Best Call Monitoring software of 2026: which is right for you?

For many companies, phone conversations with clients are critical to their success. Naturally, they need a way to ensure that each call leaves the customer satisfied.

When managers are able to listen in on calls made by employees, as well as influence those calls through coaching or chatting with the customer themselves, they increase the effectiveness of the agent.

This buyer’s guide is intended to explain the functionality of call monitoring software, its benefits and how to differentiate it from other systems. We’ll cover:

(Click on a link below to jump to that section.)

What Is Call Center Monitoring Software?

Common Functionality of Call Monitoring Software

Differentiating Call Monitoring, Quality Monitoring and Call Quality Monitoring

Benefits of Call Monitoring Software

What Type of Buyer Are You?

What Is Call Center Monitoring Software?

Call center monitoring software includes functionality used by call center supervisors to ensure employees are performing as expected and customers are having a useful and pleasant experience.

Call monitoring functionality is typically included within call center software platforms.

Common Functionality of Call Monitoring Software

Call monitoring functionality offers a few different ways call center supervisors can check on and influence agents. These include:

The features above are so core to call monitoring solutions, in fact, that many users refer to the products as "monitor-whisper-barge software."

Differentiating Call Monitoring, Quality Monitoring and Call Quality Monitoring

If you manage a call center and are looking for a solution to monitor, whisper and barge on calls, you may find some confusing results when searching online.

The problem is that the term "call monitoring" can sometimes refer to other types of systems and applications. Here are the types of systems that may show up during your search and how they are different:

• Call monitoring refers to the functionality explained above: monitoring, whispering and barging on calls.

• Quality monitoring* refers to software that helps measure the performance of agents, on criteria such as accuracy, professionalism and effectiveness, and quantitative key performance indicators (KPIs). Some of these systems employ speech analytics to determine what is being said and the overall tone of the call.

• Call quality monitoring* refers to software that analyzes the actual audio quality of a phone call. This helps companies address issues with echo, choppiness and delay on a phone connection.

*These are typically full systems or modules, instead of features within a larger system.

Unfortunately, marketing tactics have caused these terms to be used interchangeably. Be sure to check the features offered with each solution to determine which product you truly need.

Benefits of Call Monitoring Software

The ability to view calls on a dashboard and interact with them in real time is beneficial in a few key ways:

• Train new agents effectively. Call centers need their employees to be ready for any situation, whether it’s with an angry customer or a potential client. With call monitoring software, new hires can listen in on calls made by senior employees, and supervisors can listen in and coach employees during their first week on the job or during important calls.

A live call list in Talkdesk, with the ability to monitor calls

• Resolve disputes quickly. Managers and supervisors can view live calls on a dashboard and also “barge in” on calls to redirect the conversation toward a desired outcome for the customer.

• Cloud-based call monitoring offers flexibility. With a cloud-based deployment, users can view and listen to calls from any location with an internet connection, adding flexibility and convenience to work.

What Type of Buyer Are You?

Call monitoring software applications are useful for many types of call center or customer service organizations, such as:

• A company needing a phone system can use a business VoIP system, which allows for internal and external calls, voicemail, caller ID and more. If your company doesn’t make frequent sales or customer assistance calls, a call monitoring application may not be necessary.

• Customer service departments are on the phone frequently, and these interactions must flow toward a satisfactory result for the client. Using call monitoring, supervisors can listen in on calls and step in to address a customer’s problem if necessary.

• Sales departments also need to make several phone calls a day to talk with prospects and close transactions. Sometimes, sales managers need to coach new employees without the potential client hearing, and call whispering can assist with this.