10 Questions to Ask When Buying Your Next CCaaS Solution

Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) solutions offer a range of features and tools to enhance customer experience and operational efficiency, but with so much on offer, it can be overwhelming to know which one to choose.

So, we asked the experts to help by sharing key questions to ask vendors to make sure your next investment not only gives you what your customers and agents need right now, but is also future-proof for whatever comes in 2025 and beyond.

Here’s what they said…

Top Questions to Ask When Buying Your Next CCaaS Solution

1. Will I Be Able to Proactively Reach Out to Customers as Well?

Chrissy Calabrese, Director of Product Marketing for Contact Centre, 8x8 — Chrissy Calabrese

The technology and data is now available – especially thanks to AI – that means making useful proactive calls or SMS to customers is easier than ever to do.

Proactive outreach tools are there to notify customers of updates, promotions, or service changes, amongst other matters.

This approach not only builds customer trust but also reduces churn and encourages repeat business.

Contributed by: Chrissy Calabrese, Director of Product Marketing for Contact Centre, 8×8

2. Does It Unify Interactions From Voice, Chat, Email… and Even Social Media?

Your customers expect seamless, personalized service across all channels.

A CCaaS platform should unify interactions from voice, chat, email, and even social media, creating a single, comprehensive view of the customer.

This allows agents to deliver consistent and informed support, no matter how the customer reaches out.

Contributed by: Tatiana Polyakova, COO, MiaRec

3. Can I Forecast for All Channels – Not Just Calls?

Chris Dealy, WFM Evangelist, injixo — Chris Dealy

Don’t forget WFM! Workforce management is even more important to modern, omnichannel CCaaS platforms than it was to legacy automatic call distributors (ACDs).

Without WFM, you won’t achieve the full potential of CCaaS to improve customer experience, level up agent engagement, and maximize efficiency.

You need to be able to forecast for all the channels, not just calls. You need to be able to efficiently schedule a multiskilled workforce that is based in the centre, at home or working in hybrid mode. Your agents demand self-service for things like shift preferences, shift-bidding, shift-swaps, and time-off booking too.

And don’t make the mistake of assuming that the ‘bundled’ WFM tool is the only choice. Today’s cloud WFM applications are flexible enough to cover your exact needs – and their powerful integration options mean you can seamlessly connect them with your CCaaS platform.

Contributed by: Chris Dealy, WFM Evangelist, injixo

4. How Will It Make Life Easier for My Team?

Successful contact centres use their analytics tools to genuinely understand both customer sentiment AND agent performance. This insight should drive meaningful changes in training and operations, creating a continuous cycle of improvement.

When it comes to automation, I always advise starting small but thinking big. Simple automations, like identification and verification (ID&V) checks in your IVR or automated call summaries in your CRM, often deliver the quickest wins.

Whilst AI and machine learning grab headlines, these foundational automation tools typically deliver the most substantial day-to-day benefits for both efficiency and cost-saving.

The agent experience is equally crucial, yet is often overlooked. Your CCaaS platform should make life easier for your teams, not more complicated. We’ve found that contact centres who actively monitor agent wellbeing and provide real-time support tools see better customer satisfaction scores.

Contributed by: Ben Booth, CEO, MaxContact

5. Does It Include AI Summarization as a Standard Feature?

AI-powered virtual agents help manage call volume, while AI summarization accelerates post-call documentation. These technologies are becoming standard features, enabling faster resolution and improved customer experience.

And perhaps most significantly, automated quality management is emerging as a game-changing investment, providing comprehensive, unbiased evaluation of 100% of interactions without manual effort. Supervisors can now focus on fully informed, targeted coaching and development rather than spending hours on passive listening.

Contributed by: Dane Smith, Global Learning and Development Manager, Enghouse Interactive

6. Is There a Team on Hand to Help Me Unlock Its Full Potential?

Pierce Buckley at babelforce. — Pierce Buckley

There’s a reason it’s called ‘Contact Centre as a Service’ instead of ‘Phone System as a Service’ or ‘Call Routing as a Service’.

CCaaS platforms are packed with extra functionality to help you ace your customer service.

They also come with a bit of a learning curve – with varying levels of difficulty. After all, these are specialist software packages, not Tetris.

Showing up to that learning process with an attitude of curiosity is one of the biggest value multipliers you can reach for.

This involves:

Exploring Every Possibility – Every feature and function should be weighed, and used if beneficial to your service function.
Challenging Your Own Ideas – Like anything, service processes have a shelf life. Revisit them regularly and adapt them to keep them making sense.
Learning From the Best – A good CCaaS comes with a team to help you unlock its potential. Don’t be afraid to contact them for guidance.

Contributed by: Pierce Buckley, CEO & Co-Founder, babelforce.

7. Does It Rely on Generic or Purpose-Built AI?

Richard Bassett, VP Digital and Analytics, NICE International — Richard Bassett

Many organizations still rely on generic AI within their CCaaS solutions, limiting their ability to deliver the personalized, accurate, and seamless experiences customers now expect.

Yet purpose-built AI designed for customer service is trained on industry-specific data and equipped with essential guardrails to ensure responses are accurate, relevant, and aligned with brand standards.

When integrated into a single platform, this advanced AI enables businesses to embrace end-to-end automation, unifying workflows, agents and knowledge to drive faster resolutions and improve customer satisfaction.

For organizations aiming to drive effortless experiences, investing in a unified, AI-powered hyper platform is the ultimate competitive advantage, enabling fully automated customer service while elevating the role of human expertise.

Contributed by: Richard Bassett, VP Digital and Analytics, NICE International

8. Will I Be Able to Mine Data for Actionable Insights Into Customer Behaviour?

Dane Smith, Global Learning and Development Manager, Enghouse Interactive — Dane Smith

Modern contact centres must leverage CCaaS solutions to meet evolving customer expectations. The key is providing omnichannel engagement tailored to customer preferences – whether social media for younger demographics or email for complex issues.

Use AI to mine data for actionable insights into customer behaviour and needs, and a robust knowledge management system to improve first-contact resolution rates by helping agents deliver accurate, consistent information across all channels.

24/7 self-service tools, backed by seamless escalation to live agents during business hours, lets you meet customers’ demands for always-on support. This hybrid approach balances automation with human expertise.

Contributed by: Dane Smith, Global Learning and Development Manager, Enghouse Interactive

9. Does It Support Remote and Hybrid Working?

Modern, fully featured contact centre tools aren’t just about making a better customer experience. They should also be about making a better employee experience.

This means allowing for remote and hybrid working experiences. Providing seamless access to communication platforms ensures connectivity and reduces downtime, keeping productivity high.

Additionally, the data analytics element to a contact centre suite should be enabled to monitor system performance and agent productivity, allowing for continuous improvement as well as quicker and better decision-making.

Contributed by: Chrissy Calabrese, Director of Product Marketing for Contact Centre, 8×8

10. Which Other Technology Solutions Can It Integrate With?

Tatiana Polyakova, COO, MiaRec — Tatiana Polyakova

No single CCaaS solution can address all the needs of modern contact centres and businesses. To remain flexible and future-proof, it’s crucial to choose a platform that integrates seamlessly with a broad network of technology partners.

These partnerships enable access to innovative tools such as advanced analytics, intelligent automation, and AI-driven solutions, ensuring your contact centre can continuously evolve to meet customer expectations.

By leveraging a strong ecosystem of integrations, your CCaaS solution can adapt to your unique business needs and deliver long-term value.

Contributed by: Tatiana Polyakova, COO, MiaRec

★★★★★

Have You Tried Using the IMPACT Framework?

Alistair Ping, Senior Sales, Odigo — Alistair Ping

There’s no one-size-fits-all. It’s about aligning the technology with your business needs to transform customer engagement.

Use the IMPACT framework to focus on key areas:

I – Integration: Can you connect your CCaaS solution with your CRM, back-office, and other systems, to reduce screen-hopping for agents, speed up response times, and create a smoother customer journey?
M – Monitoring: Can you leverage real-time KPIs and quality monitoring tools to provide live alerts and actionable insights, enabling immediate improvements?
P – Personalization: Can you tailor interactions, run proactive campaigns, offer personalized recommendations, and provide bespoke experiences?
A – Agent Empowerment: Can you equip agents and supervisors with unified tools, automated workflows, and quality management?
C – Conversational AI: Can you enhance self-service and escalation processes with AI to improve customer journeys while reducing the need for live agent involvement?
T – Time Reallocation: Can you automate repetitive tasks and focus on high-value activities? Free supervisors to prioritize coaching and strategy?

Focusing on these areas ensures your CCaaS solution delivers practical improvements.