Pros & Cons of NICE inContact CXone: Analysis of a Top Call Center Software in 2024

Call centers are constantly being challenged to perform better at a lower cost. They need to prove that they are profit centers, not cost centers, this amidst rising expectations from customers.

Contact Center as a Service (CCaas) solutions can help call centers navigate the different facets of the customer journey. Call center software like NICE inContact CXone can be a game-changer with features like skills-based routing, automatic call distributor, and more. 

Regardless of features, the right solution should help you make a positive customer experience. Is NICE inContact up to the task? You can find out by taking a closer look at the solution.

In this article, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of NICE inContact CXone, an industry-leading contact software solution. We’ll learn about its strong points as well as areas for improvement. This way, you’ll know whether the solution is worth the investment.

Organizations have to enhance the customer experience; otherwise, their bottom line will suffer. An American Express consumer survey is telling of this phenomenon. It revealed that 78% of consumers did not push through with a transaction or an intended purchase because of poor service experience.

Companies are aware of the benefits of streamlining their procurement or even their entire supply chain process. However, this does not always come easy. According to a supply chain survey by Statista, 21.1% of supply chain executives say that their biggest problem is visibility. Keeping up with changing consumer demand came in second (19.7%) while inventory management came in third (13.2%)

Most often, companies have customer data in silos. This is because different teams handle interactions from various channels. Consequently, team members don’t gain visibility into what other employees are doing. With that, it’s difficult to unify different sources of customer data.

NICE inContact gives customers an omnichannel platform that promises to take away these barriers. But how does it live up to these expectations? Let’s find out.

What is NICE inContact CXone?

NICE inContact CXone is a contact software solution that helps call centers transform customer experiences into positive, engaging interactions. NICE inContact brands CXone as the world’s leading cloud customer experience platform. It combines omnichannel routing, analytics, workforce optimization, and AI-powered automation. These are all hosted in a cloud-based platform that’s flexible and scalable for businesses of all sizes.

The software has various tools to help agents deliver hyper-personalized customer service. Firstly, it offers a 360-degree view of customer data so agents can provide context-based interaction. They get a unified perspective of all customer interactions from an intuitive, easy-to-use interface. Secondly, the platform merges over 30 channels, including email, live chat, social media, and more. Moreover, intelligent routing features ensure that customers are connected to the right agent with the right skill set.

NICE inContact CXone

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What sets CXone apart is that It has an industry-best uptime of 99.99% with a money-back guarantee. Thus, you are assured of minimal abandoned calls, which can lead to lost opportunities. Their Voice as a Service (Vaas) solution boasts of carrier-grade call quality for clear, crisp calls. Also, it gives call centers a reliable but low-cost call routing scheme that uses private networks and different internet service providers.

NICE inContact is scalable enough to fit the needs of small businesses and large enterprises. Small businesses that want to modernize their systems can do so with CXone. On the other hand, enterprise customers can achieve efficiencies across their global locations with future-proof technology.

How does CXone support remote call center operations?

With the shift toward remote and hybrid work, call centers face unique challenges in managing teams spread across different locations. NICE inContact CXone offers tools and features that make it easier to manage a remote call center effectively, ensuring high levels of productivity, accountability, and customer service. Here’s how CXone supports remote call center operations:

• Cloud-Based Accessibility: CXone’s cloud-based platform allows agents to access all tools and customer data from anywhere with an internet connection. This accessibility ensures that teams can work effectively regardless of location, with no compromise on performance.
• Real-Time Performance Monitoring: Supervisors can monitor agent performance remotely through real-time dashboards, allowing them to track productivity, service levels, and queue trends. Alerts can be set up for any unusual patterns, helping managers stay on top of operations and address issues quickly.
• Integrated Communication Tools: With integrations for popular communication platforms like Skype for Business and RingCentral Office, CXone facilitates seamless collaboration among team members. These tools allow agents to communicate and collaborate with supervisors and peers, maintaining the teamwork aspect essential to call centers.
• Remote Onboarding and Training: CXone’s training and performance management tools make onboarding and continuous training easier for remote agents. Managers can share resources, set up evaluations, and provide feedback through the platform, ensuring agents are well-prepared and supported.
• Enhanced Security Protocols: With remote work, security is paramount. CXone includes role-based access control and encryption protocols to protect customer data, ensuring compliance with data privacy regulations and providing customers with confidence in remote interactions.
• Flexible Scheduling and Workforce Management: CXone’s AI-powered workforce management tools enable optimized scheduling even with remote teams. Intraday reforecasting ensures that schedules adapt to real-time demand changes, preventing under- or overstaffing issues in a remote environment.

Pros and Cons of NICE inContact CXone

Guaranteed 99.99% Uptime

CXone Voice as a Service (Vaas) is available 99.99% of the time. As a result, you eliminate the costs and frustration that come with downtime. NICE inContact has an average of 4.3 Mean Opinion Score based on third-party assessments. This is calculated across business units at your organization at certain times. The metric is readily accessible via a dedicated web portal. Such an SLA comes with a money-back guarantee, which is something that other vendors don’t do. Consequently, abandoned calls are minimized, and you’ll be compensated for unmet SLAs.

In addition, using CXone Vaas means unifying your software, infrastructure, and telephony. You don’t have to deal with different vendors for these services or solve issues piecemeal. When you do have trouble, you just have to call one toll-free number. Follow-the-sun routing ensures you get the support you need whatever time zone you are in.

Connect to Customers from Multiple Channels

Omnichannel routing lets you access over 30 channels for interacting with customers. This feature provides a number of advantages. Firstly, agents can easily pull up Customer Cards if your CRM system is linked to CXone, placing customer data at the agent’s fingertips. Consequently, it’s easy for them to give support that’s tailored to the customer’s profile. Secondly, there’s a central place to access all customer interactions no matter how they contact you. CXOne provides support for popular channels like email and chat. Moreover, they are capable of processing less conventional communication channels like mail or fax.

Meanwhile, Omnichannel Session Handling lets agents manage multiple interactions simultaneously. Moreover, they can assign more than one channel to a contact for seamless service across all platforms. With an omnichannel tool, you can map the customer journey with greater visibility, which is one of the customer experience best practices. 

NICE inContact CXone gives agents a view of the customer’s data to personalize the interaction.

Helps Customers Reach the Right Person

Long hold times and transferred calls can lead to customer frustration. CXone’s automated routing and queue management help customers find support faster. It works by analyzing customer profiles and sentiment. After that, the software finds the agent whose skills best match his needs. On the other hand, the Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) sets up a universal queue for voice and non-voice channels. It then chooses the best available representative as quickly as possible.

Gain an Understanding of Customer Pain Points

NICE inContact CXone’s Interaction Analytics Pro helps you stay attuned to your customer’s feelings. It gives you 100% visibility of customer interactions across different channels. You can sort data into different categories like frequently discussed topics, frustration detection, and expressed sentiment. Also, you can make your own custom categories to uncover common issues. 

Data is presented in a visual format that’s easy to understand for all roles. This is great for quickly identifying issues. Subsequently, you can make a training plan to close gaps in agents’ skills. In addition, Analytics Pro detects non-compliant behavior so you can proactively address them.

NICE inContact Analytics Pro gives you a visual glimpse of customer sentiments.

Enables You to Make Data-Driven Decisions

Reporting and Dashboards help you extract a wide variety of data about your operations. It features a real-time dashboard where you can view agent performance, service level, queue trend, and other metrics. As a result, supervisors can quickly gauge agent performance. If needed, he can pull out the agent for coaching or training.

An unlimited number of historical reports are available from the platform. There are over 250 metrics available out of the box and more than 90 pre-built reports. You can also pull custom reports to suit your business requirements. The choice is yours to run these reports on a one-time basis or at regularly scheduled intervals. This is helpful for organizations that aren’t ready yet for sophisticated data analytics solutions. 

The NICE inContact CXone dashboard is customizable using widgets. These are modules with specific functions that can be run on the dashboard. Certainly, there are a lot of widgets to choose from. However, one that is missing is a widget for call abandon rates. To be fair, this metric is available as a pre-built report that is refreshed every five minutes. But high abandon rates are extremely important as they mean missed opportunities. Hence, customers might find it helpful if this is easily seen from the dashboard.

Deploy the Right Workforce Size

NICE inContact CXone has powerful forecasting features for responding to business demands. Workforce Management Pro is powered by AI technology. It contains more than 40 patented algorithms that deliver accurate forecasts. For instance, Best Pick Technology chooses the ideal forecasting model from various algorithms based on your historical data. This way, you avoid giving customers a poor experience if you’re understaffed. On the other hand, you drive down employee costs that come with being overstaffed. 

There are times that forecasting doesn’t go as planned. When this happens, Intraday Reforecasting helps you adjust to instantaneous changes. Make your workforce agile by realigning resources based on actual versus forecasted needs. 

NICE inContact claims that CXone works for both small businesses and large enterprises. However, industry analysts advise to proceed with caution if your center has less than 150 agents. For small deployments, they recommend getting NICE inContact from channel partners for better account management and support.

Help your Team Realize its Full Potential

NICE inContact gives organizations different options for improving performance management. Not only customer-facing teams can benefit from these tools. Support staff like the quality team can take advantage of them, too. For example, Quality Management Pro helps evaluators accomplish more in less time. This is because of automated processes featuring unified dashboards and an intuitive drag-and-drop interface. Once evaluations are done, they can route the results to agents via the MAX interface.

When the agent gets the evaluation, he can ask questions or dispute the feedback from the same interface. He can also do self-evaluation and access training plans and coaching materials from the platform. More importantly, he can see a real-time view of his metrics through Agent Reports. Similarly, agents can see the metrics of their department from the Contact Center Performance Display. This information helps them adjust the pace of interactions to meet SLAs.

Agent evaluations are easily accessible in the NICE inContact CXone MAX interface.

Focus on Strategic, Not Manual Tasks

Chatbots are one of the hottest call center trends. NICE inContact is riding the wave by offering chatbots to handle repetitive questions. You can use them as extensions of your workforce so agents can concentrate only on value-adding interactions. As a result, agents aren’t overburdened and have less after-call work to do.

Using natural language processing, bots can collect customer information and verify their identity from the conversational IVR. You can deploy them to proactively greet customers and offer them suggested products or services. If human intervention is needed, the bots can hand the call over to an agent. The work of the bots doesn’t stop there. They can guide agents through the next steps and recommended responses. They can also perform routine workflows. 

The CXOne chatbot solution sounds promising. But one caveat is that it’s not an in-house solution. NICE inContact offers chatbot integration through vendors in their DEVOne program. There are also ready-made AI and virtual assistant solutions from their partners available on the CXexchange online marketplace. In other words, chatbots are still part of a CXOne solution. However, it’s actually the company’s partners who provide the service. The lack of a chatbot solution directly available from CXone might be a con for organizations that don’t like to deal with multiple companies for what’s supposedly an all-in-one solution.

Create a Smart Contact Center Infrastructure

Moving to a unified platform with 360-degree views is not enough. To take your contact center to the next level, you need to connect disparate sources of information. After that, you’ll be able to achieve a smart contact center infrastructure.

NICE inContact Workforce Intelligence helps you do that by connecting your workforce optimization (WFO) and your ACD, IVR, or Dialer systems. Workforce Intelligence can analyze agent performance from your WFO system and use this data for routing calls. For example, if an agent has better scores in chat than voice, chat requests are prioritized in his queue.

Workforce Intelligence can also detect customer sentiments through speech analytics and satisfaction surveys. You can then use this to make proactive solutions like a follow-up call. Ultimately, these will help you increase customer satisfaction rates.

Multiple Integration Options

NICE inContact offers customers a variety of integration options for them to continue using the business systems they have with CXone. Pre-built integrations with leading CRM software, help agents resolve customer issues without switching to different applications. This helps agents to become more efficient. Also, it lessens handle time and minimizes training needs when migrating to a new system.

You can also connect your enterprise communication tools such as Skype for Business and RingCentral Office. This is possible with CXone’s unified communication as a service (UCaaS) integrations. Lastly, you can get access to more than 250 APIs. You can validate these with your own business data from the DEVone Developer Portal.

CXone integrates with Salesforce, Oracle, SAP, ServiceNow, Zendesk, Microsoft Dynamics, Bullhorn, and SugarCRM. With integrated systems, you can enjoy a wide range of CXone capabilities. These include single sign-on, interaction data syncing, and more.

However, integrations seem to lean heavily in favor of Salesforce. For instance, WFO integration, channel elevation, and intelligent common routing for voice and digital channels are set as future releases for other CRMs. In contrast, these CXone features are readily available in Salesforce. Therefore, this can be a con for non-Salesforce users who are looking to implement these features in their CRM.

Integrations with CRMs like Zendesk helps agents to identify customers at the start of the interaction.

Should you get CXone for your contact center?

Going through the pros and cons of NICE inContact CXone makes you realize that one of the many benefits of call center software is, it helps organizations drive efficiencies. You’re not just improving customer relationships, but you’re also driving the company’s overall operational workflow. NICE inContact CXone’s comprehensive set of solutions will equip contact centers to rise to today’s ever-growing challenges of omnichannel service. Furthermore, they can create innovations that will prepare them for the future with emerging technologies like AI, machine learning, and analytics.

Most importantly, you get a cloud-based infrastructure with an industry-best 99.99% uptime. Thus, call center managers are assured of a reliable system without the sunk costs of outdated technology and one that’ll help them adopt customer service best practices. Management is equipped with the tools to handle rigorous business demands. Meanwhile, agents are empowered to do excellent work. It’s a win-win solution for everyone.

Key Insights

• Guaranteed 99.99% Uptime: NICE inContact CXone ensures minimal downtime with a money-back guarantee, offering reliable and clear call quality.
• Omnichannel Routing: Supports over 30 communication channels, providing a unified view of customer interactions for seamless support.
• Automated Routing and Queue Management: Helps customers reach the right agent quickly, reducing hold times and transfers.
• Interaction Analytics Pro: Offers 100% visibility into customer interactions, helping identify and address common issues and non-compliant behavior.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Provides real-time dashboards and a variety of reporting options to monitor performance and make informed decisions.
• AI-Powered Workforce Management: Accurate forecasting and intraday reforecasting to maintain optimal staffing levels.
• Performance Management Tools: Enhances agent performance with tools for evaluations, self-assessments, and access to training materials.
• Chatbot Integration: Utilizes chatbots for handling routine queries, allowing agents to focus on more complex tasks.
• Workforce Intelligence: Connects various systems to create a smart contact center infrastructure, optimizing routing based on agent performance.
• Multiple Integration Options: Seamlessly integrates with leading CRM and communication tools, though some advanced features are currently Salesforce-centric.

FAQ

1. What is NICE inContact CXone? NICE inContact CXone is a cloud-based contact center software solution designed to enhance customer experiences through omnichannel routing, analytics, workforce optimization, and AI-powered automation.
2. What are the main benefits of using NICE inContact CXone? The main benefits include guaranteed 99.99% uptime, omnichannel support, advanced routing and queue management, comprehensive analytics, data-driven decision making, AI-powered workforce management, performance management tools, and chatbot integration.
3. How does NICE inContact CXone ensure minimal downtime? NICE inContact CXone guarantees 99.99% uptime with a money-back guarantee. It uses a Voice as a Service (VaaS) solution that provides reliable call quality and minimizes abandoned calls.
4. What channels does NICE inContact CXone support for customer interactions? NICE inContact CXone supports over 30 channels, including email, live chat, social media, and traditional communication methods like mail and fax.
5. How does NICE inContact CXone help in making data-driven decisions? The platform offers real-time dashboards and various reporting options, providing detailed insights into agent performance, service levels, queue trends, and more. This helps supervisors monitor operations and make informed decisions.
6. What features does NICE inContact CXone offer for workforce management? NICE inContact CXone provides AI-powered forecasting, intraday reforecasting, and tools to ensure optimal staffing levels, helping to balance workforce size with customer demand.
7. Can NICE inContact CXone integrate with existing CRM systems? Yes, NICE inContact CXone offers pre-built integrations with leading CRM systems like Salesforce, Oracle, SAP, ServiceNow, Zendesk, Microsoft Dynamics, Bullhorn, and SugarCRM, enhancing agent efficiency and reducing handle times.
8. Are there any cons to using NICE inContact CXone? Some cons include minor shortcomings in dashboard reporting, integrations, and deployment options for smaller centers. Additionally, certain advanced features are currently more accessible for Salesforce users.
9. What performance management tools are available in NICE inContact CXone? NICE inContact CXone offers tools like Quality Management Pro for evaluations, self-assessments, and access to training materials, helping to enhance agent performance and productivity.
10. Does NICE inContact CXone offer chatbot solutions? NICE inContact CXone offers chatbot integration through its DEVOne program and partners, enabling chatbots to handle routine queries and guide agents, although these solutions are provided by partners rather than in-house.

By Christopher Robinson

Christopher Robinson is a senior productivity research analyst who specializes in optimizing online collaboration and project management using Scrum and agile approaches. In his work, he always emphasizes the need for distributed work training and the formation of efficient work habits. His work was mentioned in various business publications, including Entrepreneur and InfoQ. He’s a strong proponent of the GTD model. He has been cooperating with the FinancesOnline team for 5 years now, and his publications always focus on practical aspects of productivity tools that can have an actual, transformative impact on a company.