The best small business call center software in 2025: Essentials for tight budgets
Senior Product Marketing Manager - Ai Contact Center
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Affordable Phone Service for Small Businesses
Get everything you need in a phone system at a price small businesses can afford.
👉 QUICK SIDE-NOTE:
Today, most businesses don’t refer to these as “call centers” anymore, but rather, “contact centers.” (This is also what “CCaaS” (Contact Center as a Service) refers to. Why? Because “call center” refers to, as the name suggests, a voice-only support center. A contact center, on the other hand, allows for other channels too, like SMS, live chat, and so on.
We’re not saying legacy hardware is bad (okay, maybe a little bit), but it certainly has its limits. It is expensive for IT teams to maintain, prone to outages, and of course, requires all your call center agents to work in the same location. Want to hire more people and get them onboarded quickly (or downsize the team)? Good luck.
The introduction and rise of CCaaS has changed everything. Instead of expensive, inflexible systems that require a ton of IT support, CCaaS allows organizations to offload manual tasks and save on cost. Organizations can set up new contact center environments in minutes, and easily spin resources up and down on demand. Since it’s cloud-based, it’s also easier to integrate with systems like your CRM or ticketing software, without lengthy IT cycles.
Fenway Health discovered how cost-effective and flexible Dialpad is when they switched to a cloud-based contact center platform from their legacy phone system. Now, they've lowered operational costs thanks to Dialpad's all-inclusive pricing (not to mention it's incredibly easy to use—with plenty of hands-on support).
👉 DIALPAD TIP:
Because VoIP call centers use software instead of traditional solutions, you can expand (and downsize) your teams more easily, anywhere in the world. No more phone lines and expensive hardware. VoIP also integrates more easily with other tools and apps, like CRMs, and you can add pretty much whatever features you want to your call center.
👉 DIALPAD TIP:
You’ve probably seen “UC + CCaaS” software out there that say they’re “all in one, with messaging, video, and phone—and a contact center.” But did you know that very few contact center software systems are built right into the same platform as their UCaaS (unified communications as a service) product? Next time you check out a free trial, ask to see their contact center product. Nine times out of ten, the UCaaS and CCaaS parts look completely different from each other. That’s a sign that this company is using an acquired or third-party product that they just rebranded.
👉 DIALPAD TIP:
Dialpad is one of those rare unicorns that can be a good fit for both large enterprises and startups, mainly because of its built-in Ai and ease of set-up.
👉 DIALPAD TIP:
It’s far easier to have one tool that does everything, as opposed to splitting out the various features you need into multiple vendors. The more systems you use, the more integration time and effort you’ll need to put in to keep things connected and running. Your staff will need more training, making the onboarding process more complex.
🔌 SHAMELESS PLUG:
In the unlikely event that Dialpad doesn’t offer a built-in solution for your needs, the software even comes with a developers’ hub. This enables your own devs to build unique applications through the application programming interface (API), with a sandbox provided for testing.
👉 FUN FACT:
Whether you're looking for a small business phone system or enterprise phone system, Dialpad's incredible scalability makes it a perfect fit for both.
Need a small business contact center platform?
Book a demo of Dialpad Support and see how easy it is to set up and use, with minimal IT help. Or, take a self-guided interactive tour of the app on your own!
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Looking for the best small business call center or contact center software?
Book a demo to see how easy Dialpad Ai Contact Center is to set up, use, and make changes to! Or, take a self-guided interactive tour of the app on your own first!