ScoreBuddy vs. MiaRec: Features, Pricing, & More

If you are looking to purchase software to accelerate and streamline your quality management process, you have probably come across ScoreBuddy and MiaRec in your research and wondered how they compare to each other.

At MiaRec, we believe in honestly and transparently comparing our solution to others in the market. Our goal is to provide you with all the information you need to make the right choice, even if that means choosing a different solution. Ultimately, we want you to find the best fit for your needs.

In this article, we will take a closer look at how ScoreBuddy and MiaRec compare. By the end of the article, you will know which type of contact center both solutions are best suited for, what features each solution includes, and what pricing you should expect.

TLDR: ScoreBuddy's flagship product, ScoreBuddy QA, is comparable to MiaRec's Essential package, which includes Agent Evaluation (Manual Score Cards) and focuses on making manual evaluations more efficient and faster. ScoreBuddy offers some neat features like comments, causes, and tip sheets, but the scorecards are a bit restrictive/not highly customizable. While QA supervisors love ScoreBuddy for its usability, the scorecards aren't as flexible as MiaRec's fully customizable scorecards. It also lacks proven Generative AI features, such as Sentiment Analysis, Auto Call Scoring, AI Summaries, and more. 

Let's look at both in more detail:

Manual Evaluations/Software Supported Scorecards

ScoreBuddy QA is primarily designed to support your manual evaluation process and is comparable in scope and functions with MiaRec's Essential package. Compared to MiaRec Scorecards which are completely customizable, ScoreBuddy's scorecards have a lot of neat features (like tip sheets) but can be very restrictive.

For example, when you create a scorecard, you can assign it to all groups or just one particular group. You also have to decide if you want to create a Standard (weighted scores or Pass/Fail), a Success (was the agent successful: Yes or No), or a Non-Numerical Scorecard (checkmarks). You can't mix or match. You also have to choose what category your scorecard will be (email, complaints, chat, etc.) which you can create on your own.

Like MiaRec's scorecards, ScoreBuddy allows you to create sections to divide your scorecard. In addition, in ScoreBuddy, you can add canned responses ("Comments") that evaluators can choose as the reasons for their scores rather than typing lengthy answers, e.g., "there was some background noise."

Similarly, you can set up causes by entering potential reasons why an agent acted a certain way (e.g., lack of knowledge, training gaps) which can be set as mandatory for an evaluator to choose. Both of these must be set up ahead and must be assigned to a specific question and section. This can be a little complicated and bothersome. Finally, both ScoreBuddy and MiaRec allow you to assign weights to single questions to calculate an overall performance score. 

Last but not least, ScoreBuddy does not offer live monitoring or screen recording because it does not include call recording capabilities. MiaRec's Live Monitoring is included in Quality Management Pro, while MiaRec Screen Recording needs to be purchased as an add-on.

Sentiment & Topical Analysis

Sentiment and topical analysis are very powerful tools, especially when used in conjunction with auto call scoring, for getting deep insights into what is going on in your contact center and, therefore, your customer base.

ScoreBuddy's website mentions automatic topic detection and sentiment analysis as a new and minor feature under its newly added AI feature, but it is not clear how mature this feature is or how it integrates with the rest of the product. For example, the screenshot for sentiment analysis shows a color-coded progress bar with an emoji but doesn't give further explanation of the features.

MiaRec offers Machine Learning and AI-based sentiment analysis (included in Advanced Package) and Generative AI-based topical analysis (included in Auto QM) as part of a holistic approach to give deep and complete insights. MiaRec's Large Language Model speech engine analyzes identified keywords for positive or negative customer sentiment. It then expresses customer sentiment in two different ways: by means of scores (total, customer, and agent score) associated with an emoji and by color-highlighting keywords in the transcript and as a keyword list. It also provides a short explanation of certain scores.

Similarly, you can dive deeper into call reasons and Voice of Customer Insights with MiaRec's  Topical Analysis and Generative AI Insights. The Generative AI understands the context of the entire conversation and analyses it based on your criteria. This is fully flexible so you can extract as much or as little information as you need. This is very powerful when combined with automated AI-based call scoring.

Automated Quality Management (AI Call Scoring)

Since ScoreBuddy's primary focus is to support supervisors performing manual quality assurance, the company does not offer automated call scoring or any automated quality management functionality. Although the website recently started to include ScoreBuddy AI, the descriptions and screenshots are very vague and there is no evidence of mature AI functionality yet.

MiaRec, on the other hand, offers highly precise and fully adaptable automated call scoring based on Generative AI. MiaRec has been utilizing Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for more than a decade now, starting with developing its own Speech Recognition Engine in 2013. Utilizing Generative AI, contact centers can automatically evaluate 100% of their agents' calls and flag those requiring manual follow-up.

Advanced QA Reporting. ScoreBuddy offers good QA reporting capabilities with ScoreBuddy BI. It gives detailed reports per agent, but lacks the ability to drill deeper to gain actionable insights. On the other hand, MiaRec's Quality Management Pro comes with good QA reporting, but the Auto QM tier provides advanced QA reporting and dashboarding on literally everything.

Generative AI Assist Features 

ScoreBuddy is just starting to dip its toes into Generative AI so it doesn't offer any mature AI products yet. For completeness, we have included a short description of the MiaRec AI Assist features below:

AI Call Summary. Utilizing Generative AI and its ability to comprehend context, MiaRec's AI Call Summary instantly summarizes a call in a short, automated summary, saving the agents an average of 2-5 minutes of post-call admin work.

AI Call Categorization. Get deeper insights into why your customers are calling your contact center with MiaRec's automatic call-type categorization.

Auto Data Redaction. Thanks to this feature, contact centers can automatically redact sensitive data, like credit card information, from the audio file and transcript with very high accuracy (97%). MiaRec offers Auto Data Redaction as an add-on.

Other Features

In addition to the features mentioned above, every vendor offers unique features that others don't offer in a comparable way. Nevertheless, they are worth mentioning:

Agent Coaching: Both ScoreBuddy and MiaRec offer some form of agent coaching. ScoreBuddy, offers a comprehensive agent coaching product, Scorebuddy Coaching, that integrates with its manual QA product. As a supervisor fills out a scorecard and finds opportunities for improvements, he or she can manually assign learning materials, e.g., a knowledge base article, or follow-up tasks for the agent. On the other hand, MiaRec AI Assist automatically offers Generative AI-based coaching suggestions after each call, and managers can add notes or follow-up comments.

Learning Center: In addition, ScoreBuddy offers a fully featured learning management system called ScoreBuddy Learning. This allows organizations to create pre-built training courses, track learning progress, issue certifications, and more. 

Conclusion

ScoreBuddy offers a comprehensive suite of feature-rich, easy-to-use products centered around supporting manual QA. It has a well-established customer base and is a great choice for smaller to mid-size teams who are looking to streamline and accelerate their manual QA, improve agent performance through coaching and learning, and increase agent engagement. 

MiaRec, on the other hand, is best suited for mid-size to larger contact centers that are looking to utilize Generative AI to largely automate their quality management workflows and empower their agents. For example, contact centers choose MiaRec if they want to create hybrid QM processes to automatically score all of their calls using Gen AI and then manually evaluate calls that are flagged for follow-up.