RingCentral is a cloud communication platform for businesses that lets them leverage VoIP technology for internal and external communication. It has a wide range of services bundled into 4 MVP (messaging, video, phone) plans and 4 contact center plans as well as an exclusive video communication plan. Thus, RingCentral offers budget-friendly plans for businesses of all sizes. The services included in their plans include unlimited calling to numbers inside the USA and Canada from local or toll-free numbers, messaging, faxes, document sharing, call recording and integrations with select apps. These services can be accessed from smartphone and desktop apps or certain IP desk phones.
Both GoogleVoice and RingCentral are designed to help businesses streamline their communication. Google Voice makes voice and video calls as well as text messaging and many other communication features available on a single platform. It is available in 14 countries. Businesses can choose from 3 plans with monthly subscriptions. Along with basic communication services, Google Voice also gives subscribers the option of customizing greetings, transcribing voicemails and more. These services are accessible through a smartphone app, web browser or supported desk phones.
The RingCentral Essential plan is priced at $19.99 per user per month but is limited to 20 users. It is inclusive of unlimited calling within the USA and Canada as well as select features.
Upgrading to the Standard plan removes the concern about user limitations. User license subscription ranges from $22.99 to $27.99 per month depending on the number of users. This makes several features such as video meetings with up to 100 participants and quality-of-service reports available.
A further upgrade to the Premium plan makes other features such as multi-site admin and management, real-time analytics and automatic call recording available to subscribers. User license fees start from $32.99 per month and go up to $34.99 per month.
In terms of costing, GoogleVoice has an edge over RingCentral.
For a subscription fee of $10 per user per month, businesses can set up a Google Voice Starter plan. This can be used by a team of up to 10 people in 10 different cities. Services available include voicemail transcriptions, call forwarding, Google app integrations and more.
Businesses can upgrade to the Google Voice Standard plan by paying a $20 monthly user license fee. There is no user limit. It includes the Starter plan features as well as ring groups, ad-hoc call recording and more.
Upgrading to the Premier plan gives businesses access to all the Standard plan features as well as exclusive features like automatic call recording and advanced reports.
Desktop apps for Windows and Mac devices, web browsers and IP desk phones can be used to make and receive calls with Ringcentral.
As with RingCentral, incoming and outgoing calls can be handled through a Google Voice web application or deskphone.
Apps for Android and iOS devices can be used to make and receive calls with Ringcentral.
Like RingCentral, GoogleVoice plans include the ability to make and receive out of office calls through free apps for Android and iOS devices.
The RingCentral Essential plan does not offer subscribers the option of routing calls through an auto attendant. This feature is available only to Standard and Premium plan subscribers. The multi-level auto attendant facility lets these subscribers customize greetings and call menus.
Both RingCentral and GoogleVoice offer call routing features only in their advanced plans.
Starter plan subscribers do not have access to IVR or auto attendant facilities. However, a multi-level auto attendant feature is included in Standard and Premier plans.
Inbound call greetings can be customized by RingCentral account admins. This is limited to calls received during business hours.
Step 1. Go to Edit on the Review Company Call Flow menu from the Company set up section.
Step 2. Click Custom Greetings and then Record. New messages can be recorded live or imported as prerecorded files.
As with RingCentral, call and voicemail greetings can be customized from the app or a web browser.
Step 1: Go to Settings> Voicemail greetings.
Step 2: Click on "record" and start recording your message.
RingCentral Essentials plan subscribers cannot get access to live call monitoring. However, they can ensure that call follow-ups are not missed by reading voicemail transcriptions. These transcriptions are available in English, French, German and Spanish. Message previews can be read directly from your email inbox.
The Standard plan also includes reports on agent productivity such as call logs, the number of calls made and received each day, duration of each call, etc. In addition, Standard and Premium plan subscribers can monitor live calls. They can listen into live calls, speak to agents without the caller knowing, convert 2-way calls into conference calls and takeover calls.
These live call monitoring features are available only on certain IP desk phones that support presence and desktop apps. The RingCentral mobile application does not support this feature.
While some features are common, RingCentral does include live call monitoring in its advanced plans unlike GoogleVoice.
All Google Voice subscribers can read voicemail transcriptions to prioritize follow-ups and access call log reports. Agents who cannot find a resolution to a caller query can transfer the call to another agent or to a supervisor if required.
Standard plan subscribers can access the Google Voice eDiscovery feature. This helps them find specific conversations amongst calls, text messages and voicemail records. They can also record calls and review them later.
Subscribing to the Google Voice Premier plan gives businesses access to advanced call reports as well as the Starter and Standard plan features. It also includes automated call recording.
RingCentral does not offer call recording in its Essential plan. On-demand call recording is available to Standard plan subscribers and automatic call recording is available to Premium plan subscribers.
RingCentral and GoogleVoice have similar call recording policies. To avail of the call recording facility, you would need to subscribe to either the Standard or Premier plan. The Standard plan includes ad-hoc call recording while the Premier plan includes automatic call recording.
All RingCentral plans are inclusive of unlimited calls to numbers within the USA and Canada. Other international calls are billed at a per minute rate. This rate varies from country to country. For example, calls to India are charged at $0.059 per minute while calls to Hong Kong are charged $0.039 per minute.
International calls are billed on a per minute rate for both RingCentral and GoogleVoice subscriptions.
All Google Voice subscribers can call other Google Voice accounts and numbers within the USA and Canada without any charge. However, calls to other destinations are billed. For example, calls to Argentina are billed at $0.02 per minute while calls to numbers in Australia are billed at $0.01 per minute.
RingCentral account subscribers can set up their accounts with a Google account or their email address. User extensions, custom call handling rules, etc. can be defined from the dashboard. Users can then access RingCentral services through applications for Android and iOS smartphones or MAC and Windows laptops or desktops. IP desk phones can also be used. If you do not have a deskphone, the same can be ordered from RingCentral. Options available online include cordless phones, conference phones and receptionist phones.
Like RingCentral, business subscribers can set up their Google Voice account from a web browser/app. Users can then make and receive calls through a smartphone app or a browser extension. Standard and Premier plan subscribers can also use desk phones with Obi Edition firmware.
