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Want to get going right away? Sign up for SimpleTexting and start texting from your laptop today.
Texting and cell phones usually go together like peanut butter and jelly. But if you want to leverage the power of text messaging to market your products or services, reach prospects quickly, or alert your workforce to time-sensitive information, it’s actually really hard to do from your phone. That’s why business text messaging services exist.
With these services, you can easily use your laptop to send a text message to a single recipient or a group text to larger audiences. This type of quick and efficient outreach can play a big part in your company’s success. Read on to learn how to quickly and effectively text from a laptop.
Whether you want to send bulk texts to your entire customer database or an individual message to a high-value contact, SimpleTexting is software that makes it easy to do both. Sending a text to a single contact takes just two steps.
First, sign up for a SimpleTexting account. There are a variety of plans available there, with pricing determined by how many texts you plan to send each month.
There’s also a 14-day free trial, so you can test the waters with no obligation. You don’t even need to provide a credit card. Once you create your account, you’ll be assigned a toll-free number and taken to a home screen like this:
Next, send an individual text. Now that you have your account, sending a text couldn’t be easier. Just select Inbox from the menu on the left, then click New and type in the telephone number of your recipient. If you already have created a contact for this person in SimpleTexting, their information will auto-fill. After that, you can type your message in the box at the bottom of the screen and select Send SMS. That’s it! Your message is on its way.
It’s equally as easy to use SimpleTexting to send group texts to all of your contacts or to specific subsets that you can define.
With a business text messaging service, it’s never been easier to reach your customers or employees with just a few clicks. Here’s how:
I’ve selected SimpleTexting for this how-to guide because it’s one of the best all-around services on the market today. Depending on the business text messaging service you choose, the instructions that follow may be different.
First, create an account with SimpleTexting. You can begin with their 14-day free trial, and you won’t even have to provide any credit card information to get started.
To activate your free trial account, you will need to provide some basic contact information and answer a few questions about how you plan to use SimpleTexting. With no credit card requirement, this is a truly no-commitment way to try out a business text messaging service.
Before you can send group texts, you’ll need to create a list of contacts. When you activated your free trial account, SimpleTexting automatically created a list called, appropriately, My First List. Feel free to add records to that list or create a new list with a more informative name.
For this tutorial, I’m going to create a brand new list. Here’s how to do it.
Select Contacts from the menu on the left of the home screen, then click the + New list button.
Choose a name for the new list. Here, I chose Customer List, since I eventually plan to send a group text to current customers alerting them to an upcoming sale. Then click Create list.
You will then see the newly created list on the Contact screen, as shown below.
Of course, at this stage, your new list is empty. You’ll need to populate it in order to send a group text. The next step shows you how to get that done.
If you sign up for a monthly SimpleTexting subscription that includes 7,500 texts per month or higher, you unlock SimpleTexting integrations. This allows you to easily import your contact list data directly from your CRM or another source. You’ll actually get access to more than 400 apps, including some of the most popular CRM tools, including Salesforce, HubSpot, Infusionsoft, and Zoho CRM.
However, if you opt for a lower service tier or are testing out the free trial version of SimpleTexting, you still have several options to populate your contact list. You can import a limited number of CSV, XLS, or XLSX records, connect to a MailChimp list, create Zapier automated workflows that require coding, or manually enter data.
To keep things simple here, I’ll walk you through the process of manually creating records in your list.
In the Contacts screen, click on your customer list to open it in a new screen. Select Add contact to create your first record in the empty list.
You will then see a pop-up screen, like the one below. Fill in the desired information, then select Add contact to save the record. Note that only a phone number and list name are required, but that you can personalize the contact more than that. I’d suggest making sure to include the contact’s first and last name at least, and their email address would likely be helpful as well.
To add additional contacts in the list window, click the Add Contacts drop-down arrow, then select Manually add contact.
This will bring up another pop-up box for the new contact. Repeat these steps to add all your contacts.
And that’s it. You’ve created your first list of future text recipients.
Once you have your contact list populated, you are just a few steps away from sending out a group text. Here’s how to start the process.
From the SimpleTexting home screen, select Campaigns from the menu on the left, then choose New.
You will see the following Compose campaign screen. Enter your Campaign name and choose whether your message will be formatted as SMS (text only) or MMS (media plus text).
Next, create your message. You can include emojis, custom URLs, media, and even custom fields to personalize your message. As you create your message, you can see how your message will look in the Message preview screen on the right.
In the Send to field, use the drop-down arrow to display all the lists you’ve created. Select the list you wish to use. Here we’ve chosen the Customer List we created in Steps 2-3.
You’re now almost ready to send your message to the recipients on your chosen list. Don’t close this screen, though. You’ll need to complete a few more steps to finish the process.
It’s almost go time. Your contact list is built and your campaign is designed and approved. All that’s left is to decide when to send it. SimpleTexting offers several options.
Scroll down the Compose campaign screen to the Send on section. Here you can choose when to send your text message. Your options are:
Whichever delivery option you choose, when you select Next you’ll be prompted with a final confirmation screen. This is where you can double-check and edit details of your campaign before you finalize it for delivery.
Once you are sure your campaign is as you want it, click Send now (for immediate delivery) or Schedule (for scheduled or recurring delivery). In this example, we chose immediate delivery. If you choose a future date or recurring delivery, you would see a Schedule button instead.
Congratulations, you’ve just created your first campaign and sent or scheduled your first group text using a business text messaging service.
With a business text messaging service, your laptop becomes a powerful tool to reach new and existing customers in an efficient and highly effective way. With it, you can send a single text to a VIP client or a group text to a targeted list–without having to squint at a mobile screen or set up everything using only your thumbs.
Text messaging boasts a nearly 100% read rate, so in just a few clicks you can get your important information in front of the eyes that really matter–all from your keyboard. It’s easy with a business text messaging service.
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Building a good reputation for your business means keeping up top-notch communication. You need a VoIP phone service with a solid foundation and advanced features that can help you do that.
When you can communicate across many channels, you make more business connections and help more customers. As a result, you grow your business.
If you’re looking for a new VoIP provider, consider 1-VoIP. It offers a scalable, straightforward system that’s easy to use, even if you don’t know your tech. Let’s compare it with a few other VoIP systems to help you decide whether it’s right for your business.
1-VoIP gives you everything you need in terms of basic calling features. It also comes with more advanced ones that you’ll almost certainly need for a growing business. The company has packages for both business and residential customers, making it flexible for almost everyone.
The company offers a free setup, putting it a step ahead of other providers, like AXVoice. It also has comparable features when it comes to international calling, putting it on par with popular services like VoIPLy and Vonage.
Although 1-VoIP offers excellent customer service, it also gives you tons of helpful resources if you don’t want to jump straight to calling customer support. Still, they lack some support channels, like instant chat and online ticket submissions, which you can find with VoIPLy.
1-VoIP’s biggest shortcoming is that it doesn’t have video conferencing. If your team does a lot of video calling, you may want to consider RingCentral or VoIPLy, both of which have video conferencing at comparable prices. They’re both highly rated with other quality features that you can find with 1-VoIP.
Having a high-quality phone system can boost your company’s reputation. It shows you care about the quality of your conversations with customers and that you want to help solve their problems. Better call quality ultimately leads to a better customer experience.
1-VoIP is known for its excellent call quality. With minimal complaints, it’s a step up from VoIPLy, which has mixed reviews. 1-VoIP’s high-definition system works with most headsets, so you can use the system in whatever way works for your team while maintaining great audio quality.
The system keeps its call quality, whether you make domestic or international calls. It lets you stay connected with everyone without worrying about dropped lines or crackly phone calls. The system’s call quality shines above many of its other features and makes it stand out compared to other services.
A low price shouldn’t be your top priority when it comes to finding a VoIP phone service, but it is an important point to consider. You must know what your budget allows for and what you need for your business to function at its best. Remember, you can always upgrade your package as your business grows, but you want something that lasts, too.
Here’s a look at 1-VoIP’s business phone service pricing:
1-VoIP has competitive pricing, but you can find cheaper options with similar features. VoIPLy is a few dollars cheaper per month and offers just as much. With VoIPLy, you have unlimited calling to more than 50 countries, plus video conferencing, and the company has a good reputation.
With 1-VoIP, you pay by extension and per month, as opposed to only per month, like with VoIPLy and AXVoice. You don’t have to sign a contract with 1-VoIP, though other top brands like Vonage also skip the contract.
1-VoIP has three packages with business VoIP:
With the Metered plan, you pay a per-minute rate of 2 cents. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but if your team makes a lot of calls, it adds up. It may be worth getting the next package up or going for another VoIP system that doesn’t apply this type of charge.
You want a phone system that serves your business well with both basic and advanced features. 1-VoIP has you covered with call forwarding, superior call quality, caller ID, call waiting, call blocking, and more. But it has plenty of advanced features to go with its strong basics.
When it comes to advanced features, 1-VoIP offers many of the same ones as VoIPLy, including:
Unfortunately, 1-VoIP does not come with voicemail transcription. If that’s something that helps your team function better, go with a provider that does have it, like VoIPLy.
1-VoIP has advanced features. However, not all of these are built-in. While you can use them with the system, you’ll need to get a third-party app to make them work. 1-VoIP also does not have SIP in its standard packages, but you can connect it for an additional fee.
1-VoIP gives you international calling, as well as unlimited calls in the United States and Canada. International rates vary based on your location, so you have to check their website for rates in your area.
1-VoIP’s residential package has an option for their World Unlimited Plan, which lets you make unlimited calls to over 30 countries. That package doesn’t quite measure up against VoIPLy, which allows you to make unlimited calls with their packages to over 50 countries. Some Vonage plans also give you unlimited international calling.
You might find it difficult to look up numbers for the international calling feature because of the system’s input field, which is one of the platform’s only less intuitive parts. If you don’t do much international calling, you may find that 1-VoIP suits your team’s needs. Still, if you don’t need the system’s other advanced features, it may not be worth buying the most expensive package just to have unlimited international calling when you could get more with another provider.
While you support your customers, you want to know that your VoIP service company will support you, too. In this case, good customer service trickles down. If your VoIP company’s customer support gets you up and running faster, that means you can get back to your customers faster, instead of waiting for the next available agent.
Luckily, 1-VoIP is rated number one in customer support. They have 24/7 customer service, so you don’t have to worry about being unable to reach a representative when you need them.
However, 1-VoIP does not have customer support on all channels, which might make it harder to get in touch with them if you don’t have time to call. You can only reach them through email or by calling the company.
Other companies make their support more accessible. VoIPLy has online ticket submission and an instant chat system, too. When it comes to customer service quality, 1-VoIP beats out both companies, so consider that when you make your final decision.
Much of 1-VoIP’s customer service comes as more of a self-serve system. They have plenty of e-guides, video resources, and FAQs to help you learn and troubleshoot if you want to try solving the issue on your own.
Remote workers need mobile features to do their jobs well. Whether that means forwarding calls to mobile or having the ability to answer calls from your cell phone when you’re not in the office, a mobile app can make running your business more convenient.
Mobile features give your VoIP system more flexibility, which in turn means you have a more versatile business. You can use mobile features with 1-VoIP, but they’re not built-in like with RingCentral. 1-VoIP also doesn’t come with built-in web-based SMS or softphone capabilities.
You need a third-party app if you want any of these features. That can add up in price, especially if you don’t already have a third-party app to connect. If you do have one already, connecting it doesn’t require any complex setup.
When you get a VoIP system, your team should be able to use it without any trouble. An intuitive interface makes things efficient, as it allows everyone to find the features they need right away. It also makes setup quick, so you can get to work in minutes instead of days.
1-VoIP has a reputation for its user-friendly design. It comes with free setup, but you can configure it yourself, too, using 1-VoIP’s video resources. The videos and walkthroughs give you instructions on how to set up the system so that even people without much technical knowledge can put it together.
Once you’ve gotten past the first couple of steps, you just need to put your information into your account. Everything is right in front of you, which tells you that 1-VoIP has really considered their customers.
They make sure you can find any customer support resources you might need while setting up your platform and configuring your settings. The platform lists all features under the Features menu, so you don’t have to search for anything in obscure nooks and crannies to find what you’re looking for.
Many businesses use video conferencing to connect with other companies and even conduct interviews. If yours is one of them, you should probably skip 1-VoIP.
1-VoIP’s phone system doesn’t have video conferencing with any of its packages. However, you can get this feature with most other VoIP phone services, like RingCentral or VoIPLy, without paying more than you would for 1-VoIP.
1-VoIP’s Residential VoIP system works well if you’re a one-person business. It offers many of the same features as the business packages but is tailored for fewer people. In these packages, you can find features like:
Residential VoIP can help you save money, compared to a subscription with a regular phone company. It gives you more control over your home phone and helps you run your business from home when you need more than a basic landline or cell phone.
You can get 1-VoIP’s residential VoIP system with three plans:
Business VoIP is ideal if you plan to grow your business. It can save you up to 53% on phone bills with 1-VoIP, and it has over 40 business features. That means you have plenty of ways to serve your customers and make connections with other businesses.
Without contracts or cancellation fees, this service connects to your existing phones. In other words, you don’t need to make any major changes to the way your team functions.
You can get business VoIP service in three packages:
The professional package also includes a phone number and extension. Each tier includes all business features, so you won’t miss out if you buy a cheaper package.
1-VoIP may not come with built-in SIP, but you can connect it with a special SIP trunking service. With 99.999% uptime, you’ll know you have reliable service with 1-VoIP. A SIP trunk allows you to make calls using the internet by connecting to your PBX, as opposed to your average handset.
You can get SIP trunking through 1-VoIP in three packages:
The SIP Trunking Minute Bundle package gives you more customizable options than the rest. With the US & Canada and SIP Trunking Minute Bundle packages, you get unlimited simultaneous calls and unlimited incoming minutes.
Overall, 1-VoIP doesn’t stand out as overwhelmingly better than most other VoIP service providers. Without video conferencing, it also puts itself at a disadvantage.
However, it’s still a very solid option. Its excellent call quality and customer service give you the support you need to serve your customers. Its international calling capability means you aren’t limited on where you can call, and you can broaden its scope with third-party apps that let you take advantage of mobile features.
1-VoIP’s reasonable pricing, intuitive platform, and comprehensive voice features make it a great option for most types of businesses. If you only need a system with strong basics and a few advanced features, 1-VoIP has what you need to start a new business or grow your existing one.
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Jive’s cloud-based phone system gives users the flexibility to place and receive calls from anywhere, on any device.
Acquired by a new company, it became GoToConnect, a fusion of Jive’s phone service and GoToMeeting’s online meeting features. The result is an all-in-one communication and collaboration system for businesses of all shapes and sizes.
Unlike other VoIP phone service providers, GoToConnect gives all users almost unrestricted access to all its features regardless of plan. Whether you’re a startup or a thriving enterprise, GoToConnect can meet all your business communication needs in one place.
Jive is no longer just a VoIP phone system provider. After it merged with GoToMeeting’s online meeting software to create the more powerful GoToConnect, it’s now a force to be reckoned with that few rivals in the industry can match.
In fact, our top pick RingCentral doesn’t hold a candle to GoToConnect in terms of features and cost-effectiveness.
While RingCentral doesn’t offer video conferencing in its most basic plans, GoToConnect offers it and an array of other robust features to all users regardless of plan. And even if RingCentral gives users the cost-saving option of paying the annual fee upfront, GoToConnect still ends up costing less overall.
Between GoToConnect and another one of our top picks, Nextiva, the latter seems to have a slighter edge.
Unlike GoToConnect, Nextiva comes with complete communication, collaboration, and its own CRM tools right out of the box. If you’re in the healthcare industry, you might want to choose Nextiva over GoToConnect because its VoIP phone services are compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. This means Nextiva ensures the privacy and security of whatever data stored in the cloud.
With GoToConnect, you ditch the bulky on-premise PBX hardware for the convenience of a virtual phone system.
Since calls are transmitted over the internet, it’s compatible with almost any type of device. Hence, you can place and receive calls through your mobile device, a desktop application, or web browser anywhere you are.
Having calls delivered over the internet also means fewer expenses as you no longer have to purchase special hardware and spend money for its upkeep. As a result, it’s easier to scale your business with a cloud-based phone system.
If you prefer the familiarity of traditional office phones, GoToConnect also offers over 180 preconfigured desk and conference phones. Price ranges from $75 to $800 per device.
GoToConnect’s VoIP phones are ready to use right out of the box. In addition, they don’t have the expensive hardware components that come with old-fashioned analog phones. Instead, they’re bundled with GoToConnect’s hosted VoIP features like auto-attendants, free long-distance calling, and voicemail boxes at no additional charge.
In case you’re using an old on-premise phone system with hundreds of analog phones, GoToConnect will help make the transition easier. Analog desk phones can still work with VoIP, but you need to use an analog telephone adapter. This special device will convert electric signals into data packets that the virtual phone system can transmit.
If you’re a solopreneur or a small remote team with no need for any additional hardware, you might want to consider RingCentral or Grasshopper.
RingCentral is our overall best VoIP phone system, and you can use it with any of your existing phones.
Grasshopper also requires no additional devices. All you need to do is select a number and install the Grasshopper app to start placing and receiving calls. Every time there’s a business call, the Grasshopper icon will appear, so your work and personal calls will always be separate.
Just like other VoIP solutions, GoToConnect also prices its plans according to the number of users. The more employees you have, the less you’ll pay per head.
However, GoToConnect is the most generous VoIP service provider in the industry. In its two upper plans, all users have access to over 80 features, including unlimited call queues, caller ID, and call routing.
Pricing splits into three packages that scale based on the number of users. The Basic plan is limited and meant for much smaller operations, starting at $22/month when billed annually for 1-20 users (above which the Basic plan is no longer available).
The Standard and Premium plans feature all the bells and whistles, starting at $26/month and $39/month, respectively, for up to 20 users. For 21 or more users, the price for Standard drops to $23/month.
Entrepreneurs and small companies with five to ten employees can also consider another cheap alternative. Ooma Office can give the best bang for your buck with its most basic plan that starts at only $19.95 per user per month. If you want more features, you can also upgrade to $24.95 per user per month, which is within the same price range as GoToConnect’s cheapest plans.
You don’t have to be tech-savvy to install and maintain GoToConnect’s VoIP phone system.
There’s plenty of information online to provide assistance. However, a more thorough “setup wizard” would significantly improve the speed and ease of installation. But even without detailed online documentation, GoToConnect’s customer support team is always ready to extend a helping hand through different touchpoints.
Overall, the setup process is mostly plug-and-play. Therefore, busy teams with no time for tinkering can get their phone system up and running in no time. The installation is so easy that you can ship the phones to your remote team, have them plug the devices in, and start making calls right off the bat.
Configuring GoToConnect is easier if you don’t have any VoIP phone to connect. Simply access the web interface, then set up call routing with the help of a visual editor, and you’re good to go.
Aside from GoToConnect, we also recommend Ooma VoIP for being easy and quick to set up. The whole process is uncomplicated that you can launch your phone system in less than 15 minutes.
The Jive cloud-based phone system has everything you need to place and receive calls, whether inside or outside your company. And now that it’s bundled with an online meeting software to form GoToConnect, your team can also collaborate under a single platform.
Its all-inclusive plans give users access to tools that other providers charge additional fees for. These include the dial plan editor with a drag-and-drop interface, so it’s easier to create and customize call flows for your team.
Time-based call routing is easy to set up so that your customers will be informed when your business is available and when it’s not. Call routing also enables your customers throughout the country to dial a local number and have it routed to one of your representatives with no delay.
GoToConnect’s call monitoring tool helps you be aware of how each employee handles the calls. On the other hand, built-in analytics generates reports that are visual representations of how your employees communicate and collaborate.
Meanwhile, voicemails are also automatically sent to your email, so you can still be notified about important and urgent matters even if you’re not in the office. This way, you can retrieve the voicemail wherever you are and call clients or customers who urgently need to talk to you.
Other call management features include an auto-attendant, call park, call queues, call waiting, call transfers, do not disturb, call history, and Find Me/Follow Me.
GoToConnect also offers premium video conferencing and contact center features as add-ons.
The video conferencing feature allows you to launch meetings directly into the web application. It comes with one-click screen sharing so that you can jump from a chat or a call to a video conference without any hassle. There’s no need to switch apps or juggle different tools as everything you need is under one roof.
Businesses can also enjoy contact center services to help them serve their customers better. These call center features include advanced ring strategies, pre-call announcements, unlimited call queues, and wait time announcements.
As your business grows, GoToConnect is flexible enough to provide you with the tools you need to scale successfully. And even if it doesn’t have the built-in features you’re looking for, it’s easy to expand its functionality by integrating GoToConnect with third-party apps like Salesforce, Zendesk, Slack, Outlook, and many more.
The GoToConnect Connect Bundle combines the best of the Jive VoIP phone system and GoToMeeting’s online meeting software. This way, you won’t have to juggle multiple collaboration tools at once.
For as low as $19.95 a month, your employees can make or receive calls and have access to basic video conference features at the same time.
With the Jive VoIP phone system, you can add custom hold music, create workflows using dial plan editor, and call internationally. You can also leverage call routing to let your remote workers receive calls wherever they are and let your customers know when your business is closed or open.
As for video conference features, Connect Bundle lets you start a webinar for up to 150 attendees. This webinar also comes with meeting transcription so you can keep a permanent record of its content.
To build a productive and cohesive team, you need more than a hosted VoIP phone system.
The GoToConnect Enterprise Suite is an all-in-one solution that cares for both your customers’ satisfaction and employees’ productivity. It has all the basic features of the Connect Bundle with upgraded collaboration tools to meet your growing enterprise’s needs.
For seamless interaction with your customers, the Enterprise Suite has voice and call management features you’ll find in Connect Bundle. Its webinar solution, on the other hand, can accommodate up to 3,000 attendees. And with the addition of GoToRoom’s hardware and software bundle, you can now convert any room into a smart conferencing room.
With Enterprise Suite, you can get all these features while spending less. You can partner with GoTo, who will evaluate your needs so you can find ways to cut costs without cutting corners.
The Startup Suite offers more straightforward solutions to help you navigate your business’s early stages with ease.
Like the Enterprise Suite, this one also offers Jive’s flexible cloud-based phone system and GoToMeeting’s online meeting software. It also has GoToRoom to help turn your room into a professional conference room in minutes.
You can also hold a simple video conference with Startup Suite, but it’s nowhere as robust as that of the Enterprise Suite. With no GoToWebinar included in the bundle, you can only have meetings for up to 250 attendees.
Jive has come a long way since it first penetrated the market with its cloud-based phone system. Now known as GoToConnect, it is equipped with conferencing tools, so everything you need to communicate and collaborate with the team is in one place. While it doesn’t offer a free trial or free version, the wide range of features it provides makes it a cut above the rest. Cost-effective and scalable, GoToConnect is ideal for any business, whether starting from scratch or looking to expand.
Want to dive right in? Phone.com is a budget-friendly VoIP phone system provider that is great for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
As working remotely becomes more common and more popular, so do Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone systems. They allow businesses complete communication flexibility and the ability to stay in touch with employees and clients alike via phone calls, conference calls, and video meetings, all via the internet.
Phone.com is one of the top VoIP phone systems in the market today. In particular, they are a great solution for small or growing businesses and entrepreneurs. However, if you’re looking for a provider with wider-ranging capabilities or that is more suited to larger businesses, Phone.com may not be the one for you.
In any case, this review is going to break down the best and the worst of Phone.com and will show you how they measure up to other top providers in the market today.
Let’s dig in.
Phone.com is a solid choice for small businesses looking for a cost-effective and reliable VoIP phone system. It’s easy to set up, user-friendly, and compatible with all phones.
Its key draw as a standout in the list is definitely its price point. For just $9.99 per user, per month you’ll have access to a reliable VoIP service from any device. From where we are standing, this is pretty darn great for small or new businesses.
However, truth be told, Phone.com is somewhat limited when we compare it to some of the top VoIP providers out there such as RingCentral and Nextiva.
Simply put, RingCentral is the best for most. Although it’s priced higher than Phone.com, it offers a range of great features and also wins best video conferencing software in our books. With varying pricing solutions, RingCentral is suitable for just about any business size.
On the other hand, Nextiva is a great solution for businesses who want to tie in their VoIP phone services, with their sales software, and service CRM software too. They’re also renowned for their top-notch customer service. Although Nextiva is suitable for small businesses, their pricing plans really cater to enterprises and call centers.
Want to know more about the best VoIP phone systems out there? Click the link to read more.
It’s important to understand that not all VoIP phone services allow you to use your existing hardware. Some allow you to use an existing device so long as it is IP-Enabled, while some require you to use their hardware.
The best ones though, are the providers who allow you to use any existing device, regardless of whether it is IP-Enabled. These are the ones we like the most.
We’re happy to report that Phone.com is one of these likable providers that allows you to use your existing hardware. If you want to receive calls through a desktop phone that is not IP-Enabled, you’ll still need an adapter, but Phone.com provides one for free!
There are a few things to consider outside of the bottom line when it comes to choosing the most cost-effective VoIP provider.
Of course, we should consider the price of the plan. How much is it going to cost you per user, per month to run this service? But outside of this, we also need to consider any limitations on the plans and whether you’re signing up for a contract or can choose a month-to-month payment option.
Phone.com is one of the best out there for budget pricing. As we mentioned earlier, you can get started for as little as $9.99 per month. What is not to love about that? And although there may be cheaper plans out there, they aren’t ones that we’ve been able to recommend for various reasons.
Now, here is where we need to scrutinize Phone.com just a little. Although the base pricing is great, the limitation of the included call minutes (300 minutes per month) on the lead-in plan is likely going to cause some issues for most businesses. So, businesses who are expecting even a moderate call volume will need to look at the higher tiers to gain access to unlimited minutes.
The upside to this is that Phone.com does allow users some flexibility to discover how many minutes they’re going to need.
They provide options to either pay annually and thereby commit to an annual contract, or choose to pay slightly more for a month-to-month contract, meaning you can re-evaluate your requirements as each month rolls around.
The last thing anyone needs these days is a lengthy set-up process or a software tool that you simply cannot get your head around.
Thankfully, Phone.com stands up well against its competitors in both of these aspects.
Regardless of whether you’re using existing hardware or are switching to new hardware, the setup process is the same. In fact, there are three easy steps to be followed which are heavily detailed on the Phone.com website. If you get stuck, Phone.com can set it up remotely for you.
Once the setup is complete, you’ll be able to manage your new phone system from an easy-to-use web-based interface that allows users to customize voicemail greetings, set extensions, and set phone-operating schedules.
Now, it’s not that Phone.com doesn’t have extensive features to offer–they do. In fact, they have over 50+ standard features to provide.
But the thing that lets them down in this area is that many, more advanced features that are included by other providers’ base plans (such as unlimited minutes and unlimited video conferencing), are not included in Phone.com’s lead-in plan.
This won’t be a dealbreaker for everyone. You might be fine with this lack of included features because the price is right!
However, if you’re looking for a provider who takes the cake when it comes to features, you should have a further look into RingCentral. Yes, their plans are more expensive from the outset. But, they include a lot of features that other VoIP providers charge extra for (such as those mentioned above).
At the end of the day, there is no reason to pay for features you won’t use. Our recommendation to help you figure out which ones you can and can’t live without is to utilize as many free trials as you can, before making your final purchasing decision.
The bread and butter of Phone.com’s product offerings is very obviously their phone system.
Let’s cut to the chase here. Although we’ve briefly discussed some of the limitations of the features of Phone.com’s standard package, when it comes to the best VoIP phone system for small businesses, they take the cake.
They offer all the important modern features of a larger phone system but are extremely affordable and easy-to-use for entrepreneurs and growing businesses. Some of the features you can expect to have access to include:
If you’ve already got a business phone number and don’t want to go through the hassle of changing it, Phone.com will help you transfer your existing number to their services. And if you don’t have a toll-free number, they’ll give you one of those too.
Furthermore, the implementation process is incredibly smooth so you’ll be up and running in no time. A key highlight of Phone.com is the ability to use existing hardware, mobile device, or PC. There are literally no barriers to getting started for new business owners which is a huge drawcard for those just getting started.
Finally, their VoIP pricing plans are not only affordable, but also scalable, so business owners can grow with Phone.com if they want to.
Are there providers out there with better VoIP services? Yes. But do those providers offer a cost-effective solution to even the newest of business owners, not quite.
Having access to a great video conferencing service has become vital to most businesses’ success–especially in current times.
The good news is that most top VoIP phone providers do offer video conferencing or meetings as a part of their services, including Phone.com.
Although all of Phone.com’s plans include unlimited video conferencing, there are limits as to how many participants can attend the video meeting at one time. On the Basic plan, this is just 10 participants, compared to the Plus plan which allows 25, and the Pro which allows up to 100 participants.
Other features you can expect to find with Phone.com’s video meetings are:
These features are pretty standard across the board for video conferencing. For some businesses, these video conferencing features and participant limitations will work fine.
However, let’s say you’re on a Basic plan and it suits the size of your business most of the time. But sometimes you need to hold a video conference with all of your clients at once. It’s most likely that the participant limit of 10 is not going to suit your needs, right?
In this instance, we have to once again recommend RingCentral as the contender with the better offering in this area. Although there is a 40-minute limit on group meetings, you can have up to 100 participants involved, and it will cost you $0 to do so.
For those who prefer the mobility of using their mobile as a business phone, but may be sick of clients having their personal number to call at all hours of the day and night, this product offering is designed just for you.
Phone.com’s mobile application allows you to access and manage your account from your mobile phone. You’ll have access to all the same features with the added benefit of making calls over your carrier network or using Wi-Fi. This means you’ll be able to make international calls without fees and you won’t have to worry about going over your monthly call limits included in your plan.
Furthermore, you’ll also be able to send and receive SMS messages using your business phone numbers. The texts will filter through the Phone.com app, so you won’t need to worry about mixing business with personal texts either.
In a nutshell, the mobile application is a great offering from Phone.com. In our research, we’ve not seen this product offered by many other providers in the market, so it does lend Phone.com a decent advantage. It’s also a standard feature and is included even in the Basic plan.
Even though Phone.com does enable users to utilize existing hardware, if you are looking to upgrade to a VoIP phone, they can help you with that too!
In fact, they claim to be able to offer competitive pricing on some of the top names in the industry such as Polycom, Cisco, and Yealink. All business phones are tested and certified to be compatible with Phone.com’s communication services.
In our research, we’ve not come across many VoIP phone service providers who do offer to provide you with an IP-Enabled phone. This may be because many of the top providers can work through many different hardware options or simply through a mobile phone or the internet.
However, if you like the reliability of an old-fashioned desktop phone instead of (or as well as) your mobile phone, Phone.com allows you to source both your phone and your VoIP service in one place.
If your business receives high call volume or you have multiple extensions to transfer to, the Live Receptionist product offering is for you. Phone.com has a team of US-based professional receptionists (real people) who will answer your calls and then transfer callers to wherever they need to go.
Your Live Receptionist can also schedule appointments for you, block spam calls, and take messages to be sent via email or text. In a nutshell, they are there to tend to your customers with professionalism, even when you’re closed or busy.
It’s important to note that this is an add-on feature, so it’s not included in any of Phone.com’s standard package offerings. As you can see in the screenshot above, the pricing is based on the number of minutes your Live Receptionist spends on the phone with your clients. The more minutes you require, the more cost-effective it becomes.
We think this is a pretty great offering from Phone.com. Sure, it won’t fit the budget of most of the smaller businesses who may be utilizing their service, but it gives businesses peace of mind knowing that someone can be there to pick up the workload, should they ever need them to.
So, would we recommend Phone.com for your next VoIP phone service provider? Yes.
It’s definitely a great option for entrepreneurs and no-fuss small businesses who want the flexibility and extra features of a VoIP service compared to a traditional landline phone. They’re cost-effective, easy to use, and provide great customer service.
However, if you’re a business owner who is looking for advanced features or extensive requirements, you are better off looking into a provider like RingCentral or Nextiva. If you’re still not sure what you’re after, check out our post on the best VoIP phone systems for your business to help you decide.
Have you been considering Vonage as your VoIP provider? There are plenty of great options on the market. But when it comes to an affordable and flexible voice over internet protocol or VoIP calling system you can rely on, Vonage stacks up as a top contender in the field—especially as a global calling solution. With plenty of features and payment options, Vonage molds to your business’s needs while providing you with quality calling solutions.
Here’s a closer look at what it offers, how it stacks up, and any pros and cons worth considering before making any real decisions.
As a cloud communications platform, Vonage offers plenty of solutions for video conferencing, call centers, video calls, or personal calling plans. With over 50 calling features, there are some pros and cons to consider if you’re a business owner in need of an array of calling solutions.
It’s always a good idea to walk through any calling solution software’s strengths and weaknesses since your business’s needs will be different according to the industry you operate in and your team’s size and overall business goals and budget.
Social platform reach: With Vonage, you can reach your customers through Viber, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and more for a more convenient and intimate experience with your customers.
APIs for enterprise: Once upon a time, Vonage didn’t offer reliable enterprise solutions. But that changed once it acquired Nexmo. Now you can add communications functionality into your business globally, no matter your team’s size.
Ecommerce features: Vonage allows you to embed custom messaging, fraud detection, and voice verification, among other APIs, to ensure a better customer shopping experience. You can also interact with customers in real-time as they shop through messaging and chat features.
99.9 percent uptime: Vonage’s average uptime over a six month period is pretty close to 100 percent. This adds to its reliability factor regardless of the call solution you’re implementing.
Dropped connection solutions: If you happen to make a call and your internet connection drops, Vonage has a fail-safe feature that reroutes your call so that you don’t lose connection with your customers.
Month-to-month contracts: When you sign up for a Vonage business calling plan, you aren’t locked into costly and lengthy contracts. You can go with a month-to-month plan that allows you to make changes if you aren’t satisfied with the service.
Call without desk phones: You don’t need a desk phone when you sign up with Vonage to make calls. You can seamlessly make calls through your laptop, desktop, tablet, or smartphone with its online portal.
Enables remote work: With Vonage, your team no longer has to work from one central location. They can take work home and stay connected through desktop and mobile apps.
Programmable solutions: You can develop your own calling applications with Vonage APIs with plenty of code snippets, guides, and tutorials on its site.
App integration: Easily connect and integrate with the apps your or your team are already using for enhanced productivity and flexibility.
Call routing: Vonage is set up so you can have more than one device connected to your calling dashboard. So if you can’t pick up a call or need to reroute it, you can easily do that.
Create automations: Whether you want specific calls to go to voicemail, want to play a pre-recorded message, or customize greetings, you can do that with Vonage.
Call monitoring: With Vonage, you can easily monitor team calls, advise them as they’re on a call, or reroute their call in real-time on their behalf. This is an especially useful feature for call centers.
Plenty of integrations: You can easily integrate Vonage with tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, Bullhorn, Zendesk, Soho, GSuite, and Zapier.
AI tools: If you need advanced calling features like self-service or post-call analysis, Vonage offers AI tools that go beyond the basics of call management for enterprise-level call center needs.
Small business solutions: Vonage makes it easy to set up and manage a call management system without a pricey IT team or the need to code anything. Click-to-dial and auto-dial features built into its CRM quickens the calling cycle.
Customer support: It’s been said that Vonage’s customer service isn’t always the most efficient or timely. While it does have call or chat support for troubleshooting whenever you need it, it can be time-consuming to connect to the right person.
Cost for services: Depending on the features you’re looking for, other voice over internet providers offer some of the same features Vonage does for a lot less or even free. This is where you must weigh the upsides of having a potentially more dependable calling feature you pay for versus using an alright one for free that gets the job done but lags in quality.
Phone number loss: While there are many instances when people transfer existing phone numbers to Vonage successfully without any fees, it doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be able to, as some numbers won’t be compatible. If it is transferable, this process can take up to 20 business days.
As I mentioned before, there are a ton of other voice over internet solutions out you can use just as easily. But when it comes down to it, how does Vonage really stack up?
After much research, comparison, and overall consideration, Vonage’s strengths lie in international calling features for either business or personal plans. Vonage offers an all-in-one solution that provides text messaging, voice calls, team collaboration calls, conference calls, and call center solutions for enterprise businesses that need to get a reliable handle on their calls’ quality.
Other VoIP call and video options that come close are Nextiva or RingCentral. Nextiva because of the reliable voice over internet services it provides for small and enterprise customers and its CRM features.
On the other hand, RingCentral is great if you want access to free video and team messaging solutions, and it doesn’t fall short as far as reliable calling solutions go. With it, you don’t have to invest in new calling equipment. You can use the same number and phone equipment once you’re onboarded to keep making your calls. You can see our full list of top picks here.
As you use Vonage, you’ll likely need to invest in equipment depending on your business’s size and needs.
First, you’ll want to ensure you’re using a compatible certified router, which currently includes Linksys and Netgear models you can verify on its site. Otherwise, you might experience problems with call audio and dropped calls.
Vonage offers certified IP phones and accessories that come in handy if, for example, you handle high volumes of incoming calls and need calling equipment that is compatible with its system.
For equipment to be compatible with Vonage, it needs to be SIP (Session Initiated Protocol) capable. If you’re unsure about your equipment’s compatibility, a Vonage technician can walk you through the process.
This is an extra cost to consider and make space for in your budget when you’re signing up for Vonage since it doesn’t include equipment cost in its plans.
For the sake of simplicity, here are how Vonage’s pricing plans work for a smaller team of 20:
Mobile – $14.99 per month per line plus taxes and fees
Premium – $24.99 per month per line plus taxes and fees
Advanced – $34.99 per month per line plus taxes and fees
Prices for plans at Vonage differ depending on the number of employees. The good news is all plans come with unlimited phone calls and SMS.
Any calling plans for 100 employees or more will require you to contact the sales team for a more personalized package.
To start using Vonage once you’ve signed up to one of its business plans, you’ll have to sign in first to set up features, manage user permissions and roles, and manage all your extensions.
Vonage offers interactive guides through its Learning Center once you’re signed in to help you make the setup process easier. Not only that, Vonage offers customer training sessions that cover features, equipment, and user accounts.
Once you’ve added your information, you can get started immediately. Or, you can also schedule a service delay of up to 45 days, so it’s there ready to be used whenever you need it.
Vonage offers an exhaustive list of features—over 50 of them. Not all of them will apply to your business, but it’s good to know they’re available as your business grows.
Here’s a quick list of some of its more popular features:
What solutions does Vonage offer? This depends on if you’re looking for home or business call plans. Since we’re focusing on business solutions for this review, they fall into three general categories. Here’s a closer look at each.
Vonage APIs allow you to integrate effective calling solutions for startups and enterprises that are looking to scale. Vonage’s communications APIs include video, in-app voice, SMS, sip trunking, email, dispatch, and more.
You can easily verify user accounts as well as prevent fraud with its safe two-step authentication feature. It also allows you to create sub-accounts to configure the reporting and billing of different projects.
Vonage’s unified communications offerings include solutions that let business work from anywhere with more than 50 features to choose from. Some of the features include paperless fax, call monitoring, virtual receptionist, click-to-dial, call flips, and local or geographic numbers.
Vonage’s unified communications make it easy to collaborate with colleagues no matter where you are with tools available for desktop or mobile, meeting scheduling functions, as well as the ability to easily record and share meetings.
Vonage offers cloud contact center software to create a better overall sales experience. It brings easy to manage omnichannel features that include voice, digital channels, and even video.
Powerful routing features allow you to use customer details so you can reroute them to the best agent equipped to help them with their specific needs. You can auto-log calls and recordings and use its click-to-dial or auto-dial tools within its CRM.
Ai powered features allow you to collect post-call analysis, enable self-service tools, and leverage dynamic routing.
When you take a broad look at Vonage and all it has to offer, the question isn’t “will they cover all the call features I need?” The question becomes, “will I be satisfied with its level of service once it’s integrated into my business?”
Why? Vonage is a comprehensive all-in-one voice over internet service provider that provides tools for its users from onboarding to equipment and beyond.
This makes it a solid option for small businesses counting on growth who need a reliable VoIP to help them get there—whether they work with at-home employees or otherwise. Yet, it doesn’t leave out the more complex needs of enterprise customers who need features like AI and advanced automations to successfully take care of their various types of call needs both within the organization and customer-facing.
If you’re ready to take the plunge, check out its plans and get started with Vonage here.
