CloudTalk’s advanced contact center tools are the best Zendesk Talk alternative

If you’re in the market for helpdesk software, you might have heard of Freshdesk. Perhaps you’re even already using it. What you might not know is that the company also offers a contact center. The question is, how does it stack up against its competitors?

What makes FreshDesk unique?

Freshdesk’s contact center comes with many great VoIP features, including:

• caller ID
• call queues
• power dialers
• IVR
• custom reporting, and more.

What is FreshDesk missing?

Despite its wide variety of features, Freshdesk does have some room forimprovement. For example, its user interface and functionality aren’t very intuitive and could require a longer onboarding period.

Furthermore, it still lacks several features a growing business needs, including SMS, fax-to-email, call masking, and 3rd party integrations, just to name a few.

How is FreshDesk priced?

The Freshdesk Contact Center offers users four possible pricing plans. 

1. As the name suggests, Free costs you absolutely nothing but comes with few features and requires you to pay for every number and minute spent calling ($0.13/min).
2. Growth starts at $15 per user per month, paid annually, or $18 paid monthly.
3. Following the same system, the Pro plan costs $39 per user per month annually and $47 monthly.

Finally, Enterprise will run you $69 per user annually or $83 monthly.

FreshDesk Conclusion

Freshdesk’s strength lies in its helpdesk solutions. Although its VoIP offering is completely manageable, it’s still missing quite a few features.

3CX is a PBX phone system for office-based teams. It runs exclusively with Microsoft Windows or Linux, so MacBook users are out of luck. 

It’s a relatively basic phone system, with simple features such as Live Chat and Call Recording. It does not however feature smart capabilities such as AI or real-time transcriptions.

What makes 3CX unique?

3CX’s biggest strength is its affordability.

It’s a bare-bones system, but one that can get the job done for small teams who aren’t interested in the bells and whistles that come with most smart calling software.

What is 3CX missing?

3CX lacks some of the features and integrations most businesses have come to expect when hunting for virtual phone software. For example, users cannot integrate 3CX with Pipedrive or Zapier, two of the most popular business software on the market.

3CX also doesn’t have any direct sales. It is only sold through distributors which can make the sales process, as well as the support process lengthy and costly.

How is 3CX priced?

3CX’s most basic plan is free.

Their first paid plan comes in at 175 euros per user per month, and their more advanced plans cost 296 euros and 330 euros per user per month, respectively.

3CX Conclusion

As we’ve mentioned, 3CX is a virtual phone software for businesses who are only interested in the basics. It leaves a lot to be desired in a lot of areas, so we recommend thinking about whether or not you might need something it lacks — like integrations with Pipedrive and Zapier — at a later date. 

8×8 is an evergreen telephony solution with a strong focus on integrations and analytics. The provider is well-suited for enterprises, but lower-tier subscriptions also work for smaller organizations.

What is 8×8 missing?

Office is required: You need an office in the location where you want to call in order to get a number from there. 

Geographical restrictions for SMS: You can only use an SMS feature within the US and 8×8 does not cover costs for mobile numbers in Brazil.  

Integrations: 8×8 doesn’t partner with telco companies, which means that users can’t get native integration with certain solutions. For example, Whatsapp. Non-native integrations must be set up by the tech team.

Features: 8×8 is missing some features like call tagging for more efficient calling processes, call masking for protecting your personal information or API for connecting CloudTalk with any tool you love. Automation tools like IVR, skill-based routing or automated callback come only with high-tier plans. You have to pay extra in order to get call recording.

A crucial restriction, mainly for big international companies, is that there are regional constraints on unlimited calling. Users with the basic Express plan can only use unlimited calling in the US and Canada.  

How is 8×8 priced?

The cheapest, Express 8×8 plan starts at $15 for both monthly and annual subscription. Though, it only comes with basic features.

Higher tier plans will cost you from $24 to $44 per month, billed annually, and $28 to $57 billed monthly. These include more advanced features, such as multi-level auto attendant, and data history.

8×8 Conclusion

8×8 shines in analytics and integrations but stays behind in the amount of productivity features. There’s also a lack of flexibility to consider, and a few feature accessibility restrictions that may be dealbreakers for international companies. 

Price is affordable when you only need a basic Express pack, but for more advanced tools, you’ll have to reach deeper into your wallet.