It's a question that has been debated by office workers for years: what is the best Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system?
All of the options out there have their own advantages and disadvantages, but which one should you choose? The answer to this question depends on your specific needs.
If you landed on this page, you’re likely wondering how Google Voice stacks up against RingCentral in terms of features, cost, and which one is best for your business. In this post, we’ll help you decide between the two, and give you an alternative to both.
RingCentral Overview
RingCentral is one of the most popular business-grade VoIP services. It has plenty of features, competitive prices, and an attractive interface for managing calls.
The company has proven itself in the market, with many businesses choosing RingCentral to power their phone system. RingCentral is not for everyone. However, it may be the right solution for your business, depending on its needs.
Features
- Toll-free number or business phone
- Unlimited business SMS
- Voicemail to text
- Document sharing
- Team messaging
- Video conferencing
- Internet Fax
- CRM integrations
- Hot Desking
- Analytics
- Automated call recording
RingCentral offers more features based on the plan you choose, but these are the main features provided by the company on their plans & pricing page.
Pricing
RingCentral offers many different pricing options, depending on the size and needs of your business. They also offer a trial period which allows you to try out their services for free for 7 days.
- Essentials Plan starts at $19.99/user/month
This is the company's cheapest plan. It offers basic features, including unlimited calls in the US and Canada, and the ability to have up to 20 users
- Standard Plan starts at $27.99/user/month
This plan has all the standard plan features but adds the ability to have unlimited users, internet fax, and video meetings with up to 100 users.
- Premium Plan starts at $34.99/user/month
The premium plan adds hot-desking, multi site admin management, video meetings with up to 200 people, and custom integrations
- Enterprise Plan starts at $49.99/user/month
This is RingCentral's most expensive plan. It is designed for larger companies and offers advanced features of all the other plans plus device status reports, device status alerts, and unlimited storage.
Ease of Use
RingCentral is very easy to use, and it offers a wide range of features. However, there are some downsides to this software.
It has some advanced features that could be hard to utilize if you are not a total techy or have one on staff.
Another downside is that there may be a slight learning curve if your office or team has never used software like this before.
Who is RingCentral For?
RingCentral is an excellent option for companies that want a customizable phone system, especially if they already have a lot of subscribers or need features like toll-free numbers.
This is not the best system for smaller businesses or sole proprietors. Also, if your company has never used a phone system before, it may be best to start with one of the more basic plans offered by RingCentral.
Google Voice Overview
Google Voice is a free and paid VOIP offered by Google. It has fewer features than RingCentral, but it is still a reliable service.
The service is built to be easy to use and integrate into other applications like Gmail or Google Hangouts, making it very useful for businesses that already use these services.
Features
- Free phone number for personal use
- Personalized greetings
- Spam call protection
- Call screening
- Integrates with Google Hangouts
- Integrates with Google Calendar
- Unlimited SMS in the US
- Web Application
- Call Forwarding
Google Voice as a standalone may not have as many features as RingCentral, but its ability to integrate with other Google tools makes it a powerful option.
Pricing
Google Voice offers 3 main paid plans, all of which are aimed to provide the features you need based on your business size.
- Starter $10 per user/month
This plan is a basic plan that gives you the ability to have up to 10 users, unlimited US SMS, Google Meet Integration, and activity reporting.
- Standard $20 per user/month
The standard plan gives you everything in the starter plan, along with the ability to have unlimited users, multi-level automated attendants, and ediscovery for calls, voicemail, and SMS records.
- Premier $30 per user/month
The premier plan offers everything in the plans mentioned previously, with the addition of unlimited international locations and advanced reporting.
Ease of Use
Google Voice is very easy to use, and it has a lot of valuable features. It also integrates with quite a few products, most notably Google Hangouts.
If you are already invested in the Google world, this phone service will be great for your small business.
Who is Google Voice for?
Google Voice is a good option for small businesses. It does not have the many features that RingCentral has, but it is still a dependable service.
This is not a great choice if your company is at an enterprise level and utilizes remote teams or many different locations.
For quick reference, here’s a comparison table that may help you decide between Google Voice and RingCentral:
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Google Voice
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RingCentral
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Price
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Starts at $10/user/month
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Starts at $19.99/user/month
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Mobile App
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Yes
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Yes
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Voicemail
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Yes
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Yes
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Voicemail Transcription
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Yes
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Yes
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Unlimited U.S. Calls and Texts
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Yes
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Yes
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Video Conferencing
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Yes - Integrates with Google Meet
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Yes - with the Standard, Premium, and Ultimate Plans
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Customer Support 24/7
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Yes
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Yes - with the Standard, Premium, and Ultimate Plans
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Call Recording
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Yes
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Yes - with the Premium, and Ultimate Plans
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Mobile phone numbers for team members
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No, but can forward calls to personal mobile number
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Yes
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Best Alternative to RingCentral and Google Voice
RingCentral and Google Voice are both decent VoIP systems that are focused on a specific type of user. Google Voice tends to be a better option for smaller businesses, and RingCentral is more suited to larger companies.
Ring4 offers many of the same great features of both of these systems and expands upon them to make it easier to use, integrate and give your company the perfect solution. Ring4 offers companies the ability to manage remote teams and call centers with its cloud-based phone system. You can even use it on your cell phone!
If that wasn’t enough, you get all of the features listed below included for one price - $8/user/month on the annual plan or $9.99/user/month:
- Mobile App accessible on any iOS or Android device
- Voicemail
- Voicemail Transcription (included in the app)
- Unlimited U.S. Calls and Texts
- Video Conferencing
- Customer Support 24/7
- Call Recording
- Mobile phone numbers for team members
Call us crazy, but we don’t think you should be penalized with higher pricing just for scaling up your team to more users! Our pricing and features are designed to offer your business what it needs to help you and your team be successful. Sign up for a free account today.