Comparing the Best Business VoIP Providers

If you are in the market for a hosted call center solution for your business, you may have already noticed that there are many providers ready to compete for your business. And if you’ve been searching for any length of time, you have likely heard of the industry leaders that this article is focused on: 8x8, RingCentral, Five9, and AVOXI.

Finding a number of potential providers is the easy part. What is more difficult is learning the differences between these competitors and deciding which one has the best solution for your specific needs. The focus of this article is to distinguish some key differences between these industry leaders and help you make an educated decision about which company will provide the best services for your business.

Features and Pricing

There is a standard set of call center features you should expect from any business VoIP provider. Those features include: IVR, ACD, call recording, live monitoring, custom historical reporting, remote VPN, and custom caller ID. You can expect those features to be included with any package you purchase from the companies featured in this article.

So the question becomes, in what other ways do these business VoIP providers distinguish themselves from the rest of the competition?

8x8

8x8 is best known for its work with large businesses and advertises itself as an “Enterprise Grade” solution. They offer additional support and training options for certain clients and will work closely with their largest customers to meet their additional support needs.

8x8 considers themselves a to be a premium provider, and the price of their services reflect that. They do not advertise their pricing online, but Capterra notes that they come in at a monthly cost of at least $100 per seat.

RingCentral

If you are looking for an advanced inbound call center solution that includes special outbound features, RingCentral offers an automatic dialer, capable of preview, progressive, and predictive dialing modes, with their “Ultimate” call center plan. RingCentral’s “Ultimate” plan is advertised at a monthly cost of $179 per seat.

Five9

Likewise, Five9 is best known for its “Blended” call center solutions which include an automatic dialer with equivalent features as RingCentral’s offering. Both companies include additional campaign management and outbound reporting features with their blended solutions. Five9 does not advertise prices online, and user reviews on Capterra indicate that there are differing opinions about the affordability of their services. Some reviews note that the monthly fee is affordable, while others say that it is a little pricey.

AVOXI

AVOXI, like 8x8, is catered towards clients that are primarily concerned with inbound call center features. The key difference is AVOXI strives to provide an efficient, economical solution for companies of any size. AVOXI provides all the standard features you should expect from a VoIP provider in a variety of affordable plans. AVOXI’s most advanced solution, Smart Queue Without Limits, is available for as little as $50 per month. AVOXI also offers 24/7 support for customers of any size.

Coverage

One of the main benefits of using VoIP services is how easy it is to expand your global reach. Each of these featured competitors allow you to buy toll free phone phone numbers in over a hundred countries around the globe.

8x8, RingCentral, and AVOXI each maintain office locations in at least four countries, including headquarters in the US. Five9 focuses the majority of its resources in its California location, but also holds an office in Russia and the Philippines. That said, all of these companies work with many telecom providers to offer you virtual phone service in every country where those communications are accessible.

When comparing international call rates, the differences between these companies may seem small. However, a small difference in rates for a particular country can lead to a huge increase in usage costs if you expect a high volume of calls on a monthly basis. AVOXI is very proud of its competitive international rates. International call rates are subject to change due to constantly changing conditions, so be mindful of providers that frequently change their rates as this may have a profound effect on your telecom spending.

Which Business VoIP Provider Is Right for You?

Any one of these business VoIP providers can meet the needs of a wide variety of call centers. That said, they each have their own advantages and drawbacks depending on what sort of service package you are looking for.

If you need a contact center that primarily makes outbound calls, Five9 will have the most specialized solutions for those needs. If you need a platform with inbound features and an automatic dialer, both Five9 and RingCentral’s blended solutions might be a viable option. An enterprise level business that requires additional support reps and training might start their search with 8x8’s offerings. And customers that are looking for all the essential features of hosted cloud contact center for the most competitive price might consider AVOXI’s product offerings.

This article should give you a good idea of where to direct your search efforts based on what kind of hosted cloud solution you need, but of course you should still compare prices and features of as multiple companies to increase your odds of finding the best deal for your business.

Please note: pricing current as of October 2016.