Visit RingCentralFree 15-Day Trial Free Trial Coupons| Editor's Rating | |
|---|---|
| Overall | |
| Features | |
| Price | |
| Customer Support | |
Positives
- Versatile, advanced call handling features
- Huge number of integrations
- Unlimited domestic calls and texts
- International numbers from 55 countries
- 15-day risk-free trial
Negatives
- Steep learning curve
- Android app sometimes unresponsive
Features
RingCentral MVP combines all your channels into one platform and offers unlimited business communication. Everything is easily accessible using the comprehensive desktop and mobile apps – except admin tools and reporting, which are only available through your browser.
RingCentral shines with its high-quality video conferencing. You can set up a new meeting in one click and start inviting users or schedule meetings with help from iCal and Google Calendar. We particularly like that as well as having dynamic backgrounds, RingCentral is optimized for green or blue screens. There’s also a handy presentation mode that allows you to shift the focus to a PowerPoint presentation while remaining in the frame – ideal for training or sales pitches.
RingCentral Desktop Dashboard
Phone Call
Video Call
Phone calls are made either with a physical VoIP phone or the app’s softphone. The softphone may look a little basic at first, but it does everything you need. We also like that if you see a phone number on a Word document, email, or web page, you’re able to call it with just a few clicks. Voicemails are dealt with well, too – they’re easy to access and let you call back immediately.
Call Handling
Every time we tested the service, we were impressed by the connection quality regardless of the device we used. It’s easy to forward numbers, do group calls, and transfer between different devices connected to your network. Every feature is in a logical place, and anyone who has used a virtual phone system before will have no problems navigating the service.
All features are highly customizable from the admin panel. Users can set up forwarding during ordinary working hours, after hours, or using custom rules – ideal for breaks or special holidays. Similarly, it’s possible to configure your screening, greetings, and hold music by importing MP3 or WAV files.
Call Handling Settings
Auto-Receptionist
Finally, if your business still uses landline phones, you can upgrade to VoIP phones on the RingCentral website. The online store sells phones that link perfectly with the service – with different options available depending on your budget.
Phone System Management
All communication is done through the desktop and mobile apps. The layout may be a bit daunting at first, but that’s only because RingCentral has so many features to navigate through. It helps that the menus are customizable, letting you tailor the service to your needs.
Your contacts are customizable too. They’re divided into three categories: Company, Guests, and Personal. RingCentral also lets you import contacts and directories from Google, Microsoft accounts, and CSV files. And if you’re using one of the mobile apps, you’re also able to import from your phone’s contact book.
Admin Panel
Quality of Service
Audit Trail
Depending on your subscription, you can add over a thousand users to your account. Each is given a role with predefined permissions, and RingCentral handles this really well. Many services don’t offer different kinds of admin users, but with RingCentral, you can have an admin account focused on billing and another one for phone systems only. There’s also the ‘super admins’ who have control over everything.
RingCentral logs every action that your users perform, including caller identity, call length, actions taken, whether a call was recorded or not, and much more. All of this data is available through in-depth reporting, with performance reports that you can filter to view various KPIs. The Quality of Service tab also goes into the nitty-gritty of how to have the highest quality calls possible by showing you a performance based on ISP, endpoint, and network. Our only minor issue is that you have to leave the app to view reports in a browser.
Phone Numbers
RingCentral gives users plenty to choose from when it comes to phone numbers. You can get local numbers from all over the U.S., with over 200 area codes available. RingCentral offers toll-free local numbers as well, with additional ones available for an extra $4.99 a month. Standard users also get access to international phone numbers from 55 countries from all over the world, including Mexico, Japan, Algeria, New Zealand, and France. It’s also possible to get extra international numbers for $5.99 per month or international toll-free numbers for $14.99. Finally, if you want a vanity number, you’ll have to pay an extra $30 for each one.
Of course, you can port over your existing numbers, which will take anywhere between five and 30 days to complete.
Mobile
RingCentral has polished apps for iOS and Android, which allow you to take the service with you on the go. The apps do well to include so many features in one place without becoming too cluttered. But we did have a minor issue with the Android version of the app. At times the Android app felt slow and unresponsive – something we regularly experienced when opening the main menu. Despite that, communication performance was impressive.
RingCentral App Messages
App Call Settings
App Scheduler
Integrations
RingCentral is, without a doubt, the king of integrations. The website hosts its very own app store, where you’ll find integrations for pretty much everything you need – like the pack of Microsoft integrations that includes apps such as Outlook, Teams, and OneDrive. The RingCentral App Gallery is divided into categories making it easier to find exactly what you’re looking for. There are integrations for analytics, marketing automation, productivity, storage, and much more. We like that there’s even a separate section on the app store for artificial intelligence apps.
The app store really shines with its CRM integrations, with over 75 different apps in this category alone. And in the unlikely event that you need an integration that RingCentral doesn’t provide, you can suggest a future App Gallery addition.
Depending on your subscription, you’re also able to make your own custom integrations by using the RingCentral API. There’s even a dedicated developer website with handy tutorials to get you started.
Pricing
RingCentral MVP has a flexible pricing structure with four different tiers, so you can ensure you get the right package. On the RingCentral website, you’ll notice a slider that you can move up or down depending on the number of users you need – going from one to over a thousand. You’ll notice that prices actually get lower when you increase the number of users. For example, a monthly Ultimate subscription for one user costs $69.99 but decreases to $52.99 for 100+ users. There are also discounts of up to 33% if you choose an annual subscription over a monthly one. Overall, the cheapest way to get RingCentral is with a yearly Essentials subscription, which works out at $19.99 per month. However, this is the most basic package, so it only offers a maximum of 20 users and doesn’t have any premium features.
Any larger businesses – especially those who deal with overseas clients – will want to upgrade to access more features. Moving up to Standard opens up international numbers, extra integrations, faxing, larger meetings, and 24/7 support. You can access real-time analytics, RingCentral’s API, automatic call recording, and further integrations by upgrading to the Premium subscription. Finally, to get all features – including unlimited storage – there’s the Ultimate package. It’s sometimes a little confusing to compare and contrast all of these different options, but we can’t fault RingCentral for not offering variety.
Before you commit to RingCentral, it’s possible to test out the service thoroughly. First, there’s a full product demo that you can access by getting in touch with RingCentral. For a more hands-on experience, there’s a 15-day free trial that allows you to try RingCentral with five users and 50 minutes of talk time per user. Alternatively, you can take advantage of the company’s 30-day money-back guarantee to test RingCentral out for longer risk-free.
Customer Support
If you need any assistance while using RingCentral, there are various channels available. Standard, Premium, and Ultimate users can get help 24 hours a day – otherwise, you’re restricted to regular business hours. The most direct method of communication is through live chat or over the phone. From our experience, live chat replies were a little slow – it took about an hour to get a response. You can also get help by filling out a ticket or using social media as RingCentral is active on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Alternatively, there’s the RingCentral community, where it’s possible to get advice from other members.
RingCentral Support
Frequently Asked Questions
RingCentral Community
RingCentral Blog
RingCentral has an extensive support section full of resources that will help you understand the service inside out. The video tutorials and webinars are a particular highlight, but there’s also an extensive FAQ section.
Bottom Line
RingCentral lives up to all expectations. There are a few minor issues here and there – like the sometimes unresponsive Android app – but overall, it’s one of the most complete virtual phone systems around. In fact, it can take a little while to get your head around all the things RingCentral is capable of. We particularly like the extensive list of integrations that cover all kinds of categories, so you’ll be able to do everything you need. The analytics and reporting section is in-depth as well, meaning that you’ll be able to track KPIs and ensure that you have the best quality video calls possible. To top it all off, RingCentral is reasonably priced – making it ideal for businesses of any size.
Best Alternative Virtual Phone Systems
| Rank | Provider | Info | Visit |
1 | Editor's Choice 2021 | ||
2 |  | ||
3 |  |
SiriusConcern says
The number of spam calls coming through on our company lines with RingCentral is ridiculous. When we submit requests for help, they close the case without resolve or explanation simply stating there is nothing they can do. We tried blocking the calls in their admin console as well as at the local user level, but somehow the blocked calls still penetrates through and RingCentral won’t address it.
Jim says
Stay way from this carrier. The mislead you from the beginning. Start you out with an English speaking account rep, then later they switch you to account rep and customer service that don’t speak very good English at all.
They customer service first level and only help you 1 out of 20 times. Account rep has mislead me in porting my number from them. I caught them updating my address to an incorrect address that was missing a character, which then they reject my port request.
I am now going on 3 months trying to port my number away from them and till still reject my port request. Now I have filed a complaint with the FCC.
This VOIP carrier is terrible!
Janice Parke says
Have had this for 2 years and we have problem after problem with it not working. It has a difficult interface, there are way too many options. Our phone system just quit working and we are a medical office that takes calls after hours. Well it hasn’t worked for over a month. What a joke. Don’t try contacting customer service as they are clueless. Can’t believe they are ranked number one.
Paulie says
Getting this set up was quick enough for me with ample guides on how to tie everything together. I’ve had to deal with more tricky, tedious instalments than this. It works like a charm and I’m pretty ok with the overall cost of it all.
Kurt says
I’m very pleased with how Ringcentral is working for us and the improvements it has brought to our organization. We’re keeping our menus short, yet they already mean that our office manager has to go through a lot less calls. Also, hardware. It’s astonishing just how much easier it is for our office manager and any customer reps to wear a headset. Especially the wireless units that our warehouse personnel use have won us over.
Chris says
Call handling was much welcomed and does really well for us considering we have different opening times for the office, shop, online store… All the rest is there – good apps, quality phone connections, support was there when I needed it as one of our employees didn’t get it to work on her computer. I’ve been with Vonage before and was happy with them, but Ringcentral has way more.
anita says
Fairly okay
Kristina says
I do not know how Ringcentral received more than two stars. First of all their costumer service is probably one of the worst out there. From rude representatives to inconsistent information. There was no follow up on my interest as a potential consumer besides an email giving me a breakdown of costs for the service, which again had inconsistent information from their website advertising.
Juston Smith says
I have no idea how RingCentral is rated #1 on this website, unless of course they paid for that.
The system, when functioning as expected/normal, is PHENOMENAL. I will give them that. The problem is, it rarely functions as expected/normal, and support is shelled out to the Phillipines. Even this I could put up with if the agents weren’t rude when you can’t understand their thick accents.
Having requested a call from USA-based support over a week ago given the number of problems my system is having, you can imagine my surprise when I was just told today that USA-based support is supplied for teams of 20 or more, only. So basically the little guys don’t pay them enough is what I take from that.
Quite sad. I had extremely high hopes for this system. Support and an extremely glitchy system just aren’t up to par. Side-note: I spent $500 on the phone alone just so I could have the top of the line service.
Bob says
I have had Ring Central for a year now and it just doesn’t work for me. It took three or more phone calls to the support team to get the VOIP to work on my network. The iPhone app has terrible call quality since all of my calls get broken up and no one can hear me. Every time I call support they tell me that it’s my network. My internet is fast and the app NEVER works well regardless of whether I use it over VOIP or the phone itself.
I’ve been patient so far but I think it’s time for me to move away from Ring Central.
Ben says
I have been with RingCentral for a few years now. I have rather unique needs. I forward the 800 number I have with them to both my cell and a magicjack landline. Recently I had a call quality issue. My clients could hear me fine but I couldn’t hear them. So, I submitted a ticket as their help system did change and I didn’t want to call them. Just didn’t feel like being on the phone. They got back to me in reasonable time, made some changes to my settings and I haven’t had a quality problem since. It did take a little back and forth testing, as to be expected. I am actually writing this review as I’m looking around to see if I can save a few bucks on my service. I’m giving them the chance to keep my business, if they come through. If not, who knows what I’ll do. I’m thinking of adding a desk VOIP phone but I want to save a little money. Adding a phone would cost me the phone itself plus $5 a month more. We’ll see what happens.
Todd says
Their product never works consistently. Always having to uninstall and re-install their call controller. If you want to use the softphone on a PC then you must have Microsoft word
and will not work with open office, etc.
By the way, UPDATE your information. They recently stopped offering 24/7 service unless your system is completely down but MUST enter an online only ticket for everything else which is by far, the majority of the issues we’ve had!
jerry says
I have been with them for over a month. With over 100 employees on their system, we have not had any issues. The implementation team was amazing. I have not heard a single complaint from our employees since we moved from the previous provider. Great Service for a Great Price.
Harry says
Amazing service.
John Nguyen says
Ring Central is a great VOIP software package. It is very easy to use and extremely user friendly. Their customer service associates do not treat you like you are a number and they also take their time to figure out any problems you may be having. I had an emergency and they were very attentive and genuinely were concerned with my frustrations during the emergency. I would tell other companies and friends that Ring Central is a product you want to use.