NICE (Nasdaq: NICE) has once again emerged as the single vendor to secure Gartner’s Customers’ Choice distinction in the 2026 Peer Insights Voice of the Customer report for Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS). The accolade, awarded for the third time to the company, reflects a strong consensus among verified end‑users who evaluated the platform through the end of 2025.
Rating details and methodology
Gartner’s Peer Insights program aggregates feedback from actual customers who have deployed the solutions under review. For the 2026 CCaaS assessment, 82 NICE users supplied ratings that translated into an overall score of 4.6 out of 5. Moreover, 86 percent of those respondents indicated they would recommend the solution to peers. The “Customers’ Choice” badge is reserved for vendors that sit in the upper‑right quadrant of Gartner’s Voice of the Customer matrix, meaning they outperform the market average on both overall experience and user interest/adoption metrics.
What customers are saying
- “Balancing Innovation With Customer Support Remains Ongoing for Service Teams.”
- “Long‑Term Experience Reveals ROI and Ease of Use With NiCE Technologies.”
- “A powerful, supportive, and transformative platform backed by exceptional expertise.”
These remarks underscore a perception that NICE’s CCaaS offering delivers tangible return on investment while maintaining a flexible, innovation‑friendly environment for service teams.
Executive perspective
Jeff Comstock, President of CX Product & Technology at NICE, emphasized the significance of the rating:
“Receiving such outstanding ratings in this year’s Voice of the Customer report is meaningful to us. Our customers continue to push the boundaries of what exceptional experiences look like and we are proud to innovate alongside them. These high scores reflect our relentless commitment to bringing trustworthy enterprise‑grade AI to every workflow, every agent, and every interaction. We are deeply grateful for the confidence our customers place in us and we remain steadfast in helping organizations achieve extraordinary results with CXone.”
Comstock’s comment ties the high user satisfaction directly to the company’s focus on enterprise‑grade artificial intelligence that can be embedded across contact‑center workflows.
Why the badge matters for enterprises
For large organizations evaluating CCaaS platforms, Gartner’s Customers’ Choice label offers a quick reference point that a solution has been vetted by a sizable user base and has met or exceeded industry benchmarks. The 4.6‑star rating places NICE ahead of many competitors that typically hover in the 4.0‑4.4 range, suggesting a comparatively smoother deployment experience, better scalability, and higher adoption rates among agents.
Enterprises seeking to modernize their contact‑center operations increasingly rely on AI‑driven automation, real‑time analytics, and omnichannel orchestration. NICE’s CXone platform, which integrates conversational AI, workforce optimization, and analytics, appears to have resonated with customers looking for a single, cohesive stack rather than a patchwork of point solutions.
Competitive landscape
The CCaaS market has become crowded, with players such as Genesys, Five9, and Twilio vying for market share. While many vendors tout AI capabilities, NICE’s emphasis on “trustworthy enterprise‑grade AI” and the consistency of high user scores suggest a differentiated value proposition. Gartner’s methodology, which factors both overall experience and user interest/adoption, positions NICE as a vendor that not only delivers functional features but also enjoys strong internal advocacy from its client base.
Industry context
The broader enterprise AI ecosystem continues to mature, with generative AI, large language models, and low‑code automation reshaping how contact centers operate. Companies that can embed these technologies into a stable, secure, and compliant platform are gaining an edge. NICE’s repeated recognition by Gartner indicates that its AI integrations—particularly those that support real‑time assistance and predictive routing—are meeting the practical demands of large‑scale deployments.
Looking ahead
The next wave of contact‑center innovation will likely focus on hyper‑personalization, AI‑driven sentiment analysis, and tighter integration with CRM and ERP back‑ends. Vendors that have already demonstrated high adoption rates and strong customer satisfaction, as NICE has, will be well‑positioned to capture new enterprise contracts and expand existing ones.
For decision‑makers weighing CCaaS options, the Gartner Customers’ Choice badge provides a data‑driven endorsement that the solution has passed a rigorous peer‑review process. Coupled with the specific user feedback and the executive’s commitment to AI‑first development, NICE’s standing in the 2026 report serves as a compelling data point for any organization looking to future‑proof its customer‑experience operations.
Gartner’s Peer Insights content reflects the opinions of individual end users and does not constitute a guarantee of performance. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product, or service.
