Designed for businesses wanting to upgrade from PBX systems, Nextiva is a secure, cloud communication platform. Each subscriber can get a local number or a toll-free number. It leverages VoIP technology for voice, video and conference calling and message exchanges. These services can be accessed through a web browser, desktop or smartphone app or IP deskphones. Businesses have a choice of 3 business communication plans and 4 contact center plans based on the number of users and feature requirements. Other features included in the Nextiva business communication plans include voicemails, auto attendants, contact management and app integrations.
Like Nextiva, Vonage is a virtual business communication platform based on VoIP technology. It can be used by small and large businesses to communicate through voice, video and text. Vonage has 40+ features packaged in three business communication plans available through monthly subscriptions. These subscription fees vary according to the number of users. They also offer a cloud contact center solution and programmable communication APIs.
The Nextiva Essential plan is a good choice for startups. For $30.95 per user per month, subscribers can make unlimited voice and video calls throughout the USA and Canada, record video conferences, access voicemail and integrate their calling system with Outlook or Google Contacts.
Upgrading to the Nextiva Professional plan gives businesses access to all the features included in the Essential plan as well as a multi-level auto attendant, conference calling with up to 40 participants and Salesforce/HubSpot integrations. The upgrade costs $35.95 for teams of up to 4 users.
Businesses can upgrade to the Nextiva Enterprise plan to access all the features of the Essential and Professional plans as well as exclusive features like CRM integration and call recording. Depending on the number of users, the monthly subscription user fee for this plan ranges from $39.95 to 45.95.
When it comes to budgets, Vonage has cheaper plans as compared to Nextiva.
Priced at $19.99 per line per month, the Vonage Mobile plan offers unlimited calling within the USA and access to all standard features.
Businesses wanting access to features like CRM integration, IP desk phone support and unlimited meetings with up to 100 participants can subscribe to the Premium plan. This plan is priced at $29.99 per line per month.
The Advanced plan costs subscribers $39.99 per line per month. This subscription includes all the features of the Premium plan as well as exclusive features like on-demand call recording.
The three main interfaces through which Nextiva subscribers can make and receive calls are desktop apps, web browsers and IP deskphones.
Both Nextiva and Vonage subscribers can handle incoming and outgoing calls by a desktop app. Premium and Advanced Vonage plan subscribers can also use IP desk phones.
Nextiva subscribers can make and receive calls out of the office through an app on Android or iOS smartphones.
Nextiva and Vonage offer common access points.
Subscribers can stay connected no matter where they are through the Vonage smartphone app.
Incoming calls can be routed easily. Nextiva Essential plan subscribers can do so with an intuitive phone menu while Professional and Enterprise subscribers can access a multi-level auto attendant with as many sub menus as required to direct callers to the appropriate agent.
While Nextiva relies on auto attendants, Vonage includes a virtual receptionist in all plans. The Premium and Advanced plans also include a multi-level auto attendant.
To customize call greetings, Nextiva subscribers can record their messages and save them as 8 or 16 bit .wav files. The steps to upload them on the Nextiva account attendant menu are:
1. Login to the Nextiva website as admin.
2. Click on sites and then auto attendant.
3. Select the Greetings option from the menu.
4. Click on the upload button to find your recording and upload it.
As with Nextiva, anyone with admin access can customize greetings from the Vonage dashboard.
Step 1: Open "phone system" and then pick the relevant feature.
Step 2: Record a new greeting or upload a recorded message in .mp3 or .wav form.
Businesses that subscribe to Nextiva Essential and Professional plan can have their supervisors study call logs and call history sheets from their dashboard to assess agent productivity. This feature is available to businesses subscribed to Enterprise plans too. In addition, they can read voicemail transcriptions and listen to recorded calls to analyze calls for quality control. However, live call monitoring services are not available in any of the Nextiva plans.
Nextiva and Vonage offer comparable call monitoring features.
Team supervisors with admin access can get real-time information to assess calls and agent productivity. They can instantly tell when agents are free to take a call, when they are busy and when they are unavailable. They can also see caller IDs, call times and other such information. Calls forwarded to voicemail have their messages transcribed and made available through email. Calls can also be transformed into 3-way conference calls between agents, the customer and the supervisor.
Nextiva Enterprise plan subscribers have the option of manually recording all incoming and outgoing calls or automating the call recording option. These recordings can be saved for up to 6 months. This feature is not included in the Essential and Professional plans.
The limited availability of call recording is a similarity between Nextiva and Vonage.
Vonage includes call recording only in the Advanced plan and even then limits it to 15 hours of conversation. Add-on call recording packs are available to Mobile and Premium plan subscribers.
While calls to numbers in the USA and Canada do not incur any additional fee, other international calls are billed on a per minute rate. This rate depends on the country and the type of number. For example, calls to India are billed at a per minute rate of $0.09.
Unlike Nextiva, Vonage plans do not include the ability to make international calls. To call numbers other than those in the USA and Canada, subscribers must get an add-on pack. These are available with varying call capabilities in terms of locations and call minutes.
Once you have chosen a plan, you can set up an account on the Nextiva website and assign user roles. Greetings, call menus, etc. can be customized to suit the brand’s operating hours and brand tone with an easy to use drag-and-drop call flow builder. Users can then download apps for their desktops and mobile devices to access their account. Certain IP supported deskphones can also be used.
Both Nextiva and Vonage have simple, online account activation processes.
It is possible to sign up for Vonage communication plans from the website. These accounts can be activated automatically or set to be manually activated at any time within 45 days of signing up. This is followed by defining user roles, managing permissions, etc. Users must then download the Vonage app for their smartphones, laptops or desktop devices. IP desk phones can also be included as access points for Premium and Advanced plan subscribers. If you want to buy a deskphone, options are available on the Vonage website.
