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The Best Talkroute Alternatives for Small Businesses

April 25, 2023
phone system for small business
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Table Of Content
  • What is Talkroute?
  • Talkroute Pricing
  • Why move away from Talkroute?
  • Top 5 Alternatives to Talkroute
  • Alternative #1: Quicktalk
  • Alternative #2: Grasshopper
  • Alternative #3: Google Voice
  • Alternative #4: Skype
  • Alternative #5: magicJack

What is Talkroute?

Talkroute is a virtual phone system that is suitable for all kinds of business be it small, medium or large. Founded in 2013, the company is based in the United States and offers their service in English. This service integrates with 3rd party systems and helps businesses to manage incoming calls, voicemail or simply to route calls. Talkroute offers their clients the option of getting a toll-free number, a vanity number, a local number or number portability. They also allow administrators to create user accounts, access voicemail, text messaging, VOIP, etc. Organisations using talkroute can set up date/time ranges, call routing after working hours rules, add submenus to call menus, etc.

Talkroute Pricing

Source : Talkroute pricing on www.Talkroute.com on the 04/25/2023

With unlimited incoming and outgoing calls and text messaging, Talkroute offers 4 prepaid monthly plans including a Basic plan priced at $19, Plus plan priced at $39, Pro plan priced at $59, and an Enterprise plan priced at $99. Features like call forwarding, call routing, called ID and custom greetings are common to all plans. As you upgrade plans, you can get additional local/ toll-free numbers and account users. Features like call reporting, downloadable analytics and scheduled call forwarding are available only with the Pro and Enterprise plans.

Why move away from Talkroute?

You need a more complete solution

Talkroute offers several packages depending on the quantity of virtual numbers, the amount of users, and the desired features. If your company has 3 users, the $39 per month package could work, but for additional features like call recording or forwarding, you would need the package for 10 users. It could be difficult for you to decipher exactly what plans and features you need. If you want a simpler and more inclusive product, you should consider an alternative provider.

Pros: Talkroute is a comprehensive solution for business call needs

Cons: Talkroute products are not well-packaged for small and medium-sized businesses

You need more affordable pricing

The starting price of $19 seems interesting, but it is only for one user and lacks most of the basic features of an efficient business phone system, such as call recording, or auto-attendant. Very quickly, the total cost of your bill can greatly increase as soon as you start adding basic telephony features. These additional costs can quickly become a hindrance for an entrepreneur or small business who prefers a simpler, all-inclusive package.

Pros: Talkroute’s starting prices are attractive

Cons: To get a complete solution to manage customer calls, it quickly becomes expensive, especially for small and medium-sized businesses

You need to set up an auto attendant/IVR at a reasonable price

It is not easy for a small business to answer their calls 24/7. This is where an auto-attendant can help you:

  • Prevent Missed Calls: Even if a customer calls outside business hours, the auto attendant can answer and encourage the caller to leave their contact details so you can call them back later
  • Maintain Professionalism: Keep a professional feel by directing customers to leave a voicemail or forwarding their calls even when no one answers the call.
  • Deliver better customer experience: An auto-attendant is a great way to provide a positive customer experience since the IVR can be used to direct your customers to the right employee or department.

With Talkroute, the auto attendant is only included in the $39 monthly package. In addition to that, the voice studio that is necessary to create personalized greetings is only available with the $59/month pro plan that is for 10 users.

People that manage business calls deserve to be able to easily set up custom greetings online and create a professional calling experience for their customers. This includes choosing the right background music, hold music, the right company welcome speech with a male or female voice that represents your company, in multiple different languages, etc.

With Talkfive’s simple phone plan, you get the auto-attendant and more for $15 per month.

Softphone integrations definitely makes a difference

Modern business phone system now provides CRM and software integration to increase businesses’ productivity. Unfortunately, this is a big disadvantage for Talkroute. Talkroute doesn’t allow you to integrate with your CRM or customer service software to track calls and customer follow-up. This makes effective communication extremely difficult. Unless you enter each call manually, you will never know which customers have been contacted or not. A CRM integration ensures that you are following up with your customers effectively.

H3 You need something easy to use and set up

The world around us is changing at a faster pace and so are business communication solutions. Small businesses are looking for easy-to-use phone systems and are replacing the complicated old technologies with cloud-based VoIP phone systems that can be set up with a few clicks. However, if you are looking for a phone system that can be set up easily, Talkroute might not be the best bet for you.

Top 5 Alternatives to Talkroute

Are you looking for a better option than Talkroute? Compare the other solutions on the market to select the best tool for your small or medium-sized business. Below, you will find a review of the competitors in terms of price, features, and ease of use:

Alternative #1: Quicktalk

If you are looking for a phone system easy to set up, Quicktalk is the one for you. From basic phone lines to advanced features,Quicktalk has everything small and medium-sized businesses need.Their simple and all-inclusive pricing is ideal for businesses that are looking for an advanced phone system at a lower rate. The plans include unlimited inbound and outbound calls to and from 36 international destinations.

Top Advantages of Quicktalk

Free International Calls: Make inbound and outbound calls from your local number to 36 international destinations with no additional charges.

Advanced Call Center Features: Monitor your calls in real-time, record calls and access and analyze call data to improve your customer experience.

Alternative #2: Grasshopper

A cloud-based phone service provider, Grasshopper offers one or more numbers coupled with several extension lines. Your virtual business number is kept private and you can set up custom greetings that can assist the caller to reach the right employee or department. They offer mail-to-text transcription as well as the services of a virtual receptionist.

You can choose from three different packages. The base package is priced at $26 per month while their highest plan can be purchased at $80 per month. All the plans will be billed annually.

Alternative #3: Google Voice

Google Voice is a call management software that allows you to make and receive calls from desktops, smartphones and tablets. You can log and block calls and activate functions such as texting, voicemails and transcription of voice emails along with other features. There are three packages you can choose from. The price starts at $10 per user/ month for up to 10 users. You need to pay $20 per user/ month for unlimited domestic calls and $30 per user/ month for unlimited domestic and international calling.

Alternative #4: Skype

Skype is an application that lets you make video calls, send chats and texts and share photos and videos. The application can be used on your computer, smartphone and tablet. Skype-to-Skype calls are free; however, you need to pay additional for Skype-to-mobile or landline calls. Their per month pricing ranges between $3.59 to $9.59 and could vary depending on the number of destinations you call or the minutes you use.

Alternative #5: magicJack

MagicJack is a VoIP-based phone system that allows users to make free calls using the internet to the USA and Canada. The features include conference calls, eFax, call transfers, and DND, in addition to the normal phone functions. They also allow number porting. The cost per year is $39. For this price, you get only one phone number and the package doesn’t include international calls. For international calls to landline and mobile numbers, you need to purchase additional prepaid calling credits.

Talkroute Alternatives FAQs

How much does Talkroute cost?

Talkroute offers a Basic, Plus, Pro and an Enterprise plan priced at $19, $39, $59 and $99 per month respectively. These plans come with unlimited calling but vary in terms of the phone numbers available, number of users linked to the account and other premium features. Additional phone numbers, users and voice mailboxes are available on all plans for an additional fee.

Who are the top Talkroute competitors?

Talkroute has many other U.S. based competitors that offer cloud communication solutions like business phone systems, call center solutions, video calling, etc. Talkroute is generally compared to Grasshopper, Skype or magicJack that provide similar features.

What is the best alternative to Talkroute?

Choosing the right monthly plans from Talkroute can be tiring. Do you really need to choose an upgraded plan or should you simply add a phone number to the basic plan? It is tough to figure out, right? Making the wrong choice could work out to be quite expensive. That’s why you should take a look at alternate service providers like Quicktalk. They offer an all-in-one solution at a very fair price.

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