Contact Center RFP: Questions, Requirements, and Template

What is a contact center RFP?

A contact center RFP is a document a business sends to contact center software vendors that describes its goals, requirements, and evaluation process, and asks each vendor to submit a proposal. It gives buyers a structured way to compare vendors on capabilities, implementation, security, support, and cost.

Without clear requirements, vendors tend to lead with their own strengths, which makes proposals hard to compare and may skip the problems you're actually trying to solve.

RFI vs. RFP vs. RFQ

Teams often use three related documents during procurement:

Document	What it's for	When to use it
RFI (request for information)	Gathers general information about vendors and their capabilities	Early, to build a shortlist when you're still exploring the market
RFP (request for proposal)	Asks vendors to propose a solution to your specific requirements	Once you know your requirements and want detailed, comparable proposals
RFQ (request for quote)	Asks for pricing on a clearly defined scope	When requirements are fixed and price is the main differentiator

Many teams send an RFI first to narrow the field, then send the RFP to three to five shortlisted vendors.

If you're looking to outsource contact center operations to a business process outsourcing (BPO) provider, the RFP will focus more on staffing, service levels, and pricing per agent or per interaction. This guide focuses on RFPs for contact center software.

How to write a contact center RFP

A contact center RFP process usually takes several weeks to a few months, depending on the size of your operation. These six steps keep it on track.

1. Build a cross-functional team

Contact center agents and supervisors will use the platform every day, but they aren't the only stakeholders. IT will own setup and integrations, security and legal will review data handling and contracts, and finance will compare pricing against budget. If other teams will also use the platform, such as if you have both inbound and outbound contact center operations, include them too. An outbound sales team's needs, like power dialing and CRM workflows, may differ from an inbound support team's.

Agree early on who has final sign-off, so the process doesn't stall at the end.

2. Define your goals and requirements

Before writing anything, document what's driving the change and what success looks like. For example:

Are you replacing an on-premises system, consolidating separate tools, or adding AI capabilities?
What are your current contact volumes by channel, and how do you expect them to grow?
Which metrics do you want to improve, such as first contact resolution, handle time, or customer satisfaction?
Which requirements are must-haves, and which are nice-to-haves?

Separating must-haves from nice-to-haves now makes scoring much easier later.

3. Write and send the RFP

Use the structure in the next section, and keep questions specific. Open-ended questions like "describe your AI capabilities" invite marketing copy. Specific questions like "how does your AI agent hand a conversation to a human agent, and what context transfers?" get answers you can compare.

Give vendors a clear deadline, a single point of contact for questions, and a set format for responses.

4. Shortlist vendors

Score written responses against your criteria (see the scoring section below) and narrow the list to two or three vendors. Request sales demos built around your own scenarios rather than a standard product tour.

5. Run a proof of concept

Contact center software can look similar in a demo and behave very differently in production. A proof of concept (POC) with real users, real call flows, and your actual integrations shows how a platform performs under your conditions. It's also a good time to validate pricing against real usage.

POCs don't have to be long. As Jonathan Meredith, Systems and Security Engineer at PartsSource, put it:

"After we brought Dialpad in for a proof of concept that lasted two to three weeks, we compared the cost of our current platform vs. Dialpad, and was shocked to find that Dialpad gave us 40% savings compared to our old platform."

6. Make the decision and plan the migration

Once you've chosen a vendor, finalize the contract, including the service level agreement and support terms, and let every vendor know the outcome. Then plan the rollout: number porting, integration setup, agent training, and whether you'll launch all at once or in phases.

What to include in a contact center RFP

Most contact center RFPs follow a similar structure. You can use these sections as a template and adjust the detail to fit your organization.

RFP section	What to include
1. Company overview	Who you are, your industry, where your teams are located, and any regulatory requirements that apply
2. Project summary and goals	Why you're issuing the RFP, the problems you're solving, and the outcomes you want, such as faster resolution or consolidating tools
3. Current environment	Your current platform, number of agents and supervisors, contact volumes by channel, and the systems you need to integrate with
4. Requirements	Functional and technical requirements, marked as must-have or nice-to-have
5. Vendor questions	The questions you want every vendor to answer, grouped by category
6. Implementation and support	Expected timeline, migration needs, training, and support expectations
7. Pricing	How vendors should present pricing, including licenses, usage fees, add-ons, implementation, and support
8. Evaluation criteria	How you'll score responses and how much each category is worth
9. Submission instructions	Deadline, format, point of contact, and next steps after submission

Tips for writing each section

Be specific about your environment. Volumes, channels, integrations, and agent counts help vendors propose an accurate solution and price.
Ask for a consistent pricing format. A pricing table that every vendor fills in the same way makes it much easier to compare total cost.
Keep requirements and questions separate. Requirements say what you need. Questions ask how the vendor meets it.
Remove what doesn't apply. If you're starting from a generic template, cut sections that don't fit your business. A shorter, focused RFP tends to get clearer answers.
Share your evaluation criteria. Telling vendors how you'll score responses encourages them to address what matters to you.

Contact center RFP questions to ask vendors

The right questions depend on your requirements, but these categories cover what most contact center teams need to evaluate. Use them as a starting point and keep the ones that apply.

Routing and voice

How does your platform route calls, and what routing methods are supported (such as skills-based, priority, or time-based routing)?
How are IVR menus and call flows built and updated? Can our admins make changes without contacting support?
Which countries do you provide phone numbers in, and how is call quality monitored?
How quickly can we add new agents, phone numbers, or contact center queues?

Digital channels

Which digital channels do you support natively, such as web chat, email, SMS, WhatsApp, or social messaging?
Do agents handle voice and digital conversations from the same workspace?
Does conversation history follow the customer across channels?

AI agents and automation

Which requests can your AI agents resolve on their own, and on which channels?
Can AI agents take action in our systems, such as checking an order, updating an account, or booking an appointment?
How does an AI agent hand a conversation to a human agent, and what context transfers with it?
How do we define when an AI agent should escalate? Our guide to call escalation covers common triggers.
Can we test and validate AI agent performance before it goes live?
How do you prevent inaccurate or off-topic responses, and how is customer data protected?
How is AI agent usage priced?

Agent assist and quality management

What real-time support do agents get during calls, such as live transcription, suggested answers, or coaching prompts?
Can supervisors monitor live calls and see sentiment in real time? Can they listen in, coach agents privately, or take over a call?
How is quality assurance handled? Can calls be scored automatically, and against criteria we define?
Is call recording included, and can we set retention and access policies?

Analytics and reporting

Which real-time and historical reports are included, and can we customize them?
Can we report on AI agent and human agent performance together?
Can we export data or connect it to our BI tools?

Integrations

Which CRM, help desk, and productivity integrations are available out of the box?
Do integrations sync both ways, and do they work on mobile as well as desktop?
Is there an open API for custom integrations?

Security and compliance

Which security certifications and attestations do you hold, and can you share documentation?
How do you support compliance with regulations that apply to us, such as HIPAA, GDPR, or PCI DSS?
Where is our data stored, and how is it encrypted and segregated from other customers' data?
Can sensitive information be redacted from recordings and transcripts?

Reliability and support

What uptime commitment is included in your service level agreement, and what happens if it isn't met?
Which support channels are included, and during which hours? Is there an extra charge for after-hours or premium support?
Will we have a dedicated account or customer success contact?

Implementation

What does a typical implementation timeline look like for a team our size?
How do you handle number porting, data migration, and agent training?
Can we roll out in phases, such as by team or location?

Pricing and contract terms

What is included in the base price, and what costs extra, such as AI features, additional channels, workforce management, or storage?
What telephony, emergency calling, and regulatory fees apply?
What are the contract length, renewal, and termination terms?

Commonly overlooked contact center RFP requirements

Some requirements only come up after the contract is signed. Adding these to your RFP up front can help you avoid surprises.

Telephony, emergency calling, and regulatory fees

Usage charges, E911 fees, and regulatory surcharges often aren't part of the headline price. Ask every vendor to list them so you can compare total cost, not just license cost.

How AI is packaged and priced

AI capabilities like transcription, sentiment analysis, agent assist, and AI agents may be included, sold as add-ons, or delivered through a separate partner. Ask what's included, what costs extra, and who supports each part. AI that's built into the platform, rather than connected through a third party, can simplify support and data handling.

Workforce engagement management

For larger or growing teams, workforce engagement management features like forecasting, scheduling, and quality management can matter as much as core routing. Ask whether they're included, available as add-ons, or require another vendor.

Recording access, retention, and deletion

Most contact centers use call recording for training and quality. Confirm who can access recordings and transcripts, how long they're kept, whether retention can be customized, and how they're deleted. Work with your legal team on call recording disclosure requirements that apply where you operate.

Implementation and change management

Even a strong platform can stall without a clear rollout plan. Ask what onboarding, training, and migration support is included, and whether the vendor has experience with teams of your size and industry.

How to score contact center RFP responses

A weighted scorecard keeps evaluation objective and makes it easier to explain your decision to stakeholders. Assign each category a weight based on your priorities, score each vendor from 1 to 5 in every category, then multiply and add up the results.

Here's an example. Your weights should reflect your own goals.

Category	Example weight
Core contact center capabilities (routing, voice, digital channels)	20%
AI agents and automation	15%
Agent assist, quality, and analytics	15%
Integrations	10%
Security and compliance	15%
Reliability, support, and implementation	10%
Total cost of ownership	15%

A few tips for scoring:

Have several people score independently before comparing, so one strong opinion doesn't set the result.
Treat must-haves as pass or fail. A vendor that misses a must-have shouldn't win on points elsewhere.
Update scores after demos and the proof of concept. Written answers and real-world performance don't always match.
Compare total cost over the full contract term, including usage fees, add-ons, implementation, and support, not just the per-seat price.

Put your RFP to work

A strong contact center RFP comes down to clear requirements, specific questions, and a consistent way to compare answers. Bring the right stakeholders in early, ask vendors to show how their platform handles your real scenarios, and validate what you hear with a proof of concept.

If you're evaluating Dialpad, its AI platform for customer experience brings business calling, contact center conversations, and AI agents together in one place. Dialpad Support for contact centers and Dialpad Resolve run on the same platform, so AI agents can hand off to human agents with context attached. Dialpad's Trust Center lists its current security and compliance documentation, which can help with your security review.