Several companies around the world are involved in taking advantage of technology and thus improving their business communication systems. Since the advent of VoIP, millions of small, medium, and large corporations have chosen by moving their communications to the cloud and in the process, offer more effective and productive tools to their employees to boost profit margins. However, with so many different VoIP service providers available in the market, choosing a reliable and cost-effective service can become a tedious task for a non-experienced business.
RingCentral
Since its inception back in 2003, RingCentral has been offering effective and reliable communication solutions for various companies all over the world. Their expansive cloud infrastructure has revolutionized cloud communications and has served over 3 lakh customers with their VoIP services.
With its vast offerings of excellent features, companies of all sizes can choose which features are needed for their communication solution. Companies get the flexibility to add the feature as their companies grow in the future. Their services are tailor-made for all different situations. Any business who is looking to gain their competitive edge by offering the best customer service in the market, RingCentral VoIP services is worth considering.
Let us dive into more detail and discuss the different pros and cons associated with RingCentral VoIP services.
Pros
- Pricing
If you are interested in making use of RingCentral VoIP services, you will have to choose one from their four pricing plans. For small businesses, with 20 or fewer employees, their starting plan of $29.99 per user per month should suffice. However, if you have several employees within your business or organization, you can opt for their unlimited number of user plans.
There are three different options here. These options include $34.99, $44.99, and $59.99 per user per month. As a business, if you are getting into their annual contracts, you can avail great discounts on the above mentioned monthly pricing.
- Features
RingCentral has one of the best VoIP services with a wide range of features. With RingCentral, you get access to toll-numbers for absolutely free and with no additional cost. Thus, making it an ideal choice for small businesses. In addition to this, some of the other features that you get with RingCentral include auto-attendant, video conferencing, file sharing, and call log reports.
They also provide online tools for cooperation, which means your employees can now work productively from anywhere in the world. In addition to this, even businesses get the opportunity to hire the best talent from all over the world and don’t necessarily have to restrict their recruitment locally.
- Setup and User Interface
Setting up the VoIP services of RingCentral is simple and doesn’t require much technical assistance. Your business communication system can get started within a few minutes. Apart from this, even the user interface is simple to understand and use. Within a few days, employees can understand the different functionalities that it has to offer.
Setting up video conferencing with colleagues from different offices is simple and easy to arrange. There is a mobile application available for various devices, including mobile platforms.
- Customer Support
Users have several different options to touch base with the customer support team and get their queries resolved. Some of the options that you can make use of includes online resources, live chat, phone, and email support. In addition to this, there is an online community forum that can be used to ask different questions.
- Free Trial
RingCentral offers a 15-day trial period with all of its different pricing options. It is a good way to evaluate their services first before committing to their annual plans.
Cons
- No Unlimited Calling
One aspect that can be bothered by customers is the absence of unlimited international calling minutes. Yes, your business will get unlimited domestic calling, but if your organization is doing business with overseas clients, it can be a major drawback.
8×8
It is one of the first VoIP service providers operating in the world while delivering services to over 1 million customers. It offers plug and play service, where the company provides you a handset, which can be used to install 8×8 VoIP service to get started immediately. However, these hardware phones are entirely optional.
Regardless of the size of your business, small or large, they have several features to offer that can improve productivity within your workplace. It is one reason which makes 8×8 so popular around the world.
Let us dive into more detail and discuss the different pros and cons associated with 8×8 VoIP services.
Pros
- Pricing
Just like RingCentral, 8×8 also offers four different pricing options. Their most cost-effective package is the 8×8 Express, which is available for only $12 per user per month. The other three plan includes – X2, X4, and X6, which are available for $25, $45, and $110 per user per month, respectively.
Depending upon the plan that you are choosing, you will get access to different features. Some of the plans of 8×8 VoIP services are expensive as compared to RingCentral.
- Features
8×8 offers a wide range of features that can drastically improve the way your employees communicate within themselves and with the customers. Some of these features include call forwarding, ring groups, office 365 integrations, and voicemail to email, screen sharing, auto-attendant, and music on hold.
In addition to all these features, users can also access mobile applications on Android and iOS devices.
- Unlimited Calling
Unlike RingCentral, 8×8 offers unlimited voice calling ranging from 14 to 47 countries with its X2, X4, and X6 pricing plans. However, with an 8×8 Express plan, unlimited calling only in the United States and Canada becomes available.
- Customer Support
The customer support team of 8×8 knows what they are doing and are knowledgeable in helping users with their problems. You can use different options such as phone, email, or live chat to get in touch with them. Their services are available 24 x 7 and 365 days a year. However, there is no discussion forum to be used, as in the case of RingCentral.
Cons
- Free Trial
Apart from all the feature offerings and advantages that 8×8 has to offer, one aspect where it is disappointing is the absence of free trial. The free trial is only available with the 8×8 Express – while for everything else, you will have to pay the fees upfront.
Comparison – Which is Better?
Both service providers offer feature-rich VoIP services. However, 8×8 offers advanced features such as ring groups, office 365 integration, and music on hold, which are not to be found in RingCentral. Yes, the higher packages of 8×8 are a bit costly in comparison to RingCentral, but you are also getting advanced features for the money you are paying.
Additionally, if your business has a requirement of frequent international calling, RingCentral might not be the optimal choice, as it does not offer unlimited international calling minutes. You can get this with 8×8 VoIP services.
Overall, both of these services are efficient and reliable. However, your choice of services is dependent upon the kind of requirement you have from the VoIP service provider. List down the different features you need and then choose one from service providers that better suits your requirements, while keeping the pricing in mind.