When trying to operate a business that has multiple or wide-spread locations, finding unified phone systems that can be run from an individual location can often be a hassle. Different service providers often control different geographic areas, and services being available in one location does not always guarantee that they will be available in another. To fulfill this unique demand, there is a simple solution: VoIP phone systems.
Business VoIP phone systems have only improved with time, and this marked evolution is what makes them ideal for any business that has multiple locations. Since VoIP phone systems are hosted on the cloud there is no need for installation, meaning no scheduling an installer and hoping for a day without schedule conflicts.
With VoIP there is also no need for special equipment, making use and operation that much simpler. As well, not having to purchase equipment for each location saves on the initial investment necessary to set up a unified phone system. All that is needed is a network to operate from and phones to connect to it.
Once phones are connected to the network, they can be used and managed from an individual location with an administrator portal. This ease of use allows the administrator the ability to create settings for individual phones and locations, or for the entire system as a whole. When selecting a VoIP phone system, consider using Nextiva because it has been proven to fulfill the demand of this specific business situation.
What makes Nextiva stand out?
Nextiva has proven to be the top VoIP phone system for multi-location businesses because it has fair terms, competitive pricing, unique features and tools, unrivaled reliability, allows for the management of multiple devices simultaneously, and is entirely operated from a single platform. These features are just the tip of the iceberg. Nextiva also allows for the addition and removal of lines on demand, which creates a simple-to-use environment for scaling communications. Nextiva also provides call forwarding, extension dialing, and call routing, all of which are valuable tools for any business with multiple locations.
Fair terms and competitive pricing
Terms and pricing are two major factors for any business operator because the numbers are always important. Nextiva offers a month-to-month service plan for businesses wanting to test out the service or anyone not willing to commit to long term service. For those willing to sign a 36-month contract, the costs drop even more. Nextiva Office offers three service plans: Office Pro, Office Pro Plus, and Office Enterprise. Each of these plans differ in price based on your commitment length and the number of users.
Plans
Office Pro
This service plan offers unlimited calling, free local and toll-free numbers, voicemail-to-email, virtual faxing, hold music, shared call appearance, and the barge-in tool. For businesses with one to four users, Office Pro costs $34.95 per user per month without contract and $32.95 with a three-year commitment. The per user per month price drops to $29.95 or $27.95 for businesses with 5 to 19 users. Another $5 is discounted per user per month for businesses with 20 to 99 users, making it $24.95 or $22.95. Businesses with more than 100 users get the greatest discount, costing $21.95 or $19.95 per user per month depending on the commitment.
Office Pro Plus
For an additional $3 per user per month, Office Pro Plus adds some very useful features while still providing everything available in the Office Pro package. This plan includes access to the mobile app which is great for businesses with employees who work remotely or travel. As well, it includes the Call Me Now tool, the team presence feature, and one recorded greeting.
Office Enterprise
The most expensive of the three plans, Office Enterprise costs $10 more than the Office Pro plan per user per month. The value of this package comes from the added Nextiva Anywhere feature, the varied analytics, automation, and administration tools that are available. While including everything previously mentioned in the Pro and Pro Plus plans, it also provides three recorded greetings and call recording as well.
In addition to what is provided in these three plans, businesses may also add voicemail-to-text for $2.95 per user per month.
Nextiva is also one of the few VoIP service providers that isn’t limited to offering standard business services. Their contact center services allow almost any business to take advantage of VoIP phone systems, even those that function on active phone traffic. Nextiva offers two contact center service plans.
Contact Center Pro
At a cost of $50 per user per month, the Contact Center Pro plan includes enhanced greeting and queue announcements, queue and skill-based routing, unlimited queues, call recording, remote agent support, bounced and stranded call services, and some limited analytics. For businesses that need more, the Enterprise plan is available.
Contact Center Enterprise
At $100.95 per user per month, the Enterprise plan includes everything offered in the Contact Center Pro plan, plus outgoing call control, upgraded supervisor controls, queue management, whisper messages, night and holiday service, configurable call handling, and enhanced analytics.
As well, both packages offer optional upgrades at an additional monthly cost. For $40 per month a receptionist dashboard is available. At $70 a month, a supervisor dashboard upgrade can be bought, and an agent dashboard is available for $30 per month.
Nextiva Features In-Depth
Nextiva offers the standard features that are provided by other business VoIP phone system providers and even more that can only be found in Nextiva’s available packages.
Shared call appearance is a feature that allows several phones to be assigned the same line. This allows employees to make and receive calls from more than one location.
Nextiva Anywhere is a useful tool for any business that has remote employees and employees that are on the go. This feature allows employees to have their business lines ring any phone of their choosing, including their mobile and home phones.
The Call Me Now tool is great for customer contact. Having this tool allows anyone visiting the business website to be one click away from speaking to an employee. When clicking on the Call Me Now icon they are immediately connected with a business representative.
Nextiva’s mobile app provides employees advantages when communicating with coworkers and customers. It allows them to make and receive phone calls on their business lines, make video calls, and chat with coworkers using instant messaging. As well, the app permits them to access the company directory, update and modify call settings, and swap calls back and forth between a desk phone and mobile device.
Available analytics allow you to observe and measure many various aspects of your company calls. The simple analytics provided in the mid-level packages allow for real-time tracking and reporting of call data. The Enterprise plan analytics are even more advanced and offer intelligence features that could make the difference on a report. Some of these advanced features include customer experience tracking and scoring, customer journey tracking, customer health scoring, and customer benchmarking. These analytics and reports can often create the necessary data to bridge the gap from prospect to sale.
Along with the advanced analytics, the Enterprise plan also includes some additional administration features. Setting permissions for individual users, department management, database building, custom forms, and customer data compiling are just some of these additional features.
Nextiva’s Contact Center features are ideal for call centers with employees who work remotely. Call queues, call recording, interactive voice response, and remote agent support are all designed to allow for a unified business approach regardless of where an employee works from.
The call control features include a wide array of office-oriented and standard functions:
- Do not disturb
- Group paging
- Intercoms
- Three-way calling
- Call return
- Caller ID
- Call recording
- Unlimited local and long-distance
- Unlimited faxing
- Music on hold
The control features and tools available for employees allow coworkers to interact on a deeper level and more efficiently:
- Screen sharing
- Video conferencing
- Busy/Available contact tags
- Group and private instant messaging
When working on a desktop or laptop, the softphone feature removes the need of a phone altogether. Just plug headphones in and use the computer microphone to make or receive business calls.
Unrivaled reliability
The Nextiva support staff is a group of well trained, solution-oriented people ready to answer, instruct, and educate new users when they have questions or issues. This support approach combined with their soft sale methods give business owners control of the outcome. Available from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST Monday through Friday and 11a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays, a live representative is available most of the week.
Nextiva support staff is trained to demonstrate and instruct users on the most effective use of the available features for completing their goals. They take whatever amount of time is necessary to create a clear understanding of the features and controls.
Due to the relaxed approach to sales by Nextiva staff, the sales funnel at Nextiva is essentially customer controlled. They allow prospective clients to move through the information and sales process naturally, acting as guides and educators instead of sales people. With customer experience prioritized over making a sale, representatives tend to create an initial experience that surpasses that which is found with most other companies.
Nextiva’s live chat and email support are also a cut above the rest. The average response time for live chat is mere seconds and the email responses are prompt and detailed. If there are ever problems, fast and easy solutions are the desired response, which this support team gives daily.
As well, the phone systems themselves have unparalleled reliability. Nextiva has a reported uptime of 99.99 percent. There are nearly no lengthy outages, as can be seen on the uptime status tracker on Nextiva’s website. This is all due to the redundancy set up in their systems, allowing for constant connection regardless of accidents and necessary maintenance.
If a company already has established phone numbers, Nextiva also provides the option of transferring those numbers when changing to their system. It may take a few weeks for some numbers to be processed, but the Nextiva support team is there to help anyone take advantage of high definition VoIP phone systems.
Allows for custom management of multiple devices
Nextiva does not only have all the tools necessary to set restrictions and create custom settings for everyone. It also provides the essential functions for efficient group management. Conference bridge allows each employee to hold their own conference call with up to nine callers. This feature is directly built into their service and makes group management that much easier.
The Nextiva mobile app, available on iOS and Android, also contains tools for group cohesion. This tool can be used as a hub for team communications through the instant messaging and video call functions.
Single, easy to manage platform
Nextiva’s phone systems are cloud hosted and managed through an online portal. Cloud- hosted systems are less maintenance, eliminating the need for IT. Nextiva handles all the necessary software updates and upgrades. The easy to use portal has many functions:
- Assign phone numbers and user IDs
- Add employees to the system
- Record automated greetings
- Manage employee access and restrictions
- Create call-queue routes and priorities
One of the most essential uses of the portal is for analytics. Knowing where a customer is in the sales process, how they feel, and what they are looking for are necessities for creating a positive customer image. The advanced intelligence features offered in the Enterprise plan use analytics to give you a recorded representation of each customer’s experience. This data can then be compiled to give an overall perspective of the customer experience while also giving information on patterns.
Employees also have access to the portal, allowing them to conduct video conferences, change personal preferences and settings, or chat with other employees. While allowing businesses to maintain overall control, Nextiva provides an effective and easy-to-use platform for every employee.
With a simple to manage system, competitive pricing, and unmatched reliability, Nextiva is proving to be an active force in the evolution of VoIP phone systems. Their features are innovative and designed to help any business integrate VoIP into business communications.
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