Evaluate your call center software needs

Before you purchase call center software, research the features you need. Consider how many customer service requests you receive per month, where they come from -- phone, fax or e-mail -- how many employees you have handling them and how much money you have to spend.

I recommend: Study The Call Center School's Call Center Glossary in order to bone up on call center terminology. Reading it will expose you to many of the features available to you, including automatic call distribution (ACD), which matches incoming calls to your customer database; skill-based routing, which allows you to route calls to specific agents based on their knowledge strengths; and call blending, which allows your agents to switch seamlessly between inbound and outbound calling.

Compare call center software vendors

When you have an idea of what you're looking for, it's time to approach potential vendors. They'll help you further define your needs and build customized call center solutions to meet them.

I recommend: You can compare call center solutions for free using Capterra's Call Center Software Directory. Featured vendors include Envision and RightNow Technologies.

Consider in-house call centers

If you want to stay close to your clients, call centers based within your office are a smart idea. Consider call center solutions that you can run within your own network. Local solutions give you maximum control over every aspect of your customer service operations. However, they often require a larger investment in software, servers and staff.

I recommend: Vendors of on-premise call center software include Avaya, Cisco, Digisoft, TouchStar and Whitefeld.

Look at hosted call center software

If you're looking for a more affordable call center software setup, consider a hosted solution. Hosted solutions, also called virtual call centers, are housed off site on vendors' servers, where calls are routed to customer service agents' desktops, usually via the Internet. While they are both secure and reasonably priced, hosted solutions may be prone to outages when your Internet connection is down.

I recommend: Five9, Freedom Telework, Numara Software and Promero are just a few of the man vendors that offer hosted, web-based call center software solutions, which integrate with customer-relationship management (CRM) programs like NetSuite and Salesforce.

Consider VoIP call center solutions

Phone lines are a thing of the past. Call centers more and more are moving toward telephone systems that support VoIP. Because Voice-Over-Internet Protocol offers significant cost savings, budget-conscious businesses should definitely consider it. Most modern call center software supports it, and many solutions now require it.

I recommend: Amcat, Data-Tel Info Solutions and Fonality are examples of vendors that offer both installed and hosted call center software that supports VoIP calling.

Try call center software before you buy it

Buying call center software isn't like purchasing an application at your local computer retailer. Buying call center software requires some serious thought and research. Don't just compare call center solutions to the features on your wish list, therefore; ask to see it in action, either via a live call center demo or a free call center trial.

I recommend: Most call center software vendors should offer free trials or webinar demonstrations; among those that do are Contactual, Interactive Intelligence and Soffront.