New Start: May 2020

Sunday, May 31, 2020

Online Proctoring Services – Making the Process of Conducting Online Examination Secure and Reliable

Online proctoring is a solution which allows an invigilator to keep a close look at every student while conducting online examinations. Recent advancements in technology and the advent of the internet has led to the adoption of online examination systems for conducting exams. Students can write a particular exam from remote locations. Online proctoring services allow […]

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Saturday, May 30, 2020

What Traffic Question Do Full Time Bloggers Ask?

“How do I drive targeted traffic to my blog?” Full-time bloggers think about driving targeted traffic to their blogs. Most other bloggers think about driving blog traffic. Most bloggers have a difficult time going pro because they just want traffic. Full-time, professional bloggers know that highly targeted traffic boosts their bottom line as far as […]

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The Best Practice Management Software

A good practice management software can turn an inefficient medical practice into a great one.

After all, your focus is to help patients feel better, enhance their quality of life, and improve their health. But to do that, you need to also track appointments, stay on top of billing, stay in contact with patients, and manage all your employees.

Luckily, the best practice management software helps you do all that—while saving time and effort.

Compare Quotes From The Best Practice Management Software

Get matched up with the practice management software that fits your needs.

Why you need a practice management software

You need to present a professional appearance to the patients at your medical practice. Management software does this by enhancing your ability to manage your practice’s day-to-day operations. Some of the key components of this software include:

Scheduling of appointments
Generating bills
Creating insurance claims
Generating financial reports for the practice
Generating financial reports for individual patients

If your practice cannot generate accurate bills or cannot book appointments without making errors, patients will begin to lose trust in the medical practice. They may wonder whether the practice can care for their health properly if employees cannot even file insurance claims properly.

The 10 Best Practice Management Software Solutions

When you want to create a professional appearance for your medical office, using any of the 10 best practice management software solutions on our list will help.

But if the management software for your medical practice is difficult to use, any timesaving benefits disappear. To save the sanity of employees and to allow your practice to run at the best possible efficiency, consider one of our best practice management software recommendations.

AdvancedMD

• Excellent feature set
• Simplifies scheduling
• Clean interface
• Verification system
• Compare Quotes

For those who already own the AdvancedMD EMR software, its compatibility with AdvancedMD’s practice management software is seamless, creating a powerful combination.

But even if you use a different EMR software, you still can use AdvancedMD as your best practice management software, as it has compatibility with many EMR systems.

AdvancedMD’s interface is clean and well-organized, but some users will find it time consuming to figure out all of the various features, especially the advanced features.

Pros

Has an excellent feature set
Software’s verification system catches simple coding errors on insurance claims
Clean interface that simplifies scheduling
Strong interaction with same brand’s EMR

Cons

Does take quite a bit of time to learn all of the features
Overall cost is above average

Advanced Data Systems MedicsPremier

• Reasonable prices
• Easily customizable
• Helps you reduce errors
• Extensive training services
• Compare Quotes

For the right medical practice, MedicsPremier will be an excellent choice. But this is a software package that you must choose carefully, because it doesn’t work for everyone.

It will especially help a medical practice that needs customization options at a reasonable price. It also has strong insurance claim generation features. However, training is expensive, and some users will find the navigation features difficult to understand.

Pros

Easily customizable for your particular practice
Tracking insurance claims progress is easy
Able to help you reduce errors in insurance claim coding
Extensive training services that are helpful

Cons

Training is extremely expensive
Interface is dated and really needs a refresh to make it easier to use

AthenaHealth

• Streamline billing & claims
• Patient portal feature
• Detailed reports
• Great customer service
• Compare Quotes

If your practice struggles when it comes to billing, the creators of athenahealth had you in mind. This software streamlines your billing processes, as well as submission of insurance claims. It even generates highly detailed reports that show areas where your practice’s billing results are lagging behind others in the industry.

We also rank athenahealth highly in terms of the training it provides to its customers, getting them up to speed faster than some other software packages.

Pros

Excels in billing and insurance claim generation
Good customer service
Has a strong patient portal feature
If you like generating detailed reports, this software excels in this area

Cons

Doesn’t work as well for practices that fully outsource medical billing
Takes some time to figure out the advanced features

CareCloud

• Easy to use
• Well designed patient portal
• Extremely detailed reports
• Verification to reduce errors
• Compare Quotes

When you want ease of use above everything else in your practice management software, CareCloud delivers. It has a well-organized interface, making all of the key features easily accessible.

We really like CareCloud’s patient portal, which patients will find easy to use. This encourages them to spend more time entering their own data, saving your employees time in the long run.

CareCloud also offers a strong EMR system, so you can mesh the two easily, if you’re in the market for an EMR system too.

Pros

Generates extremely detailed reports to help your practice
Patient portal is well-designed and easy for patients to use
Calendar feature allows for generation of many kinds of reports
Has verification features to reduce insurance claim filing errors

Cons

High initial investment required
Some key insurance monitoring features require an add-on fee service

DrChrono

• Very versatile software
• Minimal upfront costs
• Highly efficient patient portal
• Streamlined scheduling
• Compare Quotes

With DrChrono, you’ll receive a versatile type of software that can handle the needs of small and large medical practices, offering an efficient interface that will save your employees time. It also has the ability to match any specialty needs that you may have, giving you customization options.

Its cost is below other management software solutions, especially the startup costs.

Pros

Versatile software for all office sizes
Includes a highly efficient patient portal
Upfront costs are minimal
Streamlined scheduling of patients and employees

Cons

Customer service responsiveness is hit and miss
Report generation isn’t as detailed as some others

eClinicalWorks

• Best for smaller practices
• Easy to use patient portal
• Helpful onsite training
• Reasonably priced
• Compare Quotes

When you want a reasonably priced best practice management software that also provides high end billing services, eClinicalWorks is well worth considering. It fits nicely with practices that need extra help with verifying insurance claim codes before submission, which should reduce the number of rejected claims.

If you’d like a software package that can grow with you as your medical practice expands and needs extra services, the multiple customization features in this software give you that option.

Pros

Nice patient portal that is highly efficient
Especially strong in billing services and insurance claims
Reasonably priced, especially for smaller practices
Delivers helpful onsite training for new customers

Cons

Has some extra costs for those who need more features
Customer service responsiveness could be better

Greenway Health Intergy

• Multiple customization options
• Versatile interface
• Compatible with Excel
• No hidden fees
• Compare Quotes

For a medical practice where you’ll have multiple people entering data and using the interface, the Greenway Health Intergy software is helpful.

It allows people to enter data and perform tasks in several different ways, so they can work in the manner that makes the most sense to them. This will confuse some people, but it’s perfect for practices where employees like to learn to use software by jumping in and exploring on their own.

Pros

Versatile interface that allows for creativity in solving problems
Multiple customization options
Reporting feature is compatible with Microsoft Excel
Doesn’t have hidden fees

Cons

Training is long and involved
Interface could use a design update

Kareo

• Easy to learn to use
• No long term contracts
• Great reporting
• Very reasonably priced
• Compare Quotes

When a smaller practice is looking for practice management software that isn’t going to break the bank or require a long subscription commitment, Kareo is an excellent choice. The interface is easy to use, but the design is a little older than some others.

For those who need full billing services, Kareo has an EMR that works seamlessly with its practice management software.

Pros

Very reasonably priced
Easy to learn to use, so you’ll be up and running quickly
Reporting feature outperforms some other low priced options
Good billing generation features, but they do cost extra

Cons

Interface is a little dated
Starter package is basic, so it may not fit those with complex needs

NextGen Healthcare

• Great for smaller practices
• Easy to setup and use
• Competitively priced
• Very good customer service
• Compare Quotes

Small practices that need multiple services will appreciate NextGen Healthcare. Its customer service is better than what you typically find for smaller practices, especially considering this software’s low price point.

If you also need EMR software, NextGen Healthcare’s EMR will mesh well with the brand’s practice management software.

Pros

Very good customer service
Works nicely for smaller practices
Handles all of the basic features that you need in practice management software
Competitively priced

Cons

May not be complex enough for larger practices
Report generation features lag behind other options

SimplePractice

• Best for specialty practices
• Wide range of features
• Simple interface
• Strong brand loyalty
• Compare Quotes

For specialty practices, SimplePractice has features that will help them manage their specific and unique needs versus general practitioners. This is a popular software package among its customers, generating quite a bit of brand loyalty.

It has a competitive price for the small practice, and it has plenty of features to help you stay in contact with patients.

Pros

Good management features for patient interactions
Simple interface that still lets you get a lot done
Has a decent insurance claim generation feature
Easy to ignore parts of the software that don’t fit your needs

Cons

Extremely basic, so it may not meet the needs of large offices.
Customer service responsiveness is below average.

How to Choose The Best Practice Management Software For You

What you’ll quickly learn with practice management software is one product does not fit all clients. With so many choices on the market for helping you manage your medical practice, it’s important to focus in on the features that will help your practice deal with its particular needs.

Calculating Payments

With the billing and patient management information all in one location with practice management software, you have the ability to calculate the out-of-pocket cost for a procedure before it happens. A patient will be able to make smarter financial choices about when and how he or she would like to have a procedure done.

Additionally, when the patient knows exactly what he or she will have to pay out of pocket before coming to the appointment, the medical practice will have a far better chance of being able to collect payment at the time of service, reducing paperwork.

When patients feel as though they have more control over their healthcare decisions and costs, their experience is more satisfying.

Coordination of Scheduling

One of the key components to running a medical practice efficiently is proper scheduling. Double bookings of patients or not having enough nurses in the office introduce hiccups in the office’s workflow.

Medical practice management software keeps the office running smoothly, allowing the proper scheduling that matches the number of planned patients with the personnel required to handle them.

Generating Claims

One of the most frustrating aspects of medical care for patients is the timeliness of billing statements and insurance claims. No patient wants to receive a bill a few months after an appointment because the medical practice failed to anticipate an insurance claim denial, delaying the entire process.

Through practice management software, you can generate reports that show which types of insurance claims often generate rejections on the first attempt, allowing the office to change how it submits those claims.

You also can generate reports that show any bottlenecks occurring in the processing of patient billing statements, ensuring that patients receive their charges in a timely manner.

Improving Efficiency

Employees at your medical practice often must handle a variety of tasks, especially at a small practice. Your practice management software interface should not be a hindrance to what you’re trying to accomplish. The interface must be easy to understand and use, allowing one employee to handle scheduling or to generate a report on his or her own.

If the software’s features take a long time to learn or add unnecessary steps to performing simple tasks, employees will balk at having to use it.

A complex software package may generate impressive statistics about how your practice is running. But if entering the data takes employees so long that they look for shortcuts or skip entering the data entirely, the data in the generated reports will be worthless.

Self-Managing for Patients

Many practice management software solutions have a patient portal. This system creates a number of benefits, including:

Patients may set up and manage their own appointments remotely.
New patients can enter personal data before coming to the office, saving time.
Existing patients can update insurance provider information or drug lists before an appointment.
Patients can choose how they would like to receive appointment reminders, which reduces the number of patient no-shows

This automation reduces the number of phone calls into your practice and shortens the length of those phone calls. This allows front desk personnel to handle other tasks, including focusing attention on face-to-face interactions with patients.

Specialty Needs

If your medical practice handles one or more specialty areas, it’s important that the practice management software can handle that specialty. If the software is too general in nature or doesn’t allow customization, it may not work well for your practice.

Figuring out whether a particular piece of software can handle the specific needs for your specialty areas can be tricky. This is one area where you may want to speak to practices who have a similar situation to yours and who are already using the software you’re considering. The vendor should be able to put you in contact with some of its other customers for questions.

Studying Cash Flow

Ultimately, you want your medical practice to succeed. The right practice management software can help by generating reports that show your cash flow and your level of profitability.

Some software will be able to create more detailed reports than others. A basic system’s reports will show you which types of appointments or physicians are generating the most revenue.

More complex reporting software may be able to drill down to show you the demographics of your patients, allowing you to generate efficient advertising or helping you figure out what equipment purchases you will need to make in the future to match the needs of the client base as it ages.

System Integration

Many medical practices have other types of software already in use. The practice management software you select needs to be able to mesh smoothly with these other types of software.

For example, if you have an EMR solution already in place, some of the information inside the two systems could overlap. Rather than having employees waste time by entering data into two different systems, the two systems need to share data, so employees only need to enter it once.

Practice management software should be able to share data with software running billing systems, as well as EMR and EHR software. (Because of the occasional overlap, if you are wondering whether you need both EMR/EHR and practice management software solutions, understand that EMR/EHR software contains medical information about patients, while practice management software gears itself toward the clerical operation of the practice.)

Summary: Delivering Efficiency With Best Practice Management Software

When patients visit your medical practice, they want to feel better as quickly as possible. They don’t really care all that much about the day-to-day work that your employees must do behind the scenes to make that happen in an efficient manner.

But you have to care. Making your medical office run efficiently often means having the best practice management software in hand. With the right software, your employees spend less time on mundane office tasks and more time meeting the needs of patients.

Keeping your patients happy and healthy is far easier with the right practice management software, and it will help employees feel happier too.

Compare Quotes From The Best Practice Management Software

Get matched up with the practice management software that fits your needs.

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Best Customer Service Software

Customer service software makes sure your customers are happy and satisfied with your business.

After all, your customers make or break your success.

Happy customers keep coming back and spending more money, while unsatisfied customers will cause significant damage to your reputation. In fact, an unhappy customer may tell up to 15 people about their poor experience. Negative interactions spread twice as fast as positive ones.

91% of customers who experienced poor service will never do business with you again.

On the flip side, eight out of ten consumers are more likely to buy from businesses again after a positive customer service experience. A 5% increase in customer retention can boost profits by up to 125%.

The numbers speak for themselves. Customer service must be a priority for every business.

Fortunately, the right customer service software can make this possible. Customer service solutions help ensure fast response times, positive interactions, and happy customers.

The 8 Best Customer Service Software of 2020

It’s tough to find a good customer service software. There’s many options available on the market. But some of these tools are significantly better than others.

After researching and testing dozens of customer service solutions, I’ve narrowed down the top eight for you to consider.

Zoho Desk — Best customer service software for ticketing.
HubSpot — Best free customer service software and product bundles.
LiveAgent — Best customer service software for live chat support.
Freshdesk — Best customer service software if you’re switching from another platform.
Zendesk — Best customer service software with support suite options available.
Salesforce Service Cloud — Best customer service software for field service agents.
Groove — Best customer service software for small teams and growth startups.
Help Scout — Best customer service software for nonprofits.

As we continue you through this guide, I’ll give you an in-depth review of each one below. You’ll learn about the top features, benefits, use cases, pricing, and more.

Best Customer Service Software Reviews

Zoho Desk (Best for ticketing)

Visit Zoho Desk

• Free forever plan
• Upgrade starting at $12/mo
• Email ticketing & help center
• Mobile app access
• Try for Free

Zoho is one of the most popular names in the world of business software and CRM. The company has tools for sales, marketing, email, collaboration, finance, accounting, human resources, and business intelligence.

But one of the best solutions that they offer is Zoho Desk—IT and help desk software.

Zoho Desk has solutions for customer service agents, managers, and customers. But above all, it’s arguably the best customer service software for managing and closing tickets.

Let’s take a closer look at the plans and price points for Zoho Desk:

Free — $0

Up to three agents
Email ticketing
Help center
Private knowledge base
Predefined SLAs
Mobile app
Multilingual help desk

Standard — $12 per month per agent

Social and community channels
Product-based ticket management
Public knowledge base
Escalations
Workflow and assignment rules
Supervise rules
Customer happiness ratings

Professional — $20 per month per agent

Multi-department ticketing
Team management
Telephony
Automated time tracking
Ticket templates
Ticket sharing
Mobile SDK

Enterprise — $35 per month per agent

Live chat
AI
Customize help center
Advanced process management
Scheduled reports
Validation rules
Role-based data sharing

No matter how big, small, or complex your business is, Zoho Desk has a plan for you.

HubSpot (Best free customer service software)

Visit HubSpot

• 100% free forever plan
• Advanced features start at $40/mo
• Wide range of solutions
• Free software for customer service
• Try for Free

HubSpot is one of the most well-recognized CRMs in the industry. They have a wide range of software and solution suites for managing relationships with customers.

These offerings are segmented into three main categories—sales, marketing, and service.

The HubSpot Service Hub is what we’ll be focusing on here today. It’s an exceptional solution for managing customer issues through service tickets.

I like HubSpot because they offer free CRM solutions, including free software for customer service. Free features include ticketing, live chat, chatbots, team email, and a conversations inbox. You’ll also benefit from free email templates, closed ticket reports, and time-to-close reports.

HubSpot is proof that you don’t need to spend a ton of money on improving your customer service with software. This won’t cost you a thing.

For those of you who want access to advanced features and benefits, here’s an overview o the paid plans:

Starter — $40 per month

Includes two paid users
Canned snippets
Meeting scheduling
Agent productivity reports
Calling

Professional — $320 per month

Includes five paid users
Ticket status, routing, automation, and pipelines
Knowledge base
1:1 video creation
Custom reporting
Surveys for NPS, experience, and support

Enterprise — $1,200 per month

Includes ten paid users
Playbooks and goals
Hierarchical teams
User roles
Single sign-on
Integrates with Slack

All rates are based on an annual contract. You can get the HubSpot Service Hub month-to-month for 20% more.

HubSpot also offers exceptional product bundles for all CRM categories in a single solution. So if you want to get software for service, sales, and marketing from a single provider, HubSpot is the best option for you. Bundles start at $112.50 per month.

LiveAgent (Best for live chat support)

Visit LiveAgent

• 100% free forever plan
• Upgrades starting at $15/mo
• All-in-one solution
• Simple and flexible tools
• Try for Free

LiveAgent is a customer service solution that helps you manage all customer requests from multiple channels in a single platform.

No matter where your customers are, you can merge all communication and support to one place. LiveAgent saves you time, simplifies the process, and allows you to increase the profitability of your support team.

LiveAgent has tools for:

Email ticketing
Live chat
Voice and video calls
Social media integration

Here’s a closer look at the plans and prices for customer service software form LiveAgent:

Free — $0 forever

7 day ticket history
1 email address for ticketing
1 live chat button
1 phone number for call center support

Ticket — $15 per month per agent

Unlimited ticket history
Unlimited email ticketing
Load data from your CRM
Multi-brand support

Ticket + Chat — $29 per month per agent

Unlimited live chat
Real-time visitor monitor
Chat invitations
Chat satisfaction surveys

All-inclusive — $39 per month per agent

Unlimited call center support
Video calling
Gamification
Unlimited call storage

For all of the paid plans, LiveAgent has add-on pricing for features like social media integration, time tracking, audit logs, and more.

Overall, it’s a simple and flexible tool for managing live customers with ticketing and live chat.

Freshdesk (Best for switching platforms)

Visit Freshdesk

• Free 21-day trial
• Plans start at $15/mo
• Extensive list of features
• Trusted by 150,000+ businesses
• Try for Free

Freshdesk is another one of the most popular help desk solutions on the market today. Above all, it’s simple. That’s why it’s trusted by 150,000+ businesses, including American Express, HP, and Panasonic.

With Freshdesk, you’ll have access to an extensive list of features across a wide range of customer support categories:

Ticketing
Collaboration
Field Service
Automation
Customer self-service
Reporting
Multi-channel support

It’s an excellent solution to streamline all of your customer connections in a single location. Freshdesk makes team collaboration and automation a breeze.

If you’re currently using another help desk solution and you’re unhappy with it, Freshdesk makes it easy for you to switch to its software.

Here’s an overview of the plans and pricing. All rates are based on an annual plan. The prices are a bit higher if you go month-to-month.

Sprout — Free

Unlimited agents
Email ticketing
Team collaboration
Knowledge base
Ticket trend reports
Social ticketing

Blossom — $15 per month per agent

Automations
Collision detection
Marketplace apps
Helpdesk
SLA management
Business hours

Garden — $29 per month per agent

Time tracking
CSAT survey
Session replay
Performance report
Knowledge base with multi-lingual support

Estate — $49 per month per agent

Automated ticket assignment
Custom agent roles
Custom portal
Enterprise reporting
Multiple time zones and SLAs

Forest — $109 per month per agent

Ticket assignment based on skills
Create a testing environment without affecting agents or customers
IP Whitelisting
HIPAA compliant
Extendable API rate limit

Freshdesk has omnichannel add-ons and features for field service management for an additional fee. Try it free with a 21-day trial.

Zendesk (Best with support suite options)

Visit Zendesk

• Free trial available
• Starts at $89/mo
• Flexible customized solutions
• Used by 150,000+ businesses
• Try for Free

Zendesk is one of the best overall customer service software solutions on the market today. It’s used by 150,000+ businesses, including big brands like Uber, Venmo, Shopify, and Slack.

The Zendesk support suite has everything you need to manage customer service communication across multiple channels. You can provide customer support via email, live chat, voice, Facebook, Twitter, WeChat, WhatsApp, and more.

The software makes it possible to connect all of your data sources to a single location. So when a customer contacts you for support, the right information will automatically be on display.

Zendesk is flexible, so it can support the needs of any business. You can get a customized solution that fits with your existing support environment.

Here’s a quick overview of the plans, features, and pricing for the Zendesk support suite:

Professional Support Suite — $89 per agent per month

Omnichannel support
Social messaging add-on
Self-service knowledge base
Dashboards and reporting for all channels
Talk partner edition
Multiple ticket forms

Enterprise Support Suite — $149 per agent per month

Roles and permissions with skilled base routing
Multi-brand support
Chat widget and web SDK
Content cues to identify knowledge gaps
24/7 live chat and phone support

The full-service support suite from Zendesk has it all. But not every business needs something this comprehensive. If you’re looking for something a little bit more basic, Zendesk offers more affordable options for smaller businesses.

Essential — $5 per month per agent
Team — $19 per month per agent
Professional — $49 per month per agent
Enterprise — $99 per month per agent
Elite — $199 per month per agent

You can try any Zendesk software or support suite with a free trial. If you’re looking for a customized solution, contact the Zendesk sales team.

Salesforce Service Cloud (Best for field service agents)

Visit Salesforce

• Starts at $25/month
• Resolve cases quicker
• Streamline your on-site support
• Trusted by 150,000+ companies
• Get Started Now

Salesforce is an industry leader in sales CRM software. But they also offer tools and solutions for customer service. It’s trusted by 150,000+ companies across the world.

The Salesforce Service Cloud makes it easy for any business to build customer relationships while saving time and improving customer satisfaction. Brands like Yeti and Adidas are just a couple of well-known names that use this software.

Your customer service representatives will be able to resolve cases quicker with the insights and tools offered by Salesforce. The platform has a shared view of every customer interaction.

Set up self-service portals so your customers can access account information, view tutorials, and view knowledge base articles.

The Salesforce Service Cloud has capabilities to streamline your on-site support. Field service works, dispatchers, and on-site technicians can use these tools to resolve problems during the first visit.

Salesforce uses AI to predict recommendations and provide support with an intuitive chatbot service.

Let’s take a look at the plans and pricing for Salesforce Service Cloud:

Essentials — $25 per user per month

Case management
Service console apps
Knowledge tools
Telephony integration (CTI)

Professional — $75 per user per month

All Essentials features
Service contracts

Enterprise — $150 per user per month

All Professional features
Web services API

Unlimited — $300 per user per month

All Enterprise features
24/7 support and configuration

All plans come with tools for collaboration, productivity, personalization, real-time insights, cross-sell and upsell tools, app integration, and solutions to automate processes.

Salesforce offers add-ons for things like field service workers, digital engagement, and location-based intelligence.

Groove (Best for small teams and growth startups)

Visit Groove

• Plans start at $9/month
• Team collaboration tools
• Customizable knowledge base
• Exceptional automation tools
• Get Started Now

Groove isn’t as popular and well-known as some of the other options on our list. But it’s still used by more than 10,000 businesses across 140+ countries.

If your company has outgrown email for customer support and you’re getting inquiries on multiple channels, Groove will be a top choice for you to consider.

This solution stands out from the crowd with its team collaboration tools. You can add internal private notes to discussions, quickly mention teammates to bring them in the loop, and assign specific tasks to members of the team.

Groove has exceptional automations to streamline your customer support. Set rules, tagging, canned replies, and custom folders with your preferences to eliminate busywork.

Another standout feature from Groove is the ability to customize your knowledge base. This is crucial for businesses that want to offer customer self-service tools.

The knowledge base themes are fully customizable, beautifully designed, and mobile responsive. Plans and pricing for Groove customer support software are as follows:

Starter — $9 per month per user

One mailbox
Knowledge base
Live chat
Web widget
Assignments and mentions

Plus — $19 per month per user

5 mailboxes
Full history of reports
Rules
API access
40+ integrations

Pro — $29 per month per user

25 mailboxes
Teams
WhatsApp and SMS
Integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Jira

Company — Custom pricing

Unlimited mailboxes
Priority support
Dedicated customer support manager
SSO/SAML
Enterprise-level security

I’d recommend Groove for small teams and startups. In fact, they have a special startup rate for businesses with less than ten employees. Eligible businesses can get a 93% discount off of the Pro plan.

Help Scout (Best for nonprofits)

Visit Help Scout

• Plans start at $20/month
• Certified B corporation
• High-quality software
• Used by 10,000+ businesses
• Try for Free

Help Scout is another lesser-known solution on our list. But with that said, it’s still a high-quality software for customer service. It’s used by 10,000+ businesses worldwide.

Help Scout is unique because it’s a Certified B corporation. They strive to make a positive impact on the environment and communities. So they go the extra mile to support organizations that share the same values.

If you have a nonprofit that supports human rights, environmental sustainability, or underrepresentation in tech, Help Scout will provide a significant discount on your customer service software.

Some of you might even be eligible for discounts of up to 100%. That’s right—free.

Even if you don’t fall into one of those categories, Help Scout is still a top solution for customer service. Here’s a closer look at the plans and prices:

Standard — $20 per month per user

Three mail boxes
Beacon with live chat
Messages for up to 10,000 customers
Reports
Automated workflows
50+ integrations

Plus — $35 per month per user

10 mailboxes
Custom fields and teams
Salesforce, HubSpot, and Jira apps
HIPAA compliance
SSO/SAML authentication

Company — Custom pricing

Unlimited mailboxes and docs sites
Flexible users
Concierge onboarding
Dedicated account manager
Enterprise-grade security

The rates above are based on an annual contract. Month-to-month plans are available for an additional fee. You can try Help Scout for free with a 15-day trial.

How to Choose the Best Customer Service Software For Your Business

What’s the best customer service software for your business? There are certain features and considerations to keep in mind as you’re evaluating different options.

This is the methodology that we use and recommend here at Quick Sprout.

Number of Agents

How big is your customer service team? Companies with five service reps won’t need the same software as a business with 50 agents.

Larger teams need features for things like collaboration and role-based ticketing, but that won’t be necessary for a smaller business.

Customer Communication Method

How are customers currently reaching out to your service team? How do you want them to do so moving forward?

There’s a software for everything. Whether it’s email, live chat, chatbots, or support tickets, you can find a solution to meet your needs. There are even tools for social media integration so all of your messages, including DMs and comments, can be managed from a single dashboard.

Feature Bundles

Every customer service software on our list does an exceptional job of marketing its top features. But with that said, you should only focus on the features you need the most.

For example, are you looking for customer service software specifically for live chat? LiveAgent will be a top choice for you. If you want a solution for your field service agents, use Salesforce Service Cloud. There are even tools for customer service, sales, and marketing CRM built into single product bundles.

My suggestion is this. Identify the features you definitely need. Then look for the right plan that has all of those features.

Price

The price for customer service software varies on a wide range of factors. Lots of solutions charge you based on the number of customer service agents on your team.

Available features in your package will also have a significant impact on what you pay.

Customer service is definitely not something you should skimp on. It’s ok to spend money. But with that said, not all of you need to go overboard. Small businesses, startups, and nonprofits with smaller teams can use free customer service software without compromising quality.

Conclusion

Every business must prioritize customer service. These are the top eight customer service software solutions on the market today:

Zoho Desk — Best customer service software for ticketing.
HubSpot — Best free customer service software and product bundles.
LiveAgent — Best customer service software for live chat support.
Freshdesk — Best customer service software if you’re switching from another platform.
Zendesk — Best customer service software with support suite options available.
Salesforce Service Cloud — Best customer service software for field service agents.
Groove — Best customer service software for small teams and growth startups.
Help Scout — Best customer service software for nonprofits.

Use this guide to help you find the best solution for your business. I made sure to include something for everyone on my list.

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Best Call Center Services

Call center services are crucial to any type of business.

Not only does it show you prioritize your customer support, it gives your customers multiple ways to contact your business.

But managing a call center on your own can be a challenge. In-house call centers are usually costly and labor-intensive. This is especially true for smaller businesses and startups with fewer resources.

Fortunately, call center services allow you to outsource your customer service phone support in a simple and cost-effective way.

Compare Quotes From The Best Call Center Services

Get matched up with a call center service that fits your specific needs.

Call center services typically record information from incoming calls, respond to FAQs based on your company script, and take messages for specific people within your organization.

Advanced call centers can offer assistance for marketing campaigns and lead generation. Some services handle other communication methods as well, like email, live chat, and social media outreach.

If you’re in the market for a call center service, you’ve come to the right place. I’ll show you the top options for you to consider and give you more information about choosing the best one for your business.

The 5 Best Call Center Services of 2020

What’s the best call center service on the market today? It depends on what you’re looking for. After extensive research, I’ve identified the five best customer call center services for you to consider.

This guide contains an in-depth review, including the top features, benefits, and other information about these companies below.

Best Call Center Services Reviews

TeleDirect

• Inbound & outbound services
• Agents available 24/7/365
• For businesses of all sizes
• Friendly and professional
• Compare Quotes

TeleDirect works with Fortune 500 companies, startups, and everything in between.

They offer both inbound and outbound call center services for businesses. Teledirect also has specific solutions for reservations and managing leads.

Businesses can use TeleDirect’s inbound call services for things like processing orders, qualifying leads, tech support, and help desk services. Since Teledirect has agents available 24/7/365, it’s a top solution for after-hours support and call overflows.

TeleDirect has experience handling calls from a wide range of businesses. Common industries that trust this call center service include retail, financial services, healthcare, insurance, and tech.

The outbound calling services from Teledirect are exceptional as well.

Your business can use this call center service for things like appointment setting, market research, lead generation, customer retention, event registration, surveys, and callbacks.

Teledirect specializes in registration services. They’ve handled over 1.6 million customer reservations across multiple industries. It’s a fast and efficient way to get people to RSVP. This service is perfect for seminars, events, workshops, and open enrollments.

The call center reps at Teledirect are friendly and professional. They know how to make an excellent first impression for both inbound and outbound calls, regardless of the call reason.

I’d recommend Teledirect for businesses of all sizes. It’s even a top solution smaller businesses that just need assistance with after-hours calls and overflow.

Five Star Call Center

• Based in the United States
• Inbound & outbound services
• Works with both B2C & B2B
• In business 35+ years
• Compare Quotes

Five Star Call Center has everything your business needs to manage customer service calls. They provide call center outsourcing, inbound voice, outbound voice, contact center software, and call center consulting.

This company has 35+ years in the call center outsourcing industry.

Common inbound call center outsourcing services from Five Star Call Center include:

Scheduling
Referral services
Tech support
Help desk
Upselling and cross-selling
Reservations
Order management
Customer loyalty programs
Consumer information

Five Star Call Center also provides outbound calling for both B2C and B2B companies. Here are some of the popular outbound calling services:

Lead generation and lead qualification
Sales for products and services
Market research, surveys, and polls
Quality assurance
Customer retention programs
Crisis management
Membership renewals
Email and direct mail follow-up
Payment reminders

As you can see from both of these lists, the services offered by the outsourced professionals at Five Star Call Center are extensive. All of the call center hubs are based in the US. There are five call centers in the midwest located in South Dakota, North Dakota, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

With over three decades in the call center service industry, Five Star Call Center knows it all. They’ve helped businesses across every industry you can imagine.

However, there are certain industries that Five Star Call Center specializes in. That includes retail, hospitality, product support, finance, healthcare, and professional services.

Many call center services on the market today offer inbound and outbound calling. But sometimes, these providers have an edge in one category over another.

Five Star Call Center definitely qualifies as a top outbound call center service.

The outbound services are extensive and results-driven. These agents go above and beyond just reading from a script. They know how to connect with the caller on the other end of the line to accomplish whatever goal you’re trying to achieve.

Go Answer

• Specializes in inbound services
• Email, web chat, and SMS
• HIPPA compliant
• Used by 5,000+ businesses
• Compare Quotes

Go Answer specializes in inbound call services for small businesses. They also provide answering services and legal intake services. More than 5,000 businesses throughout North America trust Go Answer for their outsourced contact enter needs.

Go Answer goes beyond using the phone to communicate with your customers. They also handle communication via email, web chat, and SMS.

These are some of the top features and benefits of using Go Answer as your call center service provider:

24/7 live agents
Order entry
After-hours availability
HIPAA compliant
Appointments
Legal intake
SMS and email alerts
Real-time mobile app and dashboard

All of your messages and voicemails are available from the mobile app. You’ll get real-time updates and notifications delivered via push notification, text, or email.

The contact center services from Go Answer are designed for medium to large businesses with a high call volume. They provide customized solutions for a wide range of industries. Thee agents essentially become an extension of your team.

Go Answer supports multi-channel communication and ticketing for customer support inquiries as well.

The answering service is geared toward smaller organizations. It’s a reliable way to make a professional impression on your customers.

Go Answer boasts some of the fastest pickup times in the industry. You’ll also have free access to their mobile app, AlwaysOn. You can try the answering service risk-free for 30 days with a trial.

Some of the most common industries using Go Answer include legal, real estate, publishing, finance, and ecommerce.

Like most call center services, the rates for Go Answer are unavailable online. You’ll need to contact their sales team for a custom quote based on the specific needs of your organization.

SAS

• Specialty Answering Service
• Bilingual personal receptionists
• Business & personal use
• Straightforward pricing
• Compare Quotes

SAS stands for Specialty Answering Service. As the name clearly implies, the SAS call center’s primary focuses is an answering service.

In addition to the answering services, SAS provides call center outsourcing, dedicated call centers, lead generation services, and virtual receptionists.

SAS has bilingual receptionists and virtual office capabilities for their live operators.

The answering service is very diverse. While it’s obviously geared toward businesses, many people use SAS for personal use. Entrepreneurs, business owners, and busy professionals rely on SAS as a personal receptionist.

SAS has dispatching services with operators that answer calls in three rings or less. They have toll-free numbers, emergency answering services, and support international calls.

Unlike most call center services, SAS has simple and straightforward pricing listed on their website. Here’s a quick overview of those plans and prices:

Economy — $31 per month + $1.19 per minute
100 minutes — $117 per month + $1.09 per additional minute
220 minutes — $199 per month + $1.09 per additional minute
500 minutes — $490 per month + $0.99 per additional minute
1,000 minutes — $925 per month + $0.95 per additional minute
2,500 minutes — $2,200 per month + $0.89 per additional minute
5,000 minutes — $4,199 per month + $0.85 per additional minute
10,000 minutes — $7,749 per month + $0.79 per additional minute

SAS has a plan for everyone. Whether you need 10 minutes per month or 10,000+ minutes per month, this answering service is perfect for you. As you can see, higher volume businesses get a better discount per minute. But even the low-volume plans are affordable.

While SAS specializes in answering services, they also provide outsourced calling for lead generation, dedicated customer service reps, and other popular call center services.

Signius

• 100% US-based
• Custom live call centers
• Modern technology
• 24/7 Online reporting
• Compare Quotes

Signius is a call center service that is 100% US-based. They work with small businesses to Fortune 500s and everyone in between.

Your business can benefit from a custom live call center that matches your brand image and fits within your budget. Signius offers call center services as well as answering services.

Some of their popular call center services fall into the following categories:

Customer care
Direct response
Hotlines
Help desk
Order taking
Disaster backup

Signius takes the time to understand your business. They go through this process to become an extension of your existing team. You have the ability to outsource all or just a portion of your call center functions.

Signius is known for its quick pickup times and modern technology. You’ll also have access to online reporting 24/7.

Your client portal gives you the ability to measure the effectiveness of your call center strategy. The platform gives you information related to single calls as well as your historical data at scale.

Common industries that take advantage of the call center services provided by Signius include:

Small business
Contractors
Property managers
Franchises
Government
Legal
Utility Companies
Healthcare
Universities

For me, the small business call center and answering services from Signius stand out the most.

As a small business owner, you likely won’t need a full call center of agents on-site handling phone calls 24/7. That’s obviously not an effective use of your resources. But Signius is available 24/7 and can answer calls even when your store is closed.

Signius has call transfer services, customized scripts, and bi-lingual solutions. Even if you don’t get a high volume of calls, this will be an excellent option for you to choose.

How to Choose the Best Call Center Service For Your Business

Now that you’ve had a chance to review the top call center services on the market today, it’s time to choose one for your business. But how do you know which one is the best?

There are certain factors that must be taken into consideration when you’re evaluating a prospective service. This is the methodology that we recommend here at Quick Sprout. Use this process to narrow down your options.

Services

Most call center services do much more than just answer phone calls. They usually offer a wide range of other services for things like market research, lead generation, event registration, and call forwarding.

What does your company need assistance with?

If you’re a small business owner that wants your customers to speak to a live agent instead of an answering machine when they call after hours, you just need an answering service.

But if you’re a larger organization that needs outbound calls for things like lead qualification, sales, payment reminders, or membership renewals, you’ll need a company that offers these extra services.

Availability and Call Center Locations

The best call center services have live agents available 24/7/365. I wouldn’t consider a call center service that doesn’t offer this.

In addition to their availability, you want to make sure that they have enough agents to quickly answer inbound phone calls. So it’s in your best interest to work with larger services with multiple locations and plenty of staff on hand.

If working with a call center that’s based in the US is important to you, there are plenty of great choices for you to consider. You don’t have to outsource your call center overseas if you don’t want to.

Industry

Your call center is an extension of your business. While the live agents making and receiving calls don’t work directly for your company, they become the primary point of contact for your customers.

It’s important to find a call center service that has experience working in your industry.

For example, a B2B company that is using an outbound call center service for event registrations and a doctor’s office using an answering service for post-discharge patients will have very different needs.

Custom Solutions

As consumers, we’ve all experienced phone support where the agent is clearly using a generic script. Those canned responses are applied to every business, regardless of industry or customer need.

It’s frustrating when this happens. You don’t want your customers to have this same experience.

That’s why you need to find a call center service that will take the time to understand your business and its needs. They’ll help you come up with a custom solution to improve the customer experience via phone support.

The pricing structure for most answering services will be completely customized as well. Make sure you understand how you’re being charged before you commit to a contract. In many cases, it’s the most cost-effective to be billed based on usage.

Conclusion

Compare Quotes From The Best Call Center Services

Get matched up with a call center service that fits your specific needs.

If your business needs an outsourced call center service, these are the top five options for you to consider:

TeleDirect — Best call center service for managing reservations.
Five Star Call Center — Best outbound call center outsourcing service.
Go Answer — Best inbound call center outsourcing service for small business.
SAS — Best outsourced call center answering services.
Signius — Best call center service for low-volume small business calls.

From low-volume answering services to high-volume sales calls and tech support, there’s an option for everyone on this list. No matter what industry you’re in or what type of needs your business has, I’m confident that you can use this guide to find the best call center solution.

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