Are you searching for an omnichannel contact center platform where you can manage all customer interaction across various channels? 👀
If so, the contact center offering reliable security measures, analytic tools, advanced call management features, and customer service would be your best choice.
With many contact centers in the market, choosing the perfect one can be tough. Cisco and Avaya stand out as the best ones. Both offer the best platform to manage all your interactions.
In this blog, we’ll compare Avaya and Cisco’s features, pricing, ease of use, and customer support to help you choose the best contact center for your business.
🔑 KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Avaya and Cisco are two popular contact centers with their own competitive features and pricing.
- Avaya comes with over 200 pre-built integrations, while Cisco supports integration with its own Cisco solutions, such as Webex and Cisco Unified Wireless Solution.
- Avaya provides more features, such as omnichannel support, call management features, analytics, AI virtual agents, workforce management, etc, than Cisco.
- Avaya has a more user-friendly interface and has received a higher user satisfaction rating than Cisco.
- KrispCall is the best alternative to Avaya and Cisco because it offers an affordable pricing range, reliability, and scalability.
Cisco Vs Avaya Contact Center: At a Glance
| Features | Cisco | Avaya Contact Center |
| Monthly Price | Contact Cisco for pricing | Starts from $35 to $89 per user/month. |
| Free Trial | No free trial | No free trial |
| Minimum amount of users | upto 25-30 | More than 3000. |
| Integrations | Integrated with its own Cisco solutions, such as Webex and Unified Communications Manager. | Enterprise SSO, Google, Office 365, Salesforce single sign-on, Slack, Teams, Zoom.ai integration, WhatsApp, and Facebook messenger |
| Mobile App | iOS and android | iOS and android |
| Reliability | 99.99% uptime | 99.99% uptime |
| Customer Support | 24/7 support, online support, and FAQs | 26 language, startup Tips, 24×7 remote support, and onsite support. |
Overview of Cisco
Cisco was established in 1984 by small groups of computer scientists from Stanford University. Initially, it produced and manufactured networking hardware for the Internet; now, it is a cloud-based platform that provides collaboration and communication services.
The platform provides various services, including calling, contact center, team collaboration, meetings, and devices. Moreover, it delivers call treatment, omnichannel contact management, contact routing, and network-to-desktop CTI over an IP infrastructure. Its platform enables organizations to seamlessly handle customer engagements through multiple channels, such as voice calls, emails, chat, and social media.
Overview of Avaya Contact Center
Avaya contact center is an American multinational technology company built in Santa Clara, California. Originally, Avaya was a part of a larger telecommunication company called AT&T and later Lucent. But, in 1995, Avaya became completely independent.
Now Avaya is a major player both in the Unified Communication and contact center markets. It provides cloud-based communications and collaboration tools for businesses to manage customer interactions across various channels efficiently. It offers VoIP phone systems with a multitude of features that are suitable for medium-sized and large businesses.
Cisco Vs Avaya Contact Center: Pricing and Plan
While cost is certainly a major factor, let’s examine the pricing structures of Cisco and Avaya more thoroughly to make an informed decision.
Avaya Contact Center Plan and Pricing
| Plans | Pricing | features |
| DIGITAL | $ 35/user/month | Unlimited email, web chat, text messaging, conversational AI, AI-powered self-service automation, Back office integrations, etc. |
| VOICE | $ 60/user/month | Inbound voice, preview outbound dialing, Visual workflow orchestration, voice recording, Powerful reporting and analytics, etc. |
| ALL MEDIA | $ 89/user/month | Blended media, workforce engagement, All Digital capabilities, All Voice capabilities, etc. |
| CREATE YOUR OWN | Contact the sales team | Bots, Knowledge Management, Text Analytics, Biometrics and Security, Gamification, etc. |
Cisco Plan and Pricing
Cisco hasn’t publicly disclosed its specific pricing structure on its websites. Hence, you must contact its support team for exact plans and pricing.
Cisco Vs Avaya Contact Center: Features & Functionality
After pricing, another factor to consider is the features and functionality offered. Both Cisco and Avaya offer a unique set of features and functionalities that can address your specific needs.
Let’s look at how they compare in terms of features like omnichannel support, call management features, and analytics to help you choose the platform that best aligns with your business needs.
Cisco Contact Center Feature and Functionality
- Full-Stack Observability: Cisco Full-Stack Observability (Cisco FSO) provides businesses with a comprehensive solution for effectively monitoring and managing their technology infrastructure and operations.
- Collaboration: With Cisco, your business can collaborate and connect seamlessly with any other company or your employees, no matter where they are located. In fact, it lets you easily collaborate virtually with business IP phones, headsets, huddle spaces, and Cisco rooms.
- Unified communication: Cisco offers a complete unified communications package that includes cloud calling, call control, communications gateways, collaboration management, and management in a single interface. Cool right!
- Webex Control Hub: Cisco also offers a Webex control hub that blends services such as messaging, calling, and a contact center and enables a simplified and smooth user onboarding experience.
- Integration: Cisco integrates with its own Cisco solutions, such as Webex and Unified Communications Manager, for call routing and management.
Avaya Contact Center Features and Functionality
- AI-powered self-service automation: Avaya distinguishes itself with its Avaya AI Virtual Agent. This AI-powered solution allows businesses to build self-service applications that can handle common customer inquiries and requests without live agent intervention.
- Workstream collaboration: Avaya offers multiple collaboration sales profiles where you can invite people to space by name, email, phone number, or Weblink. You can also chat with your team from any device.
- Unified workflow: Avaya’s unified workflow feature helps you to merge voice, video, messaging, and conferencing into one platform. It simplifies your workflows, reduces app switching, and enhances user experience.
- Personalized UX: Businesses can customize features like call routing and transcription and empower employees to work in their preferred style.
- Integration: Avaya offers open APIs that allow for integration with various third-party applications, including CRM systems, workforce management tools, and even social media platforms.
Cisco Vs Avaya Contact Center: User Experience and Interface
Choosing a contact center solution isn’t just about features and functionality; a user-friendly interface is crucial for both agents and supervisors. Here’s how Cisco and Avaya stack up in terms of user experience (UX) and interface (UI):
A. Ease of Setup and Onboarding
Both Avaya and Cisco are built for companies looking for comprehensive UC solutions. They offer easy-to-setup systems for users. However, many users found the Avaya Experience Platform easier to use and set up compared to Cisco. As Cisco is designed to manage large businesses, its overall system is a little complex for small businesses.
B. User Interface Design and Intuitiveness
Avaya’s user interface is light and quick, and it provides a more intuitive user experience by saving time and simplifying the overall configuration process. However, cisco’s user interface has been described as cluttered and unintuitive, making it challenging for agents to navigate and access necessary information quickly.
C. Customization Options and Flexibility
Avaya offers more customization options for its unified communication solutions, allowing organizations to tailor the solution to their specific needs. On the other hand, Cisco has limited customization features and lacks flexibility and efficiency, making it difficult for businesses to tailor the platform to meet their needs.
Avaya Contact Center Vs Cisco: Integrations and Compatibility
Here’s the breakdown of how Avaya and Cisco compare in terms of integrations and compatibility:
A. Third-party Integrations Available
Avaya offers open APIs that allow for integration with various third-party applications (100+), including CRM systems (Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics), workforce management tools (Slack, Microsft Teams), and even social media platforms (Facebook, WhatsApp). Meanwhile, Cisco Contact Center only integrates with its own Cisco solutions, such as Webex and Cisco Unified Wireless Solution.
B. Compatibility with Popular Business Tools (e.g., CRM systems, productivity suites)
Cisco doesn’t integrate with other business tools; it only integrates with its own solutions, such as Webex and the Cisco umbrella. However, Avaya on the other hand, is more compatible with other popular business tools such as Enterprise SSO, Google, Office 365, Salesforce single sign-on, Google, Microsoft Outlook, and Office 365 calendar integration.
C. API Availability and Developer Resources
Avaya’s APIs dashboard provides a control panel for the administrator to manage all communication API systems on the cloud.
Cisco Services APIs allow partners and customers to access and consume Cisco data, allowing them to access Cisco’s intellectual capital in new and innovative ways to increase productivity.
Cisco Vs Avaya Contact Center: Security and Compliance
Another important aspect to consider when choosing any contact center is its approach to security and compliance. Here’s how Cisco and Avaya stack up in terms of security and compliance:
A. Data Encryption and Privacy Measures
Both Cisco and Avaya extensively encrypt customer data to protect privacy. Cisco encrypts using the Cisco Secure Email Encryption Service, which is specially made for Cisco users.
Avaya uses standards like AES256 for confidentiality, SHA-2 for hashing, and digital signatures for authentication, providing a high level of security.
B. Compliance with Industry Regulations (e.g., HIPAA, GDPR)
Both Avaya and Cisco are trusted providers and comply with HIPAA. However, Cisco’s process is more complex, whereas Avaya’s process is quite simple.
Under Avaya GDPR, a customer controls the personal data entrusted to Avaya for processing. Cisco also claims to comply with GDPR by helping our customers and partners by protecting and respecting personal data, no matter where it comes from or where it flows.
C. Security Features (e.g., Multi-factor Authentication, Role-based Access Control)
Both Cisco and Avaya offer multi-factor authentication for better security. Both Avaya and Cisco implement role-based access control (RBAC) to ensure secure access to their platforms, restricting user permissions based on their organizational roles and status.
Cisco Vs Avaya Contact Center: Customer Support
Avaya offers 24/7 remote support and onsite support. Customers can reach the Avaya support team anytime by phone, email, chat, or video. Cisco also offers 24/7 live support, online support, and FAQs via any online platform, such as email, phone, or chat. Though both services provide the best customer support, many users complained that Cisco provides poor and slow service.
Cisco Vs Avaya Contact Center: User Reviews
Based on the customer’s review on Gartner, Cisco and Avaya contact center has received mixed reviews over the past year.
Cisco Contact Center:
- Overall rating: 4.4 stars (out of 5)
- Strengths: Comprehensive features, reliability, scalability
- Weaknesses: Issues with making calls and transfers
Avaya Contact Center:
- Overall rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
- Strengths: Flexibility, regular updates, Microsoft Teams integration
- Weaknesses: Not ideal for multi-level businesses
Users consider the Cisco Contact Center to be reliable, scalable, and easy to use. They mention features like a comprehensive set of features, integration with other Cisco solutions, and minimal downtime. However, some users have reported issues with making calls and transfers within the Contact Center.
Avaya Contact Center is also praised for its flexibility, regular updates, and competent product support. However, some reviewers note that the Avaya Contact Center may not be ideal for multi-level businesses.
Avaya Contact Center Vs Cisco: Pros & Cons
We will now evaluate both Cisco and Avaya’s pros and cons to make this a fair test.
Pros and Cons of Avaya Contact Center
Pros:
- Support AI capabilities
- Advanced call routing
- User friendly interface
- Flexible and scalable
Cons:
- Not ideal for multi-level businesses.
- App and dashboard limitations.
- Has some stability issues
Pros and cons of Cisco Contact Center
Pros:
- Customization options
- Omnichannel support
- Effortless integration
- Cloud-based flexibility
Cons:
- Complex user interface
- Issues when making calls/transfers.
- Limited reporting capabilities
Cisco Vs Avaya Contact Center: Which Platform Is Better?
Cisco and Avaya are both great contact centers, but before choosing one, you should understand whether it fits your business ideas.
Avaya might be a better fit if your business is:
- Small to start up: If you have a small business or just started your business, Avaya seems to be the best choice. Its pricing starts at $35/user/month and provides startup tips for businesses.
- Wide Integration: Avaya integrates with many third-party apps such as Slack, Teams, Zoom.ai integration, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Messenger.
- Omnichannel Support: Avaya’s solutions provide users with multiple communication channels, allowing customers to connect with agents through their preferred method.
Cisco might be a better fit if your business is:
- Large to enterprise business: Cisco is the best choice for large businesses. It provides comprehensive UC solutions with industry-leading features like robust features, AI, and more.
- Customization: A business can customize its dashboard, workflow, and integration according to its specific business needs.
- Comprehensive Feature Set: Cisco’s comprehensive tools, such as inbound and outbound calling, call routing, and IVR agent monitoring, allow businesses to enhance efficiency and productivity in one platform.
Ultimately, the choice between Avaya and Cisco would depend on the business’s specific needs, scale, and resources.
A Better Choice: KrispCall
Avaya and Cisco might provide various features but also have their own limitations. Meanwhile, KrispCall offers many different ways of helping businesses that Avaya and Cisco cannot.
KrispCall offers different VoIP options, like phone numbers, unified call box, voicemail, call recording, team messaging, auto attendant, and more, all in a single interface. Moreover, KrispCall provides a cost-effective option for businesses. The starting price is just $15 per month, which is affordable compared to Cisco and Avaya.
Similarly, Avaya and Cisco don’t provide free demos for businesses, but KrispCall allows businesses to experience all its features and functionality with free demos.
Last but not least, KrispCall provides 24/7 human support through phone, live chat, and SMS to businesses that need assistance whenever needed.
Final Thoughts
Avaya and Cisco are both top contact centers, and both provide their users with various features and functionality. However, when it comes to choosing between two of them it completely depends on your business ideas and needs.
Avaya provides businesses with an easy interface and cost-effective option that can be the best choice for small to start-up businesses. Meanwhile, Cisco offers extensive features and customization options that can be best for large businesses.
Moreover, KrispCall offers many more features that both Avaya and Cisco lack. At last, evaluating things like pricing, features, integration, and user experience will help you determine which one is the best fit for your business.
