Enjoy seamless virtual calls with a reliable Microsoft Teams Alternative

When you hear Zoom, you probably connect it with meetings, webinars, and conference calling. No surprise there. Zoom is one of the biggest virtual meeting tools on the market. Yet, it’s not the cheapest one. Let’s look deeper at all advantages and disadvantages.

What makes Zoom unique?

Perhaps the biggest advantage is unlimited one-on-one and group meetings in all Zoom’s plans.

Yet, the meeting duration for their basic plan is only 40 minutes.

Furthermore, Zoom offers a nice, user-friendly interface, and up to 1,000 third-party integrations.

In Zoom Phone, you’ll also get useful automation tools like Click to Call.

What is Zoom missing?

Zoom is missing advanced dialing capabilities. While the platform offers many integrations, it lacks some of the most popular ones, like:

• HubSpot CRM,
• and Freshsales.

Business phone features are included just in high-tier plans.

Also, some features, for example, audio conferencing or real-time analytics, are only available as add-ons.

What’s more, Zoom doesn’t offer any in person-training.

How is Zoom priced?

Zoom One offers a free basic plan with meetings up to 40 minutes and max. 100 attendees, team chats, and 3 whiteboards.

Yet for more advanced plans, you’ll have to pay:

1. A Pro plan goes for $139,90 per user/year,
2. and Business plan for $189,90 per user/year.
3. There’s also an Enterprise plan. You need to contact Zoom’s sales department to discuss the price of that one.

Zoom Phone will cost you from $89,28 per user/year (Pro plan) to $223 per user/year (Pro Global Select plan).

There are also many add-ons that you can purchase. 

See more about the pricing: https://zoom.us/pricing

Zoom Conclusion

Zoom is a well-known robust virtual meeting tool. Over the years, it has built a strong reputation in the business world. Zoom is user-friendly, supports many third-party integrations, and provides advanced automation tools. 

On the flip side, some important services only come as add-ons. Talking about that, Zoom’s prices are quite high. 

Skype is one of the oldest VoIP competitors on the market. Despite that fact, it still has plenty to offer. Over the years, the platform has released a number of upgrades that make it a viable alternative.

What makes Skype unique?

One of Skype’s biggest strengths is its wide availability and ease of use across Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and more.

It offers very secure calls for up to 50 participants with a meeting recording feature. 

In terms of VoIP, Skype can provide you with:

• local phone numbers,
• call forwarding,
• and voicemail.

What is Skype missing?

Unfortunately, ever since Skype was acquired by Microsoft, many of its features got cut. As a consequence, the platform lacks many VoIP capabilities customers expect, including a help desk, webinars, activity tracking, notifications, integrations, or an API. 

Customer support options are also quite limited, as there’s no phone support, 24/7 support, FAQs / Forum, or Training.

How is Skype priced?

Skype offers very affordable pricing, giving customers access to both monthly and pay-as-you-go plans. You can get started with skype for as little as $3.59 per month or $0.18 per minute.

Skype Conclusion

Skype is a great, affordable online conferencing solution. Unfortunately, that’s not enough to make it a great VoIP solution, too. The amount of missing features is too much of a glaring issue to ignore, and so, if you’re looking to power-up your call center, we urge you to look elsewhere.

GoTo Connect is a frequent go-to choice for scaling businesses. Let’s take a closer look at this VoIP provider’s offering, examine its strengths and weaknesses, and determine whether it delivers on its promises. 

What makes GoTo Connect unique?

Something every GoTo Connect will appreciate is the free-of-charge onboarding assistance you receive when you first join.

From that point, users can enjoy a strong mobile experience, great predictive dialers, and a reliable selection of knowledge base and training videos.

What is GoTo Connect missing?

One of the first downsides users will notice when using GoTo Connect is the solution’s lack of integrations.

There are a fair few features missing that you can expect to find with other providers, including call notes/tags, call masking, business hours, or even caller ID.

How is Go To Connect priced?

GoTo Connect offers users the choice of 3 plans, their pricing depending on how many agents you decide to onboard. For this comparison, we chose the 2-10 agent option, as it tends to be the most frequently used.

The Basic plan can support up to 20 users and costs $18 for annual and monthly payments alike.

Standard costs $29 regardless of payment frequency and can support unlimited agents.

The same applies to Premium, which will run you $43.

GoTo Connect Conclusion

GoTo Connect offers an approachable VoIP experience – both financially and from an onboarding standpoint. However, the lack of several key features and integrations might be reason enough to consider an alternative.

3CX is a PBX phone system for office-based teams. It runs exclusively with Microsoft Windows or Linux, so MacBook users are out of luck. 

It’s a relatively basic phone system, with simple features such as Live Chat and Call Recording. It does not however feature smart capabilities such as AI or real-time transcriptions.

What makes 3CX unique?

3CX’s biggest strength is its affordability.

It’s a bare-bones system, but one that can get the job done for small teams who aren’t interested in the bells and whistles that come with most smart calling software.

What is 3CX missing?

3CX lacks some of the features and integrations most businesses have come to expect when hunting for virtual phone software. For example, users cannot integrate 3CX with Pipedrive or Zapier, two of the most popular business software on the market.

3CX also doesn’t have any direct sales. It is only sold through distributors which can make the sales process, as well as the support process lengthy and costly.

How is 3CX priced?

3CX’s most basic plan is free.

Their first paid plan comes in at 175 euros per user per month, and their more advanced plans cost 296 euros and 330 euros per user per month, respectively.

3CX Conclusion

As we’ve mentioned, 3CX is a virtual phone software for businesses who are only interested in the basics. It leaves a lot to be desired in a lot of areas, so we recommend thinking about whether or not you might need something it lacks — like integrations with Pipedrive and Zapier — at a later date. 

8×8 is an evergreen telephony solution with a strong focus on integrations and analytics. The provider is well-suited for enterprises, but lower-tier subscriptions also work for smaller organizations.

What is 8×8 missing?

Office is required: You need an office in the location where you want to call in order to get a number from there. 

Geographical restrictions for SMS: You can only use an SMS feature within the US and 8×8 does not cover costs for mobile numbers in Brazil.  

Integrations: 8×8 doesn’t partner with telco companies, which means that users can’t get native integration with certain solutions. For example, Whatsapp. Non-native integrations must be set up by the tech team.

Features: 8×8 is missing some features like call tagging for more efficient calling processes, call masking for protecting your personal information or API for connecting CloudTalk with any tool you love. Automation tools like IVR, skill-based routing or automated callback come only with high-tier plans. You have to pay extra in order to get call recording.

A crucial restriction, mainly for big international companies, is that there are regional constraints on unlimited calling. Users with the basic Express plan can only use unlimited calling in the US and Canada.  

How is 8×8 priced?

The cheapest, Express 8×8 plan starts at $15 for both monthly and annual subscription. Though, it only comes with basic features.

Higher tier plans will cost you from $24 to $44 per month, billed annually, and $28 to $57 billed monthly. These include more advanced features, such as multi-level auto attendant, and data history.

8×8 Conclusion

8×8 shines in analytics and integrations but stays behind in the amount of productivity features. There’s also a lack of flexibility to consider, and a few feature accessibility restrictions that may be dealbreakers for international companies. 

Price is affordable when you only need a basic Express pack, but for more advanced tools, you’ll have to reach deeper into your wallet.