| Contact centre software helps a team manage customer interactions through shared queues, routing rules, agent tools and reporting. Some of these capabilities are built into business phone systems; others need an additional licence, integration or platform. |
Before buying contact centre software, check what your current phone system can already do. A ring group, a queue and useful reporting may be enough. Additional capability becomes worth considering when the way you route, supervise or follow up enquiries has outgrown those tools.
This guide covers what contact centre software does, when an existing phone system is enough, which routing, reporting and recording requirements to test, and how licensing and total cost fit together. For call flow design, platform setup, number moves, training and ongoing support, see our business phone systems service.
What does contact centre software do?
It controls what happens to customer interactions that arrive at a shared point, such as a main number or a support inbox. It decides which greeting or menu a caller hears, which queue they join, which agents are offered the call, what happens when nobody is free, and what is recorded and reported. Some products also handle outbound calling, email, web chat and messaging.
Contact centre software can be part of a business phone platform, an add-on licence or a separate cloud service known as CCaaS, short for contact centre as a service. CCaaS describes the delivery model; it does not promise a particular feature set. Suppliers also sell the same category as call centre software.
How is it different from a business phone system?
The two overlap. A business phone system provides numbers, extensions and calling, and many also include auto attendants, queues, after-hours routing and call reporting. Contact centre software adds value when the required channels, supervision, customer context or workflows go beyond what the current setup supports. Microsoft Teams Phone and hosted VoIP platforms each draw that line differently, so compare features against your requirements rather than product labels.
Is it the same as a call centre?
No. A call centre is a call-handling operation, and it does not need to be one room: staff may answer the same queues from offices, homes and sites. Contact centre software manages the interactions; the operation is the people, rosters and processes behind it. Planning who is available is a job for rostering software; queue membership alone does not do it.
When is your existing phone system enough?
Start with the work rather than the size of the team. If callers need a clear greeting, a route to the right people, a queue when staff are busy and a reliable overflow path, those features may already be available. Check the existing licence and demonstrate the complete call flow before assuming you need contact centre software as well.
Team size alone does not decide. A larger team taking predictable calls may need only a ring group and a queue, while a small team may need specialist features for regulated calls, several channels or detailed reporting. These questions show where the gaps are:
- Busy periods. What happens to callers when everyone is already on a call, and for how long
- Unanswered calls. Who follows them up, and how they find out about them
- Reporting. Whether the reports show the outcomes you need, for the periods you need
- Hours and holidays. Whether callers outside opening hours reach a message, voicemail or an on-call number
- Changes. Who can update menus, hours and queue membership, and how quickly
A missing report may be a configuration or licence issue rather than a reason to buy contact centre software or replace the platform. Many business phone systems can already show missed and abandoned calls once reporting is set up correctly. A quick test helps: ring your main number during a busy period and after hours, and note where the call ends up.
When do additional capabilities help?
Look at contact centre software when agents need customer context across channels, supervisor coaching, specialist routing, quality management or integration with a CRM or job system. Identify which requirement the current setup cannot meet, then compare the cost and work of extending it against choosing another platform.
- Customer context. The caller record, recent tickets or job history appear when the call arrives
- Several channels. Phone, email, chat and messaging handled by the same team with consistent rules
- Supervision. Live monitoring, coaching and moving staff between queues
- Quality management. Recording review, scoring and feedback built into the workflow
Ask each contact centre software supplier to demonstrate the required features with representative workflows. Include exceptions: no available agents, a long wait, an unsuccessful callback, a holiday and a wider service outage. Skills routing, queue announcements, presence-aware routing, mobile participation, recording and unified channels are requirements to confirm against the platform and licence, not features every product includes. Confirm what staff need to do when the technology cannot complete the route.
Do you need more than one channel?
Omnichannel means interactions from several channels arrive in one place for the agent. Check how each channel is integrated, whether conversations keep their history between channels, and who is rostered to answer each one. AI chatbots can handle routine questions, but linking a chatbot to a website does not by itself create a shared queue or a complete conversation history, so confirm the handover to an agent during the demonstration.
How does a call move through the system?
A typical inbound call through contact centre software passes several decisions. It reaches a published number, a schedule check decides whether the business is open, an optional menu sorts the caller, and a queue offers the call to agents by a rule you set. Each step needs testing before the route carries real calls.
Illustrative example on Microsoft Teams. Other platforms place these decisions differently.
What does an IVR menu do?
An IVR menu, short for interactive voice response, is the recorded set of options a caller hears, such as press one for accounts or press two for service. It sorts callers before a person is involved. A menu is optional: a single queue with a clear greeting may suit a business with one type of enquiry. Where you use one, keep the options clear and the path to a person short.
How does a call queue work?
A call queue holds callers while the system looks for an available agent. The rule for offering calls is a setting: ring everyone at once, offer the call to the agent idle longest, or work down a list in order. Suppliers call this automatic call distribution, or ACD. Queues can also limit how many callers wait and for how long, and send calls elsewhere when a limit is reached.
What happens after hours or on a public holiday?
That depends on the platform. In Microsoft Teams, the auto attendant holds the business hours and holiday schedules, and the call queue behind it handles exceptions such as overflow, timeout and no agents being signed in. Microsoft’s call queue setup guidance documents those exception options and does not describe a separate business-hours or holiday schedule for the queue itself. Other platforms place the schedule elsewhere, so check where it sits on yours and test the after-hours route deliberately.
How does callback work?
Callback, where the platform supports it, lets a caller leave the queue and receive a return call when an agent is available. It depends on eligibility rules, configuration, timeouts and outbound calling arrangements. In Teams, a caller becomes eligible once a configured wait time, queue length or calls-to-agent ratio is reached, the calling number must be one that can be dialled back, and the queue timeout must be long enough for the callback to complete. Test unsuccessful callbacks as well as successful ones, and agree what happens when a return call is not answered.
Which reporting and recording requirements matter?
Contact centre software reporting should start with calls offered to the team, calls answered by a person, wait times and the outcomes for callers who did not reach one. Agree definitions and reporting periods before comparing results.
How should outcomes be defined?
Define offered, agent-answered, abandoned, transferred and callback outcomes consistently. An IVR answering a call is not a person answering it, and call legs are not unique customers: one caller transferred twice can appear as three records. Average speed of answer can exclude abandoned calls, so read it alongside the abandonment figure. First-contact resolution needs a definition beyond whether the first agent picked up.
Set targets suited to the service rather than borrowing a generic benchmark. A team handling urgent faults may need a different answer target from one taking routine bookings, and targets should reflect the staffing you can provide.
Illustrative figures. Agree what each measure counts and over which period before using it as a target.
How far does built-in reporting go?
Reporting depth and history vary by platform and licence. In Teams, the Queues app shows live queue information and keeps historical metrics for up to the past 45 days. That figure applies to the Queues app, not to every phone system. When you want call data next to sales or job data, connect it to business reporting software where that serves a defined decision.
Should you record calls?
Recording needs an appropriate purpose, reasonable notification to staff and callers, access controls and retention rules. Under information privacy principle 3, an agency collecting personal information directly from a person must take reasonable steps to make them aware of the collection and its purpose. A greeting announcement is one of those steps, but it does not cover every privacy duty: decide who can access recordings, how long they are kept and how requests for them are handled. Recording is not required for every business, so start with the purpose.
How do licensing and total cost work?
Licensing models for contact centre software differ. Some products charge by user or agent; others charge by platform edition and simultaneous-call capacity. 3CX, for example, sizes its annual licence mainly by simultaneous calls rather than by user count. Compare the complete recurring cost and the one-off work, and check what your current subscriptions already cover.
| What you pay for | What it covers | How it may be priced |
|---|---|---|
| Platform or agent licences | Queues, routing rules and agent tools | Per user, per agent, or by edition and capacity |
| Supervisor and reporting tools | Live views, historical reports and coaching tools | A separate licence, an add-on or included |
| Numbers and calling | Lines, minutes, callback and external transfers | Per number, per minute or by plan |
| Integrations and storage | CRM or job system links and recording storage | Varies with the product and volume |
| Design and setup | Call flow design, prompts, testing and number moves | One-off project work |
| Changes and support | Menu edits, new queues, hours and staff changes | Included in a support arrangement or charged as work |
Ask for recurring and one-off charges separately, with GST treatment and exclusions stated. Two quotes for the same platform can look far apart when one includes design and testing and the other assumes you will configure it yourself.
What does Microsoft Teams need?
Teams Phone includes auto attendants and call queues. Each auto attendant or call queue that answers calls directly needs a resource account with a Microsoft Teams Phone Resource Account licence, which Microsoft provides at no cost. Nested call flows can differ, so check the design. Agents receiving calls from a queue need to be enabled for Teams Phone calling.
The free resource account licence does not cover every calling cost. Callback, transfers to external numbers and outbound calling on behalf of a queue need a calling arrangement on the resource account, such as Microsoft pay-as-you-go calling or communications credits, an Operator Connect number or Direct Routing, as set out in Microsoft’s voice application licensing reference. The Queues app needs a Teams Phone and a Teams Premium licence for each person who uses it, including queue members and leads, so count every user of the app before configuring permissions.
How do you plan a rollout?
Before switching on contact centre software, map the current call flow, establish the required outcomes and agree who owns day-to-day changes.
Map the current setup
Map every published number, who answers it, the hours and what happens to unanswered calls.
Agree the outcomes
Agree the queues, routing rules and reports you need, with their definitions.
Design the call flow
Design the call flow, including holidays, after hours, overflow and callback, before configuration starts.
Record prompts and notices
Record the prompts and notices, including any recording notification.
Test before go-live
Test on suitable numbers, including the exceptions and the after-hours route.
Move the number and review
Move the public number with an agreed cutover and fallback, then review the first weeks of reporting.
If numbers need to move, confirm carrier eligibility, timing, expected interruption and fallback. Reusing handsets and headsets depends on compatibility and the chosen design. Timing depends on the platform, call flows, integrations, testing and number migration, so agree those dependencies before setting a date.
Contact centre setup from Exodesk
We review your call flows, features and licences, then recommend whether a better setup of your current platform or contact centre software fits the work. Implementation runs through our business phone systems service.
Exodesk has supported New Zealand businesses since 1989. Today, our Christchurch and Dunedin teams support businesses nationwide.
NEXT STEP
Another platform, or a better setup?
Exodesk can review your call flows, required features and existing licences. Tell us which numbers your team answers, how busy they get and what customers experience when nobody is free.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is contact centre software?
It helps teams manage customer interactions using routing, queues, agent tools and reporting. It may be part of a phone platform or a separate service, and supported channels vary. CCaaS means contact centre as a service, a delivery model rather than a promise of a particular feature set.
How is contact centre software different from a business phone system?
The capabilities overlap. Business phone systems can already provide menus, queues and reports. Additional contact centre capability is useful when the required channels, supervision, customer context or workflows go beyond what the current setup supports.
Is contact centre software the same as a call centre?
No. A call centre is a call-handling operation, and it may be spread across offices, homes and sites rather than one room. The software manages the interactions, while the operation is the people, rosters and processes behind them.
Do we need contact centre software for a team of five?
Team size alone does not decide. Check peak call demand, staff availability, routing, channels and reporting. A ring group or existing queue may be enough, so establish the missing capability before paying for more.
Can Microsoft Teams handle our call queues?
Teams Phone provides auto attendants and call queues. Check the required routing, calling and reporting features against your current licences. Each person using the Queues app needs Teams Phone and Teams Premium, and the free resource account licence does not cover every related calling cost.
How much does contact centre software cost?
The total depends on the platform, capacity, licences, calling, channels, storage, integrations and support. Ask for recurring and one-off charges separately, with GST treatment and exclusions stated. Per-agent pricing is one model, not a universal rule.
Do we have to tell callers we are recording?
Take reasonable steps to make callers and staff aware of the recording and its purpose, which in practice includes an announcement. The announcement does not cover every privacy duty. Record for a defined purpose and set access controls and retention rules.
How long does implementation take?
Timing depends on the current platform, call flows, integrations, testing and any number migration. Agree dependencies, the pilot, cutover and fallback before setting a date. Existing handsets may be reusable, but compatibility must be checked.
Does Exodesk set up contact centre features in Christchurch and Dunedin?
Yes. Exodesk has supported New Zealand businesses since 1989, and our Christchurch and Dunedin teams support businesses nationwide. Setup is delivered through our business phone systems service, with the platform, call flows, testing and support agreed in the quote.
Contact us or call 0800 396 337 to talk through your call handling.
