Vonage is a mean enterprise cellphone system should you simply want one thing that helps fundamental calling and texting capabilities out of your smartphone. In case you’re in search of extra performance, it’s lacking superior options and crew collaboration instruments, regardless of having a better price ticket than lots of its rivals.

Nevertheless, Vonage’s assist for communication APIs (Utility Programming Interfaces) to embed customized calling capabilities into apps and web sites could also be well worth the lack of different options if that’s a precedence for your enterprise.

Vonage’s pricing

Vonage has three normal enterprise cellphone system plans:

• Cellular: $19.99 per person monthly for just a few customers who simply want fundamental calling and texting capabilities.
• Premium: $29.99 per person monthly for small groups that need inner messaging, video conferencing, and desk telephones.
• Superior: 39.99 per person monthly for on-demand name recording, voicemail transcription, and name teams for groups.

In case you deal with excessive name volumes, Vonage presents two contact heart plans. Pricing isn’t accessible for both, however there are a ton of add-ons accessible, so that you’re capable of combine and match options to construct the appropriate plan for your enterprise.

There’s additionally a singular conversational commerce package deal that begins at $1,000 monthly for as much as 10 brokers, with the choice so as to add extra brokers at $35 monthly every. You’ll additionally should pay a $5,000 set-up charge, making it a big up-front funding.

Pricing for communication APIs relies on utilization:

• Home calls begin at $0.0127 per minute.
• SMS messages begin at $0.0062 per message.
• Video conferences begin at $0.004 per minute.
• In-app messaging begins at $0.0007 per minute.

You too can use quantity insights, dispatch, customized occasion, reporting, social media messaging, and verification APIs.

Vonage’s key options

Vonage’s normal cellphone system options embrace limitless home calling, limitless texting, free quantity porting, and a digital receptionist (which is actually an auto attendant). However its standout providing is its helpful communications APIs.

Limitless calling and texting

Each Vonage plan comes with limitless home calling and texting.

If you would like a less expensive different to conventional provider plans with usage-based billing, this can be a nice worth. In case you are a enterprise with fundamental cellphone system wants, and you might be fascinated about switching from a landline to VoIP, Vonage needs to be in your shortlist.

You can also make and obtain calls or ship texts out of your present units with out having to buy any extra {hardware}. Simply obtain the Vonage app, and you may seamlessly transition between your private and enterprise strains.

Free quantity porting

In case you’re interested by switching to a VoIP supplier otherwise you wish to change enterprise cellphone techniques, Vonage makes this course of straightforward. They’ll port your quantity to Vonage totally free so you may keep continuity along with your prospects with out having to fret about quantity forwarding or lacking calls.

Native and toll-free quantity porting can take as much as 21 enterprise days to totally course of, so it’s a good suggestion to maintain your present subscription lively till the quantity has formally been moved to Vonage.

Digital receptionist

With Vonage’s digital receptionist, all incoming calls get answered by the digital auto attendant as a substitute of a reside agent.

From there, callers are greeted by an automatic recording or introduced with a listing of menu choices — they make a choice and their name is routed easily to somebody who will help. You too can arrange your digital receptionist to play completely different greetings primarily based on the time, day of the week, and vacation hours.

SEE: Find out how name routing impacts prospects’ notion of your model. 

It is a normal function accessible on all Vonage enterprise cellphone plans. It’s not a full-blown Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system by any means, however the digital assistant can deal with typical enterprise wants for a single location.

From there, callers are introduced with a listing of menu choices from which they’re capable of choose their motive for calling. This permits them to be rapidly routed to somebody who will help. You too can arrange your digital receptionist to play completely different greetings primarily based on the time, day of the week, vacation hours, and extra.

It is a normal function accessible on all Vonage enterprise cellphone plans.

Intuitive admin portal

Vonage’s user-friendly admin portal makes it straightforward to rapidly handle and see what’s occurring organization-wide along with your cellphone system.

You possibly can monitor the system standing, monitor crew developments, add new cellphone extensions, and handle your numbers. It’s a clear interface that helps managers and system admins rapidly full duties with out having to spend hours scrolling and clicking round.

The admin portal additionally offers you entry to the audit log, the place you may monitor adjustments and restore issues to the unique settings if needed.

This function is simply accessible to customers with designated admin entry. All common Vonage customers in your crew can handle their very own extension settings from their person portal, however not different system settings. Position-based entry is one among many VoIP safety finest practices and this technique makes it straightforward to stick to it.

Communication APIs

Vonage presents voice, video, SMS, social media messaging, in-app messaging, dispatch, verification, quantity perception, customized occasions, and reporting APIs you should utilize to create really customized environments for collaboration and buyer interactions, resembling:

• Sending real-time updates by way of SMS.
• Including two-factor authentication (2FA).
• Offering video assist.
• Detecting potential fraud.

You probably have the assets to construct and keep completely different kinds of APIs, customized communications apps, and embedded options, that is the easiest way to make use of Vonage.

Vonage professionals

• Primary cellphone techniques are straightforward to deploy.
• Each plan features a free predominant firm line.
• Wide selection of communication APIs.
• Distinctive conversational commerce answer.
• Modular contact heart choices.
• Consumer-friendly interface.
• Centralized person administration.
• Quite a few privateness and safety certifications.

Vonage cons

• Assist isn’t 24/7.
• Restricted cellphone system administration and name dealing with options.
• Telephone plans are mild on options, regardless of costing the identical as rivals.
• Even much less cost-effective on larger tiers.
• No desk telephones on the most cost effective plan.
• Lately sued by the FTC.
• Restricted AI capabilities.

Options to Vonage

Many customers discover different VoIP cellphone service suppliers because of issues over price, buyer assist, and customization with Vonage. Some discover Vonage’s pricing construction advanced and sometimes pricey as they scale, significantly with added charges for sure options. Additionally, evaluations regularly point out challenges with buyer assist, citing sluggish response occasions that may be problematic for companies needing fast fixes.

RingCentral and Nextiva are usually higher choices than Vonage for many companies. RingCentral is extra superior than Nextiva and Vonage, and it tends to be a greater match for companies with over 100 staff. Nextiva presents stability of value, usability, and scalability for companies of all sizes.

Right here’s a better have a look at how Vonage compares throughout key enterprise communication elements.

RingCentral

In case you want extra customization choices than Vonage presents, RingCentral is a feature-rich different with an extended historical past of serving to corporations construct out the precise cellphone system they want. It’s tougher to arrange and handle in comparison with a easy Vonage deployment, nevertheless it delivers much more flexibility by way of enterprise cellphone administration.

Nextiva

Nextiva is one other superior answer nevertheless it’s simpler to arrange. It’s exhausting to beat as a cloud cellphone system that works roughly “off the shelf.” Including in additional channels or integrating extra capabilities is not any downside. The platform’s scalability and excessive uptime make it interesting to each small companies and huge enterprises aiming to streamline communications. You’ll doubtless by no means have to fret about outgrowing it.

Ooma

If you would like desk telephones with Vonage, it’ll price you $10 extra per person monthly than Ooma, which is my prime suggestion for in-person workplaces that want bodily telephones. Plus, Ooma’s loads simpler to make use of and deploy, and Vonage requires you to be on the second tier or larger to make use of desk telephones.

Dialpad

Though it has began to observe the contact heart development of including AI to all the pieces, Vonage has only a few such capabilities, particularly in comparison with Dialpad. If synthetic intelligence and automations are necessary to you, then Dialpad is a significantly better selection. Plus, you’ll pay $5 much less per person monthly on the most cost effective plan whereas getting extra collaboration and productiveness instruments.

Methodology

In growing this evaluation, I drew from private expertise, person suggestions, and a constant set of analysis standards utilized throughout all enterprise communication options.

Normal vs superior options

I consider every firm’s communication options, noting what is obtainable on the entry-level tier and what requires an improve. What’s the vary of supported channels and name heart capabilities? What do customers get, and the way deep is it? I’m particularly interested by IVR, name routing, cellphone system administration, name heart AI capabilities, and different options the place there’s a significant distinction between what distributors provide at every pricing tier.

Buyer assist

I researched the hours of availability for buyer assist, every service’s assist channels, and any buyer evaluations associated to the supplier’s stage and pace of service. As at all times, I think about destructive evaluations rigorously, realizing that dissatisfied prospects are sometimes extra prone to depart suggestions.

Third-party integrations

So as to examine performance at an enterprise stage, I checked every platform’s potential to sync with regularly used enterprise software program, like CRM, cloud storage, fax, ERP, SMS, and extra. It’s at all times tough to check name heart integrations earlier than shopping for seats, however I think about it a wholesome signal when the corporate has a variety of pre-built integrations, SDKs, and/or API documentation.

Safety and privateness

Encryption, account administration, redundancy structure, knowledge heart audits, multi-factor authentication, and a number of servers and knowledge facilities in varied places have been all thought of. VoIP cellphone techniques are a favourite goal of hackers and name heart fraud is rampant — taking an in depth have a look at every vendor is essential as a result of threat of information loss, id theft, and ransomware assaults.

Demo or free trial

I examine whether or not the platform presents potential customers a reside demo or a free trial interval, permitting them to discover the software program’s capabilities firsthand earlier than committing.

Total price

It’s notoriously tough to estimate how a lot a VoIP cellphone system will price, so I spend a great deal of time evaluating the pricing construction, extra charges, optionally available add-ons, and any person and setup charges.