Zoom Phone is a communication solution aimed at helping businesses improve their internal and external communication. With services available in 47 countries, it is ideal for businesses with an international presence. Zoom Phone can be used on desktop as well as mobile devices. Key features include voice, video and conference calling, messaging, IVR-based call routing, voicemail transcriptions and app integrations. Calls can be monitored live or recorded for later analysis. These features are bundled in 3 plans with monthly subscriptions.
ZoomPhone and Google Voice are communication platforms based on the same technology.
Part of the Google Workspace, Google Voice is a popular VoIP communication service provider for businesses. It is available in 14 countries including the USA and Canada. Google Voice offers a wide range of communication and collaboration features such as unlimited text messaging and voicemail transcriptions. Their services are packaged in the form of 3 plans on a monthly subscription basis. Google Voice services can be easily integrated with other Google apps and accessed through supported desk phones, smartphone apps and web browsers.
Zoom Phone Metered Plan subscribers are billed $120 per year per user. This allows them to make and receive internal calls in the USA and Canada and make metered calls to other locations. The plan also includes advanced features like call recording, IVR menus and voicemail transcriptions.
Zoom Phone subscribers can enjoy upgraded features with the Unlimited Pack. Priced at $180 per user per year, it offers all the features of the Metered pack as well as unlimited calls to numbers in the USA and Canada.
GoogleVoice isn't just cheaper than ZoomPhone, it is available without an annual commitment.
Priced at $10 per user per month, the Google Voice Starter plan includes a wide range of features such as voicemail transcriptions, call forwarding, Google app integrations and usage reporting. It can be used by a team of up to 10 people in 10 cities.
Upgrading to the Google Voice Standard plan costs $20 per user per month. There is no user limit for this plan. It includes all the features of the Starter plan as well as routing incoming calls through a multi-level auto attendant, ring groups and ad-hoc call recording.
The Premier plan costs businesses $30 per user per month. This includes all the features of the Starter and Standard plans as well as advanced reporting and automatic call recording.
Irrespective of the Zoom Phone plan chosen, you can access services through the desktop app or desk phone.
Like ZoomPhone, calls can be made and received through a deskphone or Google Voice web application.
Zoom Phone smartphone apps for Android and iOS devices can be used to make and receive calls on the move.
As with ZoomPhone, GoogleVoice agents out of the office can handle calls through a mobile app for Android and iOS devices.
All Zoom Phone plan subscribers can route inbound calls through IVR menus and auto attendants.
ZoomPhone includes IVR/auto attendants in all plans while GoogleVoice takes a more selective approach.
Only Standard Premier plan subscribers can use IVR or multi-level auto attendant features. This allows them to route incoming calls to the desired numbers/ ring groups.
All Zoom Phone plans include the option of uploading custom greetings and hold messages or choosing an option from the audio library.
1. Anyone with admin access can go to Call Handling from the Settings menu
2. Go to the audio library or upload a new message
As with ZoomPhone, GoogleVoice greetings can be set by subscribers with admin privileges from a web browser or app.
Step 1: Go to Voicemail greetings from Settings.
Step 2: Record a new message after clicking the Record button.
All Zoom Phone plans include call monitoring facilities such as live call listening, call whispering, call barging and call takeovers. This can be used to monitor calls over shared lines, call queues and common phones.
GoogleVoice is held back because of its lack of live call monitoring as included in ZoomPhone plans.
In addition to giving subscribers access to voicemail transcriptions, the Google Voice Starter plan also includes reports on all call activity and call usage. Agents can also transfer calls to other agents or to a supervisor to give customers quicker query resolution.
eDiscovery is one of the key features included in the Standard plan. This allows them to find specific calls, text messages and voicemail records. They can also access ad-hoc call recording to listen and review calls at a later date.
The Premier plan includes all the call monitoring features available to the Starter and Standard plans as well as exclusive features such as access to advanced call reports and automatic call recording.
Zoom Phone calls made and received through a desktop or mobile interface can be monitored live or recorded for later analysis. This feature is available in both plans but is disabled by default. Supervisors can listen to calls, whisper to agents, join calls and make them conference calls or takeover calls. A call can be monitored only by one supervisor at a time. Calls that cannot be monitored live can be recorded.
ZoomPhone's call recording features give it an advantage over GoogleVoice.
Calls cannot be recorded by Google Voice Starter plan subscribers. Standard plan subscribers can record calls on an ad-hoc basis while all calls handled by Premier plan subscribers are automatically recorded.
Internal calling is unlimited for Zoom Phone Metered plan subscribers. Calls to external numbers in 150+ countries are billed as per usage on a location-specific per minute rate. Calls to landline numbers in Egypt are billed at a rate of $ 0.4326 per minute while calls to mobile numbers are billed at $ 0.6226 per minute.
The Zoom Phone Unlimited plan includes unlimited outbound calls to the USA and Canada. Numbers in 19 other countries may be included by purchasing an add-on pack. Calls to other countries are billed at a country-specific per minute rate.
Unlike ZoomPhone, all GoogleVoice accounts include free calling to certain locations.
While calls to numbers within the USA and Canada are free, calls to other locations are billed on usage. For example, calls to the Cook Islands are billed at $0.8 per minute while calls to landline numbers in Argentina are billed at $0.02 per minute.
Zoom Phone has an easy account set up process that can be completed online. You can get a new number for your account or port an existing number. Calls can be made and received through the Zoom Phone app for smartphones and desktops or through IP desk phones. These desk phones are available on the Zoom Phone website.
Both ZoomPhone and Google Voice accounts can be set up online.
Google Voice accounts can be set up with an existing Google account from the app or a web browser. Once the account is initialized, services can be accessed through a browser extension or smartphone app. Standard and Premier plan subscribers can also use desk phones with Obi Edition firmware.
