RingCentral vs. Nextiva Comparison

RingCentral vs. Nextiva Highlights

Who Is RingCentral for?

RingCentral is well suited for existing businesses that want to improve teamwork and strengthen customer relationships. It’s a comprehensive, collaborative VoIP system packed with features, including video conferencing, web chat and toll-free VoIP numbers. RingCentral’s highly intuitive interactive voice response (IVR) system efficiently routes incoming calls and messages.

We particularly liked its customer survey tool and agent performance-tracking capabilities. We were also impressed by its reasonable price and 24/7 phone and live chat customer service – something few vendors provide. Learn more in our full review of RingCentral.

RingCentral’s multilevel IVR includes centralized phone routing management and support for multiple languages. Source: RingCentral

Who Is Nextiva for?

Nextiva is an excellent business phone system with robust VoIP functionality. Its wide range of features makes it ideal for growing companies that want actionable insights into customer communication. We like how the platform’s clever IVR tool streamlines call routing and distribution so your team can better service customer inquiries.

Nextiva will also route inbound messages via SMS, email and web chat. The platform collects data from all communication channels and identifies opportunities for improvement. We were impressed by the Nextiva Analytics feature – a great data analytics tool for monitoring marketing campaign success. We also appreciate that the system is easy to set up and use and that the company provides around-the-clock customer support. Learn more in our full review of Nextiva.

Nextiva’s detailed analytics capabilities give you a real-time overview of your organization’s activities. Source: Nextiva

RingCentral vs. Nextiva Comparison

We compared RingCentral and Nextiva on pricing and essential VoIP phone system benefits. Here’s how they measure up.

RingCentral Pricing

RingCentral offers a free 14-day trial for five colleagues with 250 free minutes.

The entry-level Core plan – $20 per month (billed annually) – has an impressive feature set, including SMS and MMS messaging, IVR functionality, and unlimited domestic calling. You also get single sign-on, video meetings with up to 100 participants and access to APIs. 

We like that all packages come with a business phone number, unlimited calls in the U.S. and Canada, AI “meeting insights” and live transcriptions, team messaging, and document-sharing features.

Although the service is more expensive than alternatives like Zoom and Dialpad, RingCentral’s pricing is generally competitive. Jumps in price to higher tiers are slight; the additional features would be valuable add-ons for larger companies and businesses using a CRM system.

Nextiva Pricing

There are three primary Nextiva service levels: Essential, Professional and Enterprise. Prices vary by user number and whether you pay monthly or annually. (Prices noted are per user per month.)

The following features are available on these plans:

• Essential: The Essential plan provides unlimited video and voice calling (up to 45 minutes per video call or meeting), toll-free numbers, voicemail, 1,500 toll-free minutes, email notification of voicemails, unlimited internet fax, and integration with Outlook and Google Contacts.
• Professional: The Professional plan provides everything in the Essential plan, plus unlimited conference calls with up to 40 participants, screen sharing, mobile and desktop MMS and SMS (1,000 messages), unlimited video conferencing, multilevel auto-attendant, 3,000 toll-free minutes, and advanced integrations with apps like HubSpot and Salesforce.
• Enterprise: The Enterprise plan includes everything in the Professional plan, plus unlimited participants on video and voice conferencing, mobile and desktop MMS and SMS (2,000 messages), unlimited video conference recording, single sign-on, voicemail transcription, call recording, 12,500 toll-free minutes, enterprise integrations (a wider selection than the Professional level), and integration with Microsoft Teams.

The Essential tier benefits from valuable features, particularly unlimited video and audio conferencing and Outlook and Google contacts integration. We were disappointed that other features, like HubSpot and Salesforce integration, screen sharing, and mobile and desktop SMS and MMS, are available only to Professional-level subscribers. 

RingCentral Telephony Features

• Total call control: RingCentral offers call forwarding, call flip (transfer of the same call from one handset to another), call parking, call screening and many more calling features. We particularly liked its multisite management feature, which helps busy businesses connect across different locations so they can act as a team.
• Useful IVR features: We liked RingCentral’s intuitive visual IVR Editor, which lets you customize how incoming calls and messages are handled. You can also program self-service options for callers, such as interactive menus.
• Number flexibility: We were pleased that Nextiva lets you port an existing number over and add a local business phone number. This feature is particularly useful for service companies. You’ll get between 100 and 10,000 inclusive toll-free minutes, depending on your subscription level.

RingCentral’s visual IVR Editor lets you customize how incoming calls and messages are handled. Source: RingCentral

Nextiva Telephony Features

• Flexible call management: Nextiva offers advanced call-routing options like simultaneous and sequential ringing and call queuing. We like that the voicemail-to-text (or email) alert service ensures a quick response by notifying team members of new cases.
• Well-executed IVR: We like that Nextiva’s IVR system offers an automated menu to inbound callers. You can control how you handle incoming calls and direct calls to the most suitable representative, regardless of their location.
• Brand-on-hold: We were pleased to see that businesses can project a positive brand image to waiting customers with custom voicemail greetings and ringback options. You can choose on-hold music or customize a recording for callers to listen to until their call is answered.

Nextiva’s call-routing capabilities let you automatically forward all incoming calls to a specific number. Source: Nextiva

RingCentral Communication and Collaboration Tools

• Video conferencing: We like that RingCentral can help you get the most out of your video conferences. Its HD video conferencing system integrates with Google Calendar and Outlook, making it easy to schedule meetings and invite users. Robust features include screen sharing, waiting rooms, breakout areas (for smaller group sessions), closed captions for live meetings, virtual backgrounds and call-in audio.
• Team collaboration: RingCentral’s employee collaboration features impressed us. It offers multisite management, team messaging, conferencing and integrations with apps like Slack. These features make coordinating teams and improving communication easier, no matter how spread out they are.
• Web chat: We really liked RingCentral’s web chat feature. You can easily integrate web chat on your website, messaging apps and social media platforms. There are 20 ways to connect. Program your chatbot or conversational AI to answer common queries, easing your support team’s workload. If human intervention is needed, the bot can send a message to the right agent based on query content and agent skill set.
• Customer surveys: RingCentral lets you run customer surveys by email, SMS and chat, getting customer feedback at different points of the customer journey. Creating surveys for each channel is easy. You can also add a survey widget to your dashboard to see results and trends.

RingCentral’s survey feature lets you check in on customers throughout the customer journey. Source: RingCentral

Nextiva Communication and Collaboration Tools

• Video calls and conferencing: We like that Nextiva supports up to 25 video participants and up to 250 audio participants simultaneously in full HD video and audio for group discussions or one-on-one conversations. You can also create dedicated public and private rooms for enhanced team collaboration.
• Live chat: We like that customers can use the web chat bot to create support tickets. Nextiva saves the chat logs to a customer’s history if it knows their identity (and you enable the feature).
• Customer surveys: Create and distribute customer surveys to find out what clients really think of your business and its service, gauge customer satisfaction levels, and learn where you can improve. [Learn about the importance of survey data in marketing.]

Nextiva’s survey software allows you to customize surveys so they reflect your brand. Source: Nextiva

RingCentral Analytics and Reporting 

• Call analysis and logs: We like that RingCentral delivers visibility on business performance through high-level and granular customizable insights on call volume and patterns. Business owners will benefit from an accurate overview of sales and customer support team effectiveness.
• Customizable dashboards: RingCentral lets you monitor the data you want to see in real time on your dashboard. We like its range of customizable dashboard templates to help you get set up quickly. Set alerts to notify you promptly of issues like long call times, deteriorating call quality and compliance breaches.
• Performance tracking: We also liked RingCentral’s performance management tools that help you see how everyone on your team performs against the KPIs you set. This feature helps you maintain high standards across your business and can uncover valuable training opportunities to improve productivity and results.

RingCentral provides predictive analytics to help you create better call flows and customer interaction strategies. Source: RingCentral

Nextiva Analytics and Reporting 

• Comprehensive call analytics: We were impressed that Nextiva lets you choose from over 100 customizable templates to analyze areas like call routing effectiveness, staffing levels needed and customer journey drop-off. You can also get AI suggestions on metrics to measure and improve performance.
• Customizable dashboards: Similar to RingCentral, Nextiva lets you build your own dashboards and wallboards to show co-workers and team members in real time how they stack up against company KPIs and metrics. We like that you can manipulate the visuals to make them more understandable. You can also filter reports and screens by individual and team output.
• Marketing and campaign tracking: We really liked that Nextiva provides unique phone numbers for individual marketing campaigns so you can precisely measure response. This feature yields valuable data to help you maximize your marketing budget.
• Motivation and gamification: Create custom scoreboards showing key metrics like talk time, handle time and first call resolution to encourage healthy workplace competition. We also like that you can connect Nextiva to office TV screens to display live rankings and recognize top performers publicly.

Nextiva lets you create custom scoreboards to display call metrics and encourage healthy competition. Source: Nextiva

RingCentral Onboarding, Ease of Use and Customer Service

• Streamlined onboarding: We like that RingCentral’s administrative portal is user-friendly; it’s easy to set up new users and configure existing users’ settings. We also like that the system is browser-based, so RingCentral requires no installation.
• Intuitive usability: RingCentral’s desktop dashboard features a smart and highly customizable navigation menu. Change the order of the menu tabs to suit your preference, and add new tabs for personal shortcuts. We were impressed by the unified inbox, which allows users to manage and retrieve client conversations from all channels in one space.
• Leading customer service: RingCentral’s customer support impressed us. The vendor offers 24/7 live phone support and chat for all account levels. Response times are excellent. There’s an extensive online database of tutorials, training guides and webinars. There are also live training courses for an additional fee. RingCentral has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, which it first joined in 2004.

Nextiva Onboarding, Ease of Use and Customer Service

• Easy to get started: We appreciate that Nextiva’s clear and comprehensive phone setup guide makes it easy for new users to add employees, create hunt groups, set auto-attendants, assign phone numbers and more. You can download a specific desktop app or operate the system from a browser.
• Simple to operate: The system neatly stores – and makes it easy to find – attachments, conversations, files and more. The interface makes getting the information you need straightforward without opening multiple windows. The analytics section is also very easy to use. Select “Get Analytics” to check out call volumes, call quality and more.
• Great customer service: We like that Nextiva’s customer service is available 24/7 by phone, email and live chat for customers on all tiers. The vendor recommends calling about urgent issues instead of using its ticketing system – an attentiveness we appreciate. We also like Nextiva’s well-developed self-service options, including a searchable knowledge base, on-demand webinars and quick start guides.

RingCentral Integrations

• Many preexisting apps: We were impressed to see that RingCentral offers over 330 integrations, including CRM plug-ins, analytics tools and security-related services. Most apps are available to all subscribers no matter what service plan they choose; some may incur additional charges.
• Adaptive add-ins: We like that RingCentral add-ins allow you to complete tasks in other applications without toggling back and forth between windows.
• API interface: We also like that you can use RingCentral’s tools and software development kits (SDKs) to build your own apps with the precise functionality you want. There’s an active developer community to help you if you need it.

Nextiva Integrations

• Third-party integrations: Nextiva has over 100 popular app integrations, including Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk and Microsoft Outlook. However, we were disappointed that many integrations are available only with the Professional and Enterprise service plans.
• APIs and SDKs: We like that Nextiva provides APIs and SDKs to help developers create custom integrations with other software. We also liked its Developer Portal and Developer Support service.
• Webhooks: Webhooks provide you with notifications and alerts on specific events, like an incoming call or a voice message.

RingCentral vs. Nextiva Summary

RingCentral and Nextiva are market-leading business phone system providers that utilize VoIP functionality. Many businesses will value both vendors’ comprehensive features. The better choice depends on your company’s current and future needs.

RingCentral is best for companies that want employees to work together better.

RingCentral’s extensive features, including video conferencing and team messaging, facilitate collaboration for local or dispersed teams. The platform integrates with over 300 apps, helping you further extend its collaboration features. We were impressed by how well the system handles customer inquiries and sales calls across multiple channels.

Nextiva is best for businesses seeking more detailed analytics and reporting.

Nextiva’s in-depth analytics and reporting provide businesses with a clear, real-time view of performance quality at every customer touch point – and what they must improve. It’s a highly adaptable and flexible VoIP solution for businesses; you can easily customize it and add extra analytical functionality. Nextiva’s omnichannel solution, when implemented, will help sales teams sell more and service teams better care for customers.

FAQ

What is the difference between Nextiva and RingCentral?

The difference between Nextiva and RingCentral comes down to their specific feature sets. RingCentral and Nextiva share many core features, including intuitive user interfaces, customizable dashboards, well-executed omnichannel communications and well-stocked app marketplaces. RingCentral’s range of communications tools is broader than Nextiva’s. However, Nextiva provides more analytics and reporting tools for users.

What makes RingCentral different?

What makes RingCentral different is its reputation and robust features. RingCentral is a leading VoIP and omnichannel communications platform. It’s designed to help companies improve their internal and customer communications. It has a large app marketplace with over 330 integrations, including leading CRM providers, enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and productivity-enhancement apps. It offers more customization than many other VoIP platforms, a real-time web chat service and a well-executed multilevel IVR system.