phone, Nextiva, NiCE, Odigo, RingCentral, Salesforce, Sinch, Sprinklr, Talkdesk, Twilio, UJET, Verint, Vonage, XTIUM, Zendesk, Zoho and Zoom. 
  
  
• The Agent Management Buyers Guide evaluates 20 software providers and products in key areas, including workforce management, quality measurement, agent desktops, agent performance management and guidance and assistance tools. The guide assesses the following providers: 8x8, Aspect, AWS, Calabrio, Content Guru, Eleveo, evaluagent, Exotel, Five9, Genesys, Intradiem, Microsoft, Nextiva, NiCE, Odigo, RingCentral, Sinch, Talkdesk, UJET and Verint. 
  
  
• The Customer Interaction Analytics Buyers Guide evaluates 35 software providers and products in key areas, including omnichannel interaction capture, speech and text analytics, sentiment and behavioral analysis, intent recognition, predictive analytics, real-time dashboards and reporting, agent performance analysis and broad integrations to other applications. The guide assesses the following providers: 8x8, Aircall, Alvaria, Avaya, AWS, Calabrio, CallMiner, Cisco, Content Guru, Dialpad, Emplifi, Enghouse Interactive, Exotel, Five9, Genesys, GoTo, Microsoft, Mitel, net2phone, Nextiva, NiCE, Odigo, RingCentral, Salesforce, Sinch, Sprinklr, Talkdesk, Twilio, UJET, Verint, Vonage, XTIUM, Zendesk, Zoho and Zoom. 
  
  
• The Intelligent Self-Service Buyers Guide evaluates 32 software providers and products in key areas, including omnichannel support, personalization, proactive assistance, escalation to live agents, intent recognition, dialogue management, knowledge base integration, AI-powered recommendations, security and compliance and conversational AI features. The guide assesses the following providers: 8x8, Aircall, Alvaria, Avaya, AWS, Cisco, Content Guru, Dialpad, Emplifi, Enghouse Interactive, Five9, Genesys, GoTo, LivePerson, Microsoft, Mitel, net2phone, Nextiva, NiCE, Odigo, RingCentral, Salesforce, Sinch, Sprinklr, Talkdesk, Twilio, UJET, Verint, Vonage, Zendesk, Zoho and Zoom. 
  
  
• The Contact Centers for Healthcare Buyers Guide evaluates 22 software providers and products in key areas, including interaction routing (voice and digital), agent management, interaction handling analytics, automation and self-service, workflow automation and integration, AI/GenAI support and specific enterprise features related to the healthcare industry. The guide assesses the following providers: 8x8, Aircall, Alvaria, Avaya, Cisco, Dialpad, Enghouse Interactive, Exotel, Five9, Genesys, net2phone, Nextiva, NiCE, RingCentral, Salesforce, Sinch, Talkdesk, Twilio, UJET, Vonage, Zendesk and Zoom. 
  
  
• The Contact Centers for Insurance Buyers Guide evaluates 11 software providers and products in key areas, including interaction routing (voice and digital), agent management, interaction handling analytics, automation and self-service, workflow automation and integration, AI/GenAI support and specific enterprise features related to the insurance industry. The guide assesses the following providers: 8x8, Alvaria, Content Guru, Dialpad, Five9, Genesys, Nextiva, NiCE, Salesforce, Talkdesk and Verint. 
  
  
• The Contact Centers for Retail Buyers Guide evaluates 20 software providers and products in key areas, including interaction routing (voice and digital), agent management, interaction handling analytics, automation and self-service, workflow automation and integration, AI/GenAI support and specific enterprise features related to the retail industry. The guide assesses the following providers: 8x8, Aircall, Content Guru, Dialpad, Emplifi, Exotel, Five9, Genesys, Nextiva, NiCE, RingCentral, Salesforce, Sinch, Sprinklr, Talkdesk, Twilio, UJET, Verint, Vonage and Zendesk. 

To view the executive summaries of the research, please select the report below.

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