The Forrester Wave™: Contact-Center-As-A-Service Platforms, Q2 2025

Contact-Center-As-A-Service Platforms Vendor Product Comparisons 2025

Key features and pros and cons of top Contact-Center-As-A-Service Platforms products:

Amazon Web Services - Leaders

Pros:

Takes a market-leading approach to genAI and LLMs through unique AI architecture
Builder mindset with strong focus on APIs and extensibility
Usage-based pricing provides significant value to customers
Massive investments in development and ubiquitous market presence

Cons:

Complex and hard to learn platform
AWS support structure can make it difficult to reach knowledgeable support resources
Reporting, analytics, and quality management capabilities are only on par relative to other vendors

Genesys - Leaders

Pros:

Market-leading vision for AI-powered experience orchestration platform
Above par in orchestrating and managing advanced AI capabilities including genAI and LLMs
Top-notch tools for agents and supervisors including WFM and quality management
Flexible, reliable, and scalable architecture improves performance of large global contact centers
Customers praised usability, flexibility, and power of the system

Cons:

Transition to Genesys Cloud as strategic platform has been painful for many customers
Reference customers reported challenges releasing self-service applications
Applications sometimes released that were not ready for production

NICE - Leaders

Pros:

Broadest capability set in the industry with leading CCaaS, WFM, and analytics
Significant market presence with strong revenue streams and fiscal management
Strong services approach and successful customer adoption
Customers praised flexible, easy-to-use tools for agents, supervisors, and administrators
Global presence particularly strong for complex markets like China
Leading solutions for workforce optimization and analytics integrated into platform

Cons:

More conservative approach to genAI and LLM technology
Dependent on third-party conversational AI provider for many customer self-service applications requiring genAI and LLMs
Customers cited bumps in some AI deployments
Occasional issues with knowledge in vendor's field organization

Five9 - Strong Performers

Pros:

Vision to pair AI and human agents for frictionless customer service
Heavy investment in reusable components for self-service and agent assist
Usable and visual core reports
Leading outbound dialer capabilities through Acqueon acquisition
Customers praised approach to managing global contact centers
Strong AI capabilities

Cons:

Branded WFM solution targets small to midsize organizations with limited scalability
Some current AI offerings described as 'a little green' by customers
Relies on reselling Calabrio and Verint for comprehensive WFM solutions

Talkdesk - Strong Performers

Pros:

Cloud-first platform with AI capabilities for strategic vertical markets
Vertical offerings with specialized connectivity, applications, and targeted pricing
Active failover across AWS regions - unique capability ensuring reliability
Customers enjoyed value from approach to back-end system integrations
Strong self-service tools
Improved retention numbers

Cons:

Native WFM capabilities relatively limited, primarily for smaller contact centers
Roadmap includes hardening for recent offerings, taking resources from other priorities
Some capabilities felt incomplete and did not meet customer requirements
Customers found reporting capabilities lacking
Partners with leading WFM vendors for larger contact centers

Sprinklr - Strong Performers

Pros:

Vision focuses on proactive care, digital experiences, and AI-driven solutions
System architecture enables quick growth in size and breadth of offering
Innovative uses for genAI and LLMs in customer service system
Customers appreciated breadth of product capabilities
Ability to start with social media solution and grow into customer service

Cons:

Roadmap below par with need to harden and mature some capabilities
Less mature partner program compared to other vendors
Below par on APIs, developer tools, and marketplaces
Less mature telephony infrastructure as digital-first provider
Customers identified issues with integrations and WFM

Cisco - Strong Performers

Pros:

Global telephony network with significant AI investment for call quality
Intuitive desktop and easy-to-set-up workflow capabilities
Strong partner ecosystem supporting Webex CC at scale
Strong adoption and retention rates
Reference customers praised overall capabilities

Cons:

Roadmap below par as company continues to add capabilities and fill gaps
Below par on utilizing AI for self-service, agent assist, and analytics
Full Webex suite often 'clunky' and feels like working with four different products
Separate development environments needed for voice or digital self-service
Customers requested more flexible and visual reports out of the box

8x8 - Strong Performers

Pros:

Global telephony network providing high-quality, reliable, and secure voice connections
Market-leading vision combining UC, CC, and CPaaS in single platform
Tools enable nontechnical staff to control customer and agent experiences
Customers praised ability to respond quickly to changing demands
Local support teams praised by customers
Reporting and analytics on par with evaluation

Cons:

Roadmap narrow compared to others, making it more reliant on OEM relationships
Below par on adoption rates and customer service feedback
Lags in pace of adoption of LLMs and genAI
Many AI offerings limited to integrations with external tools
Customer concerns about turnover in account management
Escalations took longer than expected to resolve

Vonage - Contenders

Pros:

Deep integration to Salesforce provides unique value for dedicated users
CPaaS platform capabilities
Recently expanded integrations to additional CRM and back-end systems
Local support teams praised by customers

Cons:

Vision for UC and CC integration not as clear or differentiated as others
Product gaps for non-Salesforce customers
Below par on knowledge management, advanced agent assistant tools, and WFO capabilities
Customer frustration with support processes and lack of communication on updates
UIs sufficient but not as modern or usable as customers desired

Twilio - Contenders

Pros:

Strong support for APIs and powerful telephony network
Builder approach with extensive customization capabilities
Developer support minimizes challenges of feature gaps
Can build custom agent desktops and integrate point solutions

Cons:

Lacks breadth of other offerings in evaluation
Below par on workforce and quality management, outbound dialing, and out-of-box agent tools
Company focused more on underlying tools and infrastructure than applications like Flex
Some customers disappointed that product felt incomplete without custom work
Less finished product out of the box
Did not provide reference customers for evaluation

FAQs

Q: Which vendors are Leaders in 2025?

A: Amazon Web Services, Genesys, NICE

Q: What does "Leader" mean in Forrester Wave terms?

A: Leaders in the Forrester Wave are vendors that demonstrate the strongest current offering and strategy in the market. They have market-leading capabilities across the evaluation criteria, strong vision and innovation, successful customer adoption and retention, robust partner ecosystems, and receive positive customer feedback. Leaders typically have significant market presence, strong revenue streams, and proven track records of delivering value to enterprise customers at scale.

Q: How do I interpret a Forrester Wave?

A: https://www.forrester.com/policies/forrester-wave-methodology/

Report:

Top Vendor Products for Contact-Center-As-A-Service Platforms in 2025

Contact-Center-As-A-Service Platforms Vendor Product Comparisons 2025

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FAQs

Q: Which vendors are Leaders in 2025?

Q: What does "Leader" mean in Forrester Wave terms?

Q: How do I interpret a Forrester Wave?

Reference