Jeff Hale

Usability

Zoho’s dashboard is user-friendly, thanks to the ability to quickly toggle between classic, personalized and custom homepage views. The upper navigation bar puts many sales-focused tasks, notifications and features at your fingertips, but you can also add components and reorder your page to better suit your needs. The sales agent’s personalized homepage sets the day’s open tasks and leads as the top priority.

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You can configure Zoho CRM’s dashboard to quickly provide visualizations of the data most important to your role. Source: Boosted CRM

Other helpful tools that are easily accessible from the top navigation menu include the “Feeds” notification module. From here, you can communicate with remote team members and share your views to speed up the decision-making process – as if you’re all in the office together. It will also notify you when someone makes changes to a relevant lead or deal you’re following. When utilized properly, this area serves as both a system of record and collaborative space to ensure that remote team members are always working on the same page with the same information. [See our list of the most important features to look for in CRM software.]

You can also use the modular dashboard-building Canvas design studio tool to easily create custom solutions for yourself and other departments across your organization. Users can work from a gallery of templates created by certified designers or browse through Zoho’s list of design partners to develop a custom solution. The drag-and-drop system provides endless homepage combinations, so it won’t take long to cobble together a tailored solution for your business. Once you’ve built your CRM dashboard, you can save it and share it across your team, department, division or company.

Zoho CRM Features

Leads

Leads are the second drop-down menu after “Home” on Zoho’s dashboard navigation menu, letting you know how important it is to Zoho’s functionality. The software collects all of the individuals or representatives of an organization with whom you could potentially convert to a customer.

You can also use the SalesSignals feature to track your leads’ interactions with your brand across multiple channels, such as emails, cold calls, surveys and social campaigns, and get notifications when your lead visits a new section of your website. Details like where your lead is interacting on your website and for how long can provide valuable information to help your sales agents nurture leads into loyal customers.

Motivator

The sales floor can be an exciting atmosphere – something that can be a challenge for remote teams to manage – and Zoho builds on that to take your sales team’s targets, incentives and promotions to new levels of success. Every lead generated, call made and deal closed turns into trophies and badges to create a competitive sales atmosphere – no matter where your team takes calls.

Features such as pop-up notifications can keep your teams on their toes and let them know how close they are to reaching their daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or annual goals.

Artificial Intelligence

Zia, an AI-powered assistant available at the top two tiers, can help your team collect customer data, write documents and find helpful information such as sales numbers to make everyone’s job easier. Zia analyzes when each client usually opens emails, answers calls or visits your website, and then suggests the best time to contact them. The intelligent assistant can also streamline your sales efforts by predicting which deals are most likely to close soon, letting your team members focus on those deals and delegate tasks accordingly.

Add-ons and Integrations

Each of the four paid subscription bundles includes the option to integrate with popular third-party software and apps for online meetings, team collaboration, telephony, productivity, storage, analytics, email marketing, customer service, finance, business operations and website visitor tracking. You’ll find tools for Zoom, GoTo Meeting, Slack, Trello, Dropbox, Google Analytics, Mailchimp, Zendesk and QuickBooks. [Learn more in our review of QuickBooks.]

Zoho CRM Pricing

Zoho offers transparent pricing based on monthly and annual terms with savings of up to 34 percent for annual subscribers. There are four stand-alone CRM service options, which range in price from $14 to $52 per monthly user when billed annually. Free trials are available for each subscription level.

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Choose from Zoho’s eight apps to build the perfect sales and marketing platform for your organization’s requirements. Source: Zoho

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• Standard\n
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  • Pricing: $14 per user per month when billed annually
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  • Additional features: Automated workflows, custom dashboards, 250 daily bulk emails, prospect scoring, sales forecasting, email insights, reminders, 50 custom modules, HIPAA compliance, 1GB of file storage plus 512MB per user
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• Professional\n
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  • Pricing: $23 per user per month when billed annually
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  • Additional features: Real-time sales notifications, blueprint business processes, inventory management, validation rules, web-to-case forms, up to 10GB of data storage and 500 mass emails per day
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• Enterprise (most popular)\n
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  • Pricing: $40 per user per month when billed annually
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  • Additional features: Zia AI, customer journey command center, Canvas visual CRM view, advanced customization, mobile software development kit and mobile device management, up to 15GB of data storage, two web forms, multiuser portals, 1,000 mass emails per day
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• Ultimate\n
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  • Pricing: $52 per user per month when billed annually
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  • Additional features: Advanced business intelligence and analytics software, 5GB of file storage, up to 30GB of data storage, 10 web forms, higher feature limits across the system, 2,000 mass emails per day
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Zoho also offers two bundle options in CRM Flex and CRM Plus. The Flex option, which includes the Standard CRM, starts at $14 per month for two users and lets you add additional Zoho products like Zoho Desk for customer service and Zoho Social for social media marketing for an additional fee. With Flex, you can design a Zoho platform that suits your business needs. The all-in-one Plus plan costs $57 per month for two users and comes with all eight of Zoho’s product offerings including its sales CRM, Zoho Survey, Zoho Projects and Zoho SalesIQ.

Setup

Zoho customers are provided with personalized onboarding help through a specialist. Your support specialist will walk you through your tailored implementation plan in a series of one-on-one meetings to help you set up and configure the platform to your needs.

If you require any additional help or prefer to hand the implementation over to Zoho, the company offers a “jump-start” service that costs between $2,000 and $8,000, with 10 to 40 hours of work done by a dedicated expert.

Customer Service

Zoho has Basic, Classic, Premium and Enterprise customer service plans. The Classic plan is free and includes live chat and toll-free support eight hours a day, five days a week. The Premium option, which costs 20 percent of your license fee, adds remote assistance, product onboarding, configuration assistance and 24-hour support five days a week. The Enterprise option costs 25 percent of your license fee and provides support within one hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It also gives you access to a technical account manager and quarterly reporting with recommendations.

Zoho has an impressive resource list for its customers, including free training webinars and paid courses for administrators, developers, sales reps and sales managers. It also has e-books, guided step-by-step tutorials, useful tips and a self-service request portal. You can also request a concierge to serve as a personalized consultant for any questions you have.

Drawbacks

Zoho’s standout features, such as Zia AI and unlimited customization, are not available unless they are bundled with many other features. While Zoho provides a great set of basic tools for free, there is a large gap between the lower- and upper-tier options, pushing most customers to a high-priced bundle. Standard data and file storage may also feel low for some businesses.

Customer support could be incredibly expensive for larger organizations, as the price would be a significant percentage of their license fee. The free support provided by the entry-level bundle provides basic support during business hours. However, the potential of having to wait until the next day for a response could spell disaster for some companies should an emergency arise. These types of service options are similar to what some of the other CRM solutions we looked into offer, such as the one in our Salesforce review and Salesforce comparison.

Methodology

Our editorial team and contributing writers considered all of the major CRM software providers in 2024 for review. After spending many hours participating in live product demos and testing each platform, we created a list of our favorite CRM systems to help small business owners and managers choose the best CRM for their needs. In our review of CRM systems, we considered factors like tools and features, overall cost, usability, and integrations in our reviews. We also considered a range of different use cases common to many small businesses and selected the service we found to be the best fit for each. For the best CRM system for remote teams, we considered in-app communications features, alerts and notifications, and features that can help bring hybrid and remote teams closer together.

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Overall Value

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We recommend Zoho CRM for …

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• Small businesses looking to implement their first unified CRM solution.
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• Any business with a sales-focused model that wants to gamify the selling process to build camaraderie and competitiveness across remote teams.
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• Midsize businesses that want to streamline their sales processes with helpful organization and insights from an AI-powered assistant.
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We don’t recommend Zoho CRM for …

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• Small businesses without a tech-savvy staff member to handle issues.
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• Small and midsize businesses that want to pay for certain core and premium features only.
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\n"}},{"_index":"wp-index-bnd-prod-content","_type":"content","_id":"5661","_score":2,"_source":{"canonical":"https://vaylees.com/non-fixed-voip","displayModified":"2024-10-21T18:21:40Z","docType":"article","editorsPick":false,"href":"non-fixed-voip","id":"5661","ID":5661,"isSponsored":false,"published":"2022-04-27T19:55:23Z","site":"bnd","stream":"A non-fixed VoIP system is a great way to communicate with customers without being tied to a physical location. Here's everything you need to know.","subtitle":"A non-fixed VoIP system is a great way to communicate with customers without being tied to a physical location. Here's everything you need to know.","title":"What Is Non-Fixed VoIP?","author":{"displayName":"Jeff Hale","email":"ucijeff@gmail.com","thumbnail":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/04/04072059/jeffhale_photo.jpg","type":"Senior Analyst"},"channels":{"primary":{"name":"Grow Your Business","slug":"grow-your-business"},"sub":{"name":"Technology","slug":"technology"}},"meta":{"robots":"index, follow","description":"Find out how non-fixed VoIP phone systems help small businesses communicate without the need for a physical location."},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/04/04082149/phone_Deagreez_getty.jpg","caption":"Deagreez / Getty Images","alt":"Businesswoman talking on the phone"},"content":"\n

Many small businesses operate with remote or hybrid teams, especially when the business is new and looking to save on overhead expenses wherever possible. But even if you don’t have a central location, you’ll want the buttoned-up appearance that a business phone line offers. This lends credibility and legitimacy to your business, whether you’re dealing with partners or customers — that’s where a non-fixed VoIP system comes in. Read on to learn more about how these tools have become a staple of all the best business phone systems and how they could benefit your business.

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What is VoIP?

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Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also known as “IP telephony,” is a technology primarily used to deliver voice communications in packets of data over the internet. With non-fixed VoIP, you can communicate on a phone through an internet connection instead of through physical wiring (like a landline). This lends itself well to small businesses without physical locations. Instead of communicating through a desk phone or another type of phone tied to a particular location, you can make and receive calls from anywhere through a mobile phone, computer or tablet.

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Non-fixed VoIP systems offer additional flexibility by being able to provide multiple non-fixed VoIP numbers to use on different devices. When you have multiple non-fixed VoIP numbers set up, you can digitally connect them to form a virtual phone system for your business. This way, you can build a communication infrastructure for your operations without physical setup costs, which may be cumbersome for new or small businesses. There are a number of pros and cons to weigh when determining the best business phone systems for VoIP services for your business, employees and customers.

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What is a non-fixed VoIP phone number?

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A non-fixed VoIP number is often referred to as a “virtual phone number.” They can be assigned to a specific user or device as opposed to a physical address, which is required for fixed VoIP lines and landlines.

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All you need to get a virtual phone number is an email address and sometimes a payment method, which might be all your business has in place at first. This low barrier to entry makes a virtual phone number far easier to obtain than a fixed VoIP number or a traditional landline. Even better, in some instances, non-fixed VoIP phone numbers don’t require payment, making them even simpler to get and use.

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What’s more, non-fixed numbers can be created with any area code, which can give callers on the other end the impression that you have a local presence. The familiar local area code increases the likelihood that a customer or sales lead will answer your call. [Find out more reasons why VoIP makes sense for businesses.]

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“This service is usually set up and connected to mobile apps or desktop software and is functional anywhere you have an internet connection,” said Rocco Tironi, a senior voice engineer at Planet Networks.

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What is the difference between a fixed VoIP and a non-fixed VoIP system?

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The biggest difference between a fixed VoIP and a non-fixed VoIP system is the requirement of a physical address for the fixed option.

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“A non-fixed VoIP system commonly refers to a cloud-based voice solution that is not restricted to a single device,” said Blake Haydon, vice president, technical sales and lifecycle management at AT&T Business. “This system is most often used as an application on a mobile device, desk phone or any device a user requires access.”

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“In contrast,” Haydon notes, “fixed VoIP systems are typically on-premise solutions that are tied to a specific physical address, with phone numbers associated directly with a device, such as a desk phone.”

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Both allow calling through the internet, but you still need an actual location for fixed VoIPs. In contrast, businesses with a non-fixed VoIP phone number or system don’t need to be tied down to a specific location. You might find this flexibility helpful if you’re self-employed and want to be able to work from anywhere.

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Non-fixed VoIP calling also differs from fixed VoIP in the way the phone number is assigned. In a non-fixed scenario, your VoIP number, or “virtual number,” is assigned to you and can be used to make and receive VoIP phone calls from anywhere in the world as long as the user has a decent internet connection. With a fixed VoIP service, your phone number is assigned to a physical location — think of a traditional landline phone setup.

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As far as the person on the other end of the line is concerned, both VoIP calling options provide clear and reliable communications as long as there is a strong internet connection to support the non-VoIP side of the call.

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\n Feature \n	\n Fixed VoIP system \n	\n Non-fixed VoIP system \n
\n Physical address \n	\n Yes \n	\n No \n
\n Area code \n	\n Assigned based on associated address \n	\n Selected to match user’s desired location \n
\n Location services \n	\n Easy to use and reliable \n	\n Difficult to use \n
\n Requires legacy telephone system connection \n	\n Yes \n	\n No \n
\n Usability with emergency services \n	\n Yes \n	\n Difficult to use based on lack of physical address associated with number \n
\n Can be used remotely \n	\n No, tied to physical location \n	\n Yes, can be tied to any mobile device and used on the go \n
\n Ease of scalability \n	\n Requires working with an administrator to request additional numbers and lines \n	\n Allows for easy addition, deletion and change of numbers across devices \n
\n Call quality \n	\n Typically high; based on the quality of the internet connection at the number’s physical location \n	\n Variable; based on the quality of the internet connection wherever a user may be calling from \n

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Overall, non-fixed VoIP systems can offer several advantages over fixed systems for small businesses, depending on their needs.

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“These systems allow for flexibility to bring your business with you anywhere in the world,” said Tironi. There is minimal hardware setup needed. Generally, a mobile phone, tablet or computer is all that is needed and because of this, the cost can be significantly less compared to a fixed VoIP setup.”

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Who typically uses a non-fixed VoIP?

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Call centers, managed service providers, messenger apps and businesses with remote workforces all frequently use non-fixed VoIP systems to make phone calls. So do many small and new businesses; these companies don’t typically need to spring for a physical or wired phone system.

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“A non-fixed VoIP system can be especially beneficial for certain types of users,” Tironi said. “Remote workers, employees who travel and are not tied to a specific physical location, and budget conscious people will all get a lot from a non-fixed VoIP system. Real estate agents, sales people, field workers and remote call-center employees are a few examples”.

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The ability to quickly build an international customer service and support team without paying the significant overhead for multiple office buildings and business phone systems across the globe makes this flexible option incredibly useful and cost-efficient. This prospect might not be top of mind for your business at first, but non-fixed VoIP introduces this possibility without huge price tags.

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The option to spread your staff across the country or worldwide also increases the speed at which you can build and staff a large virtual call center without relying on job applicants in one location near a physical office.

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Messenger apps that use the internet to connect phone calls and send both MMS and SMS messages also use non-fixed VoIP to handle voice communications. Apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Google Voice and Skype rely on non-fixed VoIP numbers to handle voice communication from within the app.

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What are the pros and cons of non-fixed VoIP numbers?

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Non-fixed VoIP numbers are easy to attain, move and set up through any number of VoIP service providers. Their low barriers to entry and flexible features have made them equally useful for small businesses and for scammers engaged in fraudulent activities. Here are the biggest pros and cons of this kind of phone system.

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Pros

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• You can call from anywhere. These phone numbers are not tied to a specific address and can therefore be assigned with any area code to provide the appearance of a local presence. This means your call recipient will always see a local number on their caller ID when you contact them, regardless of where you are.
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• You can set them up quickly. Beyond the simplicity of getting your first number, it’s also very easy to add and remove additional virtual phone numbers. Companies with seasonal businesses or those adding new employees can easily expand their virtual call centers and sales floor capabilities at a moment’s notice without worrying about committing to a long-term contract for phone services or other costly overhead required with a physical office.
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• They come with lower initial costs. Unlike fixed VoIP systems, non-fixed systems typically come with significantly lower initial setup costs, according to Haydon. This can make them attractive to SMBs looking to minimize upfront investments into extensive hardware installations or dedicated infrastructure.
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• Rearrangements are easy. Changing the assigned user with a non-fixed VoIP number is very easy. This means HR professionals and managers can quickly reassign phone numbers to new users and devices as such need arises.
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• They offer substantial flexibility between devices. Non-fixed VoIP systems also offer the ease and flexibility of transferring a non-fixed number between devices, Haydon notes. This allows for users to maintain seamless communication between mobile phones, VoIP-enabled desk phone systems or any other supported device. Multiple devices can also be registered at the same time to the same non-fixed number, allowing users to maintain consistent communications regardless of device.
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Cons

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• Scammers use them a lot. The biggest knock against non-fixed VoIP numbers has nothing to do with the technology itself. It’s that these numbers are both too easy to get in some situations and don’t require the level of personal information that could be used to identify the owner in the case of fraud or other crimes. Additionally, due to their frequent use for robocalling and other phone-based scams, many spam blockers will filter or flag virtual phone numbers to protect users on the other end.
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• They’re bad for emergency situations. When you call 911 with a non-fixed number that’s not tied to a physical address, your call may not be routed to the correct emergency dispatch center. Because non-fixed VoIP calls cannot be easily traced, getting emergency services, such as the fire department or police, to your location may be difficult. If your company uses non-fixed VoIP numbers, it’s important to let your staff know to always use their personal numbers on their mobile phones to contact emergency services.
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• You can’t use them in all situations. Many organizations consider these numbers unreliable for official communication. That means you may not be able to use your virtual phone number as a key point of contact on an account for anything significant, such as banking and other business services.
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• Risk of theft. As non-fixed VoIP systems are linked to mobile devices, they can be significantly easier for connected devices to be misplaced or stolen, Tironi notes. This could pose significant security risks, allowing anyone who is able to access a device to be able to access an organization’s business phone system.
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• Regulatory challenges. The majority of the perceived disadvantages for non-fixed VoIP systems have largely been mitigated, according to Haydon. He notes, however, regulations could still pose a challenge: “Specific business use cases and regulatory requirements may necessitate the use of fixed VoIP systems, which often provide more robust solutions for compliance and reporting, critical for industries that are heavily regulated.”
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Multiple VoIP and business phone services and systems offer both fixed and non-fixed VoIP services. As you consider the best business phone systems for your needs, consider how your business is set up and what elements of a phone system best fit your needs.

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Keep in mind, though, that some services will offer a hybrid fixed and non-fixed system, allowing for businesses to maximize their coverage.

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“This is a common setup for many small businesses,” Tironi notes. “This allows businesses to take their in-office sales, support, billing and all other types of calls wherever they are.”

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Haydon agrees, though he noted that creating a hybrid system “requires careful design considerations.”

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“Businesses often face the decision of whether to replace their fixed system with a non-fixed VoIP system to meet the needs of mobile or traveling employees without the complexity of integrating both systems,” said Haydon. “However, integration can be achieved and is sometimes necessary due to specific business requirements. When properly designed, this hybrid approach can extend VoIP functionality seamlessly from an established office setup to mobile devices, ensuring continuity and flexibility in communication.”

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What are the pros and cons of fixed VoIP numbers?

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Still not sold on a non-fixed VoIP number for your business? Fixed VoIP phone numbers provide a few very strong advantages over their fully virtual counterparts with minimal added expense. In fact, their requirement to be tied to a physical location brings several valuable benefits, although some cons do remain.

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Pros

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• Authenticity: There is a higher level of trust associated with a phone number tied to a physical location. Fixed VoIP phone numbers can project credibility and will have an easier time bypassing spam filters designed to block unwanted phone calls.
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• Location services: Fixed VoIP phone numbers are assigned to physical locations with specific addresses. This means any emergency calls made to 911 will be routed to the correct call center for proper dispatch. It also means calls can potentially be traced in fraud cases, which are a realistic prospect for small businesses. Payment fraud is particularly common.
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• Advanced features: Fixed VoIP phone numbers and service providers can include more options for special features, such as audio and video conferencing, SMS and MMS, and online faxing. Although your business might not need all the services that come with a full-scale phone system, these features are beneficial for companies of all ages and sizes. They make it easier to communicate with clients while tracking their progress and results more efficiently.
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Cons

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• Physical address: Your phone number’s area code must match your company’s physical location. While many virtual businesses may be able to use the home address of the company’s owner or a P.O. box as their physical address, some financial institutions and other companies will not accept a P.O. box as a physical address.
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• More expensive setup: These systems require more time to install and are therefore typically more costly to set up. In comparison, most non-fixed VoIP services don’t have any setup fees and will allow you to bring your old desktop phone equipment if possible.
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• International calling cost: While not the case with every provider, long-distance and international calling typically cost more with fixed VoIP. However, in many international calling situations, a fixed VoIP number or traditional landline is the only way to reach callers in other countries due to strict spam blockers designed to protect end users from scams. For companies that handle both international and domestic calls, it can make sense to use both fixed and non-fixed VoIP numbers, depending on the specific situation.
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Why does VoIP matter?

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Communication is paramount in a small business. Whether you’re keeping in touch with employees or reaching out to customers, it’s important to have open, reliable lines of communication. For many companies, that means relying on non-fixed VoIP to talk via phone regardless of location. Whether you ultimately decide to go with fixed or non-fixed VoIP, make sure everyone on your team knows proper phone etiquette. That’s essential for small businesses regardless of which phone system you choose.

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Jeremy Bender contributed to this article.

\n"}},{"_index":"wp-index-bnd-prod-content","_type":"content","_id":"31357","_score":2,"_source":{"canonical":"https://vaylees.com/zendesk-review","displayModified":"2024-03-05T23:20:15Z","docType":"review","editorsPick":null,"href":"zendesk-review","id":"31357","ID":31357,"isSponsored":false,"published":"2023-07-20T17:38:49Z","site":"bnd","stream":"","subtitle":"","title":"Zendesk Review and Pricing Plans","author":{"displayName":"Jeff Hale","email":"ucijeff@gmail.com","thumbnail":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/04/04072059/jeffhale_photo.jpg","type":"Senior Analyst"},"channels":{"primary":{"name":"Find A Solution","slug":"find-a-solution"},"sub":{"name":"Marketing Solutions","slug":"marketing-solutions"}},"meta":{"robots":"index, follow","description":"Learn how Zendesk can modernize your sales department and maximize productivity with a visual pipeline that’s dedicated to growing your revenue."},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/08/01035345/1200px-Zendesk_logo.png","caption":"","alt":"Zendesk company logo"},"content":"\n \n\n\n\n

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• Zendesk Sell plans start at $19 per agent per month.
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• Zendesk Sell works well with Zendesk Suite to connect customer service and ticketing data with the customer relationship management (CRM) tools.
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• Zendesk has nearly 1,500 integrations in its app marketplace.
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• This review is for business owners and professionals who are searching for a sales-focused CRM platform like Zendesk.
  
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Zendesk Sell is the sales-focused version of the company’s popular service and ticketing platform. This customer relationship management (CRM) system is designed to help teams streamline the sales process through pipeline visibility, and it provides the tools that salespeople need to grow revenue. The platform is built for productivity: It includes sales sequences that can automatically engage leads and expand your outreach, as well as sales triggers that can automate your workflow and make sure customers get the attention they need. When combined with Suite, the company’s service and ticketing platform, the Zendesk becomes an effective tool for managing every stage of the customer lifecycle.

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Why We Chose Zendesk as the Best CRM for Complete Customer Life Cycle

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Zendesk began and grew as a complete service solution and ticketing platform. The company’s newer sales-focused CRM is built on the same philosophy of providing efficient, personalized customer experiences to grow revenue. Features such as sales forecasting provide a clear picture of predicted revenue or the lifetime value of a new customer to help you determine which opportunities to prioritize. With a growing list of almost 1,500 available integrations through the app marketplace, you’ll be able to streamline your sales process with the business software you already use daily for marketing automation, billing and internal communications.

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Additional features, like sales triggers and sequences, can help you automate administrative work, freeing you to give your customers your full attention. We particularly liked how Zendesk Suite and Sell worked together to support lead generation, dead lead revival and lead qualification. By joining the customer service and CRM platforms together, Zendesk enables your team to provide a tailored sales experience and turn your leads into loyal customers with an exceptional post-sales support experience.

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Admins can build sales triggers to automate specific parts of the workflow, thereby reducing tedious tasks for sales reps. Source: Zendesk

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Usability

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The home dashboard’s drag-and-drop widgets make Zendesk easy to customize for anyone with experience using a CRM for sales. If you’re new to this type of platform, you can use the many “Learn more” buttons in the widget selector to see more about each option and build the best dashboard for your requirements.

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In addition to selecting widgets for your home dashboard, you can resize them and add filters for a truly custom view. Your daily sales workflow is built around your assigned tasks, which could include cold calling, follow-up emails or new-deal creation. Instead of treating your tasks as a static to-do list, you’ll “play” them through the Task Player. This focused work mode provides you with all of the context you’ll need for your group of tasks, such as your lead’s active notes, experience with your product and previous conversation history.

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Zendesk makes it easy to customize your dashboard with a wide range of valuable information displayed in a way that makes sense for you. Source: Zendesk

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Zendesk Features

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\n Prospecting and enrichment \n	\n Strengthen your leads and contacts by adding full profiles and replacing out-of-date information. \n
\n Integrations \n	\n Access more than 1,000 free software integrations. \n
\n Smart lists and templates \n	\n Build customized lists to identify your most valuable leads. \n
\n Power dialer \n	\n Create an automatically dialed call list in your Sell account. \n
\n Zendesk Suite Integration \n	\n Zendesk Sell seamlessly integrates with Zendesk Suite, the platform’s customer service and help desk solution. \n

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Prospecting and Enrichment

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Most Zendesk plans include a limited number of monthly prospecting and enrichment credits. You can use these credits to generate valuable data about an existing lead — such as the company size, phone number and market capitalization — to help build a comprehensive profile. If you don’t have any information about a lead or contact, you can use a prospecting credit to identify a point of contact for your initial outreach. You can also enrich your leads one at a time or in bulk with up to 1,000 people or companies at one time. The feature is powered by Clearbit, a data engine for customer interactions that draws from more than 44 million businesses and 50 million prospect records.

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Integrations

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Zendesk has one of the largest app marketplaces, with nearly 1,500 available software integrations, and most are free to install and use. Although most of the integrations were introduced to bolster Zendesk’s service product, you’ll find more than 100 sales-specific apps to enhance your platform’s features across categories such as lead generation, quoting, billing, social media and productivity. Most Zendesk plans include premium API access for syncing and the ability to add private custom applications that you can develop for the Zendesk Apps framework.

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You can customize your CRM with native and third-party software applications from Zendesk’s marketplace. Source: Zendesk

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Smart Lists

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This feature lets you filter your leads by a wide variety of criteria, such as the date the leads were added to your system, their place in your sales pipeline or their potential value as a customer. As you generate new leads, your smart lists will automatically add the appropriate contacts based on the criteria you’ve selected. You can also create a smart list template to share with others at your organization. With an active lead-generation strategy in place, you can easily filter new leads and identify the hottest ones that deserve your immediate attention. This helpful productivity feature is available with all Zendesk plans.

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Organize your leads with a variety of criteria to help you identify where you should spend your time for the biggest sales impact. Source: Zendesk

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Power Dialer

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According to Zendesk, 48% of salespeople never attempt follow-up calls — which is a lost opportunity, given that 80% of sales require five follow-up calls to be successful. Speed also plays an important role: Salespeople who contact prospects less than an hour after they receive a query are 60 times more likely to qualify a lead than those who wait 24 hours or longer to contact the prospect. When an agent is available, the power dialer will immediately dial the next number on an assigned contact list and provide agents with relevant context from the call recipient’s contact card. You can customize your power dialer with countdown timers and notepad icons to ensure you have time to review your scripts before the call begins. This feature comes standard with the Sell Professional and Sell Enterprise plans.

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Zendesk Suite integration

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Zendesk Suite is a separate solution with an additional subscription cost, but in our opinion is well worth the added expense. Sell and Suite seamlessly integrate to create a close connection between customer service and sales. By connecting the data from all customer service interactions directly to the CRM software, Zendesk grants your team insight into the entire customer journey. By understanding customer pain points and analyzing feedback in this way and storing it in the CRM this way, your agents can boost customer satisfaction. With a clearer connection to your existing customers, your marketing and sales teams can also more effectively pitch your products and services to the right target audience. We found this combination helpful for both building customer loyalty while generating and nurturing leads to grow your business.

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Zendesk Cost

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Zendesk offers monthly and annual payment options for each of its four sales-focused CRM products, with discounts of around 30% for annual subscribers, depending on the plan you choose. In addition to Zendesk Sell, the company offers a basic service-focused platform that starts at $19 per agent per month and a service suite that starts at $49 per user per month. While you cannot mix and match plans within your company, you can switch your plan at any time. None of the Zendesk Sell plans come with a minimum or maximum number of seats.

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\n Plan \n	\n Starting price (per user per month) \n	\n Features \n
\n Team \n	\n $19 \n	\n Two sales pipelines, custom deals, single sign-on, sales triggers, tasks, calendar integration, email tracking, text messaging, 50 minutes of talk time, call recording, offline mobile access, public apps and integrations, pre-built reporting dashboards, 2GB of document storage, duplicate detection, required fields, smart lists and online support \n
\n Growth \n	\n $49 \n	\n Everything in Sell Team, plus 10 sales pipelines, product and price book, round robin distribution, 50 sales sequences, 1,000 enrichment credits, 25 prospecting credits, company phone number, bulk emailing, unlimited email templates, premium API access, custom apps, advanced reporting, sales forecasting, scheduled reporting and 5GB of document storage \n
\n Professional (most popular) \n	\n $99 \n	\n Everything in Sell Growth, plus 20 sales pipelines, lead and deal scoring, 300 sales sequences, task automation, custom notifications, 3,500 enrichment credits, 150 prospecting credits, automated power dialer, call scripts and 10GB of document storage \n
\n Enterprise \n	\n $150 \n	\n Everything in Sell Professional, plus unlimited sales pipelines, unlimited sequences, 10,000 enrichment credits, 300 prospecting credits, direct dial phone and 25GB of document storage \n

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If you want to combine Zendesk’s CRM capabilities with data on every customer service interaction your team has, you’ll also need a subscription to Zendesk Suite. This is a monthly cost on top of Zendesk Sell and is available in the following plans:

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• Team: Priced at $55 per agent per month, the Team level of Suite provides your business with a ticketing system, help center, standard chatbots and an analytics dashboard that are well worth the price tag for businesses that want to get serious about customer service.
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• Growth: At $89 per agent per month, the Growth tier expands on Team’s core offerings with a customer self service portal, service level agreements (SLAs), and customer satisfaction ratings, helping you better understand each customer as an individual.
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• Professional: For $115 per agent per month, Suite becomes a powerful tool that includes artificial intelligence (AI) add-ons that provide advanced bots with the ability to provide intelligent insights and suggestions to enhance decision making. This tier is also HIPAA compliant, making it suitable for healthcare organizations to use as a customer service platform.
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• Enterprise: Contact a sales representative for a quote on a custom solution that suits your unique circumstances.
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Zendesk Setup

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The average CRM onboarding and implementation process can take anywhere from a few days for a new business to more than a month for a large business that’s migrating a lot of customer and sales pipeline data. Small businesses will get the setup started from an admin account and can expect the process to take about two weeks to finish and another couple of weeks to learn how to navigate effectively. Large businesses can speed up the process with the Professional Services add-on, which includes data migration and configuration, with a custom price quote.

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Ensure your team understands how to measure success and improve efficiency through one of Zendesk’s on-demand courses. Source: Zendesk

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To help lower the learning curve for setting up and running your CRM, Zendesk offers a deep catalog of on-demand training, credentialing and certification programs. Through these courses, you can learn about onboarding, platform adoption, platform optimization and more. The courses are organized by role for admins, agents, developers, analysts and sales teams.

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Zendesk Customer Service

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All Zendesk Sell plans come with online access to customer support during your business hours. Zendesk offers three paid add-ons to upgrade your support. The Premier service plan adds 24/7 support, a one-hour response time guarantee, proactive monitoring and designated support team oversight. You can also add a technical account manager to bring consistency across your technology projects, including a roadmap to optimize your CRM. For large corporations, the Professional Services add-on provides platform configuration, solution design and consulting services for data migration, and custom apps. Zendesk does not list the pricing for its service add-ons.

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Zendesk Drawbacks

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Zendesk’s limited customer support availability and methods of contact fall short of its competitors’ offerings, most of which provide 24/7 customer support with their middle- and upper-tier plans. Even the most expensive Zendesk plan, Sell Enterprise, requires a paid add-on for 24/7 phone support, which is a standard feature with most other top-tier CRM plans. Without transparent pricing for these service add-ons, it’s difficult to accurately compare Zendesk with other platforms in this area.

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In addition, reporting and analytics for the entry-level Team plan are very limited, with only pre-built sales reports. Team users also have to wait 24 hours for data to be refreshed and cannot share their dashboards with other users. The platform is also missing key reporting tools, like goal tracking and scheduled report delivery.

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Methodology

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Our editorial team and contributing writers considered all of the major CRM software providers for our review. After performing our initial research into each platform, we selected 13 of the leading CRM solutions based on what they’re best for, and took a deeper dive into the following available today for small businesses: Salesforce, monday Sales CRM, Freshsales, Zoho, Oracle NetSuite, HubSpot, Pipedrive and Zendesk. After spending many hours participating in live product demos and testing each platform, we identified the best use cases for 13 providers to help small businesses owners and managers choose the best CRM for their needs. We also took a deeper dive with nine of our top performers, providing greater insight into the CRM features and tools that separate these CRMs from the competition.

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Zendesk’s products provide businesses with all of the tools needed to reach more qualified prospects in less time, enrich contact data to identify the decision-makers, automate email sequences to engage with efficiency, and follow up with post-sales support to build loyalty and turn leads into lifelong customers.

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Overall Value

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We recommend Zendesk for …

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• Businesses that already use a Zendesk product to manage their customer service requests.
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• Businesses that want to customize their CRM with native, third-party and custom integrations.
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• Sales teams that spend a large portion of their time making phone calls.
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We don’t recommend Zendesk for …

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• Large businesses that don’t want to pay extra for 24/7 customer service and phone support.
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• Small businesses that want more than very basic reporting and analytics with an entry-level service plan.
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• Large enterprises that expect to receive a per-user discount when buying a significant number of accounts.
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\n"}},{"_index":"wp-index-bnd-prod-content","_type":"content","_id":"31237","_score":2,"_source":{"canonical":"https://vaylees.com/pipedrive-review","displayModified":"2024-04-01T13:56:48Z","docType":"review","editorsPick":null,"href":"pipedrive-review","id":"31237","ID":31237,"isSponsored":false,"published":"2023-07-19T20:31:21Z","site":"bnd","stream":"","subtitle":"","title":"Pipedrive Review","author":{"displayName":"Jeff Hale","email":"ucijeff@gmail.com","thumbnail":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/04/04072059/jeffhale_photo.jpg","type":"Senior Analyst"},"channels":{"primary":{"name":"Find A Solution","slug":"find-a-solution"},"sub":{"name":"Marketing Solutions","slug":"marketing-solutions"}},"meta":{"robots":"index, follow","description":"Learn how Pipedrive CRM can help you track customer data and manage your entire sales process."},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2021/05/26123950/pipedrive-logo.jpg","caption":"","alt":"Pipedrive logo"},"content":"\n \n\n\n\n

Most customer relationship management (CRM) platforms are designed to serve the differing needs of sales, marketing and customer service professionals. However, Pipedrive CRM was created as a sales-first CRM to meet the needs of sales teams without compromise. The process-focused platform utilizes a Kanban card system to provide a visual overview of every deal in your system, and it updates sales forecasts each time a deal moves down the sales funnel. Automatic alerts and reminders help keep sales teams on track and managers up to date, while artificial intelligence (AI) tools identify the best opportunities to close deals. Pipedrive gives sales teams the tools they need to nurture leads and empowers salespeople to collaborate for an overall optimized sales process.

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Why We Chose Pipedrive CRM as the Best CRM for Visual Sales Pipelines

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Although not every company wants a sales-focused CRM platform, those that do will appreciate the features and user experience provided by Pipedrive. The entire platform is built around a visual sales pipeline that can provide anyone at the company with an immediate and accurate view of every deal at every stage. Features such as revenue projection show each deal’s value and progress through the sales pipeline; monthly totals indicate where attention is needed most. You can also filter your views to drill down into specific time frames, departments, categories, business units and individuals on your sales team to make sure the right members of your staff are working on your biggest deals.

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With a full set of active automations running in the background, simple adjustments — like changing the status of a contact from “warm lead” to “customer” — can trigger a list of necessary tasks. For example, you can share documents with a client, get notified when documents are opened, and close the deal with e-signatures. When you pair these features with group emailing that’s available at some subscription levels, you can launch up to 100 emails per group directly from your CRM dashboard.

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See your projected revenue at a glance with green status bars that indicate how far each deal has moved through your pipeline. Source: Pipedrive

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Usability

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The helpful templates and drag-and-drop elements within the sales pipeline make Pipedrive very easy to use and manage on a basic level. However, implementing and mastering the advanced features, such as automations and revenue forecasting, are a bit more complex. Experienced sales teams and managers with a deep understanding of the sales process in their industry or market will have a much easier time customizing the platform to meet their requirements. If you don’t know exactly what you need in a sales pipeline, Pipedrive’s array of options could be overwhelming. In addition to maintaining a centralized customer database with a full history of calls, emails, meetings and notes, Pipedrive includes simple web forms that you can use to generate quality leads from your website. We liked that you can begin to segment new leads with active automations and engage them with fully automated lead-qualification flows and customer-relationship-nurturing sequences.

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This view shows a list of lessons in Pipedrive’s Sales Pipeline course, which is one of nine available academy courses. Source: Pipedrive

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We also really like Pipedeive’s virtual training programs and online video courses, which help users make the most of their CRM. The course catalog includes dozens of lessons that teach you how to use the software, manage sales teams, sell more effectively, market through email and make sales results easier to predict.

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Pipedrive Features

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\n Rotting \n	\n Stay aware of idle deals in your pipeline by using Pipedrive’s rotting feature. \n
\n Deal filters \n	\n Find unique deal opportunities and manage your team effectively thanks to the software’s wide array of deal filters. \n
\n Automation builder \n	\n Automate repetitive tasks to help you save time and improve efficiency. \n
\n Group emailing \n	\n Send templated bulk emails to anyone on your list at any stage in your pipeline. \n

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Rotting

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Pipedrive’s rotting feature allows you to set specific time frames for the deals you want to see completed, and it passively alerts you when a solid lead begins to slip away due to inactivity. After a set period, you’ll know your deal has begun to rot by the red color in the deal pipeline. Like many of Pipedrive’s tools, the rotting feature adds another visual element to your sales pipeline to provide everyone at your organization with an immediate and digestible view of all deals in progress for the whole company or a specific member of your sales team.

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Once a deal has rotted, you can schedule a new activity for that deal or edit details such as the expected close date and deal value. Taking a second look at a deal that failed to close can allow you to approach it under different circumstances to increase your chance of closing it.

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This screen shows the deal rotting feature, with examples of an eight- or one-day time frame. Source: Pipedrive

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Deal Filters

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Pipedrive’s visual sales pipelines are focused on making sales through deals. With an abundance of custom fields, the deal filter lets you see all of your open deals that are worth at least $10,000 and are tied to one of your social media channels. You can use the expansive criteria to segment your deals or find different types of opportunities to capitalize on. Managers can use this feature to check on all warm leads that have not been followed up on, to ensure their teams are working effectively. You can also filter by individual rep to make sure staff members are updating their deals in a timely manner for transparency.

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Set your conditions to quickly and easily find the deals or customer information you need. Source: Pipedrive

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Automation Builder

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Time-saving automations are among the most important features in a modern CRM platform. Pipedrive makes it easy to create your own custom automations to eliminate tedious and time-consuming tasks or start from a template to help you reengage with all of your inactive deals at the same time. Setting up a new deal from a template takes about two minutes and grants you the potential to save countless hours. It’s easy to build new automations from scratch; a sidebar provides a long list of trigger options or events to determine when to begin an automated action. For example, you can send a templated email when someone’s label changes from “warm lead” to “customer,” and once they reply to it or click a link, you can send a templated follow-up.

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Pipedrive includes a wide array of sales-focused automation templates to help new users optimize their sales funnels. Source: Pipedrive

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Group Emailing

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Another key time-saving feature that removes potentially tedious tasks is group emailing. You can contact up to 100 email addresses at one time, and the system includes a 30-second delay, sending out the emails over a 50-minute period to prevent your provider from blocking scheduled emails. Pipedrive includes a list of templated emails for a variety of sales scenarios and lets you send a personalized response to everyone in your email list with just a few clicks.

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Group emailing is available in Pipedrive’s deal, contact, contact timeline and activity lists. If you run into an incomplete contact card, Pipedrive will notify you of missing information to ensure you know everyone on your desired list can be reached. Once your email has been sent, you can view each one in your sent section or through each customer’s timeline.

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Pipedrive will let you know about incomplete information in your contact list before you send a group email. Source: Pipedrive

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Pipedrive Cost

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With five paid options, Pipedrive segments its features and tools a bit more than most of its competitors, most of which offer three or four dedicated CRM plans. In addition to the standard features with each plan, Pipedrive offers a handful of extra tools. For example, the web visitor add-on can determine which organizations are browsing your website, how your visitors found you and how long they stayed. Most of the add-ons, including the lead-boosting tool and Smart Docs, are billed once per company instead of per user, thus reducing price increases as the result of a customized plan.

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\n Plan \n	Starting price (per user per month billed annually)	\n Features \n
\n Essentials \n	$14	\n Lead management, deal management, multilanguage support, deal rotting, 24/7 live chat support, 400+ integrations, visual dashboards, deal reports, single sign-on, two-factor authentication, mobile apps, calendar sync, automatic call logging and 3,000 open deals \n
\n Advanced \n	$29	\n Everything in Essentials, plus 30 active automations per user, two-way email syncing, custom email templates, bulk email, web-to-mobile calls, recurring revenue reports and 10,000 open deals per company \n
\n Professional (most popular) \n	$49	\n Everything in Advanced, plus the Smart Docs add-on, required fields, contacts timeline, 60 active automations per user, automatic lead assignments, revenue forecast reports, team goals and 100,000 open deals per company \n
\n Power \n	$64	\n Everything in Professional, plus free project add-ons, customer support via phone, custom onboarding services, 90 active automations per user and 200,000 open deals per company \n
\n Enterprise \n	\n $99 \n	\n Everything in Power, plus unlimited reports and customizations, unlimited open deals, security alerts, and 180 active automations per user \n

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Pipedrive Setup

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You can expect to have a simple account up and running in about two weeks. However, larger accounts or accounts that require heavy automation can take up to a month to fine-tune. Migration from another CRM can be accomplished with spreadsheets or software integrations, and raw data can be added at any time. Templates make it easy to build and customize your sales funnels. However, other tools — including custom field triggers, deal decay and forecasting — take time to implement properly. The upper-tier Power and Enterprise plans include Pipedrive’s implementation program, which offers a personalized and guided onboarding experience.

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Pipedrive Customer Service

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Pipedrive includes 24/7 customer support via live chat at all subscription levels. According to the Pipedrive product specialists we spoke with during our live demo, issue resolution is usually handled within 48 hours. To access phone support, you’ll need to subscribe to one of the two upper-tier plans, which start at $64.90 per user per month. Support is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and German. Pipedrive also has an online self-help resource center with detailed academy-style courses, video tutorials, webinars, blogs and an active community forum.

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Pipedrive Drawbacks

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While we really like Pipedrive’s focus on supporting sales teams, its tagline as the “first CRM designed by salespeople, for salespeople” might exclude other departments that interact with customers regularly. As a result, the platform’s Kanban-style funnels may be too focused on the sales process to be the right fit for everyone. Larger businesses with separate departments for marketing, customer service and sales may prefer a CRM such as Salesforce or NetSuite, which offer wider sets of tools to interact with customers in long-term marketing and service scenarios.

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Some features — including active user automations, custom fields, insight reports, teams and open deals — have usage limits. For example, the entry-level Essentials plan limits you to 3,000 open deals at your company and lacks the ability to use active automations. Similar limitations include a maximum of 100 emails sent at one time with the group email feature. Some businesses will require one of the middle- or upper-tier plans to use the features as frequently as needed.

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Methodology

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Our editorial team and contributing writers considered all of the major CRM software providers for review. After performing our initial research into each platform, we selected 13 of the leading CRM solutions based on what they’re best for, and took a deeper dive into the following that are available today for small businesses: Salesforce, monday Sales CRM, Freshsales, Zoho, Oracle NetSuite, HubSpot, Pipedrive and Zendesk. After spending many hours participating in live product demos and testing each platform, we identified the best use cases for 13 providers to help small business owners and managers choose the best CRM for their needs. We also took a deeper dive into nine of our top performers, providing greater insight into the features and tools that separate these CRMs from the competition. Pipedrive CRM is one of the few sales-focused platforms we reviewed. The dashboard and user experience are built around sales funnels that emphasize deals and help sales teams identify the best opportunities to make a sale. We selected Pipedrive as the best CRM for visual sales pipelines thanks to its ability to track the entire sales process at a glance and its AI-powered tools to help close more deals.

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Overall Value

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We recommend Pipedrive CRM for …

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• Sales teams and any business looking for a sales-focused CRM platform.
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• Small companies that are searching for an affordable CRM system.
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• Businesses with operations built around a sales pipeline.
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We don’t recommend Pipedrive CRM for …

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• Businesses that are looking for a CRM to support sales, marketing and customer service equally.
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• Small and new businesses without enough reliable sales data to develop effective forecasting capabilities.
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\n"}},{"_index":"wp-index-bnd-prod-content","_type":"content","_id":"29086","_score":2,"_source":{"canonical":"https://vaylees.com/goto-connect-review","displayModified":"2024-09-06T14:16:25Z","docType":"review","editorsPick":null,"href":"goto-connect-review","id":"29086","ID":29086,"isSponsored":false,"published":"2023-05-18T14:25:00Z","site":"bnd","stream":"","subtitle":"","title":"GoTo Connect Review","author":{"displayName":"Jeff Hale","email":"ucijeff@gmail.com","thumbnail":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/04/04072059/jeffhale_photo.jpg","type":"Senior Analyst"},"channels":{"primary":{"name":"Find A Solution","slug":"find-a-solution"},"sub":{"name":"SMB Solutions","slug":"technology-solutions"}},"meta":{"robots":"index, follow","description":"GoTo Connect is an all-in-one communications solution for small businesses looking for a cloud-based phone, meeting and messaging platform for hybrid and remote teams."},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2021/04/19101424/gotoconnect-logo.png","caption":"","alt":"GoTo Connect company logo"},"content":"\n \n\n\n\n

Many new businesses or very small companies don’t have an office these days and rely on their employees to work remotely. Team members still need to collaborate though, which is where an effective business phone system that’s compatible with a wide array of hardware comes in. GoTo Connect’s all-in-one cloud phone system combines a cloud-based business phone system with instant team-chat functionality and one-click video meetings for up to 250 participants.

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The platform is especially useful in remote work and hybrid roles thanks to its compatibility with a wide range of hardware. Team members can access the system via any internet-connected device, and it includes a full-featured mobile app for Android and iOS that offers the same functionality as the desktop application. Unlike most providers in this category, GoTo Connect offers unlimited user accounts with all of its cloud phone platforms. These features combine to create a platform that’s ideal for distributed teams and remote or hybrid workforces.

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Tools like Find me/Follow me help ensure that calls are answered even when you step away from your computer or main business phone. Source: GoTo

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Why GoTo Connect Is Best for Remote Teams

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GoTo Connect puts all-in-one communications on any device with an internet connection, making it easy for teams with different hardware to collaborate effectively from anywhere in the world. This is especially useful for new businesses that don’t have an office or companies on a tight budget that want to avoid paying for commercial real estate. GoTo Connect is compatible with 180 desk phones and accessible through the desktop application on macOS and Windows, mobile app on Android and iOS devices, and web browsers to provide remote teams with a multitude of ways to connect.

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GoTo Connect’s team messaging and one-click video conferencing tools make it easy to jump into ad hoc meetings with screen sharing to reduce the barriers between remote workers and teams. With the basic Phone System plan, which is suitable for most startups and businesses on a budget, you’ll have access to customizable auto-attendants, call routing and call queues to help build a reliable phone system for employees and customers spread across the country or globe.

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GoTo Connect keeps remote communications secure with encryption and continuous monitoring, as well as regular SOC 2 audits and public SOC 3 reporting. With free calling in more than 50 countries, GoTo Connect is an attractive option for international companies with remote employees.

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Usability

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We like how GoTo Connect looks and feels more like consumer software than a business tool. For new businesses where team members have a lot to learn, this means one less thing that requires extensive training. While GoTo Connect is missing some of the time-saving automations and helpful artificial intelligence (AI) features offered by many competitors, it has more than enough tools for most startups and very small businesses. That means GoTo Connect is not quite as easy to use as Ooma and Dialpad. [Check out our Ooma review and Dialpad review to learn more about these user-friendly business phone systems.]

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GoTo Connect does have an especially easy-to-use visual dial plan tool with a handful of templates to help you implement your first call flow and customize features such as call routing and ring groups as your company grows. Beyond complete system access through Windows, macOS, Android, iOS and web browsers, the platform’s usability is bolstered by its compatibility with 180 desk phones and the option to add an adapter to older analog phone models and deliver Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications.

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All GoTo Connect cloud phone plans come with unlimited ring groups. Source: GoTo

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The video conferencing tool included with both plans is designed to lower barriers to communications with one-click meetings that don’t require participants to download or install any software. We were very impressed with the 250-participant limit for video meetings, which is well above average in this category and perfect for businesses that conduct all-hands meetings throughout the year.

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You’ll find about 30 integrations for the phone system, including Salesforce CRM, Google, Microsoft, Slack and Zapier. However, the all-in-one platform’s usability could be improved with the addition of more native third-party software integrations.

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GoTo Connect Features

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\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\n Mobile app \n	\n The full-featured business phone mobile application is available with all subscription plans. \n
\n Meetings \n	\n Video conferencing tools allow for up to 250 participants and 50 simultaneous webcams. \n
\n AI chat analysis \n	\n This tool provides AI-powered sentiment analysis and chat summaries. \n
\n Analytics \n	\n Historical and real-time data are presented in easy-to-understand, color-coded charts. \n

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All GoTo Connect cloud phone system plans come loaded with excellent call-handling features and tools. These include many advanced features that are normally reserved for middle- or upper-tier plans, like call recording, paging, meeting transcription, single sign-on and real-time reporting — that’s great news for businesses on a budget that would otherwise miss out on these tools. If it had more AI-powered features, GoTo Connect’s entry-level Phone System plan could compete with, if not outperform, a few top-tier plans from its competitors.

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Mobile App

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Although most cloud-based phone services include mobile access, not all service providers offer a full-featured version at every subscription level. The app makes it easy to make calls using different phone numbers, thereby allowing sales or customer service reps to dial from the appropriate number. In addition to messaging, meeting and calling tools, the app provides access to shared contacts.

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You can also use your cell phones as part of a call flow or ring group, which can save new businesses and those on a budget from purchasing additional hardware. Switching between devices during calls is seamless, which means the person on the other end will not know you’re moving the conversation between your desk phone, computer or mobile device.

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Meetings

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GoTo Connect expanded its video capabilities to offer video meetings for up to 250 participants with 50 simultaneous webcams. As part of our review process, we regularly participate in live video demonstrations. We found that the live and recorded video meetings that GoTo Connect conducted for this review were thorough and easy to understand, and the video quality and audio quality were excellent. In addition to great performance, this tool offers screen sharing, drawing tools, in-session chat, breakout rooms and webcam previews with one-click meetings that don’t require a download.

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AI Chat Analysis

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GoTo’s new AI-powered chat feature is designed to expand data-driven insights. The tool follows each customer conversation to provide a positive, negative or neutral sentiment score regarding the customer interaction. Conversation summaries allow managers and supervisors to easily identify coaching opportunities or exemplary work to provide positive feedback. This advanced feature is included only with GoTo Connect’s Complete CX cloud phone and Contact Center plans.

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Analytics

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GoTo Connect’s color-coded charts make it easy to identify key metrics in areas such as total calls and percentage of calls answered to measure agents’ performance. Admins can glance at data sets and immediately spot calling trends to make scheduling changes or help identify a top performer within the sales team.

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With the Complete CX plan, you’ll expand your insights with custom dashboards and interaction details showing the customer journey from start to finish. This tier also provides access to supervisor analytics with live call and chat queue details that managers can use to take over the conversation when necessary.

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GoTo Connect Costs

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Based on reviews from previous years when GoTo Connect charged based on the number of user accounts, prices ranged from $29 to $39 for a single user, depending on the service tier. At those rates, GoTo would be priced on the higher side along with Aircall, Nextiva and RingEX. This may be cost-prohibitive for small businesses on a tight budget, but may be suitable for startups with more funding at their disposal. [Read our Nextiva review and Aircall review to learn more about each of these business phone systems.]

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In addition to GoTo’s three cloud-based phone systems, the company offers a separate contact center plan designed for seamless omnichannel support.

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\n Plan \n	\n Price \n	\n Features \n
\n Phone System \n	\n No public pricing available \n	\n 1,000 toll-free minutes, unlimited users, free international calling to more than 50 countries, desktop and mobile apps, 24/7 customer support, smart call routing, unlimited auto-attendants, unlimited ring groups, hot desking, call recording, intercom, paging, virtual fax, team messaging, SMS/MMS, video meetings with 250 participants, meeting transcriptions, breakout rooms, real-time analytics, single sign-on and multisite admin \n
\n Customer Engagement \n	\n No public pricing available \n	\n Everything in the Phone System plan, plus one shared inbox, custom surveys, AI messaging assistant, text campaigns, web chat widget, Facebook/Instagram messenger channel and custom dashboards \n
\n Complete CX \n	\n No public pricing available \n	\n Everything in the Customer Engagement plan, plus multichannel inboxes, AI chat analysis, advanced call routing, call campaigns, tag management, call monitoring, auto-queue callback, agent dashboards, supervisor analytics and custom roles \n

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GoTo Connect Setup

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If you’re not porting an old phone number, you could navigate the DIY setup wizard and get a basic business phone system up and running in minutes. For most businesses that are adding a few extensions, numbers and menu options, it shouldn’t take more than a few hours to set up, test and start using the system. As with any new business phone system, you could wait anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks for your previous service provider to release your phone number.

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You can set a port date and initiate the phone number transfer whenever you’re ready. Source: GoTo

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GoTo Connect makes implementation and management easy with the recently updated dial plan editor. This tool has an intuitive flow builder that features unique colors to distinguish actions. You can select from templates for an auto-attendant with a schedule, a call queue, a simple dial plan, an external number and a very basic auto-attendant to help map your system for you. We were very impressed with the way the new inspector feature turns your call flow into an analytics report, showing you exactly how calls are moving through your system to help you design the perfect menu.

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You can use the Inspector tool to see how calls are moving through your call plan and help you optimize your menu options. Source: GoTo

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GoTo Connect Customer Service

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GoTo Connect includes the same 24/7 customer support with all of its cloud phone systems. We found that especially important for new businesses that need additional support and remote teams that may require help troubleshooting issues. Customers can reach a support specialist by phone, email or chat widget on the support site’s virtual assistant.

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In addition to providing personal support and troubleshooting, GoTo Connect offers an online DIY resource center with remote-work tips, webinars, product guides, e-books, whitepapers and industry insights to help you make better use of your communications tools. The company also provides training through YouTube videos and a series of on-demand courses.

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GoTo Connect Drawbacks

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GoTo Connect’s lack of transparent pricing makes it difficult for businesses to compare this service against competing offerings. For many small businesses, it may not be worth the inconvenience of having to engage with a sales rep to inquire about the cost.

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Although GoTo Connect offers a few AI-powered tools, including sentiment analysis, with its Complete CX phone plan, the platform is beginning to feel like it’s missing AI productivity features across the ecosystem. RingEX added a number of AI-powered features as part of its major update for 2024, and Dialpad has included these voice intelligence tools for many years. With the increasing popularity of tools such as ChatGPT, the inclusion of AI-powered language processing tools is starting to feel like an essential feature in the business phone market.

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Methodology

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When searching for the top business phone systems, we investigated more than a dozen platforms. We researched and analyzed each offering, participated in demos whenever possible, and tried free and paid plans. We evaluated each solution based on its tools and features, pricing, limitations, ease of use, setup process and customer service options. We determined that GoTo Connect is the best business phone system for remote teams, thanks to its easy access across desk phones, computers, mobile devices and web browsers, as well as the one-click conferencing for immediate face-to-face collaboration from any device in any location.

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Overall Value

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We recommend GoTo Connect for …

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\n
• Businesses that make international phone calls regularly.
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• Businesses with hybrid or remote teams that use a wide range of desk phones and devices for calls, conferencing and chat.
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• Businesses that already use one of GoTo’s other software products, including IT support, remote access and training.
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We don’t recommend GoTo Connect for …

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• Businesses with extensive integration requirements for their phone, video or chat tools.
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• Businesses that are looking for advanced AI-powered tools and features as standard options to optimize communication and workflows.
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• Businesses that want to see transparent pricing when shopping for a new phone system.
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\n"}},{"_index":"wp-index-bnd-prod-content","_type":"content","_id":"10904","_score":2,"_source":{"canonical":"https://vaylees.com/7818-best-phone-system-small-office.html","displayModified":"2024-09-06T14:22:24Z","docType":"review","editorsPick":null,"href":"7818-best-phone-system-small-office.html","id":"10904","ID":10904,"isSponsored":false,"published":"2019-11-05T21:40:00Z","site":"bnd","stream":"","subtitle":"","title":"Ooma Review","author":{"displayName":"Jeff Hale","email":"ucijeff@gmail.com","thumbnail":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/04/04072059/jeffhale_photo.jpg","type":"Senior Analyst"},"channels":{"primary":{"name":"Find A Solution","slug":"find-a-solution"},"sub":{"name":"SMB Solutions","slug":"technology-solutions"}},"meta":{"robots":"index, follow","description":"With robust features and an easy-to-use interface, Ooma is the best business phone system for small businesses. See pricing and plans."},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/08/01033618/ooma_logo.png","caption":"","alt":"Ooma company logo"},"content":"\n \n\n\n\n

Small business owners need technology and tools designed to save time and make their lives easier, allowing them to stay focused on growing their business. This is especially true for new businesses that have a lot to do in order to get their business off the ground, or very small businesses that may not have highly tech savvy personnel.

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Ooma stands out in a competitive field thanks to its core features and easy-to-use interface, making it an excellent choice for someone who’s implementing their first business phone system. While it’s simple to use, the platform also has many attractive features, such as customer relationship management (CRM) integration and caller info match capabilities that can pull additional caller information from social media pages like LinkedIn, Facebook and Google.

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Why Ooma Is Best for Small Businesses

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Ooma’s core focus is supporting microbusinesses and new businesses with its ease of use, customer support and speed of implementation. It does that and does it well, providing a business phone system with high usability, 24/7 customer support and almost instant implementation. Furthermore, we found that its extensive list of standard features in its lowest-tier plan exceeds those of other business phone systems we reviewed.

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Ooma’s roots as a consumer-focused product and software provider are most apparent in its intuitive interface. The dashboard makes setting up the phone system and using it very easy for nontechnical business owners and employees. We appreciate how the helpful drop-down menus make it simple for anyone without phone system experience to learn how to manage call flows, change the receptionist’s greeting, set business and holiday hours and utilize more advanced features like hot desking and call queuing.

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While we found Ooma to be the best business phone system for small businesses, it’s worth noting that for larger businesses, the company offers a separate three-tier enterprise product that includes call center functionality for $49 per user per month. [See our picks for the best contact center services.]

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Ooma updated its desktop app with a recent redesign launch. Source: Ooma

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Usability

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Ooma was designed specifically for an intuitive user experience, using familiar icons and offering support when you explore new features for the first time. Part of what makes Ooma’s phone system so attractive to small and nontechnical business owners is its ease of use in terms of the setup process and making adjustments for day-to-day operations. Businesses on a budget who can’t pay for implementation support or additional training won’t have an issue getting started with Ooma.

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We liked that business administrators can use the simple drop-down menu to record a custom greeting, create menu options for different languages and set modes for business and after-hours calls with the virtual receptionist. While we don’t expect you to need it often, it’s reassuring to know Ooma provides 24/7 customer service in the event you do get stuck with a phone system feature.

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Ooma’s recently updated virtual receptionist can handle multiple schedules with different behaviors and menus. Source: Ooma

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The iOS and Android mobile apps that are free with all Ooma small business plans keep the same look and feel as a standard operating system, making it especially easy to navigate for new users. Taking and making calls, flipping between devices, blocking robocalls and setting up automatic call recording feel intuitive and quick. With helpful tools like automatic voicemail transcription that’s available with most plans, you can prioritize your voicemails quickly and listen to them played back at 1.5 or two times the normal speed to gather pertinent information quickly and accurately. [You may also be interested in these free visual voicemail services.]

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Users can select between 10 ringtones to distinguish between different types of calls in the system. Source: Ooma

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Ooma Features

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\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\n Caller Info Match \n	\n Match callers with detailed background info collected from CRMs and social media pages. \n
\n Find Me Follow Me \n	\n Receive a call on multiple devices at the same time. \n
\n Overhead paging \n	\n Make customer, employee or emergency announcements over your existing overhead paging system. \n
\n Admin portal \n	\n Manage your business phone system from a simple portal. \n

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Ooma includes more than 50 essential calling features with all of its business phone plans. While the platform doesn’t have AI-powered features and tools offered by some competitors, it does have excellent call-handling capabilities in a platform that’s much easier to use. Most features are available to use on the desktop and mobile app with most Ooma accounts.

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Caller Info Match

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This advanced feature, which is available through Ooma’s desktop app with the Pro and Pro Plus plans, goes beyond typical caller ID capabilities by pulling information from your CRM software as well as LinkedIn, Facebook and Google. We also liked that Ooma’s Caller Info Match can connect with Salesforce, HubSpot CRM, Zoho CRM and ServiceNow to help identify callers you’ve contacted before, see their past interactions, review notes from your CRM and find other valuable information from search engines and social media profiles and posts. To learn more about CRM integrations, see our Salesforce review and our Zoho CRM review.

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Find Me Follow Me

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For most businesses, the ability to stay connected with customers, clients and co-workers is the most critical feature of their phone system. We like that Ooma helps ensure you never miss an important call with the “Find Me Follow Me” function that’s available with the Pro Plus plan. This feature lets you set up multiple devices to ring at the same time or follow a sequential order of your choosing.

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For example, you can set your office desk phone to ring two times, begin calling your mobile device on the third ring and finally the conference room phone on the fourth ring. Find Me Follow Me can be set to ring on any of your phones or mobile devices, guaranteeing important calls follow you wherever the day leads.

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Overhead Paging

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For large retail stores, distribution centers and other businesses that utilize an overhead paging system, such tools often play a critical role in daily communications and important emergency announcements. We like that Ooma’s phone system works with your existing overhead paging system through an adapter that’s sold separately. Once connected through your dashboard, you can use the multicast paging button on your phone to initiate an overhead announcement that can be heard by everyone in your facility. This feature is included with all Ooma Office plans.

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Admin Portal

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Ooma’s consumer product origins show the simplicity of its administrator’s portal. We found that the ease with which you can set up and adjust your business phone system’s basic and advanced features is especially ideal for smaller organizations without any in-house information technology staff to troubleshoot systems. In the admin portal, business owners and managers can purchase IP phones, review call and fax logs, manage extensions and review the phone system from any device with an internet connection.

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Ooma Costs

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As you find with most cloud-based business phone platforms, Ooma charges based on the number of user accounts you purchase. We found its pricing to be suitable for businesses on a budget, as they were amongst the more competitively priced in our review. The company does not advertise discounts for bulk purchases, but anyone planning to buy more than six phone lines should reach out to an Ooma sales representative to inquire about special rates.

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Other expenses could include additional phone numbers at $9.95 per month and international calling rates that vary widely by location. In addition to the monthly fees noted below, Ooma charges a one-time $29.95 activation fee.

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\n Plan \n	\n Price \n	\n Features \n
\n Essentials \n	\n $19.95 per monthly user \n	\n Unlimited calling in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico, 500 toll-free minutes, 24/7 support, virtual receptionist, ring groups, hold music, digital faxing, mobile app access, call park, extension monitoring, virtual extensions, call forwarding, conference bridge, distinct ringtones, overhead paging, intercom and IP phone paging. \n
\n Pro \n	\n $24.95 per monthly user \n	\n Everything in Essentials plus the complete desktop app, text messaging, video conferencing, call recording, enhanced call blocking, voicemail transcription, Caller Info Match, dynamic caller ID, analytics, Google integrations and Office 356 integrations. \n
\n Pro Plus \n	\n $29.95 per monthly user \n	\n Everything in Pro as well as call queuing, CRM integrations, enhanced video conferencing, video recording, team chat, hot desking, screen sharing, call screening and shared voicemail. \n

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Ooma Setup

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Ooma’s straightforward setup process is ideal for businesses that are setting up a business phone system for the first time. It’s also a benefit for new businesses that have a lot to do before launching, as they can quickly get up and running with Ooma and move on to the next task.

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You can sign up for Ooma online and begin making calls in as soon as five minutes after selecting a new number in almost any area code. Ooma’s user-friendly administration portal adds to the ease of use when setting up calling features like ring groups and call routing to ensure calls are never missed during business hours. We love how simple it is for nontechnical users to start using the platform.

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You can set your call menu to allow callers to initiate a text conversation instead of a voice call. Source: Ooma

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For companies that need to purchase phone hardware, Ooma’s support staff can assist with setting up an extension and providing preactivated phones that work as soon as they’re plugged in. Of course, your total implementation time will be dependent in part on how long it takes to get the equipment and transfer an older number if needed.

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Ooma Customer Service

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Despite the rise of AI-powered chatbots in customer service settings to lower costs, Ooma still offers the same 24/7 customer service to subscribers at every service level. Other providers we’ve reviewed don’t offer the same live agent with entry-level plans as they do with more expensive plans, as seen in our review of Dialpad, for example. We love that Ooma Essentials, Pro and Pro Plus subscribers can reach a support specialist anytime by phone or live chat through the app.

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On Ooma’s website, you can find frequently asked questions (FAQs), webinars, case studies, a blog and a company podcast, although these offerings aren’t as extensive as what some rivals provide. The lack of a larger online resource center may not be much of an issue given the Ooma platform’s high usability and the availability of 24/7 phone assistance. However, you’ll get more education tools 8×8, which provides in-depth training courses for their users. Learn more in our 8×8 review.

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Ooma Drawbacks

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We like how Ooma tailors its business phone offerings and features for smaller companies and teams but, in some areas, such as bulk discounting, it would be nice to see support for larger businesses. Many competitors, including RingEX and GoTo Connect, offer significant discounts for businesses purchasing dozens of user accounts. Of course, this isn’t a downside if your organization is small and plans to stay that way.

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We found that Ooma falls short of its competitors in terms of its available software integrations. While Ooma does offer integrations with CRMs, such as Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365, even those connections are limited with some plans. For example, Ooma’s Pro plan can integrate with Microsoft unified applications, but you’ll need the top-tier Pro Plus plan to integrate with Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, Zoho, Freshsales CRM, NexHealth, Clio, AgencyZoom, HubSpot and Square. Most competitors in this category offer far more integration options with lower-level plans.

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Methodology

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To find the best business phone systems on the market, we researched and analyzed more than a dozen offerings. We used paid and trial accounts to test different solutions and conducted demos whenever possible. The factors we considered in our evaluations included features and tools, usability, the setup process, pricing, customer support availability, integrations and limitations. We identified Ooma as the best business phone system for small businesses because of its simple interface, advanced features and overall ease of use in a small business setting.

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Overall Value

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We recommend Ooma for …

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• Small businesses in need of a simple, easy-to-use phone system.
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• Businesses on a tight budget or those using mobile phones for most communications.
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• Very small businesses looking for a phone solution without an annual commitment.
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We don’t recommend Ooma for …

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• Businesses with a complex tech stack in need of custom software integrations.
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• Companies that want to use a fully featured desktop app with an entry-level plan.
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• Large organizations that prioritize getting the most advanced features over ease of use and fast implementation.
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\n"}},{"_index":"wp-index-bnd-prod-content","_type":"content","_id":"10570","_score":2,"_source":{"canonical":"https://vaylees.com/16144-freshworks-crm.html","displayModified":"2024-03-28T15:34:44Z","docType":"review","editorsPick":null,"href":"16144-freshworks-crm.html","id":"10570","ID":10570,"isSponsored":false,"published":"2021-05-28T12:20:00Z","site":"bnd","stream":null,"subtitle":null,"title":"Freshsales CRM Review","author":{"displayName":"Jeff Hale","email":"ucijeff@gmail.com","thumbnail":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/04/04072059/jeffhale_photo.jpg","type":"Senior Analyst"},"channels":{"primary":{"name":"Find A Solution","slug":"find-a-solution"},"sub":{"name":"Marketing Solutions","slug":"marketing-solutions"}},"meta":{"robots":"index, follow","description":"Learn what makes Freshsales CRM unique in a competitive customer relationship management platform market."},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/08/01033318/freshworkscrm_logo.jpg","caption":"","alt":"freshworks CRM company logo"},"content":"\n \n\n\n\n

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• Freshsales allows you to run outbound email campaigns from your CRM.
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• All subscription plans include cloud-based phone service.
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• Upper-tier plans include AI-driven insights to help you stay on top of deals and grow revenue.
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• This review is for small business owners who are interested in implementing Freshsales CRM. 
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Freshsales by Freshworks is a top CRM platform with an excellent mix of built-in communications tools and AI-powered features that push the traditional sales pipeline beyond the basic functionality of tracking and managing deals. With built-in cloud telephony, you’ll have far more context about your prospects. The software gives you an instant view of past activities, call notes, previous conversations and their overall score so you can win deals faster. The Freshsales platform can automatically log sales calls to help you analyze the key performance indicators that drive sales.

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Freshsales’s AI-powered assistant, Freddy, will learn from your historical sales data, activities and customer engagement to deliver better recommendations that you can apply across the customer journey. With the chatbot enabled, you reduce the first-response time on your website with precise answers to popular customer questions and capture new leads.

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Why We Chose Freshsales as Best CRM for Communications

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Freshsales’ native cloud-based phone support includes toll-free and local business phone numbers available for purchase in more than 90 countries. In addition, it offers AI-powered chatbots, bulk email marketing tools, easy forms to capture customer data, and auto-enrichment to automatically add social and publicly listed information to your contacts’ listings. By combining basic communications tools with an automated sales pipeline, your team will have access to vital customer information and AI-powered insights to focus efforts efficiently and close more deals in less time. If you’re not ready to leave your existing phone provider, you can use numbers from an existing plan while leveraging the CRM platform’s benefits through the Enterprise plan. With the mobile app that’s included in all plans, you can run your sales from your phone no matter where you are. While the free version includes chat, email and phone service, the Pro plan is recommended for the best Freshsales experience, with AI-powered deal insights, time-based workflows and multiple sales pipelines to help teams sell effectively.

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Usability

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While far from a difficult CRM platform to learn and use, Freshsales is not among the easiest ones we’ve reviewed. The learning curve also applies to many of the AI-powered tools that improve over time with access to historical sales data, activities and engagement. However, once you and your team have your visual sales pipelines, sequences, workflows, enriched contacts and AI-based forecasting tools in place, Freshsales makes it much easier to understand and better serve your customers.

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The platform features many automated sales productivity tools for workflows, chat campaigns, lead capture and sales sequences to boost your team’s efficiency. With all of Freddy AI’s features enabled, you’ll benefit from predictive contact scoring to prioritize your efforts and recommendations for the next best action to close a deal. Freshsales also includes API access and easy integrations with popular business applications that sales teams across industries use on a daily basis.

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Freshsales CRM Features

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All three paid Freshsales plans include the features you’ll need to manage your customer relationships and sell effectively. However, many of the standout tools that make Freshsales such a powerful CRM platform are available only with the Pro and Enterprise plans. Some features, such as bulk email and sales sequences, are limited by a set number of actions per day. This number varies by plan.

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\n Cloud telephony \n	\n Get inbound and outbound VoIP phone service with basic call management features and tools. \n
\n Freddy AI \n	\n Gain actionable insights across your customers’ journeys with intelligent tools. \n
\n Bulk emails \n	\n Design personalized email templates and track key metrics to improve performance. \n
\n Deal management \n	\n Grow revenue by staying on top of deals with automated follow-ups and predictions. \n

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Cloud Telephony

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Many Freshsales subscribers can ditch their business phone system provider and enjoy many of the same calling features and tools through their CRM software with a built-in cloud-based phone system. This feature provides everything you need for a successful sales call, including call recording, call logs, voicemail and phone numbers available for purchase in more than 90 countries. You can make calls directly from any laptop or mobile device and track all of the calling metrics to optimize your sales tactics and strategies.

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You can access call logs, notes and recordings to gain context quickly and improve customer experiences while using the built-in VoIP phone feature. Source: Freshsales

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Freddy AI

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Freddy is an AI-powered assistant whose main purpose is to help you understand your customers better. This feature improves over time as it learns from your CRM data to deliver predictions and recommendations that serve your specific business goals. You can increase your team’s opportunities for success and avoid letting hot leads go cold with Freddy’s data-backed suggestions for the next best action to keep the conversation moving forward. You can also reduce first-response times on your website by automating chat conversations to proactively interact with prospects and answer standard questions.

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The CRM can identify at-risk deals and help drive deals to closure with data-backed recommendations. Source: Freshsales

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Bulk Emails

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Freshsales makes it easy to leverage the timesaving power of personalized bulk emails for outbound campaigns. You can tailor emails with highly targeted content, track open rates, and see your click-through rates with built-in tracking and reporting options. Freshsales helps teams deliver email messages at the right time and provides real-time notifications when a recipient interacts with your communications. You can also reawaken cold leads, send follow-up emails, and automatically capture leads from emails.

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Freshsales lets you schedule bulk emails by time zone for optimal open rates and engagement. Source: Freshsales

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Deal Management

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Freshworks describes its deal feature as pipeline management 2.0, signaling a significant improvement over the basic functionality of tracking and managing deals. This feature can help you make smarter and more timely decisions by predicting each deal’s performance, engaging with your prospects and forecasting revenue. With the Enterprise plan, your CRM can automatically enrich each of your prospect’s contact sheets by adding any relevant publicly available information. You can also spot rotten deals to move on quickly as well as manage your incentive structure for different sales teams and situations.

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Freshsales can forecast revenue from deals to help you prioritize your efforts and stay ahead of your sales goals. Source: Freshsales

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Freshsales CRM Cost

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Freshsales is available through four plans — Free, Growth, Pro and Enterprise — that range in price from free to $69 per user per month when billed annually. Unlike many competitors, such as monday.com Sales CRM and Keap, Freshsales does not have a minimum seat requirement for any of their plans. Freshsales also offers separate add-ons for branding documents and extra bot sessions. You can test any plan free of charge for 21 days with a trial account.

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\n Plan \n	\n Starting price (per user per month) \n	\n Features \n
\n Free \n	\n N/A \n	\n Contact and account management, lifecycle stages, deal management, built-in chatbot, email, phone, inbound caller ID, and mobile app \n
\n Growth \n	\n $15 \n	\n Everything in the Free plan, plus visual sales pipeline, AI-powered contact scoring, sales sequences, up to 2,000 bot sessions, five sales sequences and 250 personalized bulk emails per day, WhatsApp Business, activity dashboard, 20 workflows, 2GB of storage per user, two-way email sync, call recording, and messaging integrations \n
\n Pro (most popular) \n	\n $39 \n	\n Everything in Growth, plus multiple sales pipelines, time-based workflows, 10 sales sequences and 1,000 personalized bulk emails per day, AI-powered deal insights, up to 3,000 bot sessions, territory management, offline access, 50 workflows, 5GB of storage per user, advanced call queues, lead-gen bot, and answer bot \n
\n Enterprise \n	\n $69 \n	\n Everything in Pro, plus custom modules, AI-based forecasting, audit logs, up to 5,000 chatbot sessions, dedicated account manager, customer profile enrichment, 100GB of storage per user, 25 sales sequences and 5,000 personalized bulk emails per day, holiday call routing, and website tracking \n

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Freshsales CRM Setup

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While setup is far from difficult, Freshsales is not among the easiest CRM platforms to get up and running. All but Enterprise plan subscribers will be tasked with setting up their system and making use of the 15 available “setting things up” articles from the knowledge base. These articles include easy-to-follow instructions for topics such as logging in to the platform, adding new users and converting sales emails into Freshsales leads. You may also use a small number of workflow templates to use as a starting point to optimize for your team’s needs. If you’re also purchasing and setting up a new local or toll-free phone number, the request process can take up to two days. Once the process is complete, a phone widget will appear at the bottom of your Freshsales account and you’ll be able to start making calls.

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Freshsales CRM Customer Service

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All Freshsales plans include customer service via phone, email and chat 24 hours a day, five days a week. While many competitors, including monday.com Sales CRM, offer 24/7 customer support, not every company includes contact by phone, which we believe is an essential method of communication for support. Enterprise subscribers are assigned a dedicated account manager who will personally resolve any issues on your behalf.

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In regard to self-help, Freshsales has a variety of customer case studies and how-to videos covering the basic features and tools. Freshsales also has an academy program with courses to improve your skills and certifications for admins and agents to demonstrate your knowledge of the system.

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Freshsales CRM Drawbacks

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Customer service availability is limited to weekdays. Many competitors in this industry offer 24/7 customer service support with basic and top-tier plans. However, Freshsales does offer support by phone at all plan levels, which is something that’s not offered by competitors, including monday.com Sales CRM and Keap.

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Even with an Enterprise plan, many feature actions, such as bot sessions, are capped each month. Enterprise subscribers will find limitations with daily sales sequence emails, personalized bulk emails and API access. Additional bot sessions are sold in batches of 1,000 for $75.

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Methodology

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In our 2024 review of CRM software providers, we examined some of the leading solutions in the space. After participating in live product demos and testing each platform’s features, we created a list of our favorites to help you choose the best CRM for your business. In our review of CRM systems, we considered the core features of the system, its ease of use, overall cost and available integrations. We also considered a range of different use cases common to many small businesses and selected the service we found fit best for each. When it comes to the best CRM for communications, we looked for the features that connect your sales team with your audience, empower your marketing team to cut through the noise and reach your target audience, and support your customer service team in driving customer satisfaction.

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Overall Value

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We recommend Freshsales for …

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• Businesses looking for chatbots to reduce first-response time.
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• Small businesses that want to reduce recurring software and service costs.
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• Small teams with large lead lists.
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We don’t recommend Freshsales for …

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• Businesses that don’t use online lead capture.
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• Businesses that don’t want to worry about overages.
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• Large businesses that want enterprise-level discounts.
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\n"}},{"_index":"wp-index-bnd-prod-content","_type":"content","_id":"722","_score":2,"_source":{"canonical":"https://vaylees.com/16261-android-conference-call.html","displayModified":"2024-08-07T17:14:43Z","docType":"article","editorsPick":false,"href":"16261-android-conference-call.html","id":"722","ID":722,"isSponsored":false,"published":"2021-09-30T20:01:00Z","site":"bnd","stream":"Setting up a conference call with an Android mobile device is a simple process that only takes a few steps.","subtitle":"Setting up a conference call with an Android mobile device is a simple process that only takes a few steps.","title":"How to Make a Conference Call on an Android","author":{"displayName":"Jeff Hale","email":"ucijeff@gmail.com","thumbnail":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/04/04072059/jeffhale_photo.jpg","type":"Senior Analyst"},"channels":{"primary":{"name":"Grow Your Business","slug":"grow-your-business"},"sub":{"name":"Technology","slug":"technology"}},"meta":{"robots":"index, follow","description":"This guide includes a step-by-step breakdown of how to set up and run a conference call using an Android mobile device."},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/04/04072841/entrepreneur_jacoblund_gety.jpg","caption":"jacoblund / Getty Images","alt":""},"content":"\n

Smartphones running a recent version of Android can be used to host free conference calls anywhere there’s a strong cell signal or internet connection. Your mobile device probably won’t be able to replace a unified business phone system or compete with one of the related business phone apps designed for Android. However, it’s still a great solution to communicate with small teams or a few members of your remote workforce in a pinch.

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Editor’s note: Looking for the right business phone system for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.

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If you want to set up a conference call using your Android phone, it’s as easy as following a couple simple steps. This guide breaks down the process for setting up a conference call and provides recommendations for alternative conference calling platforms.

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How to make a conference call using an Android phone

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Have a mobile phone running a recent version of the Android operating system? Then it’s easy to merge calls to create an audio conference for up to five people. However, not all cellular providers and plans support this feature. If you don’t see any of the following steps for how to make a conference call using an Android phone, check with your service provider.

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1. Dial the first person you want to invite to the conference call.
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2. After the call connects, tap the “Add Call” or + icon on the left of your screen.
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3. Dial or select the next person from your contact list.
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1. Tap the “Merge Calls” icon (an arrow with two tails) to join the three parties on one line.
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2. Repeat steps 2-4 to add more participants.
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1. Once you’re in the conference call, you can select the “Drop” button on the right of each caller’s ID to remove them from the call.
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Conferencing calling app alternatives for Android

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Android phones are an excellent option to connect up to five callers at one time sans downloading or purchasing any additional software or service. However, their limitations do lead many small business owners to explore alternatives.

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However, that doesn’t mean that you’ll necessarily have to choose a phone system that requires new hardware and lengthy contract terms. In fact, many of the best business phone systems on the market today include free mobile phone apps that essentially turn your existing Android phone into a cloud-based phone system. They come with a vast array of advanced features and tools for productivity and communication.

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Some of the best business phone systems offer easy-to-use conference call services that don’t require an expensive plan or lengthy contract. Many of our favorite unified, cloud-based phone systems include free mobile apps for Android that allow conference calls for hundreds of participants. Here’s a look at some options worth considering.

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\n
• RingCentral: Our RingCentral review shows that it’s the first on our list for good reason. It’s a standout communications tool that we selected as the best business phone system for collaboration and the best conference call service within a phone system for 2021. The RingCentral app lets users make and receive calls from a separate business phone number on any Android-powered mobile device. It also lets users host conference calls with up to 1,000 participants. Small business pricing for their phone systems starts at $19.95 per month with personal plans starting at $29.99 per month. All RingCentral plans include unlimited calls within the U.S. and Canada, unlimited business text messaging, HD voice, visual voicemail and more.
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• Vast Conference: We selected Vast Conference as our choice for the best overall conference calling service for 2021. Its diverse suite of conference calling solutions provides small businesses with all of the necessary tools and features needed to communicate effectively with remote teams, vendors and clients. Vast Conference offers reservationless services that businesses can use to host conference calls without any pre-scheduling. It also boasts operator-led events for complex conference calls with specially trained leads to assist you. We recommend taking advantage of its 14-day free trial that’s available with its Essentials, Standard and Professional plans; the plans range in price from $11.99 to $31.99 per monthly user when billed annually. More expensive monthly billing options are also available. Need to host conferences with more than 250 participants? You’ll have to inquire about the Enterprise plan for a custom conference calling solution and price quote.
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• FreeConferenceCall.com: If you’re looking for a free alternative to Android conference calling, look no further than our choice for the best free conference calling service in FreeConferenceCall.com. This easy-to-use service supports up to 1,000 callers at a time with an impressive list of features and tools you’d be surprised to see from a free service. These features include audio and HD video conferencing, screen sharing, recordings, international support, breakout rooms, and apps for desktop and mobile phones. It offers a unique “Pay What You Can” pricing structure, which is suggested at $4 per month with an average contribution of $8.21 per month. This voluntary pricing structure is designed to help charities, volunteers and students around the world access free communications tools. It has also recently launched the premium Huddle.Team service that includes a virtual phone number. The service also offers HD audio and video, screen sharing with co-annotations, automated text reminders, and personalized hold music options.
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• Webex by Cisco: Do the majority of your conference calling needs revolve around supporting your team members in different locations around the world? Then you’ll definitely want to consider Webex by Cisco. It’s our choice as the best conference calling service for remote workforces. It prioritizes collaboration with Webex Meetings for full-service video conferencing and Webex Teams for internal communication. We definitely recommend starting with the free Basic plan, which includes 50-minute HD meetings with up to 100 participants. It also has screen sharing, calendar integrations, virtual backgrounds, breakout rooms, an interactive whiteboard, and many other impressive features and tools. Webex also has four paid plans that range in price from $15 to $25 per month for up to 200 participants with meeting lengths of up to 24 hours. If you need to host a video conference call with more than 200 participants, customizable plans and pricing for “enterprise” clients are also available.
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• Dialpad: Our Dialpad review names it our selection as the best business phone system for voice intelligence. Dialpad is an AI-powered cloud communications platform that takes business communication to a whole new level. Dialpad utilizes speech recognition, natural language processing, machine learning and real-time coaching to transform all of your conversations into data you can use. This includes email recaps with transcripts, recordings and action items. These powerful AI tools let you and your team focus on the people and ideas during every meeting instead of taking notes. Dialpad offers a 14-day free trial for its Standard and Pro business communications plans that cost $15 and $25 per monthly user, respectively. Enterprise options are also available with custom pricing options for companies that wish to purchase more than 100 seats. You can also opt for its business “Meetings” options that support up to 100 participants for up to five hours. They also include a long list of intelligent productivity features and integrations.
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The business phone systems above are ideal for business owners and professionals who frequently rely on communication tools and need top-quality technology. But if you need a quick fix for a conference call on the go, you can easily set one up using an Android mobile device.

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Conference calling makes collaboration easier

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Whether you’re working with an internal team or speaking with a client or partner, conference calling helps bring everyone together no matter where they are. Video and audio conference calls have become a familiar part of everyday business. Whether you use your Android phone or a dedicated conference calling platform, it’s a tool you’ll definitely want on your side. When you bring people together on a conference call, you can achieve high levels of collaboration without the need for a great deal of traveling.

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Tejas Vemprala contributed to this article.

\n"}},{"_index":"wp-index-bnd-prod-content","_type":"content","_id":"453","_score":2,"_source":{"canonical":"https://vaylees.com/16507-business-phone-number.html","displayModified":"2024-10-02T19:31:53Z","docType":"article","editorsPick":false,"href":"16507-business-phone-number.html","id":"453","ID":453,"isSponsored":false,"published":"2021-12-01T21:14:00Z","site":"bnd","stream":"A business phone number is essential for customers and partners to contact you. Here’s how to set one up for your small business.","subtitle":"A business phone number is essential for customers and partners to contact you. Here’s how to set one up for your small business.","title":"How to Get a Business Phone Number","author":{"displayName":"Jeff Hale","email":"ucijeff@gmail.com","thumbnail":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/04/04072059/jeffhale_photo.jpg","type":"Senior Analyst"},"channels":{"primary":{"name":"Start Your Business","slug":"start-your-business"},"sub":{"name":"Startup Basics","slug":"startup-basics"}},"meta":{"robots":"index, follow","description":"This guide explains the benefits of a business phone number and walks you through the steps to obtain a phone number for your company."},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/04/04072514/phone_interview_Valeriy_G.jpg","caption":"Valeriy_G / Getty Images","alt":""},"content":"\n

A business phone number provides more than a direct line to your company. It also demonstrates your local, national and international presence — or makes your new business appear official and established as it gets off the ground. Even if the vast majority of your customers are unlikely to call, the simple existence of a phone number presents a level of credibility that customers want to see.

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You can easily demonstrate that credibility with local phone numbers, toll-free numbers and easy-to-remember vanity numbers. Some of these options are available free of charge or through paid options, which are typically priced below $50 per month. Obtaining a phone number for your business doesn’t have to be difficult. Just follow the steps below.

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Editor’s note: Looking for the right business phone system? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.

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How do you get a business phone number?

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1. Decide what kind of service you want.

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You may want a traditional landline phone associated with your business address, a mobile phone that you can transport with you as you do business, or a virtual phone number or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system you can access from anywhere.

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Most of the available cloud-based business phone systems provide the option of local, toll-free and personalized or vanity phone numbers, along with a vast suite of advanced features for communication and productivity. Your small business might not need these high-end features yet, but they’re good to look into now in case you need them later. With VoIP for business options, adding new numbers is easy through the phone system apps.

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2. Research service providers.

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Once you have a sense of what type of business phone system you want, research the providers that can make it available. Take note of the features they offer and what pricing options are available. Make sure you understand any unexpected costs, like equipment you may need to buy or any installation fees.

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3. Reach out for quotes and get started.

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Now is the time to reach out to business phone providers and request quotes for service. You can ask any questions you have about phone service, equipment, contract terms or customer support. If you’re considering adding multiple lines, such as for multiple employees, make sure to ask about any deals that may be available.

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4. Share your new number.

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Once you sign up for service, it’s time to make sure your customers know your new phone number. You may want to add it to your business cards and other printed material, like invoices and receipts, as well as your social media accounts and review sites where you interact with customers. Consider whether you want to have your new number listed in any business directories where customers may come looking for you.

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Why you need a business phone number

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It makes it easy for customers to reach you.

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First and foremost, your company should always provide a way for customers, clients and vendors to reach personnel by phone during regular business hours. Having a business phone number provides them with confidence that they can easily get a hold of you and provides your company with an added level of professionalism in many people’s eyes. Believe it or not, many small businesses lack an easy-to-find phone number, so merely having one can set you apart.

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It allows you to separate business life from personal life.

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For your new business, you may want to separate your personal calls from your business calls. This separation gives you a better work-life balance, and keeps your professionalism intact with clients, vendors and accounts.

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It lets you take advantage of advanced phone features.

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A business phone system provides useful features, including automated interactive voice response (IVR) trees, call forwarding and customizable menus that help direct callers in the most efficient and courteous way possible. Many of these phone systems offer native integrations with popular productivity tools and best CRM software that helps make the most of every customer interaction. IVR, call forwarding and customizable menus are must-haves, but your business might not yet need every platform with which your phone system integrates.

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Types of business phone numbers

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There are generally three types of phone numbers from which to choose for your company. In some cases, your business may require a local number, toll-free number and vanity phone number, but more often, one of these numbers is all you need at this stage in your company’s existence. Regardless of the type of phone number you acquire, the cost associated is relatively low.

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\n Type of phone number \n	\n Description \n	\n Price estimate \n
\n Local numbers \n	\n Phone numbers with a local, three-digit area code associated with a specific geographic region \n	\n $0-$10 per month \n
\n Toll-free numbers \n	\n Phone numbers that start with 800, 888, 877, 866, 855, 844 and 833; can be dialed from anywhere without a long-distance fee \n	\n $0-$10 per month \n
\n Vanity phone numbers \n	\n Personalized phone numbers that utilize the lettering system on a dialing keypad \n	\n $10-$50 (sometimes more) per month \n

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Local phone numbers

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Local phone numbers that begin with a three-digit area code are familiar to local callers and offer a good way to build a relationship with customers in your geographic area. For inbound calling purposes, local numbers provide a way for customers to contact a business without worrying about long-distance charges. Of course, with the prevalence of mobile phones and unlimited calling plans, this issue may be moot and thus not worth considering.

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A local business phone number is typically included for free with phone service plans, and extra lines are easy to add for a small fee. If your company does not have a physical footprint in a specific geographic region, consider a local phone number through VoIP and virtual phone systems. These are some advantages to securing a local number:

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• It establishes a presence in the community.
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• There is no cost in many cases.
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• It’s easy to obtain with landlines and VoIP.
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Here are some downsides to keeping it local:

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• Patrons in areas far from yours are less likely to answer a call from an unfamiliar area code.
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• Inbound callers who use landlines — and more still do than you might expect — may have to pay long-distance charges.
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• Customers may perceive your business as inadequate.
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Toll-free numbers

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Toll-free numbers are phone numbers that typically start with an 800 designation, though they may start with 833, 844, 855, 866, 877 or 888 as well. A phone number using a toll-free prefix can be dialed from any landline free of charge to the individual placing the call. For customers outside of the local area, toll-free numbers allow them to call without worrying about potential long-distance phone charges.

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These are some of the benefits of going toll-free:

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• Customers can reach you anywhere for free.
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• You can easily obtain a toll-free number.
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• You establish credibility as an organization.
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Here are some disadvantages of a toll-free number:

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• Inbound international callers may have to pay additional fees. Don’t worry about this factor if your business is too new or small to serve customers outside the country.
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• Users have potentially limited talk minutes through your service provider.
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• You may receive a high number of unsolicited calls.
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Vanity phone numbers

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Vanity phone numbers allow you to utilize letters in place of phone numbers to help patrons remember your number. Some businesses have gone as far as building their entire brand name around toll-free numbers, such as 1-800-Flowers.

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For businesses with seven letters like Best Buy, the memorability of a toll-free number like 1-888-Best-Buy makes the decision to use a vanity number easy. Unfortunately, many of the personalized options for seven-letter words have already been claimed. However, if you were able to find a unique web domain for your business, chances are that you’ll be able to secure a matching vanity phone number. These are some benefits of a vanity number:

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• It’s easy to remember.
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• It’s an effective branding tool.
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• It boosts your credibility.
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Here are some disadvantages of a vanity line:

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• Many of the good ones are already taken.
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• It’s the most expensive option.
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• It’s risky for international callers.
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How to choose the best phone number for your business

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You don’t necessarily have to settle for only one option between local, toll-free and vanity numbers when choosing a phone number for your business. Before you decide which type of number works best for your company, it’s a good idea to choose a VoIP or landline. Consider your existing equipment, internet reliability, the potential to scale (if that’s a goal of yours years down the line) and the monthly cost. Follow these steps to obtain a business number:

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1. Decide if you’re going to implement a landline, or check out our reviews of the best VoIP business phone systems.
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2. Find the best phone system based on the available features and cost for the number of lines you plan to use.
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3. If you’re operating a brick-and-mortar store, start with a local number to build your presence and reputation in the community.
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4. Add a toll-free number to your list of available contacts once you’re ready for a national presence with a decent volume of inbound calls.
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5. Add a vanity phone number (if you can secure one) that works well with your company’s name and can be used for marketing purposes.
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Steven Melendez contributed to this article.

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Every modern business needs effective communication tools for phone calls, messages and video conferences. Today’s business phone systems do more than connect calls; they also integrate with popular CRM tools and provide detailed analytics to help businesses make smarter decisions. However, identifying the best unified platform with the ideal mix of features can be a challenge when so many good choices are available.

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Two of the leading options for cloud-based Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone solutions are RingEX (formerly RingCentral MVP) and Dialpad. Both platforms provide great tools for unified communications with artificial intelligence (AI) assistants and all the call-handling features a business needs to present a professional appearance in any industry. We’ll compare the features between these two similar products so you can identify the best solution for your business communications needs.

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RingEX vs. Dialpad Compared

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\n Criteria \n	\n RingEX \n	\n Dialpad \n
\n Price \n	\n $20 – $35 per user, per month \n	\n $15 – $25+ per user, per month \n
\n Ease of use \n	\n Easy to implement and use \n	\n Easy to implement and use \n
\n Video conferencing \n	\n Up to 200 participants \n	\n Up to 10 participants \n
\n AI-powered features \n	\n Some \n	\n Many \n
\n Third-party integrations \n	\n 300+ \n	\n 70 \n

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Who Do We Recommend RingEX For?

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RingEX is a reliable cloud-based phone system with effective tools for calls, messages and video conferences. The company boasts an uptime of 99.999 percent, which equates to only 78 seconds of interruption per quarter.

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RingCentral’s core business phone product is RingEX, which ranges in price from $20 to $35 per user, per month if billed annually. RingEX supports hundreds of meeting participants and software integrations, as well as advanced features for monitoring calls in real time. The latter even includes a “whisper coach” function to help your employees as they assist customers, by monitoring and entering into conversations as needed.

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We recommend RingEX for businesses of any size looking for a powerful and collaborative phone system. Here are some of RingEX’s distinguishing features:

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• The ability to host audio conferences with up to 1,000 participants
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• The ability to host video conferences with up to 200 participants
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• Great mobile app for iOS and Android devices
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• Excellent training courses with RingCentral University
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• Pre-configured IP desk phones (optional)
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Who Do We Recommend Dialpad For?

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Dialpad is a cloud-hosted communications platform designed for team and customer interactions across phone, chat and video. The company’s all-in-one business communications solution is available through three plans that range in price and features from $15 to $25+ per user, per month if billed annually. Public pricing is not available for the top-tier Enterprise plan.

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Dialpad’s phone system offers extensive calling and routing features. Its AI technology can transcribe meetings in real time, automate post-call summaries, detect customer sentiment, log action items and create to-do lists. All of Dialpad’s intelligent voice tools are designed to help companies make the most of every conversation and customer interaction. In addition to basic business phone services, Dialpad also has contact center options with inbound and outbound support in addition to its outbound sales dialer offering.

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We recommend Dialpad for small businesses that embrace new technology and place a strong emphasis on efficient systems. Here are some of Dialpad’s most attractive features:

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• Very fast setup
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• Local number support in more than 70 countries
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• AI-powered tools at every subscription level
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• Powerful voice analytics and automation
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• Automatic data backup and redundancy
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Want to learn more about Dialpad? Read our full Dialpad review to see why we selected it as the best business phone for voice analytics.

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RingEX vs. Dialpad Comparison

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Pricing

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RingEX

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RingEX plans range in price from $20 to $35 per monthly user when billed annually. Monthly options are also available for an upcharge of 33 percent. Enterprise-level clients that purchase more than 100 licenses can receive an additional discount. RingEX accepts debit cards and credit cards, including Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover.

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Dialpad

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Dialpad’s two business communications plans are priced at $15 and $25 per user, per month when billed annually. It does not list the price of its Enterprise plan, which requires a minimum of 100 licenses. Dialpad offers discounted rates of up to 33 percent for annual subscribers and accepts all major credit cards.

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Ease of Use

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RingEX

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RingEX is considered easy to set up and use. Its mobile app for iOS and Android makes it easy to take calls, host meetings, message co-workers, set up conferences and configure system settings from any device. We think the mostly free training provided by RingCentral University is an excellent addition that really adds to the platform’s ease of use.

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Free training tools to get your team acclimated with their new phone system and communications tools quickly. Source: RingEX

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Dialpad

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With fast installation, one-click meetings and built-in AI to take notes for you while you engage in the conversation, Dialpad takes ease of business communications to a whole new level. The learning curve with Dialpad may be slightly more difficult than other platforms offering fewer advanced features; however, once you learn how to utilize the time-saving productivity tools and automated features, you’ll find this a very easy platform to use at a high level.

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Video Conferencing

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RingEX

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RingEX subscribers get unlimited HD video meetings with either 100 or 200 participants, depending on the service plan. All of RingEX’s video meetings are secure with passcodes and end-to-end encryption, and you can easily flip between your computer and other mobile devices during a video conference. We really like how well the AI-powered noise-reduction tool can filter out unwanted background sounds — like trash trucks and barking dogs — that can interrupt participants working from home. Other nice collaborative tools include breakout rooms, team huddles, white boards and participant reactions.

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Enjoy more productive video meetings with better engagement knowing your conversation is being written down automatically by your AI assistant. Source: RingEX

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Dialpad

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Dialpad’s video capabilities are built from the company’s otherwise free Meetings video conference product. This free version, which is included with Dialpad’s paid phone plans, caps the number of meeting participants at 10. While this limit is relatively small, it’s also probably more than adequate for the vast majority of small businesses that aren’t holding company-wide meetings on a regular basis. However, it is possible to upgrade to a separate Meetings plan that extends the number of participants to 150 for $15 per month. Dialpad’s video meetings may be small, but they include excellent features like screen sharing, video recording, waiting rooms, in-meeting chats, whiteboard with Micro integration, virtual backgrounds, and scheduling tools for Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.

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AI-powered features

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RingEX

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RingEX has a small number of AI-powered features available through its RingSense AI offering for 2024. This new set of time-saving tools can immediately improve interactions with real-time note-taking and the ability to provide personalized conversation insights with accurate and searchable transcriptions. Unfortunately, many of these new features are only available in beta mode for some subscribers as RingEX works on rolling them out for all customers this year.

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Easily share full meeting details or AI-written summaries and action items with co-workers and stakeholders. Source: Dialpad

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Dialpad

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Dialpad is largely built around voice intelligence with a wide range of AI-powered productivity features available at all subscription levels through AI Voice. This tool acts as a personal assistant to record accurate notes and track action items during meetings or calls. After the meeting, your AI assistant can automatically email meeting summaries with action items, audio/video recordings and a transcription of the conversation in case you need to reference it later.

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Third-party integrations

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RingEX

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With more than 300 pre-built integrations available at most subscription levels, RingEX has one of the largest and best app marketplaces of any business phone service provider we’ve reviewed. In addition to all of the best CRM software, bots and marketing automations, this app gallery also includes many industry-specific integrations for healthcare, legal and education. If you have a skilled developer at your disposal, there’s nearly endless potential for more system customization with APIs for voice, video, messaging, faxing and other communications data.

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RingEX has one of the largest and best app marketplaces we’ve seen, with hundreds of free third-party integrations. Source: RingEX

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Dialpad

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While Dialpad does include a few key integrations for CRMs like Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk and Zoho, its app marketplace is relatively limited. Looking at the options specific to Dialpad’s voice product, the company offers about 60 integrations including Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace, Zapier and Slack.

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RingEX vs. Dialpad Recap

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Choose RingEX if:

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• You want to host large video meetings.
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• You need extensive third-party integrations.
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• You’re looking for collaborative features to support remote and hybrid employees.
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Choose Dialpad if:

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• You want the best voice intelligence tools available.
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• You need a 100-percent uptime service-level agreement.
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• You’re looking for help with efficiency through time-saving automations.
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\n\n\n\n \n"}},{"_index":"wp-index-bnd-prod-content","_type":"content","_id":"10763","_score":2,"_source":{"canonical":"https://vaylees.com/16156-keap-crm.html","displayModified":"2024-04-25T18:28:20Z","docType":"review","editorsPick":null,"href":"16156-keap-crm.html","id":"10763","ID":10763,"isSponsored":false,"published":"2021-05-28T13:57:00Z","site":"bnd","stream":null,"subtitle":null,"title":"Keap CRM Review","author":{"displayName":"Jeff Hale","email":"ucijeff@gmail.com","thumbnail":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/04/04072059/jeffhale_photo.jpg","type":"Senior Analyst"},"channels":{"primary":{"name":"Find A Solution","slug":"find-a-solution"},"sub":{"name":"Marketing Solutions","slug":"marketing-solutions"}},"meta":{"robots":"index, follow","description":"Keap is a strong contact management software with robust marketing, sales and e-commerce tools built-in. The functionality and interface are top of the line, but it's not a lightweight solution, and is better suited for larger companies."},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/08/01033508/Keap.png","caption":"","alt":"keap company logo"},"content":"\n \n\n\n\n

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• Keap is our pick for the best small business CRM platform for ease of use.
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• Keap has e-commerce features for invoicing and native payment processing.
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• The platform integrates with more than 2,500 software programs to streamline any business process.
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• This review is for small business owners and managers who are interested in implementing Keap CRM. 
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Keap (formerly Infusionsoft) is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform that’s well suited for small business owners and anyone who’s new to this software category. The platform combines sales and marketing automation, making it especially useful for new e-commerce businesses that are seeking an all-in-one solution.

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In addition to built-in invoicing and numerous payment processing integrations, Keap offers checkout cart features to increase conversion rates and average cart values. The platform’s easy automations save customers a reported 10 hours per week by eliminating manual tasks such as sending texts and email follow-ups and recording new leads immediately after they complete a form on your landing page or social media account. Setting up your CRM is fast, thanks to a dedicated customer success manager and simple drag-and-drop sales pipeline builders that make it easy to stay organized and get a clear picture of your business opportunities.

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Why We Chose Keap for Ease of Use

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Keap is a simple all-in-one CRM platform with sales and marketing automation features that are easy to set up and use. The platform is designed to grow your business, with the assumption that you’re not necessarily an expert in the sales pipeline or CRMs. After starting with a pre-built sales pipeline template, you can automate emails, notifications and tasks with automatic triggers for when you move a deal from one stage to another. Keap helps business owners measure success effectively, with analytics and reports for list growth, email marketing performance and revenue trends over time.

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Keap stores all of your customer contact information and activity in one place. All of your interactions with a contact are automatically added to their account for quick review by anyone on your team. You can organize information by category or chronologically to get the context you need at a moment’s notice. From the contact dashboard, you can quickly call, text, email, book an appointment, process a purchase, add an invoice and much more with one click. You can also segment your contact list by groups to easily trigger automated actions based on a group member’s activity.

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Usability

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Keap is in the top tier for its usability, which is why we selected it as our best pick for ease of use. You can set up the system on your own in as little as 20 minutes, and each plan includes a dedicated customer success manager to ensure you get the system up and running smoothly. When you reach a new feature for the first time through the CRM dashboard, you’ll find helpful video tours that walk you through the capabilities. Beyond adding a new pipeline or using other CRM features, you can select from the premade templates that are easy to customize to suit your needs. Keap makes automation simple while maintaining a personal touch by helping you send the right messages at the right time to leads and clients who engage with your content through emails, forms and social media.

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Keap Features

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Both of Keap’s two main CRM products include everything you need to begin capturing leads, moving them through your sales pipeline and making a sale with built-in invoicing and payment processing options. In fact, few other providers include so many features with their entry-level plans. However, a few of our favorite features, including some of the e-commerce and lead scoring tools, are available only with the upper-tier Max plan.

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Automation	Keap makes it very easy to automate repetitive tasks with premade templates.
Lead scoring	You can prioritize the biggest and best opportunities with automatic lead scoring.
E-commerce payments	Keap has built-in features for invoicing and payment processing.
Integrations	Keap can integrate with more than 2,500 popular software applications natively and via Zapier Premium.

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Automation

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Keap enables complex automation that can free you from repetitive tasks. To do so, the platform uses easy-to-build automations based on “when-then scenarios.” For example, when a public form is submitted, Keap immediately sends a notification to you and a confirmation email to your new contact. Automation options are nearly as wide as your imagination. Keap also has a number of premade templates for landing-page leads, invoice reminders and deal offers.

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Lead Scoring

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The lead-scoring features become available with the Max plan. This feature assesses each prospect’s interest based on their engagement level, including information from web forms submitted, links clicked, emails opened and tags you apply. The highly customizable feature lets you set the weight or value for any variable and remove points based on certain criteria – for example, when a contact does not open or engage with a new email campaign. When paired with a sales strategy built on your team members’ knowledge and experience, lead scoring can be used to increase efficiency and drive revenue.

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E-Commerce Payments

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Keap’s native invoicing and payment processing tools can help you get paid faster while providing your customers with secure payment options, including debit cards, credit cards, PayPal, Venmo and other payment platforms. Keap has dedicated, partnership-level integrations with payment processors, including PayPal, Stripe, WePay (Chase), EVO Payments, Eway and Nexus Merchants. Processing rates and terms vary by provider, with same-day deposits available in some cases. In addition to accepting payments, you can increase your average cart value with upsells or promos at checkout and implement abandoned-cart automations to entice customers to return.

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Integrations

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Keap integrates with more than 2,500 platforms and tools. No other CRM provider we reviewed connects with as many apps that help businesses operate efficiently. Keap’s marketplace includes partner-level, certified and third-party integrations for email, lead generation, specialty apps, pre-built campaigns and much more. However, Keap’s integrations are among the most expensive of the CRM providers we reviewed.

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Keap Cost

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Keap has a unique contact-based pricing structure. There are two core plans, Pro and Max, which start at $129 and $199 per month, respectively, when billed annually. The Pro plan includes two user seats and 1,500 contacts, while the Max plan includes three user seats and 2,500 contacts. The platform can easily handle more than 25,000 contacts with a higher monthly base. Each additional seat for either plan costs $29 per month, regardless of the number of contacts.

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We’ve compared the starting prices per month per user, as well as the features offered, in the chart below. We recommend you take advantage of Keap’s 14-day free trial before you buy, to see how the platform suits your business requirements.

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Plan	Starting price	Features
Pro	$129 for 2 users, $29 for each additional user	Dedicated phone line, mobile app, automated lead capture and follow-up, 100 custom fields, 150 text messages, email marketing, payments, invoicing, appointments, landing pages, sales pipelines, advanced automations, text marketing
Max	$199 for 3 users, $29 for each additional user	Everything in Pro, 2,500 contacts, marketing analytics, promo codes, checkout upsell, 150 custom fields, 250 text messages, lead scoring, customer subscription management

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Keap Setup

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Keap is exceptionally easy to set up, thanks to the inclusion of a dedicated customer success manager with every plan. The free option includes a basic contact import, 10 items and one landing page that would be enough to get a small team up and running quickly. Setting up your sales pipeline is especially easy, thanks to drag-and-drop tools and a Kanban system with automations to instantly communicate with new leads and begin cultivating a successful relationship. For more complicated items, including setting up new integrations, professional paid support is also available.

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Source: Keap

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Keap Customer Service

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Keap has above-average customer service, including U.S.-based phone support on weekdays and 24/7 chat support via the mobile app with both plans. Domestic customers can reach a support specialist by phone Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET. Local support is also available for subscribers in the U.K. and Australia. In addition, unlike most competitors, Keap includes a dedicated success manager with all plans.

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Keap also offers self-help resources, including informative webinars and instructional articles that guide you through processes such as automating text messages and connecting your CRM software to WordPress.

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Keap Drawbacks

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The variability of a contact-based pricing structure is a drawback for growing companies that want tight control over their recurring software expenses. Increasing contacts from 1,500 to 25,000 with the Pro plan raises the monthly base fee by 217%, from $129 to $409. Plus, after you exceed your allotment of 150 or 250 text messages, there is a charge of 4 cents per marketable message, meaning you’ll have to keep a close eye on your text message automations.

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Another limitation is that there is currently no sales funnel that allows you to create and connect multiple landing pages to convert more leads. Although this capability is listed as “coming soon,” it feels like a missing feature in a high-performing, automation-rich CRM. For a CRM platform with a useful sales funnel tool, consider our review of Freshsales, the CRM platform from Freshworks.

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Methodology

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We considered many major CRM software providers for review in 2024. After performing our initial research into each platform, we selected 11 of the leading customer relationship management solutions available today for small businesses: Salesforce, Keap, Freshworks, Zoho, monday.com Sales CRM, Oracle NetSuite, HubSpot, Insightly, Pipedrive, SugarCRM and Zendesk. After spending many collective hours participating in live product demos and testing each platform through trial or paid accounts, we identified the best use case for 11 providers, to help small business owners and managers choose the best CRM tool for their needs.

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We also took a deeper dive into six of our top performers, providing greater insight into the features and tools that separate these CRMs from the rest of the competition. Of the CRM platforms for which we wrote a full review, Keap was the easiest to use, making it an excellent fit for startups and growing businesses that are new to this software category. Your dedicated customer success manager will help get your platform up and running smoothly with pre-built pipeline templates, automated email capabilities and lead management tools that can transform your customer relationships.

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Bottom Line

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We recommend Keap CRM for …

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• Businesses setting up their first CRM system.
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• E-commerce businesses, which will enjoy Keap’s numerous payment and checkout features.
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• Companies looking for simple sales and marketing tools in one platform.
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We don’t recommend Keap CRM for …

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• Large businesses with more than 25,000 contacts.
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• Businesses that want a lot of free integrations.
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• Businesses that want to send more than 250 promotional texts per month.
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\n"}},{"_index":"wp-index-bnd-prod-content","_type":"content","_id":"11393","_score":2,"_source":{"canonical":"https://vaylees.com/16226-zoho-assist.html","displayModified":"2023-10-05T17:54:03Z","docType":"review","editorsPick":null,"href":"16226-zoho-assist.html","id":"11393","ID":11393,"isSponsored":false,"published":"2021-09-08T13:45:00Z","site":"bnd","stream":null,"subtitle":null,"title":"Zoho Assist Review","author":{"displayName":"Jeff Hale","email":"ucijeff@gmail.com","thumbnail":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/04/04072059/jeffhale_photo.jpg","type":"Senior Analyst"},"channels":{"primary":{"name":"Find A Solution","slug":"find-a-solution"},"sub":{"name":"SMB Solutions","slug":"technology-solutions"}},"meta":{"robots":"index, follow","description":"Zoho Assist is great remote PC access software for companies that offer their customers hands-on technical support for their products. It's also optimal for small and midsize businesses that need to do remote computer maintenance."},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2021/09/27130843/zoho-assist-logo.png","caption":"","alt":"Zoho Assist logo"},"content":"\n \n\n\n\n

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• Zoho Assist is a cross-compatible remote access system with features and support for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, ChromeOS and Raspberry Pi.
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• Zoho Assist integrates seamlessly with the vendor’s suite of Workplace software solutions and key third-party business applications.
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• Zoho offers a limited free plan that may include enough tools to suit small businesses and independent contractors.
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• This review is for small business owners shopping for remote access software.
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Zoho Assist is a simple and effective enterprise-grade remote support and unattended remote access software solution. It offers a variety of service plans and payment options for businesses of all sizes. This cross-platform software stands out from competitors thanks to its ability to establish web-based, on-demand connections with remote computers, mobile devices, IoT devices and servers running on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, Chrome OS and Raspberry Pi. Zoho Assist also integrates seamlessly with the vendor’s suite of Workplace business tools and third-party applications to potentially serve as a unified, all-in-one platform for all of your customer data and communications.

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Why Zoho Assist Is Best for All-in-One Remote Support and Access

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Zoho Assist combines essential features with an easy-to-use dashboard, support for every major operating system, seamless integrations with Zoho Workplace and third-party applications, valuable diagnostic service tools, web-based connections and the ability to combine remote access with support through the same platform. When integrated with the rest of Zoho’s business software solutions, like the Zoho CRM, we love how well Zoho Assist fits in as part of a centralized source of customer communications and data.

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The system also includes effective communications features with options for chat, audio and video to reduce your reliance on third-party or off-application tools. Zoho Assist additionally boasts effective tools for mobile remote support, and in some plans, the ability to connect with IoT and Raspberry Pi devices. Its extensive compatibility outshines competitors. These characteristics are why we found Zoho Assist to be the best remote access software for businesses seeking an all-in-one system.

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Drag and drop to transfer small files quickly and securely between remotely connected computers and devices. Source: Zoho Assist

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Usability

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While none of the major remote access software platforms we reviewed are difficult to use, Zoho Assist sets itself apart with a large list of supported operating systems, including Raspberry Pi and IoT devices. Once you’ve moved past the initial setup process and adjusted the appropriate permissions, you’ll be able to see your list of configured unattended remote devices and organize them into groups with customizable permissions. Accessing a device from your Unattended Access tab is as easy as clicking Connect and beginning a remote session.

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As a stand-alone unattended access solution available via two paid plan options, Zoho Assist’s competitive collection of essential and advanced features make it very user-friendly. You can remotely turn on your office computer whether it’s hibernating, sleeping or powered down. Once connected with a secure key, you’ll be able to quickly access and share important files, print documents, and use the multimonitor navigation functions to enjoy the same efficient work setup from anywhere. Bulk deployment for large companies is easy to complete, and all data is protected during remote sessions with two-factor authentication, end-to-end SSL, AES 256-bit encryption and inactive session timeout.

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Invite customers to join a secure web-based remote support session over email or text message. Source: Zoho Assist

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As a stand-alone remote support solution sold across three paid plan options, Zoho Assist provides customer support technicians with all the tools they need to troubleshoot customers’ computers and mobile devices. Communication during web-based sessions includes text, audio and video chat options, as well as screen swapping and sharing. A scheduling function lets technicians provide support at the customer’s preferred time, with reminders to ensure nobody misses the appointment. Other features like drag-and-drop file transfer and multimonitor navigation make it easy for technicians to assist customers and boost productivity.

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Zoho Assist Features

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Interactive communications	Use multiple methods of communication, screen sharing and annotations to resolve issues effectively.
Diagnostic tools	Execute command prompts, automate tasks, manage hardware, and gain control over programs for fast troubleshooting.
Customization	Design custom templates and branding that includes your company’s name, logo, favicon and URLs.
Mobile support	Use the Zoho Assist mobile app for iOS and Android to provide remote support that’s truly remote.

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Interactive Communication

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Zoho’s remote support and unattended access products provide a range of communication tools to resolve customer issues and collaborate with colleagues effectively. Support technicians can communicate with customers through chat, audio and video to quickly grasp the problem and provide exceptional customer service during sessions. You may also record sessions for internal training purposes or to share with customers if the resolved issue returns.

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These same communication features make it easy to collaborate with co-workers through the same machine. With annotations and the use of a virtual whiteboard, you can draw, erase, highlight and use text during demonstrations and meetings to illustrate your ideas without confusion. As great as these features are, you may want to consider our review of rival ConnectWise Control if communication is your top priority. We found that system to be the best for communication.

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Reach your customers over the phone using add-on VoIP credits. International rates may apply. Source: Zoho Assist

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Diagnostic Tools

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Zoho Assist makes it easier for technicians to diagnose and resolve issues by providing access to a wide range of machine data, such as installed software and hardware as well as the details of the CPU. Even if a remote machine is powered off, you can use Wake on Lan and begin performing system diagnostic activities using the command prompt, task manager, device manager, software, registry editor, groups, users, printer and other installed hardware. When your support technicians have instant access to the right information, they can identify the root cause behind poorly performing applications, processes and drivers in less time.

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Diagnostic tools provide you with the necessary information to diagnose and resolve hardware and software issues quickly. Source: Zoho Assist

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Customization

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We appreciate that Zoho provides a number of customization options to streamline operations, optimize reporting and present a professional branded experience for your customers in support settings. For example, you can customize email templates to ensure consistent brand communication when sending session invitations, or add the lightweight widget with a simple HTML snippet to turn any landing page or blog entry into an entry point for joining a remote session.

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Zoho also lets you manage your technicians with detailed user-defined permissions and groups to ensure everyone has the access they need to work securely. With custom reporting options, you can maintain comprehensive records for each remote support and unattended access session to analyze your company, individual or group performance and make the necessary adjustments to ensure you’re using resources efficiently.

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You can request to record mobile sessions for training purposes and quality assurance. Source: Zoho Assist

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Mobile Support 

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The Zoho Assist mobile app, available for iOS and Android, allows you to access customers’ screens from the convenience of your mobile device. You can also support customers’ mobile devices with the ability to remotely control iOS and Android devices. With the mobile app installed, customers can connect with a secure session key and share their screens with technicians who can better understand, diagnose and troubleshoot issues with all of the necessary information at their fingertips. During mobile sessions, you can communicate with your customers through instant chat to gain further clarity about the issue they’re experiencing.

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Zoho Assist Cost

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Zoho Assist has a limited free plan, three paid remote support plans, and two paid unattended access plans. With annual subscriptions, you can save more than 15%. Keep reading to find out the prices of and differences between the packages.

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• Free: The free option supports one remote technician and five unattended computers. It comes with a long list of features, including instant chat, clipboard sharing, user management, organization roles, desktop app, Zoho SalesIQ integration, Zoho Desk integration, multimonitor navigation, remote Ctrl+Alt+Del, idle-session time out, two-factor authentication, log reports, basic customer support, Zoho Assist APIs and support for Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome OS.
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• Remote Support – Standard: For $10 per month per technician when billed annually or $12 when billed monthly, the Standard plan includes everything in the free version, along with remote screen blanking, file transfer, reboot and reconnect, session transfer, screen-capture, voice chat, email configuration, and integrations with Zendesk, ServiceNow, Freshdesk, Jira and Google Contacts.
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• Remote Support – Professional: At $15 per month per technician when billed annually or $18 when billed monthly, the Professional plan includes everything in the Standard version, plus session scheduling, notes, screen swapping, screen sharing, mobile and IoT device support, custom email templates, and advanced reporting.
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• Remote Support – Enterprise: At a cost of $24 per month per technician when billed annually or $28 when billed monthly, the Enterprise plan includes everything in the Professional package, along with video chat, annotation, remote print, session recording, service queue, extra cloud storage, extra VoIP credits, session audit, department organization and a customer widget.
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• Unattended Access – Standard: At $10 per month per technician when billed annually or $12 when billed monthly, the Standard plan covers access to 25 unattended computers with an unlimited number of users or technicians. It includes everything in the free plan, plus computer grouping, group permissions, bulk deployment, Wake on LAN, file transfer, remote power, session confirmation, multi monitor navigation, custom reports, mobile apps and screen-capture capabilities.
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• Unattended Access – Professional: For $15 per month per technician when billed annually or $18 when billed monthly, the Professional plan includes everything in the Standard version, along with advanced reports, custom email templates, department organization, bulk deployment via Distributor, diagnostic tools, custom domain mapping, mobile and IoT device support, session audits, contact management, annotation, remote print, session recording, and services queues.
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Optional add-ons include cloud storage starting at $4 per month for every additional 5GB, VoIP phone call credits priced at $1 per credit and premium customer support that costs 20% of your total license fee. Volume discounts are available as well. Like some of its peers, Zoho Assist offers free trials, giving you no-fee access to its services for 15 days.

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Setup

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Installing Zoho Assist is relatively fast and easy for unattended computer setup. The installation client provides you with simple and clear instructions, while pop-ups walk you through the required settings and permissions to get started with a remote access session within a few minutes. Once the software is installed, you can connect with a single click and begin working with the software and data on your remote machine.

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In mass deployment settings, you can configure a large group of computers and devices through a deployment link, configure group policy, set startup script for Active Directory networks or Microsoft Intune for Windows environments, and set up distributor and domain. It’s all relatively straightforward, even for those without IT certifications.

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Customer Service

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Zoho Assist provides free basic support and charges for its more robust Enterprise Support Plan. Basic customer service is available during set hours on weekdays through email, chat and phone. Enterprise support, priced at 20% of your total license fee, gets you around-the-clock customer service Monday through Friday with a three-hour response time. You can even receive quarterly reporting of your feature usage with recommendations for getting the most out of the platform.

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Enterprise support customers also receive help with onboarding and one-on-one sessions with Zoho Assist product specialists. This level of support is only available for customers with more than 100 unattended computers or five enterprise technicians.

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Fortunately, Zoho Assist also provides a robust digital resource center with regular training webinars, product roadmaps, user guides, self-help articles, blogs and community forums to learn about best practices or troubleshoot minor issues. However, if you prefer dedicated assistance, competitors GoTo Resolve and ConnectWise Control both provide 24/7 customer service.

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Drawbacks

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Zoho Assist’s customer support services are limited in their availability whether you opt for the free basic support or the Enterprise Support, the latter of which is relatively expensive. The basic support included with all plans is limited to weekdays with no advertised response times. Even with the Enterprise Support plan that costs 20% of your total license fee, you won’t be provided with a dedicated support specialist, and response times can be as long as three hours during weekdays, with no support provided over the weekend.

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For media- and technology-focused companies that regularly make large file transfers between remotely connected machines and devices, Zoho Assist’s 2GB cap may prove troublesome. However, the system doesn’t require you to use any intermediate storage such as USB, FTP or cloud-based storage solutions. It increases the level of security through what’s effectively an encrypted tunnel for file transfers.

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Methodology

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When looking for the best remote PC access and support tools available, we closely researched and examined a range of products. These evaluations included participating in live demos, using trial accounts, testing the software on various operating systems and devices, and reaching out to customer service representatives as if we were customers.

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We investigated each vendor’s pricing and their platforms’ features, ease of use, setup process, security and limitations. We took integrations and customer support into account. Overall, we found Zoho Assist to be the best all-in-one remote support and access solution because it is capable of both services while integrating with the rest of Zoho’s software suite for a streamlined experience.

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Bottom Line

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We recommend Zoho Assist for …

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• Businesses of all sizes in search of a single solution for remote support and unattended access.
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• Small businesses and independent contractors that want a free tool to facilitate remote support and unattended access.
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• Companies looking for an easy-to-use dashboard to navigate remote support and unattended access sessions.
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We don’t recommend Zoho Assist for …

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• Businesses that regularly transfer files larger than 2GB during remote sessions.
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• Companies in need of weekend customer support hours or time-sensitive assistance.
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\n"}},{"_index":"wp-index-bnd-prod-content","_type":"content","_id":"11112","_score":2,"_source":{"canonical":"https://vaylees.com/7840-best-crm-software-small-business.html","displayModified":"2024-03-28T15:39:09Z","docType":"review","editorsPick":null,"href":"7840-best-crm-software-small-business.html","id":"11112","ID":11112,"isSponsored":false,"published":"2019-06-12T17:11:00Z","site":"bnd","stream":null,"subtitle":null,"title":"Salesforce CRM Review","author":{"displayName":"Jeff Hale","email":"ucijeff@gmail.com","thumbnail":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/04/04072059/jeffhale_photo.jpg","type":"Senior Analyst"},"channels":{"primary":{"name":"Find A Solution","slug":"find-a-solution"},"sub":{"name":"Marketing Solutions","slug":"marketing-solutions"}},"meta":{"robots":"index, follow","description":"Discover if Salesforce’s Small Business CRM is the best fit for your unique requirements."},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://images.vaylees.com/app/uploads/2022/08/01033826/Salesforce.png","caption":"","alt":"Salesforce company logo"},"content":"\n \n\n\n\n

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• Salesforce helps teams across departments stay organized with a central source of data to serve customers better.
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• Salesforce has a wide range of CRM products, features and tools designed to help small businesses sell smarter and grow.
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• Salesforce includes AI-powered tools with effective algorithms to help you serve the best deals to the right customers at the perfect time.
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• This review is for small business owners who are interested in implementing Salesforce as their CRM. 
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Salesforce is among the earliest and best-known cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) platforms. The software service provider has an expansive collection of CRM products for sales, service, marketing, commerce, sustainability, safety and experiences. In addition to its variety of need-based software solutions, Salesforce offers custom packages for businesses of every size to connect marketing, sales, commerce, service and IT teams with a unified solution for every phase of their customers’ journeys.

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In our review, we focused on what Salesforce has defined as its Small Business Solutions: the Starter, Sales Professional, Service Professional and Marketing Cloud Account Engagement editions. Our Professional edition demo account was built for a sales team at a small business with fewer than 20 employees who need user accounts.

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Why We Chose Salesforce as the Best CRM for Small Businesses

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Salesforce is among the industry leaders in cloud-based CRM solutions and has the widest variety of plans and features we’ve reviewed. Originally, the software launched in 1999 under a new model (at the time) called Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Since then, it has expanded to accommodate countless integrations (including Slack, which was especially monumental during the pandemic) and now even offers Einstein (Einstein AI and Einstein GPT), which generates over a trillion weekly AI-powered predictions.

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Unlike the other industry giants, Salesforce gears many of its product offerings and its pricing toward small businesses that want to start with a simple and effective all-in-one sales and customer service tool. Salesforce was designed to learn and grow with your business, thanks to intelligent tools that improve with each customer interaction. As a centralized source of data, Salesforce makes it easier to understand how to allocate marketing efforts and tailor messages for different customer segments with helpful AI-powered recommendations from Einstein and complete AI-generated content with Einstein GPT. With easy-to-use automations, timesaving macros, AI-powered insights and detailed customer information, business owners and small sales teams can eliminate repetitive manual tasks. Instead, they can focus their energy on delivering personalized service and deals at the perfect times in their customers’ journeys.

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Salesforce keeps records of every customer interaction and communication, which any registered user in your company can access from any device. Source: Salesforce

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Usability

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Despite its potential complexity and advanced feature set, Salesforce is far from a difficult product to set up and use in a small business setting, even for first-time CRM account owners. Salesforce was specifically designed for a painless setup for small business owners getting started.

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However, if usability is your top priority, you may want to consider another CRM, such as Keap or monday.com Sales CRM, two of the top choices for ease of use (learn more in our Keap review and monday.com Sales CRM review). Once you’ve gone through the brief setup process to import your contacts and build your sales workflows, you can begin collecting new leads and making more sales with live in-product help to assist with any minor issues.

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Even with Salesforce Starter (formerly Essentials), the company’s entry-level edition, automated tools will log sales activities like emails and calendar entries with the AI-powered tool named Einstein. With all of your customer data stored in one location, it’s easy to develop effective sales strategies and keep track of every step of your customers’ journeys. On the support side, you can help your customers resolve common issues by publishing a searchable knowledge center from a readymade template.

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As your small business grows, you can easily add features from the AppExchange or upgrade to a better-featured plan to suit the evolving needs of your customers and employees. All of your CRM features are available through the mobile CRM apps, letting you and your team work effectively from anywhere. [Read related article: 12 Features to Look for in a CRM Solution]

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You can see and manage your entire sales process, from new leads to close, through any internet-connected device. Source: Salesforce

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Salesforce CRM Features

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You would be hard-pressed to find a popular CRM feature that’s not available with Salesforce in a standard edition or as an existing add-on. Even with the entry-level Starter plan, you’ll have access to AI-powered features and automations with Einstein Activity Capture. The benefit of using Salesforce is that the company is constantly re-evaluating consumer needs and launching new CRM features.

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You can select a sellable item from your Salesforce catalog, set your segmented contacts and let Einstein dive into the data to make the best offers to the right prospects at the perfect time for a sale. Source: Salesforce

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These sorts of tools are typically reserved for more expensive, higher-tier plans with other service providers. All Salesforce plans include features for data syncing, sales tracking, customer service, mobile access, custom reporting, integrations and everything else you need to manage customer sales and support. We’ve highlighted a few of the features that are most effective for small business owners.

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\n Sales forecasting \n	\n Stay ahead of annual budgets and quarterly goals with real-time sales forecasting. \n
\n Lead management \n	\n Go from lead to close with automated processes and intelligent deals. \n
\n Social intelligence \n	\n Get insights into relevant and trending social engagement for your account. \n
\n Einstein GPT \n	\n Auto-generate sales tasks, generate personalized content and deliver AI-powered customer insights. \n

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Sales Forecasting

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Salesforce provides an accurate and up-to-date view of your entire business pipeline. You can motivate your sales reps to exceed their targets with up-to-the-minute leaderboards to encourage friendly competition. You can easily identify areas where your business is struggling through an objective, data-driven point of view to make necessary adjustments and stay on track with your revenue goals. The software builds forecasts with a set of weighted variables that can include the owner, time, forecast categories, product family and territory. According to Salesforce, sales leaders can usually expect to see accuracy within 10 percent of their forecasted data.

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As a sales manager, you can see your team’s progress with quarterly and monthly goals, and dive into any piece of data for great insight. Source: Salesforce

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Lead Management

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You can use landing pages and email to automatically add new leads and route them to the appropriate sales representative. Your reps will automatically have all the information they need to follow up with one click to email from a personalized template or make a call with the built-in dialer. You can customize your lead’s information pages to highlight the details that matter to your business and guide your reps on what they should focus on and accomplish next. You can automate many manual tasks and set up complex macros to handle multiple time-consuming actions quickly in a single click. With key information and helpful automations, your reps can spend more time selling and less time learning about their customers.

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You can manually filter leads to determine the strongest opportunities. Source: Salesforce

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Social Intelligence

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Available as an add-on for $25 per month, the unique Social Intelligence feature helps business owners and managers harness engagement across social media networks to make better sales decisions. This social listening tool uses natural language processing to gain an understanding of trending news and business events for your accounts, competitors and industry. You can use this tool to identify new leads, set reminders to reach out to a contact, search for account names, and use keywords to surface business events and key conversations to reach your customers where they congregate online.

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Einstein GPT

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New for 2023, Einstein GPT is the next generation of Salesforce’s “Einstein” AI technology that’s delivered more than 200 billion daily AI-powered predictions across the company’s Customer 360 platform. As the name implies, Einstein GPT combines Salesforce’s proprietary AI models with ChatGPT to trigger time-saving automations and create personalized AI-generated content. Sales teams can use this tool to compose emails and schedule meetings. Service teams can use it to generate personalized chat replies and collect relevant information from existing case notes. Marketing teams can use it to engage customers and prospects through multiple communication channels. With Slack integration, anyone at your company can benefit from AI-powered conversation summaries and writing assistance to quickly draft coherent messages and texts.

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Save valuable time directing your CRM to create lead-generation pages, add sign-up forms, get insights on new accounts and send customers detailed answers to complex questions. Source: Salesforce

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Salesforce CRM Pricing

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The Salesforce Small Business CRM has four plans with three distinct tiers. The entry-level Starter edition, which has a limit of 10 user accounts, includes everything you’ll need from a CRM to run your business efficiently from one cloud-based platform. For the middle-tier Professional option, you can choose between the Sales Professional and the Service Professional, based on how you interact with your customers. Rather than a per-seat price, the upper-tier Marketing Cloud Account Engagement is priced by the number of contacts you manage and includes support for 10,000 contacts. Additionally, there is no minimum seat requirement (unlike CRMs like monday and HubSpot).

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You can purchase add-ons for new features or extended capabilities for sales, service, marketing, commerce, analytics and more. Most plans require an annual payment plan.

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\n Plan \n	\n Starting price (per user per month) \n	\n Features \n
\n Starter \n	\n $25 \n	\n Lead management, duplicate blocking, web-to-lead capture, mass email, custom sales processes, mobile apps, offline functionality, custom dashboards, custom reports, file sharing, case management, 5 automation workflows per organization \n
\n Sales Professional \n	\n $75 \n	\n Everything in Starter, plus custom sales console app, collaborative forecasts, forecasting app, contracts, orders, quotes, unlimited custom apps, custom roles, developer sandbox \n
\n Service Professional \n	\n $75 \n	\n Everything in Starter, plus service contracts, entitlements, case milestone tracker, service orders, advanced case management, work order management, product tracking, custom profiles, unlimited custom apps, developer sandbox \n
\n Marketing Cloud Account Engagement \n	\n $1,250 \n	\n Up to 10,000 contacts, email marketing, drag-and-drop content creation, Sales Cloud integration, subscriber profiles, segmentation, event-triggered communications, automated workflows, basic reporting, A/B testing, personalized communications \n

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Setup

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The difficulty of setting up Salesforce is largely dependent on the product you select, size of your team, number of contacts and complexity of your CRM workflows. However, for a small business setting up a Starter plan, Salesforce is considered fast and easy. The self-help resources include more than 350 YouTube videos, more than 120 webinars and a large collection of on-demand expert coaching videos to help you with everything from importing your contacts to building out automated sales processes. During the setup process, Salesforce provides to-do lists and recommended steps to help you connect to your email, set up your sales processes, customize fields, import data, and start collecting and nurturing leads.

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Customer Service

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Salesforce’s customer service is available 24/7 by phone, email and chat, but finding the help you need may take some time. Salesforce prefers customers to request a support call via online form to initiate a technical support case. (This is similar to what we saw in our review of Oracle NetSuite CRM.) While this practice helps ensure the correct person is available to resolve your issue, the waiting period may be frustrating if your sales or support activities are affected and you need an immediate resolution.

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When we called for technical support outside of normal business hours, we were informed that Salesforce was experiencing high call volume and were encouraged to seek a solution on our own at help.salesforce.com.

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Drawbacks

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Integrations on the Starter plan are limited to DocuSign, Dropbox, HelloSign, CodeScience, ActiveCampaign and Zapier. While Zapier alone can cover many of the must-have CRM integrations, you’ll have to pay extra for a plan that offers more than 100 automated tasks per month.

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The majority of Salesforce’s products require an annual subscription. Most CRM providers offer annual and monthly payment options for most of their plans. (See examples in our Zoho CRM review.)

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Methodology

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Our editorial team and contributing writers considered all of the major CRM software providers in 2024 for review. After performing our initial research into each platform, we selected 13 of the leading CRM solutions available today for small businesses, including Salesforce, monday.com Sales CRM, Freshsales, Zoho, Oracle NetSuite, HubSpot, Pipedrive and Zendesk. After spending many hours participating in live product demos and testing each platform, we identified the best use case for each of the 13 providers to help small businesses owners and managers choose the best CRM for their needs. We’ve also taken a deeper dive with nine of our top performers, providing greater insight into the features and tools that separate these CRM solutions from the rest of the competition. Salesforce meets the needs of small businesses and teams with easy-to-use features to manage leads, stay on top of sales goals and automatically identify insights into the social trends that are relevant to your company. The platform’s features are expansive, ensuring you’ll always have access to the CRM tools you need as your business evolves.

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Overall Value

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We recommend Salesforce CRM for …

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• New businesses looking for their first CRM platform.
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• Small businesses shopping for a basic all-in-one sales and support platform.
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• Scaling businesses expecting steady growth and looking for a flexible CRM to meet their evolving needs.
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We don’t recommend Salesforce CRM for …

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• Businesses in niche industries that don’t segment their audience.
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• Businesses seeking an equal mix of sales and customer service from their CRM.
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• Enterprise-level businesses that want a lot of customizable features and tools.
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According to the Pew Research Center, roughly one-third of United States workers perform their jobs from home full-time. Hybrid work schedules have become even more popular, with 54 percent of full-time U.S. employees working from home on a regular basis, according to Gallup. With RingCentral’s RingEX (formerly RingCentral MVP), remote and hybrid employees never have to miss a beat or important piece of customer data when working from another device, operating system or country.

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We love how RingEX’s team chat and messaging feature operates like a digital workspace, providing immediate access to past communications, pinned documents and shared files. The platform also makes it easy to reach colleagues through chat or an impromptu video call from the same application accessible via web browser, desktop and mobile apps.

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Human collaboration is critical, but software synergies play a vital role in streamlining complex operations. While most business platforms integrate with a handful of customer relationship management (CRM) systems and a few dozen other software applications, RingEX offers hundreds of native integrations with most of its unified communications (UC) plans. For smaller businesses using few platforms, though, integrations are nice-to-haves, whereas RingEX’s internal messaging and digital workspace features are essential.

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Why RingEX Is Best for Collaboration

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RingEX is a reliable business communications platform for messaging, video chatting and phone calls with easy access via web browser, desktop and mobile apps. RingCentral utilizes 34 data centers around the world and direct peering with more than 45 carriers and 200 internet service providers (ISPs) to provide a 99.999 percent uptime, ensuring hybrid and remote employees enjoy uninterrupted access and connectivity.

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For companies particularly interested in team collaboration, we love that the team chat and messaging feature operates like a digital workspace. This workspace provides immediate access to your past communications, pinned documents and shared files. It also makes it easy to reach colleagues through chat or an impromptu video call from the same application. With plans that include video conferencing, users can hold video meetings with screen sharing and in-meeting public and private chat capabilities on any internet-connected device.

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In addition to its built-in tools that fuel collaboration between remote employees and teams, RingEX also works well with third-party applications. Notably, there are more than 300 pre-built integrations available, and nearly endless potential for developers to add more customization with application programming interfaces for voice, short message service/multimedia messaging service (SMS/MMS), team messaging, video, fax, data and configuration. If collaboration and synchronicity are your goals, this is the business phone system for you — and it’s still a great fit if you’re using relatively little software overall.

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The extensive app marketplace offers more than 100 CRM integrations. Source: RingEX

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Usability

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RingEX is relatively simple to implement and use for administrators and employees. Navigating between communications options on the lefthand sidebar is straightforward with a similar look and feel between the desktop and web browser experience. While the dashboard isn’t as sleek and intuitive as Ooma, which feels more like a consumer-oriented product than an office tool, it’s far from a clunky experience.

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Much of this platform’s ease of use comes through its extensive list of more than 300 prebuilt integrations that can connect your communication workflows with the tools you use the most. With integrations for highly rated CRM, SMS marketing, customer service and marketing automation platforms, you can conduct all of your customer-facing communications with the benefits of a UC platform and save time jumping between software applications for each task. This can help you start to build out your software infrastructure.

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[Related article: Best CRM Software for Small Businesses]

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RingEX is built on RingCentral’s highly reliable network, ensuring uninterrupted use. Source: RingCentral

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With administrator permission, end users can modify their call-handling settings to plan ahead for vacations or reroute for sick days, including which devices, such as desk phones or mobile phones, should ring. New features included with RingSense AI make meetings easier with automatic note-taking and the ability to provide post-interaction insights. With accurate and searchable transcriptions, RingEX makes it easy to find information quickly across all past interactions.

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RingEX Features

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\n Team chat and messaging \n	\n Create a digital workspace to chat, share files and collaborate effectively with AI-powered tools. \n
\n Large video meetings \n	\n Host high-definition (HD) video meetings with AI-powered features and up to 200 participants. \n
\n Real-time note-taking \n	\n Capture important notes and boot engagement during meetings automatically. \n
\n Reporting and analytics \n	\n Manage from a distance effectively and access key insights into your company’s communications with live reporting and custom dashboards. \n

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All RingEX plans include dozens of business call-handling features like a multilevel auto attendant and interactive voice response (IVR) menus. While it’s a capable phone system for general business purposes, we discovered a few additional features that set it apart as a communications platform built to support collaboration.

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Team Chat and Messaging

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Whether inside or outside a physical office, online messaging is often the go-to method for workplace communication. RingEX’s team chat is a convenient way to keep in immediate contact with fully remote teams since employees can hop on a call or video conference directly from the app. The team messaging app also helps you stay organized with dedicated folders and threads for projects, topics and teams.

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You can send files, pin documents and manage projects by assigning tasks and updating stakeholders with built-in task management tools. We like that the in-app search function lets you find key details from old conversations or meetings, jump to contacts to make a call or connect with hundreds of integrations, including Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. The latter two might be among the only integrations you need this early in your business’s lifecycle, but RingEX’s numerous integrations clear an easy pathway for eventual growth.

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Large Video Meetings

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RingEX offers unlimited video meetings with HD video and audio and support for up to 200 video participants for Ultra subscribers (Core and Advanced subscribers are limited to 100 participants.) Each meeting is protected with end-to-end encryption, passcodes, waiting rooms and other host controls with or without the app. Users can flip seamlessly from mobile to desktop and enjoy advanced meeting insights with recordings that include AI-powered video summaries and highlight reels for easy recall and sharing.

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With remote and hybrid work taking employees to noisy environments, tools like AI-powered noise reduction automatically filter out unwanted background noise like lawnmowers and barking dogs to ensure a professional level of communication. Other collaborative tools include breakout rooms, team huddles, participant reactions and whiteboards. RingEX has a separate webinar platform with custom

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Increase meeting engagement knowing the conversation is being written down automatically by your AI assistant. Source: RingEX

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Real-time Note-taking

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Included as part of RingSenseAI, RingEX’s automatic note-taking feature can capture call notes instantly, provide key updates, track decisions taken and memorialize action items for later use. As a real-time note-taker, everything is displayed during the call, keeping details at your disposal if you need to recall an important item or reference a specific figure during a conversation.

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With an AI assistant for everyone at the meeting, your team members can focus their attention on the conversation at hand instead of racing to jot down every important detail they’ll need to address. This increased focus will lead to superior employee productivity after the meeting as everyone works on their tasks. And when there’s only a small team working for your company, maximum productivity is of the utmost importance.

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RingEX’s automated note-taking tool includes smart notes to surface important details in any conversation. Source: RingEX

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Reporting and Analytics

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With RingEX, you don’t need a separate contact center for live reporting on employee and group phone activities to help optimize workflows, empower teams and anticipate opportunities. While reporting tools vary by plan and available add-on, RingEX offers real-time call queue performance data to track trends across a wide variety of metrics.

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The easy-to-use dashboard has many prebuilt templates and opportunities for customization to display the data that matters to you. You can also project your dashboard onto a shared TV screen to provide real-time performance rankings in sales and support settings. The system also lets you set data-driven alerts and work with interactive reports that cover your devices, rooms, endpoints and network.

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Admittedly, this is a feature that not all small businesses need. For example, if you run a boutique marketing agency that serves a handful of clients, the reports you generate for them might have little to do with business phone usage. Consider the extent of reporting and analytics you need, if any, as you choose among RingEX pricing plans.

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RingEX Costs

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RingEX recently trimmed its offerings from four to three available plans, starting at $20 per month with an annual subscription. Businesses can save up to 33 percent with an annual plan, and volume discounts are available when purchasing more than 50 user accounts.

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Paid add-ons are available for additional vanity numbers, toll-free numbers, high-volume SMS and push-to-talk. Other paid add-ons include licenses for other RingCentral products to support webinars, events, AI contact centers and AI sales support.

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Among the plans below, we feel that Core is the best fit for most small businesses. Unless your organization has a sales team or plans to host especially large meetings, you might be overspending on higher-priced plans.

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\n Plan \n	\n Price \n	\n Features \n
\n Core \n	\n $20 per user, per month \n	\n Unlimited domestic calling, 100 toll-free minutes, SMS/MMS, interactive voice response, single sign-on, real-time transcription, AI meeting summaries, call recording, video meetings, remote desktop control, 24/7 support and many integrations \n
\n Advanced \n	\n $25 per user, per month \n	\n Everything in Core plus automatic call recording, multisite management, complete integration access, internet fax, advanced call routing/monitoring, hot desking, advanced analytics and 1,000 total toll-free minutes \n
\n Ultra \n	\n $35 per user, per month \n	\n Everything in Advanced plus 10,000 total toll-free minutes, video meetings with 200 participants, unlimited communications storage, advanced business analytics and unlimited HD video conferencing. \n

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RingEX Setup

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Downloading and installing RingEX is a fast and straightforward process. Once you receive your welcome email, you can log into your account and begin sending messages, initiating video meetings and placing calls. Mobile users can find the app on Android and iOS app stores.

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For administrators, we like that the Express Setup tool walks you through the steps to set up users, company greetings, operator extensions, dial-by-name directories, call forwarding and other basic communications features. Most of the basic configuration is accomplished through drop-down menus, providing a limited number of options to ensure your phone system operates correctly.

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If this isn’t your first time setting up a business phone system, you shouldn’t have any surprises implementing RingEX. However, we believe the visual call flow builders provided by many companies including Aircall and Dialpad are a bit easier to navigate for first-time admins. Check out our Aircall review or our Dialpad review to learn more.

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We love that you can find helpful training courses for basic and advanced skills through RingCentral University. The vendor’s self-paced, video-guided tutorials designed for users and admins provide great instruction on all aspects of the system, including Express Setup for new users. For any new task that feels complicated, you are likely to find a helpful training course through a RingCentral University learning module.

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RingEX Customer Service

\n\n\n\n

When RingEX reorganized its plans, going from four unified phone service offerings to three, it updated its customer service availability. RingEX now offers unlimited 24/7 customer support by phone and chat with all its cloud-based business phone plans. Professional implementation help is also available to assist new users with planning, designing, implementation, optimization and ongoing support.

\n\n\n\n

RingCentral University offers a small set of video lessons geared toward new users and administrators. The free training videos last between three and 30 minutes, covering basics like the platform introduction and essential setup. It also offers more advanced courses on adding new features and optimizing sales with RingSense, but new and small businesses might not benefit from these advanced features until later in their life cycles. You’ll also find a searchable self-help center with quick answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) and articles covering every aspect of RingEX’s features and capabilities.

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RingEX Drawbacks

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Part of running an efficient organization is controlling costs by allocating resources in the most efficient way possible. While some employees work heavily with customers or collaborate with teams, others have more of a siloed role with limited communication requirements beyond email and occasional video conferencing. The ability to mix-and-match calling plans, which is not offered with RingEX, ensures businesses can provide the right tools to the right people without overspending for some or underdelivering for others. A few competitors including Nextiva and 8×8 allow customers to pair different plans with different users under the same account.

\n\n\n\n

When RingEX with RingSense AI launched in 2024, it only included its essential AI features for live transactions, closed captioning, video summaries and video highlights. Its premium AI features are still in early preview mode for select customers. As a result, not everyone will have access to higher-end AI features like real-time note-taking for calls, generative AI search, AI writer for team messaging and AI recap for unread messages. If you’re interested in a fully realized AI-powered business phone system, you might want to consider Dialpad, our choice as the best phone system for voice intelligence.

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Methodology

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To find the top business phone systems, we researched and analyzed more than a dozen solutions on the market. These investigations included thorough evaluations conducted through paid and free trial accounts. We also participated in vendor demos whenever possible. With each product, we examined the features, ease of use, implementation process, integrations, costs and customer service options. We selected RingEX as the best business phone system for collaboration because of its ample integration options, large video meetings, digital workspace for past communications and globally diverse data centers for reliability around the world.

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Overall Value

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We recommend RingEX for …

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\n
• Businesses with a significant number of full-time remote or hybrid employees.
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• Businesses looking for basic AI productivity tools.
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• Businesses with at least some software integration requirements.
\n

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We don’t recommend RingEX for …

\n\n\n\n

\n
• Businesses that need to provide different calling features or plans to different employees or office locations.
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• Businesses looking for advanced AI productivity tools.
\n\n\n\n
• Anyone looking for a low-cost business phone system.
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