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March 22, 2023

Nextiva vs RingCentral vs Ooma: Which is Better? (Compared)

Are you comparing Nextiva vs RingCentral vs Ooma to find out the best VoIP provider for your business?

Many small businesses rely on phone services to communicate with customers and Nextiva, RingCentral, and Ooma are among the top business VOIP providers on the market.

In this article, we’ll compare Nextiva vs RingCentral vs Ooma to help you decide which one is the best small business VoIP provider.

Comparing Nextiva vs RingCentral vs Ooma

Comparing Nextiva vs RingCentral and Ooma VOIP Services

Many small businesses use VoIP phone services for sales, customer support, and team collaboration.

Nextiva, RingCentral, and Ooma are considered among the top VoIP providers for small businesses.

They offer toll-free numbers, virtual numbers, cheaper local and international call rates, easier team collaboration, and more.

Business phone services is a highly competitive industry and all of our top three contenders offer similar features and pricing. This makes it difficult for small business owners to choose one of them for their business.

To make this easier, we’ll do a side-by-side comparison of Nextiva, RingCentral, and Ooma for the best business VoIP service providers.

We’ll look into the following criteria.

Pricing Comparison
Feature Comparison
Available Integrations
Customer Support Options
Mobile App Comparison
Conclusion: Nextiva vs RingCentral vs Ooma – Which is The Best Small Business VoIP Provider?

That being said, let’s take a look at Nextiva vs RingCentral vs Ooma to find out which one is the best small business VOIP provider.

Pricing Comparison

Pricing is one of the top deciding factors for small businesses looking for a VoIP service provider.

All three of our contenders offer very competitive pricing for similar features. However, they use a variable pricing model based on the number of users, plan duration, and features.

This makes it difficult to decide which VoIP service provider is cheaper for small businesses.

Nextiva Pricing

Nextiva has a variable pricing model where your pricing changes based on the number of users, payment duration, and feature plans.

For instance, you can get started for $18.95 per user each month (paid annually) if you have more than 20 users.

If you have fewer than 4 users, then you can get started for $23.95 per user each month (paid annually).

This means that your costs will go down as your team size grows and you need to add more users to your account.

RingCentral Pricing

RingCentral pricing plans use a slightly different pricing model.

Their Essential plan starts at $19.95 per user each month (paid annually) for up to 20 users.

This means that if you have a smaller team of fewer than 20 users, then you can save some money and have room for growth too.

Ooma Pricing

Ooma offers pretty straightforward fees. Their rates differ based on which plan you choose regardless of the number of users.

This means that if you choose the Essential plan, then you will pay at the same rate when your team grows.

Ooma only offers month-to-month payment plans which means you pay as you go and can easily cancel at any time.

Winner: Tie – All three of our contenders offer similar pricing that is very close to each other.

Feature Comparison

Perhaps the most important thing when choosing a VoIP provider is the features they offer.

Nextiva, RingCentral, and Ooma all offer a ton of features with each of their business phone service plans.

However, you’ll need to choose one based on your own requirements. For instance, video conferencing may not be important for some small businesses, while it could be a deal breaker for others.

Another important thing to consider is which pricing plan includes the features you need. As all of them offer different sets of features for each VoIP plan.

Nextiva Features

As one of the best business VoIP providers on the market, Nextiva offers a unified communications platform with the most value-to-money features.

Unlimited domestic calls in US and Canada
HD voice quality
Free local and toll-free number plus number porting allows you to bring your existing number as well.
Voicemail, voicemail to email notifications, voicemail to SMS, voicemail transcription
Support for desk phones, conference phones, and other telephone devices you may want to use.
Apps for browsers, iPhone, Android, and desktop computers
Video meetings and conferencing
Call logs, call recording, call routing, auto attendant, IVR, and more.

Plus, you can share the same number with different team members.

Contact management features make it super easy to follow up on calls and don’t let the leads slip away.

You can also integrate your own CRM software or use Nextiva CRM for better lead management.

Basically, you can run your own small cloud-based call center at the fraction of the cost with highly advanced features to save you time and resources.

RingCentral Features

When it comes to features RingCentral gives tough competition to Nextiva.

They offer all the business phone features that a small business would need and then some more.

Unlimited calling for the US and Canada.
Free local and toll-free phone numbers.
SMS and voicemail support
Team messaging
Voicemail to text alerts
Video meetings and conferencing
Desk phone support
You can receive calls on the go using your phone or laptop
Real-time call analytics

RingCentral offers all common VoIP phone features like call forwarding, number sharing, call waiting, call management, and more.

It also has integrations for popular CRM software like Salesforce, Zendesk, and more.

Ooma Features

Ooma Office offers a bunch of features in their VoIP plans that will help you grow your small business.

However, some features are available in their more expensive plans. For instance, you can only get access to the Desktop app and text messaging with their PRO plan.

Following are the features you can expect to get based on the plan you choose:

Local and toll-free numbers
Unlimited local calls to the US, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico
Call features like recording, call waiting, voicemail, and more.
Microsoft Dynamics, Office 365, and Google integrations are available
Salesforce Integration (only with Pro Plus plans)

While Ooma offers the most commonly requested features for a VoIP provider, it does lack several features offered by the other top contenders.

Winner: Nextiva

Available Integrations

Integrations help you connect your VoIP phone service to other apps and platforms that you may already be using.

Many businesses need integrations with CRM software like Salesforce, Zendesk, Hubspot, and more. This helps them easily manage customer relationships and can keep track of leads without losing them.

Let’s see how our top contenders stack up when it comes to integrations.

Nextiva Integrations

Nextiva offers comprehensive integrations suitable for all types of small businesses.

It has ready-to-use integrations for all the top CRM software, productivity suites, team communication apps, and more.

This includes Salesforce, Zendesk, HubSpot, Zoho, Microsoft Outlook, Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams, and more.

RingCentral Integrations

RingCentral offers an extensive set of integrations as apps and add-ins that you can add to your account.

They offer several apps for Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Dynamics, and more.

Their integrations also cover the top CRM software that you may already be using including Salesforce, Zoho, HubSpot, and more.

Ooma Integrations

Ooma does not offer as many integrations as Nextiva or RingCentral. Their Pro plan offers integration with Google and Microsoft Office 365.

You’ll need to upgrade to their Pro Plus plan to unlock Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365 integrations.

Apart from that, you can still use it with your own CRM software but it will be less efficient to track contact history and manage leads within your phone or CRM software.

Winner: Nextiva

Customer Support Options

Unlike traditional phones, VoIP phones are a relatively new technology so many small businesses may need a little bit of help to make the most out of it.

This is why customer support is an important aspect to consider when choosing your VoIP phone service provider.

Let’s compare how our top contenders stack up in terms of customer support options.

Nextiva Customer Support

Nextiva customer support is available through 24/7 live chat, email tickets, and phone.

Plus, they have a comprehensive knowledge base that covers all the commonly asked questions by users.

Finding answers in the knowledge base is fast and easiest way to fix things on your own. However, if you need to speak with someone, then you’ll find their phone and live chat support agents friendly and helpful.

Customer support representatives know their stuff very well and wouldn’t mind going to great lengths to help you out.

RingCentral Customer Support

RingCentral offers support through 24/7 phone, live chat, and email tickets. They also have an extensive library of articles, how-to guides, manuals, and more.

Support response times are fast and representatives are well-trained and highly helpful.

Ooma Customer Support

Ooma offers the same customer support options as the other contenders on the list.

This includes 24/7 live chat support, email tickets, self-help articles, and phone support.

Winner: Tie

Mobile App Comparison

With many businesses switching to a remote or hybrid work model, it is important to consider the mobility of your VoIP service.

This allows remote teams to stay in touch and never miss a call even when away from the desk.

All three of our contenders offer mobile apps for Android and iOS devices. Let’s see how their mobile apps perform against each other.

Nextiva Mobile Apps

Apart from laptop and desk phone systems, Nextiva also offers apps for iOS and Android smartphones.

These apps come with a sleek and easy-to-use interface that allows you to easily make and receive calls, text with team members, manage contacts, and more.

RingCentral Mobile Apps

RingCentral also offers mobile apps for Android and iOS smartphones. These apps are highly intuitive and allow you to easily manage calls while on the go.

Additionally, RingCentral offers separate apps for Meeting Rooms, which is their video conferencing platform.

Ooma Mobile Apps

Ooma doesn’t offer desktop apps for its Essential plan but it does offer mobile apps for all small business plans including the Essential plan.

The app provides easier contact management, and call and text functions. However, user reviews indicate that it does not work very well for many users.

Winner: RingCentral

Conclusion: Nextiva vs RingCentral vs Ooma – Which is The Best Small Business VoIP Provider?

We believe that Nextiva is the best small business VoIP phone provider on the market.

It offers competitive pricing, a ton of features, the best call quality, lower rates for international calls, and a wide range of numbers to choose from (local, international, toll-free, vanity numbers, and more).

→ Click Here to Get Started with Nextiva ←

Note: WPBeginner users can use our Nextiva Coupon to get 20% off when they sign up.

RingCentral comes as a very close second. They offer many of the features offered by their competitors and a slightly better mobile app experience. You can use our RingCentral coupon to get a discount.

We hope this article helped you compare Nextiva vs RingCentral vs Ooma to find out which one is the best VoIP service. You may also want to see our pick of the best email marketing services for small business, or see our article on how to get a free business email address.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post Nextiva vs RingCentral vs Ooma: Which is Better? (Compared) first appeared on WPBeginner.

May 20, 2022

8 Best Small Business Cell Phone Plans for 2022 (with Free Option)

Are you looking for a small business cell phone plan to stay in touch with your customers and team members?

A business cell phone plan gives you the freedom and flexibility to answer calls, communicate with your team, and attend meetings while on the go. It helps you stay connected from anywhere in the world.

In this article, we’ll share the best small business cell phone plans with pros and cons, so you can pick the best solution for your needs.

Why Do You Need a Business Cell Phone Plan?

A business cell phone plan is important for many small business owners, so they can keep their business phone separate from their personal phone and easily coordinate with other team members.

With the right cell phone plan, your customer support staff will be able to help out customers and respond to their questions while on the go. This way you can improve retention and create a long-term relationship with your customers.

Similarly, if you have a remote team spread across different locations, then a cell phone plan can improve business communication since you can hold webinars and meetings to keep everyone connected.

As a business owner, you have a lot of choices when it comes to selecting a cell phone plan for your company. There are traditional wireless carriers, business VoIP services, and virtual calling systems that provide a business cell phone service.

That said, let’s look at some of the best small business cell phone plans in the market.

1. Nextiva

Nextiva is the best VoIP and virtual business phone service in the market. It’s a cloud-based business phone system that offers a powerful set of features, and it’s super easy to set up.

This is what we use for our business here at WPBeginner.

Nextiva is often referred to as a UCaaS (unified communication as a service) because it brings separate communication channels like video, text message chat, voice, and collaboration tools together in one place.

There are Nextiva apps for mobile phones, tablets, desktop, and even desk phones, so your team can use a separate business phone number or extension without needing two separate devices which helps reduce cost.

Some of the features you get include an auto-attendant feature, HD video conferencing option, nationwide unlimited calling and SMS messages, free number porting, voicemail to email notifications, toll-free numbers, a cloud-based VoIP call center, cloud PBX, call pop with caller ID details, and more.

The VoIP service also helps your team improve communication and automate different workflows. For example, you can set up email automation and create automated replies to quickly respond to business customer queries that come in through your WordPress website.

Another benefit of using Nextiva is that it easily integrates with other communication tools and CRMs like Salesforce, Google Contacts, Zendesk, Oracle Sales Cloud, Zoho, and more.

Nextiva offers 3 business cell phone plans that you can choose from.

Essential – The prices start from $18.95 per user per month, and you get unlimited voice and video calling, toll-free numbers, Outlook and Google contacts integrations, and more.
Professional – Starting at $22.95 per user per month. In addition to the features in the Essential plan, you also get unlimited conference calls, a screen sharing option, mobile and desktop SMS/MMS feature, auto-attendant, and more.
Enterprise – In this plan, you get all the features that Nextiva offers, and it will cost $32.95 per user per month. Plus, you get a call recording option, Microsoft Teams integration, voicemail transcription, and more.

If you’re looking for a small business cell phone plan that doesn’t require getting a separate device and allows for sharing the business phone number with multiple team members, then Nextiva is the way to go.

This is what we use for our business, and many other top organizations like UnitedWay, TacoBell, YMCA, Stanford University, and others also use Nextiva for their business phone.

2. RingCentral

RingCentral is also one of the best business cell phone services that you can use for your website. The VoIP phone service provider allows your support team to handle customer support from anywhere using its Android and iOS mobile app and desktop app.

This way, you can also implement a bring your own device (BYOD) policy and allow your team members to use their own devices to handle work-related tasks from any place at any time.

With RingCentral, you get unlimited phone calls within the US and Canada, voice-to-text features, video conferences, business SMS, internet fax, toll-free number, and more.

There’s also an auto attend feature in RingCentral and advanced call handling features where support agents can see the caller’s interaction history, get real-time analytics, and allow managers or another team member to take over a call.

RingCentral offers 4 business cell phone plans that you can use, and the best part is that you get a 14-day free trial.

Essentials – Starting from $19.99 per user per month, you get up to 20 users, a toll-free number, unlimited calls in the US/Canada, team messaging, and more.
Standard – In this plan, RingCentral offers an unlimited number of users, business phone numbers in 100 countries, unlimited internet fax, video meetings, 24/7 support, and more for $27.99 per user per month.
Premium – It will cost you $34.99 per user per month. You get more features like automatic call recording, hot desking, advanced call handling features, real-time analytics, CRM integrations, etc.
Ultimate – This plan is for $49.99 per user per month, and it includes all the features along with device status reports, status alerts, and unlimited storage.

3. Ooma

Ooma is an all-in-one virtual phone service for small businesses. With Ooma, you get amazing features to keep you connected with your customers and remote team members.

The phone service offers HD audio, video conferencing, messaging, virtual receptionists, free 1-800 toll-free numbers, and free local phone numbers. The best, you get mobile apps that let you receive calls and answer your customers’ queries on the go.

Besides that, there’s also an Ooma Office suite that works out of the box and is very easy to set up. With Ooma Office, you can attend meetings and video conferences to keep your team connected with each other.

Other features offered by Ooma include voicemail transcription, online fax, enhanced call blocking, call recording, call forwarding, unlimited calling in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, affordable international call rates, and more.

Ooma offers 2 pricing plans for small business cell phones.

Ooma Office – It will cost you $19.95 per month per user and you get a lot of features like a mobile app, virtual receptionist, call transfer, call logs, and more.
Ooma Office Pro – This plan will cost you $24.95 per month per user and you get additional features like a desktop app, call recording, enhanced call blocking, caller info match, and more.

4. Grasshopper

Grasshopper is a top virtual phone service for small businesses that’s affordable and packed with valuable features.

Using Grasshopper, you can get a toll-free number, a local number, a vanity number, and transfer users to an existing virtual number easily. The cloud-based phone service offers a desktop and mobile phone app, so you can take calls and respond to messages from anywhere.

Other than that, you can set up custom greetings to welcome callers and ensure that you never miss a call by routing customers to another phone or team member. The service also offers virtual fax, voicemail, incoming call controls, analytics, and more.

The only downside is that Grasshopper is only available in the USA and Canada. That said, you get a 7-day free trial with 3 premium plans.

Solo – It will cost you $26 per month. You get to choose 1 phone number and 3 extensions.
Partner – This plan costs $44 per month and offers up to 3 types of phone numbers and 6 extensions.
Small Business – You can use unlimited extensions and up to 5 phone numbers for $80 per month.

5. Phone.com

Phone.com is a versatile virtual phone service that’s great for small businesses and startups. It offers affordable pricing plans and lets you mix and match plans based on your business needs.

The VoIP service offers business mobile and desktop apps so that you can handle customer support from an office or on the move.

With Phone.com, you get additional functionality like audio conferencing, call analytics, call recording and screening, call forwarding, text messaging, fax-from-phone option, and much more.

Phone.com offers 3 pricing plans with a monthly billing cycle, and you can combine these plans according to what you need. Plus, each plan comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Basic Users – Starting from $10.39 per month per user, you get 300 minutes and 1000 text messages. It also includes video conferencing up to 10 participants, document sharing, fax from phone feature, and more.
Plus Users – It will cost you $15.99 per month per user and includes everything in the basic user package along with unlimited minutes and business text messages.
Pro Users – This plan will cost you $23.99 per month per user, and you get all the features that Phone.com has to offer. Plus, you get advanced call management features like call recording, call analytics, and CRM integrations.

6. AT&T

AT&T is one of the largest wireless carriers in the United States, and it offers unlimited domestic mobile data usage, talk minutes, and text messages. It’s a great alternative to VoIP business cell phone plans and you get exceptional call quality.

With AT&T, you get no roaming charges along with unlimited talk time and instant messaging for Mexico and Canada. There are also shared data plans where you can make the data shareable for up to 25 phones, tablets, and other devices.

There is also an international addon that lets you make calls and send messages to over 210 countries. Each mobile plan also comes with 5G and 5G+ access, so you won’t worry about slow internet speeds.

Other than that, AT&T offers a video streaming feature, but the video quality will depend on your plan. It also offers powerful security measures to protect your business. For instance, you get spam and fraud call blocking, identity monitoring, safe browsing, and more.

There are the 3 business cell phone plans offered by AT&T, and you get to choose up to 10 lines per plan. However, the prices go down if you select 6 to 10 lines per plan. Also if you exceed the data limit, then your internet speeds are slowed down to 128 Kbps.

We’ll show you prices for 6 – 10 lines.

Business Unlimited Starter – Priced at $30 per month per line, you get basic security features, 5G/5G+, standard definition video streaming quality, 5GB mobile hotspot data per line, and more.
Business Unlimited Performance – It will cost $35 per month per line, and you get HD video streaming, 40GB of mobile hotspot data per line, and advanced security features.
Business Unlimited Elite – This plan is for $40 per month per line. It offers advanced security features, business fast track, HD and 4K video streaming, and 100GB of mobile hotspot data per line.

7. Verizon

Verizon is another wireless carrier that you can use for your business cell phone needs. It also offers some of the best cell phone plans and features like unlimited calling, texting, and data plans within the US.

With Verizon, you get extended high-speed data coverage across the USA and selected international countries. It even offers flexible plans for adding unlimited data for tablets. However, you’ll need compatible devices and ensure that 5G coverage is available in your area.

Besides, the wireless carrier offers different security measures. For instance, you can use its call filter to block spam, protect your device against phishing and web risks, Wi-Fi protection notice, and more.

Verizon offers 3 different pricing plans, and you can choose the number of lines you require. The more lines you add, the lower will be the overall prices.

Business Unlimited Start 2.0 – It will cost you $30 per line per month, and you get unlimited talk, text, and data. It also includes 5G/4G LTE, an unlimited mobile hotspot, and a call filter spam blocker. You can also save $5 per month for paper-free billing and autopay.
Business Unlimited Plus 2.0 – You can select this plan for $35 per line per month. It includes a 5G ultra-wideband, 100GB of data, and more security features.
Business Unlimited Pro 2.0 – This unlimited plan is priced at $45 per line per month. In addition to everything in Start and Plus plan, you get unlimited premium network access and more perks. Since you get unlimited data, there are no overage charges.

8. Google Voice

Google Voice is the last business cell phone plan on our list, and it’s a virtual phone service that you can use for your business. With Google Voice, you can work from anywhere, as it works on your mobile device, laptop, and supported desktop phones.

Google Voice also offers ease of use with a simple interface that helps manage your workflows, assignments, and billing from a single platform.

Currently, the cell phone service is only available in the US. However, you get free calling to the US from any country, free calling to Canada from the US and unlimited SMS in the US.

A few other features offered by Google Voice include spam call blocks, voicemail transcriptions, and integration with Google Workspace. You can easily use Google Voice with Google Meet and Calendar.

You can choose from 3 monthly plans for Google Voice.

Starter – It will cost you $10 per user per month, and up to 10 users can use the service in 10 domestic locations. However, you cannot use Google Voice internationally if you use this plan.
Standard – You can get this plan for $20 per user per month. It includes an unlimited number of users and domestic locations along with all the basic features. You also get auto attendant, Ring Groups, desk phone support, and eDiscovery for calls, voicemails, and SMS records.
Premier – Priced at $30 per user per month, this plan offers unlimited users, domestic and international locations, and advanced features like advanced reporting.

Which Small Business Cell Phone Plan is the Best?

If you’re looking for a VoIP business phone service that offers lots of flexibility and features, then we recommend Nextiva.

It’s simple to use, and you can stay connected with your customers and team from anywhere. Plus, it offers mobile, desktop, and tablet apps, so you handle calls, take meetings, organize workflows, and provide a great customer experience while on the go.

RingCentral and Ooma are great alternatives for Nextiva, and they round out the top 3 providers in our list.

On the other hand, if you want to use a traditional wireless carrier, then you can consider using AT&T. It offers unlimited text, talk, and data, along with an addon to include international calling and messaging. Plus, if you’re an Apple iPhone or Samsung Galaxy phone user, then are no limits to 5G wireless service when using traditional carriers.

We hope that this article helped you find the best small business cell phone plans. You may also want to see our comparison of the best email marketing services and best push notification software for small business.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 8 Best Small Business Cell Phone Plans for 2022 (with Free Option) first appeared on WPBeginner.

September 21, 2021

How to Set Up Business Call Forwarding From Your Website

Do you want to set up business call forwarding from your website?

For many small businesses, calls from potential customers generate significant sales and revenue. This is why it’s important to properly set up business call forwarding from your website.

In this article, we will share a step by step guide on how to easily set up business call forwarding from your WordPress site.

What Do You Need to Set Up Business Call Forwarding from Your Website?

Normally, you can just add a phone number to your WordPress website or online store. Your website visitors can use the phone number to make a call.

However, regular phone services don’t come with advanced features like call forwarding, business hours, call waiting, etc. Plus, they cost a lot more even for even basic features like basic call forwarding.

For proper business call forwarding, you’ll need a smart business phone service provider.

We recommend using Nextiva. It is the best business phone service on the market and allows you to easily manage your business calls at much lower costs than landline or mobile phone services.

Note: We use Nextiva at WPBeginner for our business phone number.

Nextiva provides VoIP phone service, which means instead of landlines it uses the internet to make and receive phone calls.

Using VoIP allows you to reduce costs and take advantage of advanced features like call forwarding, call recordings, voicemail, call waiting, and more. Plus, you can choose a number in any location or get a toll-free number.

More importantly, you can manage calls on your existing mobile phone, computers, or even a desk phone too.

You can even share one number with multiple team member which is great for remote teams like ours.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to set up business call forwarding from your website.

Setting Up Business Call Forwarding

First, you need to sign up for a Nextiva account. During sign up, you’ll be allowed to choose a business phone number, and you can also connect your existing phone number as well.

Once you have set up your account, you can make and receive calls from your business phone number on whatever device you choose.

After that, you can set up call forwarding for your website.

Simply head over to Users » Actions » Voice Settings page and select Forwarding from the left menu.

From here, you can enter any phone number under the ‘Call forward (selective)’ section.

Below that, you can choose when to forward a call by clicking on the Forwarding Conditions. You can add conditions based on schedule, by phone number, and more.

Apart from selective call forwarding, you can also set up always-on call forwarding, busy call forwarding, or forward calls when unanswered.

Once you have set up call forwarding, don’t forget to test it out before adding it to your website.

Adding a Click to Call Option in WordPress

Now that you have enabled business call forwarding, you may want to add click to call buttons to your website.

First thing you need to do is install and activate the WP Call Button plugin on your site. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit Settings » WP Call Button page to configure plugin settings.

The plugin comes with a sticky button that floats on-screen across your website. You can hide or show it on certain posts or pages. You can also choose to show it only on mobile devices.

If you would like to display the button manually, then you can switch to the Static Call Button tab. From here, you can choose button settings and copy a shortcode.

Once you are finished with settings, you can also add a sticky call button in your posts and pages using a block or a widget.

In the block settings, you can choose colors, text size, alignment, and show or hide the phone icon.

Once you are finished, you can save your changes and visit your website to see your call now button in action.

For more ways to add a clickable phone number in WordPress, see our tutorial on how to add a click to call button in WordPress.

Your users can now click to call your phone number and their calls will be forwarded based on your call forwarding settings.

We always recommend website owners to provide more than one way for customers to contact your business. Along with phone, it’s a good idea to have a contact form and if possible offer a live chat or chatbot solution on your site.

We hope this article helped you learn how to set up business call forwarding from your website. You may also want to see our see our guide on how to track button clicks in WordPress, and our expert comparison of the best email marketing services.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Set Up Business Call Forwarding From Your Website appeared first on WPBeginner.

December 8, 2020

7 Best Cloud Phone Systems for Remote Teams – Compared (2020)

Are you looking for the best cloud phone system for remote teams?

Cloud-based phone systems are a great option when your team members work remotely sometimes or work from home. Choosing the best cloud phone system is a very important decision because it can impact your business and customers.

In this article, we will compare the best cloud phone systems for remote teams with their features, pros, and cons.

What is a Cloud Phone System?

A cloud phone system is a business VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephone system that allows you to make and receive business phone calls through your internet connection.

Because your phone calls are managed in the cloud over the internet, you and your employees can take calls from anywhere. You don’t need to be physically connected via a landline, as you would in a traditional phone system.

Cloud phone system is perfect for remote teams. Instead of employees giving out their personal cell phone number for business calls, they can receiving business phone calls using the virtual business phone number app on their cell phone.

That being said, here are the top cloud phone systems for remote teams.

1. Nextiva

Nextiva offers an excellent easy-to-use cloud phone system that’s ideal for remote teams. It comes with all the features and functionality you need for your business communications, such as unlimited free domestic calls, advanced call routing, voicemail to email and text, SMS messages, auto attendant, and online faxing.

The web-based admin panel is simple to use and manage. You get a free local or toll-free number, free number porting, and all the call management features you’d expect. These include caller ID, call forwarding, custom greetings, auto-attendant, advanced IVR (interactive voice response) system, and more.

Within the US and Canada, you have unlimited VoIP calling with Nextiva. For international calls, they have very affordable rates.

The Nextiva communication platform offers additional powerful features that integrate with your phone system. These include a fully-featured CRM and live chat, making Nextiva a Unified Communications system, also called a complete cloud platform.

Nextiva also offers online surveys and call analytics. The voice analytics software gives you real-time insights into phone activity across your organization. This lets you monitor call volumes and spot potential problems.

Larger companies, contact centers, and call centers often use Nextiva to transition their existing private branch exchange (PBX) system into a powerful cloud phone system.

You can use your existing desk phones with Nextiva, or you can buy IP phones for your remote team to use instead. Netiva also offers computer apps which work as a ‘softphone’, so your team can make voice calls through their computer.

Nextiva also have a business phone app that works on iPhones (iOS), and Android smart phones.

Most importantly, Nextiva gives you great call quality and connectivity through their incredibly reliable data centers. They have had no outages at all in the last two years.

If you ever need any help with your business phone service, their customer service team is always helpful and responsive.

Price: Nextiva starts from $19.95/user/month. The price per user varies depending on how many users you have.

Editorial Note: We use Nextiva for our team at WPBeginner and Awesome Motive. We’ve been huge fans of their platform and highly recommend them.

2. RingCentral

RingCentral is another popular cloud phone system for remote teams. Their feature-rich system includes all the standard options you’d expect, like unlimited calling, call forwarding, caller ID, call waiting, texts, online faxing, automatic call recording, and more.

You also get video conferencing with screen sharing, plus integration with Google Workspace (formerly G Suite), Dropbox, Microsoft Office365, Salesforce and other services. This can enable RingCentral to operate as the heart of your communications platform.

Like Nextiva, RingCentral will not charge you for calls in the US and Canada, no matter how many calls you make. Your team members can take calls through the RingCentral mobile or desktop app, giving them plenty of flexibility.

RingCentral also works as a cloud PBX or virtual PBX system, meaning incoming calls can easily be routed to the right department or extension. You can also add extra virtual phone lines as needed.

You can also use RingCentral to buy vanity phone numbers like 1-800-GoFedEX.

Price: RingCentral costs from $19.99/user/month, billed annually. There’s also a free 15-day trial available. This gives you a maximum of 5 users and 50 minutes of talk time per user.

3. Ooma

Ooma is a popular business VoIP provider that makes a great cloud communications solution for remote teams. It gives you lots of useful features like a virtual receptionist, extension dialing, hold music, a mobile app, a desktop app, and more.

You can add a toll-free number (1-800 number) for free. There are also toll-free calling plans, so you get more minutes of incoming toll-free calls per month.

It’s simple to get your cloud VoIP business phone system set up with Ooma. You have the option to keep your existing business phone number or get a new one from Ooma.

Ooma also operates as a cloud PBX or hosted PBX system. This means it’s easy to transfer calls and enable team collaboration between remote employees.

You can set up team members with their own phone, purchased from Ooma or from a third party. Alternatively, you can reduce the upfront costs by creating a new line that directs to the employee’s existing Android or iOS device.

Keep in mind that with any phone system, your team members will need a reasonable amount of bandwidth (upload speed) to make high-quality calls.

Price: Ooma costs from $19.95/user/month.

4. Grasshopper

Grasshopper is a great cloud phone system for small businesses. It gives you a virtual phone number that can forward calls to any phone number or mobile device.

You get all the features you’d expect, including call forwarding, routing, hold music, voicemail to email, and more. There’s a mobile app plus a desktop app, so it’s easy for your team to use while working remotely.

With Grasshopper, you are able to get a US or Canadian local or toll-free number. You can also add custom greetings and extensions. All Grasshopper’s plans include unlimited minutes, too.

A drawback with Grasshopper is that you can’t use it to make outgoing calls. You still need your regular phone number for that. Plus, Grasshopper is only available in the USA and Canada.

Price: Grasshopper costs from $26/month, billed annually. This is for one phone number, but you can add extensions.

5. Phone.com

Phone.com offers a simple web interface and mobile app to manage your cloud office phone system. Like the other phone system providers we’ve covered, they offer all the standard features you’d expect. These include call forwarding, call routing, caller ID, text messaging, voicemail to email, and more.

Phone.com includes Canada plus some European countries in their local call minutes. This makes calling out to those countries much cheaper.

With Phone.com, you can also pay for extra features including call recording and more phone numbers.

The cheapest plan limits you to 300 monthly minutes and 2,000 text messages. This may be enough for your business needs if your small company doesn’t make many calls.

There’s also 24/7 live customer support, in case you need help getting set up.

Price: Phone.com costs from $12.99/user/month.

6. Google Voice

Google Voice is a cloud phone system from Google. It offers all the features you need, like free calling to US and Canada numbers, call forwarding, voicemail transcription, text messaging, call screening, and more.

With Google Voice, you also get integration with Google Calendar, Google Fi, and Google Meet.

A Google Voice number can be used through cell phones or through the desktop app with a dial pad, letting your employees work on the go. They can set their Voice number to forward to their mobile phone or other devices.

Price: Google Voice is free for personal use. The business plans pricing is from $10/user/month.

7. eVoice

eVoice is another popular VoIP service provider. It offers unlimited calls, call routing, custom greeting, call forwarding, conference calling, text messages, voicemail to text, and more.

It’s a good option if your remote team is international or based in the UK, as eVoice offers coverage in the UK, EU, and Canada, as well as in the USA.

Note: eVoice is branded as eReceptionist in the UK.

Price: From $16.67/user/month (billed annually).

Which is the Best Cloud Phone System for Your Team?

We believe that Nextiva is the best cloud phone system for remote teams. It has lots of advanced features, and excellent support. You can easily add remote team members and set up call forwarding rules.

Nextiva’s mobile and desktop apps are easy to use. This makes it a great option for remote teams, when hands-on training is difficult.

Plus, Nextiva’s unified communication platform comes with built-in CRM and live chat features.

This is why we use Nextiva on WPBeginner and believe it’s the best cloud phone system in the market.

If you want an alternative to Nextiva, RingCentral is another excellent option. It has similar features and comes as a close second in our list.

We hope this article helped you learn about the best cloud phone systems for remote teams. You might also like our comparison of the best email marketing services and best push notification software to connect with your customers after they leave your website.

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