Visit Nextiva30 Days Risk-Free Free Trial Coupons| Editor's Rating | |
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| Overall | |
| Features | |
| Price | |
| Customer Support | |
Positives
- Comprehensive software
- Built-in CRM
- Free team collaboration platform
- 30-day free trial
- User-friendly mobile app
Negatives
- Lack of international numbers
- Not very intuitive admin console
- No 24/7 customer support
One of the most popular virtual phone systems on the market, Nextiva launched over a decade ago and has always stayed on top of the latest trends. Because of this, Nextiva has constantly developed its product over the years to ensure the best possible quality. The result is a comprehensive service with 99.99% uptime that is available on either desktop, mobile, or traditional desk phones. Not only that, Nextiva goes a step further by integrating other essential tools to help your business thrive. On top of a live chat, you can also take advantage of the built-in CRM platform, surveys, analytics, and a collaboration tool called Cospace. Prices start at $19.95 per month for each user, and you can test both the middle and upper-tier plans through the company’s 30-day free trial.
Features
Nextiva provides a thorough service that comes with everything you need from a VoIP, and then some. It provides unlimited virtual faxing (standard or HIPAA-compliant), unlimited business SMS, and various tools that will push your company’s communication to the next level.
Unlike its competitors, Nextiva allows you to have conference calls with an unlimited number of participants and comes with peer-to-peer video calling. This is excellent for internal communication, as your employees will have the freedom to make all types of calls. On top of that, Nextiva also offers a collaboration and video package that you can get for free called Cospace. It allows users to communicate via chat or online meetings and offers a platform for task management.
Nextiva CRM Dashboard
Nextiva Cospace
Nextiva Call Flows
Nextiva Analytics Console
Of course, handling calls is what you need from a virtual phone system. However, it’s even better when you can manage your customers without having to change platforms. That’s why Nextiva offers you the option to add its built-in CRM platform to the package. Although it’s paid separately, this is an excellent feature to have as it’s able to compete with the most popular CRM software out there, such as Salesforce or Zendesk.
While call queue is provided as an add-on, Nextiva offers access to its multi-levered auto-attendant for every plan. The IVR can be easily set up in Nextiva’s voice portal, where you can find all the management settings you’ll need.
Call Handling
No provider is able to become one of the best virtual phone systems in the industry without strong call handling capabilities. Obviously, all the essentials are there, and you can transfer, hold, mute, and forward calls seamlessly. Moreover, Nextiva provides a directory where you can make calls by dialing contacts’ names, add customizable hold music, and ask for professionally recorded messages.
If a call is made to your business when nobody is working, you don’t need to worry, as all users have access to voicemail. The virtual phone system will warn users every time a new message arrives through an SMS notification, and the recording (as well as its transcription) will be sent to users’ inboxes automatically.
Nextiva Desktop App
Dialing a Number
Adding a New Contact
Call Handling Software Settings
If you want to get any desk phones, Nextiva provides a good array of options. You can select among desk, cordless, or conference phones. These aren’t included in the subscription, though, and need to be purchased separately. That being said, Nextiva allows you to either buy or rent phones by paying a monthly fee. If you already have physical phones, adapters are available as well.
Phone System Management
Nextiva’s browser dashboard is reserved for administration activities. This is where you’re able to add new users, edit their profile, and assign an extension. You can also manage locations, phone numbers, devices, and set up advanced routings, such as call groups, auto attendants, and call flows. The admin console is quite extensive, and although it allows you to play with all types of configurations, it’s not the easiest to use. If you’re a phone management beginner, you’ll have a hard time understanding everything and configuring all the necessary settings. Fortunately, help is always a button away, and there are a few built-in tutorials to help you get started.
Nextiva Admin Console
Managing Users With Nextiva
Creating a Call Group
Setting Up Auto-Attendant
For call handling, you either need to get the desktop or the mobile app. Nextiva is available for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS, and unlike the admin dashboard, the apps are quite easy to use. Helpfully, the mobile apps are a mirror of the desktop software, which means that if you understand how to work with one, you’ll have no problems using the other.
Phone Numbers
Nextiva provides both local and toll-free numbers at zero cost. There’s local number support for 43 American states and the service offers unlimited inbound and outbound calls inside the U.S. and Canada. Unfortunately, neither local international numbers nor vanity numbers are an option. When it comes to toll-free numbers, you can select among all the 800 prefixes (including true 800), which come with a monthly allowance that goes from 1,000 to 10,000 toll-free minutes.
If you already have a phone number, then you can port it to Nextiva. While the company doesn’t charge you for this, you’ll have to create an account with Nextiva beforehand and you’ll be responsible for paying your current provider and Nextiva services during the porting process.
Mobile
Your Nextiva subscription offers you access to its iOS and Android apps. The mobile apps can automatically import all of your phone contacts, allow you to make and receive calls through the built-in softphone, and exchange text messages. Not only that, but the easy-to-navigate application lets you manage all the sections found on the desktop software. You can edit and create groups, go through your call history, listen to voicemails, and more. You can also change your availability and the mobile app comes with a ‘do not disturb’ button under the settings menu, which is perfect for when you’re outside working hours.
Nextiva Mobile App
Nextiva Softphone Dialpad
Nextiva Mobile Settings
Integrations
Since you can get all the essential platforms with Nextiva itself, you don’t necessarily need to integrate it with third-party software. Instead, you can speak with Nextiva’s customer support over the phone and ask them for help in importing your data. Despite this, you might want to continue using your favorite apps, and Nextiva provides integrations for around 15 third-party applications. The list includes software for CRM, training, payroll, documentation management, and more. Handily, users can also integrate their desktop applications with Outlook, allowing them to make calls without leaving their inboxes.
Pricing
There are three different subscriptions available with Nextiva: Essential, Professional, and Enterprise. The first plan, which starts at $19.95 per month per user, already provides a decent virtual phone system. For this price, you get unlimited calling within the U.S. and Canada, a free local and toll-free number, 1,000 minutes’ worth of toll-free calls, and access to all devices and most features.
However, if you want to take advantage of unlimited business SMS, advanced collaboration features, voice analytics, and call recording, a Professional account is necessary, which costs at least $20.95 per month per user. Finally, the Enterprise subscription provides a whopping 10,000 toll-free minutes, supports unlimited audio conference participants calls, and voicemail transcription – all of this for as low as $27.95 per month per user.
There’s a 30-day free trial in place for you to test the service with no strings attached. However, this is only available for the middle and upper-tier plans. Nonetheless, the 30-day money-back guarantee works for all subscriptions, which means you can get a full refund if you’re not happy with Nextiva within the first month of use.
Customer Support
There are plenty of channels through which you can get in touch with Nextiva’s customer support. You can either send an email, submit a ticket on the website, or go for a more direct approach through the company’s live chat or phone number. It doesn’t provide 24/7 customer support, though. Instead, you’ll need to contact the team within the company’s working hours from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. PST Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. PST on weekends.
Nextiva is also quite active on social media, through the company’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. If you’re more of a reader, then you have a comprehensive knowledge base and a regularly updated blog page. Last but not least, Nextiva hosts webinars regularly with insightful information that you can attend for free.
Bottom Line
Without a doubt, Nextiva is one of the best virtual phone systems on the market. However, it’s a shame that the admin dashboard is so hard to grasp, and that customer support isn’t available 24/7. It would also be nice to see Nextiva allowing users to get international numbers, as more companies are operating worldwide. Nevertheless, there aren’t many services providing so many features for such a low price. All the call handling tools you can think of are available, and you can even take advantage of more advanced features, such as the built-in CRM platform and team collaboration software. Prices start at $19.95 per month per user, and it’s possible to test everything out through the 30-day free trial.
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Christine says
Read this before signing a contract with Nextiva!
Be sure to read the fine print and be warned – I do not recommend signing a contract with Nextiva! As a small business owner, I would highly recommend sourcing another digital phone provider that delivers reliable phone service, easy to reach tech support, plan flexibility, competitive pricing and most importantly, the option to cancel if the service does not function properly or meet your current business needs.
Almost immediately after switching to Nextiva, we regretted our decision. When originally comparing phone providers, we now realize our first warning sign should have been Nextiva’s sales department pressuring us into a 3-year contract by offering a date sensitive promo on monthly rates.
When we first began using Nextiva, all our locations had significant issues with call quality. Our team had trouble logging into Nextiva’s online platform and the call audio was so poor that we couldn’t hear many customers through all of the static. Daily calls to Nextiva service were often needed for multiple team members at multiple locations. Beyond customers lost and team hours wasted, even calling Nextiva’s tech support was made more difficult since anyone calling tech support was required by Nextiva to be an account admin.
Key members of our leadership team have been constantly burdened with Nextiva service issues and have spent countless hours attempting to troubleshoot Nextiva’s problematic platform on their own since calling and emailing support seldom yielded any resolution. In addition to countless leadership hours wasted on internal troubleshooting, our company has initiated hundreds of support requests over our first 2 years of service with Nextiva. Nextiva’s service never improved for us during these years, so we have no hope that it will improve anytime soon.
During the COVID pandemic when our locations were closed for several months, including some which never reopened, Nextiva would not offer any assistance by pausing monthly fees or even reducing the number of lines in our contract. We were forced to pay for services that could not be used during an unbelievably difficult time for small businesses. Except for Nextiva, all our other service vendors were flexible.
Nextiva has been a constant source of frustration for our team, and we feel this has very likely contributed to employee burn out. I personally experienced many of the same call quality issues and stopped using the platform because it was so infuriating. Poor call quality has also likely contributed to irreparable damage to our brand as customer calls are so frequently dropped or missed due to Nextiva’s problematic online platform and phone app.
To summarize: we are locked into a 3-year Nextiva service contract with no apparent accountability from Nextiva in terms of service and call quality. We are still 1 year from being free of Nextiva, yet all 3 years have been a complete waste of money and team resources. YEAR 1: consistently terrible call quality and tech support. YEAR 2: multiple lines could not be used for most of the year due to COVID, then Nextiva’s phone service was even more problematic with our remaining team members working from home to keep our business alive with a heavy dependence on the phone. YEAR 3 is just beginning and we can’t move away from Nextiva fast enough, yet we are being forced to pay out for the last year due to an unfair contract that has no remedy for Nextiva service not functioning properly. Please don’t make the same mistake we did and get trapped by Nextiva!
Steve says
I have constant problems , they don’t seem to ever figure out! This phone is supposed to ring in my office and to two cell phones simultaneously and if none of the 3 phones answer then its supposed to go to voicemail. I have 4 lines and 3 out of the 4 never work right. Either they only ring once in the office or never rings the phones at all. sometimes the voice mail never picks up. Its always something. I have know idea how many calls I have missed. I test the lines with friends all the time and they never work correctly. I call support and they test and everything works fine. Something weird going on
Ira Carter says
Nextiva phone service has been excellent and comes with more benefits than we could ask for. While there are a handful of companies out there that provide good phone service, I think it is the Nextiva customer service that was really the big seller for us and what makes us feel so confident with our phone service. Not only do real people answer the phone right away, but they are so friendly and helpful and genuinely want to make sure you are happy with the service and that everything is at the level you want it to be. It has always been said that employees make a business and with this company it really holds true! Those support reps are well trained and are awesome! Very comforting to know you have them there whenever you need.
Dan Butler says
A this point I really disapointed.
They have lost papers, delayed a porting due to these lost papers.
Turns out they had everything they needed from the beginning, suprise.
Then time for the porting comes around and they can’t set up the system like I requested 2 months ago and tell me there will be additional charges to get it set up like that.
So at this point I’ve paid for 2 months of service (over $400.00) and still do not have service.
Quite a racket they have going if you ask me, take your money and act like everything’s going fine for a month or so, take a second payment then tell you sorry, we are going to need more money.
Jonathan L says
We have been with nextiva for over 8 years, no matter what other people tell you their customer service and support is the worse i have ever experience, they are rude and not professional and never resolve any issues what so ever….but only ask you more and more questions in an effort to exhaust you.
call quality is good yet more than a few calls do not make it to the end destination (only about 80% of the time it works).
when comes to the registering a phone over the pbx, there is always a delay when talking which makes it useless.
the only good 2 features, which are must common to ever provider and are basic, call forwarding and auto attended, but what kind of a provider would you be without these basic feature…..all in all, we are not satisfied with there service and cannot and would not recommend them.
Kylie says
I use their phone, fax and call answering tools for the office. Benefits have been no more phone bills, and a more reliable service. It has reduced large overhead costs from the local phone company. Love our cool auto attendant! Voice to email has been an unexpected bonus that has improved my company’s efficiency.
Arnold says
So many VOIP services but none have compared to the price and quality i received from Nextiva. If your system is set up properly, you will have a cost-effective, reliable and great alternative to your expensive landline. If you need a phone that you can plug in and have a rep hold your hand through the process, this is the company for you. Be patient because once it is set up, you will have a wonderful service with awesome features. Nextiva’s online support is also fast and the reps are thorough in their answers, no canned responses; these guys actually give you answers that help you.
Ted says
I am the owner of a small business, with locations in various parts of the U.S. and two in Canada. I needed all my locations to have the same toll free number, with different extensions. I tried getting this from another VoIP provider and it was a disaster. We used their service and phones for 12 days, but phones were only actually operable for a few hours in those almost 2 weeks. Nextiva offers a full service solution for business in the most cost effective packages. Their features are second to none. We would never use another service for our business phones again. Their customer service is wonderful. We experienced an issue with one of the phones in one of the satellite offices and the Nextiva tech support walked my employee through every step to restart and plug everything back in to get the correct IP address. It all took maybe forty-five minutes and the phone was back up and running. I’m extremely pleased that I made the decision to go with Nextiva.
Andrew says
Nextiva is hands-down the best VoIP company on the market. When I started my business, I needed to be able to record calls and all the other companies just charged too much. I didn’t even know that I could access real-time call records and direct my calls to other numbers.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve needed to use those services, which are all included in an affordable package with Nextiva.
The call quality is also great on Nextiva and if you have any issues, they are quick to sort it out. The tech support is really spot on – helpful, friendly and efficient. If you have issues, they will take time to understand exactly what is wrong and they are always courteous.
I will definitely stick with Nextiva, even if another company offers the same service for cheaper, simply because I know and trust Nextiva.
E.B. says
Having been a Nextiva customer now for over a year, I came to this website from Google and wanted to share some feedback regarding my experience with Nextiva. The simplicity of the service combined with the price makes it tough to beat. I’m sure prices for phones and service will go down over time but considering how Comcast wanted to charge me $65 per month per line and I’m no paying $20 per line and getting more features, Nextiva really is a no brainer. They get my full recommendation.