Looking for a new phone system for the office
January 16, 2015 4:45 PM Subscribe
What cloud based phone system should I get for my office?
Our office currently uses Google Voice forwarding to a Skype number. The main benefit being our voicemails get transcribed as text by Google which is nice. The downside is that once someone picks up the call they cannot transfer it to anyone else and the other downside being we don't get an 800 number. We have a separate VOIP setup with Nextiva with an 800 number for those clients who need it. Downside of Nextiva is it is US only and overseas workers cannot interface with it.
We would like to get a cloud based phone system with basic IVR menu, that records and stores all calls, has a web interface that lets overseas staff log in and still take phone calls. Also, we need to be able to transfer calls between everyone and also to an outside number.
I looked at a few options but none seemed to have everything I wanted.
Skype and Google Voice - Instantly disqualified because you cannot transfer out.
Zendesk Voice - Looked great but no ability to transfer calls. Also comes bundled with all the other zendesk features and at $69 a user seemed expensive.
Sendhub - Seemed to have almost everything but no call recording.
8x8 - Pricing not listed on their web site, can get a quote. Seems expensive. Demo video looked good.
Zipwire - Also no pricing listed, but seems to have all the features I want. Haven't tested it yet.
Budget wise, I mean 50-$100 a month would be nice, I guess if it ends up being per user we will have to take the hit, it just seems like a lot.
Our office currently uses Google Voice forwarding to a Skype number. The main benefit being our voicemails get transcribed as text by Google which is nice. The downside is that once someone picks up the call they cannot transfer it to anyone else and the other downside being we don't get an 800 number. We have a separate VOIP setup with Nextiva with an 800 number for those clients who need it. Downside of Nextiva is it is US only and overseas workers cannot interface with it.
We would like to get a cloud based phone system with basic IVR menu, that records and stores all calls, has a web interface that lets overseas staff log in and still take phone calls. Also, we need to be able to transfer calls between everyone and also to an outside number.
I looked at a few options but none seemed to have everything I wanted.
Skype and Google Voice - Instantly disqualified because you cannot transfer out.
Zendesk Voice - Looked great but no ability to transfer calls. Also comes bundled with all the other zendesk features and at $69 a user seemed expensive.
Sendhub - Seemed to have almost everything but no call recording.
8x8 - Pricing not listed on their web site, can get a quote. Seems expensive. Demo video looked good.
Zipwire - Also no pricing listed, but seems to have all the features I want. Haven't tested it yet.
Budget wise, I mean 50-$100 a month would be nice, I guess if it ends up being per user we will have to take the hit, it just seems like a lot.
Response by poster: I looked at Switch but they don't have 800 numbers (yet), and the record calls option is not automatic, I think the person on the call has to record it manually and then it gets e-mailed instead of being all in one spot archived in the cloud.
posted by banished at 7:50 PM on January 16, 2015
posted by banished at 7:50 PM on January 16, 2015
Not sure it's exactly what you're looking for, but I've been pleased with Grasshopper.
posted by postel's law at 7:58 PM on January 16, 2015
posted by postel's law at 7:58 PM on January 16, 2015
I've been through a voice/voip procurement process before, and I think your goal of $50-$100 per month is unrealistically low for what you're looking for (unless you have only five employees). We ended up settling for a very basic package and averaged about $25/phone line all in with a local provider after negotiations and signing a multi-year contract.
I'd also be concerned with quality of service, what happens when you have three calls going on, five people streaming music at their desk and someone syncing a few gigabytes of client assets to their laptop through Dropbox? We ended up with a separate Internet connection just for our phone system and renting physical phone units to connect to it.
What you are describing sounds more like a call center than an office phone system to me, I would resign myself to having to go through the enterprise sales process and contact 8x8 and the rest for a quote.
posted by books for weapons at 8:59 AM on January 17, 2015
I'd also be concerned with quality of service, what happens when you have three calls going on, five people streaming music at their desk and someone syncing a few gigabytes of client assets to their laptop through Dropbox? We ended up with a separate Internet connection just for our phone system and renting physical phone units to connect to it.
What you are describing sounds more like a call center than an office phone system to me, I would resign myself to having to go through the enterprise sales process and contact 8x8 and the rest for a quote.
posted by books for weapons at 8:59 AM on January 17, 2015
Response by poster: Ended up deciding on Talkdesk Does everything we want, upfront pricing and very flexible options with great 3rd party integration. I'm still on the free trial but I like it enough that I will be switching.
posted by banished at 2:28 PM on January 17, 2015
posted by banished at 2:28 PM on January 17, 2015
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posted by tybstar at 7:45 PM on January 16, 2015