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Nextiva and RingCentral are two leading contenders, setting a market standard in the business communication industry. Both offer robust VoIP communication solutions and unique feature sets catering to different business sizes. However, it is important to understand the advantages and limitations of each service provider in terms of price, functionality, customer support, and security compliance.
Additionally, exploring if there are any better alternatives is essential. With this comprehensive understanding, businesses can make informed decisions and choose the right VoIP solution aligned with their budget and communication requirements.
What is Nextiva?
Nextiva is a cloud-based VoIP service provider known for its AI-driven platform, offering a comprehensive communication solution. Established in 2006 in Scottsdale, Arizona, Nextiva has become one of the leading providers in the VoIP industry due to its innovative solutions. It uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand consumer behaviors and facilitate business communication.
Major Features of Nextiva
- Extensive Toll-Free Monthly Minutes
Nextiva offers 1500 toll-free minutes in the primary (Essential) plan, scaling up to 12,500 minutes depending on the plan. Businesses can leverage this functionality to increase customer accessibility and improve their marketing reach. - VoIP Compatible Hardware
Nextiva provides an extensive range of VoIP-compatible hardware options for purchase or lease. These options allow businesses to choose from various communication hardware specific to their communication needs, including conference phones, desk phones, and adapters. - Uptime Reliability
Nextiva boasts a proven record of 99.999% uptime on communication needs and operational reliability, translating to only 5 minutes of yearly downtime. This ensures seamless business continuity with minimized downtime and prevents loss of revenue and sales.
What is RingCentral?
RingCentral is an industry-leading VoIP service provider renowned for its unified communication platform since its inception in 1999 in Belmont, California. It has been transforming business communication with its robust unified solutions. RingCentral offers a wide range of telephony features and integrations catering to businesses of all sizes, from startups to large enterprises.
Major Features of RingCentral
- Unified Communication Solutions
RingCentral integrates all the communication channels, including video, voice, and messaging, into a cohesive hub to provide a unified communication solution. This solution streamlines business communication with improved productivity and enhanced collaboration. - Diverse Toll-Free Numbers
RingCentral offers toll-free options, including 800, 888, 877, 866, 844, 855, and 833. Toll-free numbers help businesses build a national presence. This also gives businesses a range of options when customizing their vanity numbers. - End-to-End Encryption (E2EE)
RingCentral offers enterprise-grade confidentiality with E2EE across video, messaging, and phone services, ensuring secure communication from any device. E2EE provides multi-modal access, including mobiles, desktops, and browsers.
Comparing Pricing Plans and Features of Nextiva and RingCentral
Factors Nextiva RingCentral Review (Capterra) Play Store Reviews4.6 Star 4.2 Star 3.9 star 4.6 star App Store Reviews 3.8 star 4.8 star Free Trial 30 days 15 days Length of Contract 1-3 years 1-3 years Global Availability Yes Yes Pricing Plans (monthly per user) Essentials: $23.95
Professional: $27.95
Enterprise: $37.95Core: $30
Advanced: $35
Ultra: $45Annual Billing Discount (28% discount when billed annually instead of monthly)
Essentials: $18.95
Professional: $22.95
Enterprise: $32.95(33% discount when billed annually instead of monthly)
Core: $20
Advanced: $25
Ultra: $35Mobile App iOS, Android iOS, Android Desktop App Windows (PC)
macOS
LinuxWindows 10 & above
macOS X 10.13 & above
LinuxThird-Party Integration 50+ integrations based on tier Around 100+ integrations on the Zoom Phone and 1000+ on Zoom Meetings AI-Powered Features Automatic transcriptions
Dynamic scripting
Skills-based routing
AI-powered quality assuranceAI call analytics
AI-powered contact center
AI writing and translationMajor Features Local and toll-free numbers
Unlimited domestic calls within Canada, US, and Puerto Rico
Video conferencing
Auto attendantUnified cloud communication
Internal video conferencing
Instant messaging
Customizable dashboard
Live reportingCustomer Support 24/7 assistance with live chat, email, online ticketing, and phone 24/7 assistance with live chat, email, community forums, and FAQ Security HIPAA compliant
End-to-end encryption
99.999% uptimeHIPAA compliant
End-to-end encryption
99.999% uptime from its platformSuited For Small to medium-sized businesses Small to large enterprises
Comparing The Major Functionalities of Nextiva and RingCentral
Nextiva and RingCentral are leading VoIP service providers with unique functionalities tailored to different business needs. While Nextiva excels with its AI-driven platform, RingCentral stands out with comprehensive collaboration tools. Understanding these unique features can help businesses choose the best communication solution.
1. Pricing
Nextiva offers a more cost-effective VoIP solution than RingCentral, with monthly plans ranging from $23.95 to $37.95 per user compared to RingCentral’s $30 to $45. This price variance translates to savings of $7 per user per month with Nextiva.
However, RingCentral provides a 33% discount for annual payments, reducing their plan costs to a range of $20 to $35. In contrast, Nextiva offers a 28% discount, resulting in plan costs ranging from $18.95 to $32.95. While RingCentral remains slightly more expensive than Nextiva by $2 to $3, the higher cost is justified by RingCentral’s extensive features available in every plan.
2. Customer Support and Response
Both Nextiva and RingCentral provide 24/7 customer support, but Nextiva offers comprehensive support across all plan tiers via live chat, online ticketing support, phone, and emails. According to customer feedback, although Nextiva performs well on live support, it falls short on phone and email support. Their phone and email support availability is scheduled from 5 am to 6 pm from Monday to Friday and 6 am to 6 pm on Saturdays.
On the other hand, RingCentral offers support using customer resources such as community forums & FAQs, live chat, and phone. Its customer support relies heavily on AI, making it difficult to reach a live agent, and 24/7 support is unavailable for all plan tiers.
3. Meetings, Conferencing, and Collaboration
RingCentral excels in collaboration tools, offering features like team messaging to facilitate teamwork and communication. It also provides 300+ integrations with CRM and productivity tools that enhance workflow and productivity by extending its collaboration capabilities.
RingCentral offers advanced video conferencing features, such as 100 participants and unlimited video meetings. On the other hand, Nextiva supports only up to 25 active video participants with limited timestamps, offers a more basic collaboration feature set, and only has 100+ integrations. Due to these limitations, businesses seek different Nextiva alternatives, including RingCentral, for the best conferencing solution.
4. Features, Communication Tools, and Services
Nextiva provides plans with various features at a competitive price but may charge you additional fees for extra features. At the same time, although RingCentral is more expensive, it offers more features on its basic plan for messaging and collaboration.
RingCentral offers advanced communication tools and services in terms of video conferencing, advanced analytics, and integrations. Nextiva provides a cost-effective solution with an intuitive interface and features like toll-free minutes, call recording, AI analytics, and responsive customer support.
5. Security, Compliance, and Regulation
Both Nextiva and RingCentral adhere to key security and privacy regulations, including HIPAA, PCI, and SOC 2 compliance. Both platforms ensure robust security measures and data protection with their respective certifications and audits.
Nextiva is certified with multiple regulatory compliances, including ISO/IEC 27001, to ensure the protection of user information. The data centers of Nextiva are audited by SOC II and SSAE 16, which provides compliance assurance with transparency and robust security. Nextiva also safeguards data breaches and unauthorized access with 24/7 monitor and robust security measures.
Similarly, RingCentral adheres to regulatory initiatives, including ISO 27001, ISO 22301, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, and HITRUST. It offers end-to-end encryption for phone calls, messaging, and video conferencing. RingCentral’s data center certifications and audits are the same as Nextiva's, ensuring comparable security and compliance.
6. Reporting, Analytics, and Performance Insights
Nextiva’s use of NextOS and Omnichannel analytics with smart AI integration provides robust reporting and analytics capabilities. Leveraging AI, Nextiva offers more comprehensive reports, making it easier to analyze historical data and track KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to plan strategically and make data-driven decisions.
Meanwhile, RingCentral’s RingEX Analytics focuses on predictive analytics. It uses machine learning and statistical techniques to provide insights and forecasts to aid decision-making. However, Nextiva’s smart AI offers a deeper understanding of communication performance and patterns.
7. AI-Powered Functionalities
Nextiva offers more AI integrations and functionalities in its communication platform than RingCentral. Nextiva uses smart AI for analytics & reporting, customer sentiment analysis, chat, voice, & text on the contact center, and Simplify360 for omnichannel customer service. These features optimize the workflow and help businesses enhance their customer engagement.
On the other hand, RingCentral utilizes AI for writing, translation, call centers, and call analytics. Although RingCentral integrates AI for various purposes, it doesn’t offer standout capabilities like Nextiva.
RingCentral Vs. Nextiva: Choose the Best Fit For You
Category WinnerPricing Nextiva
More affordable, value-packed monthly plan
RingCentral
Better annual discounts, potentially balancing the slightly higher costs with feature-rich plansCustomer Support and Response Nextiva
Winner for providing 24/7 customer support for all tiers of plans and multiple mediums for assistanceMeetings, Conferencing, and Collaboration RingCentral
Winner for offering more integrations and border communication capabilitiesFeatures, Communication Tools, and Services RingCentral
Winner for extensive features and services even in the entry-level plan, suitable for businesses looking for a comprehensive solutionSecurity, Compliance, and Regulation Tie
Both platforms adhere to key security and privacy laws & regulations. They also obtain relevant accreditations & certificationsReporting, Analytics, and Performance Insights Nextiva
Winner for utilizing the capabilities of AI and providing more comprehensive insightsAI-Powered Functionalities Nextiva
Winner for deeply integrated AI capabilities across its platform
Calilio: A Compelling VoIP Alternative
While Nextiva and RingCentral each outperform each other in different categories, Calilio emerges as a compelling alternative for businesses looking for a reliable solution.
Our platform offers the most cost-effective VoIP plans, starting from just $12 per user per month for the basic plan without compromising on functionality and reliability. We provide transparent pricing plans without any hidden fees. Businesses can customize a centralized VoIP solution with our advanced features, such as an auto attendant, real-time dashboards, sentiment analysis, call forwarding, callbox notes, real-time analytics, and IVR, at half a price than the above contenders. We also ensure robust security protocols with 24/7 support and industry-standard compliance.
Choose Calilio for a business phone system at an affordable pricing structure compared to other providers in the market.
Frequently Asked Questions on Nextiva Vs. RingCentral
Is Nextiva a perfect alternative to RingCentral?
Nextiva is a perfect alternative to RingCentral if you’re a business looking for a cheaper VoIP plan to enhance your customer relationship management, as it uses Natural Language Processing (NLP). However, there are also other alternatives to RingCentral, which provides a larger feature set, timely support and modern VoIP capabilities at an affordable cost.
Does RingCentral provide a free plan?
RingCentral doesn’t provide a free plan. However, it provides a 15-day free trial for businesses to test their services and features before purchasing a paid plan.
Does RingCentral and Nextiva work internationally?
RingCentral and Nextiva both work internationally and are available globally. This makes them suitable for international businesses.
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