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The Top Google Voice Alternatives for Businesses Guide
Google Voice has been a top VoIP provider for over a decade, offering free and inexpensive voice calling and local phone numbers for businesses. But if your business is outgrowing Google Voice’s limited offerings, you may be looking for Google Voice alternatives that will scale with you and give you access to more advanced features.
If you’re in the market for alternatives to Google Voice, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’ll discuss the benefits and disadvantages of Google Voice for businesses. Plus we’ll talk about the top Google voice alternatives and tell you how to find the right provider for you.
The Benefits of Google Voice for Businesses
Google Voice is a virtual phone system that’s known for its simplicity. It provides users a single phone number that can be accessed from multiple devices, such as a smartphone, laptop, or tablet. All you need is an internet connection, and you can make phone calls and send text messages. With features like voicemail transcription and call forwarding, Google Voice offers a flexible way to manage business calls, texts, and voicemails. Its integration with other Google Workspace applications, competitive pricing, and international calling options have made it a popular choice for businesses that need a cost-effective business phone system.
With easy-to-use features and competitive pricing, Google Voice comes with a number of benefits. Here are some of the top benefits of Google Voice:
- Communication from anywhere: Google Voice provides a single phone number that can be used across multiple devices, which allows employees to make and receive calls, texts, and voicemails from any device with an internet connection.
- Cost savings: Google Voice offers competitive pricing compared to traditional phone service. Business plans start at $10 per month, which can save your business tons of money.
- Scalability: While not the most scalable provider, Google Voice does offer a certain amount of scalability. As your business grows or changes, Google Voice makes it easy to add or remove users and phone lines without the need to buy or install hardware.
- Flexibility: With Google Voice, you can customize call routing, voicemail greetings, and other settings based on your organization’s needs. This can be especially useful for remote teams. Employees can access their business phone number and features without being tied to the office.
- Integration with Google Workspace: Google Voice integrates seamlessly with Google Workspace apps like Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Contacts, and Google Meet. If your business relies heavily on these apps, this integration makes collaborating very convenient.
- Voicemail Transcription: Google Voice automatically transcribes voicemail messages into text, which makes it easier to read and prioritize messages without listening to each one individually.
- Call screening and blocking: Google Voice provides features like call screening and blocking to filter unwanted calls.
- Reliability and security: Google is known for its security and reliable infrastructure, and the same holds true for Google Voice. Calls and messages are encrypted, and Google’s robust infrastructure minimizes downtime while ensuring data security.
The Disadvantages of Google Voice for Businesses
Google Voice is a popular VoIP provider for a reason, with numerous benefits like affordable rates, reliability, and flexibility for businesses. However, Google Voice is not a fully comprehensive phone system. For a small team, this may be just fine. However, if your team is growing, you’ll likely find that Google Voice does not offer enough.
Here are some of the main drawbacks of Google Voice:
- Limited international calling: While Google Voice does offer competitive rates for international calling, it does not cover as many countries as other providers. International calling is only available to Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Argentina, China, India, and the United Kingdom. If your company relies on international calling to countries outside this list, you’ll definitely want to consider a Google Voice Alternative.
- Limited integration: Another major drawback of Google Voice is its limited number of integrations. While Google Voice does integrate with Google Workspace, that is the only integration it offers. In comparison, many other alternatives to Google Voice integrate with tons of third-party business apps. If you rely on CRM or collaboration software outside of Google Voice, you should consider an alternative provider.
- Limited features: Google Voice lacks many of the advanced features found in other business phone systems, such as advanced call routing, advanced analytics, or CRM integrations. If your business needs more than the features offered by Google Voice, you should choose a different provider.
- Customer service: Google Voice is not known for its customer support, especially for its free or lower-tier plans. Many people have reported that documentation for Google Voice features is often outdated, making it difficult to deal with technical issues.
- Cannot handle high call volumes: One major disadvantage with Google Voice is that it cannot handle high call volumes. If your business manages many ingoing or outgoing calls, this can be a big problem. Some users have even had their accounts suspended for high usage.
When Not to Use Google Voice
Now that we’ve talked about the pros and cons of Google Voice, let’s discuss when it might be time to move on from Google Voice. These are signs that Google Voice is no longer right for you:
- If your business has grown significantly since you signed up for Google Voice, it may be time to look at Google Voice alternatives. Google Voice lacks the advanced features, scalability, and dedicated support that businesses with complex communication needs need.
- If your business deals with high call volumes, you may find Google Voice’s limitations to be too much. With limitations on call volume, concurrent calls, conferencing calling, and call handling, Google Voice may not be able to support your communication needs.
- If your business relies on specific third-party business apps or CRM systems, you’ll find Google Voice’s integrations too limiting. There are numerous other providers that offer robust integrations with popular business applications.
- And finally, if your business regularly makes international calls to countries not offered by Google Voice, it’s time to find a provider that can handle your international calling needs.
The Top Google Voice Alternatives
While Google Voice provides a great VoIP platform that is straightforward and easy to use, it simply doesn’t have enough features, scalability, or third-party integrations for many businesses. Need help finding Google Voice alternatives that might work for you? We’ve put together a list of the top alternatives to Google Voice to help you find the right provider:
Nextiva
Nextiva is our number one pick for Google Voice alternatives for several reasons. Nextiva is a cloud-based communication and collaboration platform that offers voice calling, video conferencing, and team messaging. With an emphasis on customer service tools, such as call analytics and call recording, Nextiva helps you create more positive relationships with your customers. Plus, if you have technical issues or need customer support, you can contact Nextiva’s award-winning customer service 24/7 via phone, email, and chat. Basically, Nextiva provides a little bit of everything for communication and collaboration, which will help your team work more efficiently.
What Makes It Better than Google Voice?
Nextiva offers a much wider range of advanced features compared to Google Voice, including call recording, advanced analytics, CRM integrations, and more call management options. Nextiva’s platform is much more scalable than Google Voice, making it a great choice for businesses of all sizes. As your business grows and changes, you can add or remove users or features so you’re only paying for exactly what you need.
Unlike Google Voice, Nextiva integrates with a wide range of third-party applications, like Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics. Nextiva also lets you customize much more than Google Voice, from call routing to voicemail greetings, as well as other settings. Overall, Nextiva is a much more robust solution for businesses looking for a better way to communicate.
Zoom Phone
Another great alternative to Google Voice, Zoom Phone is a cloud-based phone system offered by Zoom, which is known for its video conferencing. If you’re looking for a more robust phone system without the unified communications aspect, Zoom Phone offers advanced features like call routing, voicemail transcription, and integration with other Zoom products.
What Makes It Better than Google Voice?
Unlike Google Voice, Zoom Phone is highly scalable and ready for enterprise-level calling. It offers flexible pricing plans and the ability to add or remove users and features as needed. Zoom phone also integrates with a wide range of business applications, including productivity tools like Google Workspace and CRM software like Salesforce. Plus, Zoom Phone comes with tons of advanced features like call recording and analytics tools that Google Voice simply lacks.
RingCentral
One of the most comprehensive Google Voice alternatives on the list, RingCentral is a cloud-based unified communications platform that offers voice calling, video conferencing, team messaging, and business texting. It integrates with hundreds of business applications and offers advanced administrative controls. If your business has complex communication needs, RingCentral might be a great solution.
What Makes It Better than Google Voice?
If we put business phone systems on a spectrum, RingCentral would be at the complete opposite end of Google Voice. That’s because where Google Voice offers a few simple features, RingCentral seems to have a little bit of everything. RingCentral provides tons of advanced features like call forwarding, call recording, voicemail transcription, auto-attendant, video conferencing, and so many more. Plus, RingCentral is made to grow with you, offering various tiers of services so you only pay for what you need. RingCentral is also one of the most customizable unified communications platforms, giving you the ability to configure your communications to perfectly fit your business. Finally, RingCentral has a global presence and international calling capabilities that make it a great option for customers with international operations or clients.
The Google Voice vs RingCentral Guide
Vonage
Vonage is another top Google Voice alternative and is popular in part for its ease of use and advanced customization abilities. Vonage offers voice calling, messaging, and video conferencing solutions for businesses of all sizes. It provides features like virtual numbers, call recording, and integration with popular business applications.
What Makes It Better than Google Voice?
If you’re looking for a Google Voice alternative that offers a great selection of call management features, Vonage might just be the right provider for you. Vonage is also highly scalable, especially compared to Google Voice, which makes it suited for businesses small and large. Plus, Vonage provides access to APIs, which gives your business the ability to customize the platform for your needs. While Vonage doesn’t offer as many integrations as some other providers, it certainly offers more than Google Voice, with over 20 integrations with top business apps.
Ooma
Ooma is another alternative to Google Voice to consider if you’re looking for a cloud-based phone system, virtual receptionist services, and unified communications. Ooma offers voice calling, video conferencing, team messaging, as well as contact center capabilities. Ooma comes with many advanced features that Google Voice is lacking while also offering competitive pricing.
What Makes It Better than Google Voice?
While both come with unlimited domestic calling and texting, Ooma stands out from Google Voice when it comes to features. Ooma offers a wide range of call management features, including virtual extensions, call recording, virtual receptionist, and advanced call routing options. Ooma is also much more scalable than Google Voice, allowing your business to add or remove users and features as your business changes. Plus, Ooma integrates with tons of business applications, including Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, and Zoho CRM.
Grasshopper
Grasshopper is a virtual phone system that’s designed especially for small businesses and entrepreneurs. While Grasshopper doesn’t offer unified communications, it does come with many more features than Google Voice, like call forwarding, supervised call transfers, text messaging, and fax capabilities. It’s easy to use and set up and very affordable. If you’re a solopreneur or a small team, Grasshopper may just be the perfect Google Voice alternative for you.
What Makes It Better than Google Voice?
While both are simple virtual phone systems, Grasshopper simply has more features than Google Voice. Grasshopper helps your business create a more professional image, with custom greetings, call forwarding to multiple devices, and extensions for different departments or team members. This can help small businesses create a more polished image to establish credibility with customers. Grasshopper also helps you keep your personal phone number separate from your business phone number to protect your privacy.
How to Find the Best Alternative for You
Whether you’re switching from Google Voice or simply in the market for a VoIP provider, finding the best Google Voice alternative can take some work. There are many providers to choose from, and the right provider can make all the difference in your communication and collaboration experience. Here are some steps to follow when choosing Google Voice alternatives:
- Assess your needs: The best provider for you is going to depend on your business’s specific communication needs. You should consider factors like how many users you’ll have, your overall call volume, as well as special features you might need. With these in mind, it will be easier to decide which provider might fit you best.
- Research providers: Make sure you do your research to compare what each provider offers. Pay attention to features like call management, collaboration tools, mobile apps, integration options, and security features. You may also want to research online reviews and ask for recommendations from other businesses. At OneStop Communication, we can put together a comparison of several providers to help you make a decision.
- Consider customer service: What level of support and training is offered by the provider? Look for providers with responsive customer support channels that will suit your needs. Some providers (like Nextiva) have outstanding customer service, while others may take more time to respond or not offer the support channels you need.
- Review pricing plans: Compare pricing plans offered by different providers. Consider factors like monthly fees, per-user pricing, international calling rates, setup fees, and any additional charges for premium features or add-ons.
- Consider security and compliance: Ensure that the VoIP provider prioritizes security and compliance with industry regulations (such as HIPAA for healthcare or GDPR for data protection). What kind of encryption protocols, data privacy measures, and compliance certifications do they have to safeguard business communications?
Google Voice is a great virtual phone system for small teams with simple needs. But if your communication needs are growing beyond what Google Voice can offer, it’s time to look at Google Voice alternatives. At OneStop Communication, we’ll help you make the switch to the provider that’s right for you. We’ll compare pricing and plans so you can find the right one!
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