RingCentral Reviews

Since 1999, California’s RingCentral has been a leader in cloud-based communications. You may know the company for its online faxing solution or web conferencing software, but its virtual phone system – called RingCentral MVP – is what it’s most famous for. Whether your business is still using landline phones with existing numbers or you’re starting from scratch with a remote office, RingCentral MVP has something to offer. The system provides unlimited text messages, faxes, VoIP, and web conferencing combined into one polished platform, with apps for desktop and mobile. The service also lets you add as many phone numbers, lines, and extensions as you want. There’s even an app store with hundreds of integrations to ensure all your bases are covered. RingCentral offers a flexible pricing structure to cater to all businesses, and you can test out it out first through its free 15-day trial. To know more about what RingCentral has to offer, we recommend calling the company at 888-295-1724 for a custom quote.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 three different tiers, so you can ensure you get the right package. On the RingCentral website, you’ll notice that volume discounts for over 50 users are available by contacting its sales team.

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 Core subscription, which works out at $20 per month. However, this is the most basic package, so it only offers standard features.

Any larger businesses – especially those who deal with overseas clients – will want to upgrade to access more features. Moving up to Advanced opens up extra integrations, online faxing, advanced call monitoring, and multi-site management. To get access to all features – including unlimited storage – there’s the Ultra 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 at 888-295-1724. 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. 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 at 888-295-1724. 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 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.

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