How to Choose the Best VoIP Provider for Your Call Center

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 How to Choose the Best VoIP Provider for Your Call Center

VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is a technology that allows you to make and receive phone calls over the internet, instead of using traditional phone lines. VoIP has many advantages for call centers, such as lower costs, higher quality, more flexibility, and better integration with other systems.

However, not all VoIP providers are the same. There are hundreds of VoIP providers on the market, each with its own features, pricing, and reliability. How do you choose the best one for your call center?

In this article, we will compare some of the best VoIP providers for call centers based on the following criteria:

· Features: What features do they offer to enhance your call center performance and customer satisfaction? For example, do they have automatic call distribution, interactive voice response, call recording, analytics, and integrations with other software?

· Pricing: How much do they charge per user, per month, or per minute? Do they have different plans for different needs and budgets? Do they offer any discounts or free trials?

· Reviews: What do other customers say about their experience with the provider? How is their call quality, uptime, customer support, and ease of use?

Based on these criteria, we have selected the following VoIP providers as some of the best options for call centers:

· RingCentral: Best for comprehensive features

· Nextiva: Best for ease of use

· 8x8: Best for medium businesses and up

· Vonage: Best for incentives

· Mitel: Best for mixing and matching plans

· PanTerra: Best for analytics

Let’s take a closer look at each of them and see how they compare.

RingCentral: Best for comprehensive features

RingCentral is one of the most popular and well-known VoIP providers in the market. It offers a cloud-based PBX platform that includes a wide range of features to help you run your call center efficiently and effectively.

Some of the features that RingCentral offers are:

· Automatic call distribution: You can route calls to the best available agent based on skills, availability, or priority.

· Interactive voice response: You can create customized menus and prompts to guide callers to the right destination or self-service option.

· Call recording: You can record inbound and outbound calls for quality assurance, training, or compliance purposes.

· Analytics: You can monitor and measure your call center performance with real-time metrics, historical reports, and dashboards.

· Integrations: You can integrate RingCentral with over 300 applications, such as CRM, helpdesk, chat, email, and social media.

RingCentral has four pricing plans to choose from:

· Essentials: $19.99 per user per month (billed annually) for up to 20 users. It includes unlimited calls within the US and Canada, 100 toll-free minutes per month, voicemail-to-text transcription, team messaging, and document sharing.

· Standard: $24.99 per user per month (billed annually) for unlimited users. It includes everything in Essentials plus unlimited audio conferencing, video conferencing for up to 100 participants, 1,000 toll-free minutes per month, multi-level auto attendant, and integrations with popular apps like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.

· Premium: $34.99 per user per month (billed annually) for unlimited users. It includes everything in Standard plus video conferencing for up to 200 participants, 2,500 toll-free minutes per month, call recording, single sign-on, multi-site support, and advanced integrations with apps like Salesforce and Zendesk.

· Ultimate: $49.99 per user per month (billed annually) for unlimited users. It includes everything in Premium plus video conferencing for up to 500 participants, 10,000 toll-free minutes per month, device status reports, and device status alerts.

RingCentral also offers a 15-day free trial for up to five users.

RingCentral has received many positive reviews from customers who praise its features, reliability, customer service, and ease of use. Some of the drawbacks that customers have mentioned are its high prices compared to some competitors, its occasional glitches and downtime, and its complex billing system.

Nextiva: Best for ease of use

Nextiva is another leading VoIP provider that focuses on simplicity and user-friendliness. It offers a cloud-based platform that combines voice, video, chat, and email in one unified communication system.

Some of the features that Nextiva offers are:

· Automatic call distribution: You can distribute calls evenly among your agents or based on skills or availability.

· Interactive voice response: You can create custom greetings and menus to direct callers to the right destination or self-service option.

· Call recording: You can record all or selected calls for quality assurance, training, or compliance purposes.

· Analytics: You can track and analyze your call center performance with real-time metrics, historical reports, and dashboards.

· Integrations: You can integrate Nextiva with over 100 applications, such as CRM, helpdesk, chat, email, and social media.

Nextiva has three pricing plans to choose from:

· Essential: $18.95 per user per month (billed annually) for up to 20 users. It includes unlimited calls within the US and Canada, unlimited online faxing, voicemail-to-email transcription, team messaging, and document sharing.

· Professional: $22.95 per user per month (billed annually) for unlimited users. It includes everything in Essential plus unlimited video conferencing for up to 250 participants, unlimited business SMS, call recording, multi-level auto attendant, and integrations with popular apps like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.

· Enterprise: $32.95 per user per month (billed annually) for unlimited users. It includes everything in Professional plus video conferencing for up to 500 participants, unlimited screen sharing, single sign-on, voice analytics, and advanced integrations with apps like Salesforce and HubSpot.

Nextiva also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for all plans.

Nextiva has received many positive reviews from customers who appreciate its ease of use, customer service, call quality, and affordability. Some of the drawbacks that customers have mentioned are its limited customization options, its occasional bugs and errors, and its lack of international calling options.

8x8: Best for medium businesses and up

8x8 is a VoIP provider that specializes in serving medium to large businesses and enterprises. It offers a cloud-based platform that supports voice, video, chat, and contact center solutions.

Some of the features that 8x8 offers are:

· Automatic call distribution: You can route calls to the most appropriate agent based on skills, availability, or priority.

· Interactive voice response: You can create customized menus and prompts to guide callers to the right destination or self-service option.

· Call recording: You can record inbound and outbound calls for quality assurance, training, or compliance purposes.

· Analytics: You can monitor and measure your call center performance with real-time metrics, historical reports, and dashboards.

· Integrations: You can integrate 8x8 with over 50 applications, such as CRM, helpdesk, chat, email, and social media.

8x8 has four pricing plans to choose from:

· Express: $15 per user per month for up to 99 users. It includes unlimited calls within the US and Canada, unlimited video conferencing for up to 100 participants, voicemail-to-email transcription, team messaging, and document sharing.

· X2: $25 per user per month for unlimited users. It includes everything in Express plus unlimited calls to 14 countries, unlimited video conferencing for up to 200 participants, call recording, multi-level auto attendant, and integrations with popular apps like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.

· X4: $45 per user per month for unlimited users. It includes everything in X2 plus unlimited calls to 47 countries, unlimited video conferencing for up to 300 participants, voice analytics, single sign-on, and advanced integrations with apps like Salesforce and Zendesk.

· X6: $110 per user per month for unlimited users. It includes everything in X4 plus unlimited video conferencing for up to 500 participants, unlimited screen sharing, speech analytics, quality management, and workforce management.

8x8 also offers a free trial for all plans.

8x8 has received many positive reviews from customers who value its features, reliability, scalability, and customer support. Some of the drawbacks that customers have mentioned are its high prices compared to some competitors, its complex setup process, and its occasional technical issues.

Vonage: Best for incentives

Vonage is a VoIP provider that offers a cloud-based platform that combines voice, video, chat, and contact center solutions.

Some of the features that Vonage offers are:

· Automatic call distribution: You can route calls to the best available agent based on skills, availability, or priority.

· Interactive voice response: You can create customized menus and prompts to guide callers to the right destination or self-service option.

· Call recording: You can record inbound and outbound calls for quality assurance, training, or compliance purposes.

· Analytics: You can monitor and measure your call center performance with real-time metrics, historical reports, and dashboards.

· Integrations: You can integrate Vonage with over 200 applications, such as CRM, helpdesk, chat, email, and social media.

Vonage does not disclose its pricing plans on its website. You have to request a quote based on your specific needs and preferences. However, some of the incentives that Vonage offers are:

· Free phones: You can get free Polycom VVX150 IP phones when you sign up for a new account with a minimum of two lines.

· Free activation: You can get free activation when you sign up for a new account with a minimum of one line.

· Free trial: You can get a 14-day free trial to test out the features and functionality of Vonage before committing to a plan.

Vonage has received many positive reviews from customers who like its incentives, features, call quality, and customer service. Some of the drawbacks that customers have mentioned are its variable pricing, its occasional outages, and its limited international calling options.

Mitel: Best for mixing and matching plans

Mitel is a VoIP provider that offers a cloud-based platform that supports voice, video, chat, and contact center solutions.

Some of the features that Mitel offers are:

· Automatic call distribution: You can route calls to the most suitable agent based on skills, availability, or priority.

· Interactive voice response: You can create customized menus and prompts to guide callers to the right destination or self-service option.

· Call recording: You can record inbound and outbound calls for quality assurance, training, or compliance purposes.

· Analytics: You can monitor and measure your call center performance with real-time metrics, historical reports, and dashboards.

· Integrations: You can integrate Mitel with over 100 applications, such as CRM, helpdesk, chat, email, and social media.

Mitel has three pricing plans to choose from:

· Essentials: $20.99 per user per month for unlimited users. It includes unlimited calls within the US and Canada, unlimited online faxing, voicemail-to-email transcription, team messaging, and document sharing.

· Premier: $26.59 per user per month for unlimited users. It includes everything in Essentials plus unlimited video conferencing for up to 100 participants, unlimited business SMS, call recording, multi-level auto attendant, and integrations with popular apps like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.

· Elite: $38.49 per user per month for unlimited users. It includes everything in Premier plus video conferencing for up to 200 participants, unlimited screen sharing, single sign-on, voice analytics, and advanced integrations with apps like Salesforce and Zendesk.

Mitel also offers a unique feature that allows you to mix and match plans within your organization. This means that you can assign different plans to different users based on their needs and roles. For example, you can give your agents the Elite plan for better customer service, while giving your managers the Premier plan for better supervision, and giving your executives the Essentials plan for basic communication.

Mitel also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for all plans.

Mitel has received many positive reviews from customers who appreciate its flexibility, features, reliability, and customer support. Some of the drawbacks that customers have mentioned are its high prices compared to some competitors, its complex installation process, and its occasional technical issues.

PanTerra: Best for analytics

PanTerra is a VoIP provider that offers a cloud-based platform that supports voice, video, chat, and contact center solutions.

Some of the features that PanTerra offers are:

· Automatic call distribution: You can route calls to the most appropriate agent based on skills, availability, or priority.

· Interactive voice response: You can create customized menus and prompts to guide callers to the right destination or self-service option.

· Call recording: You can record inbound and outbound calls for quality assurance, training, or compliance purposes.

· Analytics: You can monitor and measure your call center performance with real-time metrics, historical reports, and dashboards.

· Integrations: You can integrate PanTerra with over 50 applications, such as CRM, helpdesk, chat, email, and social media.

PanTerra has two pricing plans to choose from:

· Streams Essentials: $19.95 per user per month for unlimited users. It includes unlimited calls within the US and Canada, unlimited online faxing, voicemail-to-email transcription, team messaging, and document sharing.

· Streams Unlimited: $24.95 per user per month for unlimited users. It includes everything in Streams Essentials plus unlimited video conferencing for up to 100 participants, unlimited business SMS, call recording, multi-level auto attendant, and integrations with popular apps like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.

PanTerra also offers a free trial for both plans.

PanTerra has received many positive reviews from customers who value its analytics, features, call quality, and customer service. Some of the drawbacks that customers have mentioned are its limited customization options, its occasional outages, and its lack of international calling options.

Conclusion

VoIP is a great technology that can improve your call center performance and customer satisfaction. However, not all VoIP providers are the same. You need to consider various factors such as features, pricing, reviews, and incentives when choosing the best VoIP provider for your call center.

We have compared some of the best VoIP providers for call centers based on these criteria. We hope this article has helped you narrow down your options and make an informed decision. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us. We are always happy to help. ���

 


 

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