GoTo Connect Review and Pricing

Why We Chose GoTo Connect for Multisite Businesses

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology enables employees to communicate anywhere with an internet or wireless connection. However, managing user licenses and devices for multiple sites can be time-consuming. That’s where GoTo Connect’s central dashboard comes in handy. We liked seeing all the office branches and devices in one spot. As a bonus, it offers an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant that provides demos and support videos when you have questions. 

Use GoPilot as a shortcut to an admin page or to find answers to setup questions. Source: GoTo 

GoTo Connect’s primary phone system plan is all a company needs to scale to multiple buildings. It supports unlimited business locations, users, dial plans, ring groups and recorded auto attendant greetings. In contrast, neither Dialpad nor RingEX supports multiple branches on its base plan. Dialpad’s mid-tier version increases the capacity to 10, and Enterprise allows unlimited sites. 

We also like that employees needing help with hardware, software or email can submit a request to administrators without leaving the GoTo Connect application. The network health dashboard and customizable alerts keep managers on top of quality control while call analytics and SMS/MMS status reports increase overall visibility. 

Creating custom roles at the Complete CX and Contact Center levels is also appealing. GoTo Connect offers 10 permissions, ranging from accessing call recordings or reports to managing users and devices. This customization level allows you to tailor the system to your specific business needs.

GoTo Connect’s cloud-based phone system is a comprehensive solution that caters to your modern business needs. It has everything from faxing to call queues to video conferencing with up to 250 participants. Plus, with the ability to call over 50 countries for free, you can confidently expand your business globally. 8×8 is the only other VoIP platform with unlimited global calling. 

Ease of Use

GoTo Connect’s desktop and mobile softphone apps are intuitive and visually appealing. We love the latest time-saving update, which syncs notification preferences for all user devices. The main screen is uncluttered; users can access voice, messaging and meeting tools with one click. We felt the user experience was consistent across the desktop and mobile apps. It also works on Firefox, Chrome and Edge web browsers. 

Employees can use GoTo Connect’s voice and video features on desktop, mobile and compatible office devices. Source: GoTo 

Another factor that makes GoTo Connect great for multiple locations is its support for VoIP phones and network hardware. It works with over 200 desk phones, headsets and cordless phones, including over 100 Poly and Yealink models. GoTo Connect also links to numerous network devices, such as loudspeakers, paging systems and gateways.

The admin panel streamlines back-office processes like configuring accounts and viewing open help tickets. GoTo Connect’s recently released AI-powered administrative assistant and video meeting tool could improve usability and efficiency. We had only a brief glimpse of the latest updates, as the features debuted shortly before publishing our GoTo Connect review. 

Despite these new functionalities, GoTo Connect falls behind competitors in AI and automation. RingEX and Dialpad have built out their AI solutions, with RingEX prioritizing video tools and Dialpad focusing on voice. Still, GoTo Connect’s other qualities could give it an edge over rivals. 

GoTo Connect Features

With over 100 phone, video and messaging features, GoTo Connect offers tools for on-site and remote teams. Here are the capabilities that made this multiline phone system stand out.

GoTo Admin 

GoTo Connect customers use GoTo Admin as their main control center. It has tabs for people, devices, locations, the phone system and settings. During testing, we liked the single view with status updates for hardware across all locations. Administrators can edit device, security and user configurations from the central office instead of performing manual updates. The emergency location settings allowed us to specify sub-locations for different parts of the building.  

In the GoTo Admin control center, unassigned devices will use the default emergency location. Source: GoTo 

System Health Dashboard and Tools

A few VoIP providers offer quality-of-service reports, and RingEX provides real-time updates. We feel GoTo Connect offers a bit more. The system health dashboard displays call quality metrics, such as hourly call volume and mean opinion scores. You can set up alerts and a watchlist to monitor employees with fair or low call quality.

We especially liked that the dashboard shows SMS/MMS volume, failure rates and delivery rates. This feature is beneficial for calculating business texting campaign costs and effectiveness. It also displays incoming help desk tickets, useful for companies with multiple locations, networks and equipment configurations. Administrators can use the network testing tool to monitor VoIP networks from the admin portal or GoTo app.

GoTo Connect’s custom alerts help businesses proactively manage call quality. Source: GoTo 

Faxing and Paging

GoTo Connect provides virtual paging and faxing capabilities and supports analog devices. Competitors like Nextiva offer faxing on the base plan, whereas Vonage offers it as an add-on. The multicast paging system lets users message other phones on their local area network or connect to external devices.  

Sending a fax from GoTo Connect’s web, mobile or desktop apps requires three steps. We like that users can preview the cover page and drag and drop files. The vendor stores faxes for up to 90 days. We also love Ooma Office for faxing and paging. Like GoTo Connect, Ooma Office works with analog devices and provides user-friendly interfaces. Learn more in our Ooma Office review. 

Send and receive virtual faxes from your computer or mobile devices with GoTo Connect’s straightforward platform. Source: GoTo 

Visual Dial Plan Editor

Many business phone systems have some version of a dial plan editor or phone tree configuration tool. These include drop-down lists for simple call flows in Ooma and graphical dial plan editors for advanced, multilocation call mapping in 8×8 and RingEX. We preferred using GoTo Connect for this task, as it has intuitive drag-and-drop functionality and is available in the admin dashboard. You can configure the virtual receptionist to support advanced routing options and features like “Find Me/Follow Me.” 

Use GoTo Connect’s drag-and-drop editor to design dial plans for each business location. Source: GoTo 

Video Conferencing

Secure video conferencing is a critical component of a modern business phone system, and GoTo Connect offers this feature for all subscriptions. Users can share screens, join via web browsers and chat with up to 250 meeting attendees. AI meeting summary tools identify action items, and upgraded chat panels improve user experiences. 

Despite these upgrades, GoTo’s offering falls behind other cloud phone services, like Zoom, which we found to be the best phone system for video conferencing. If your business depends on video meetings, check out our review of Zoom Phone.

Create one-time or recurring meetings from your GoTo Connect app. Source: GoTo 

GoTo Connect Integrations

We appreciate GoTo Connect’s enhanced integration capabilities. It connects to many of the best CRM software tools, including Clio, Zoho, HubSpot and Salesforce. GoTo also improved its Microsoft Teams integration with better admin controls. The vendor offers application programming interfaces (APIs) to manage extensions, phone numbers and devices. 

Still, as noted in our Vonage review, GoTo Connect falls short of rivals that provide advanced customization via APIs. It also syncs with fewer industry-specific applications than competitors. For more integration possibilities, we suggest checking our review of RingEX, which assesses the platform’s comprehensive feature set and pricing.

Integrate applications from the GoTo Admin dashboard. Source: GoTo 

GoTo Connect Plans and Pricing

With GoTo Connect’s latest update, the vendor removed pricing from its website. This approach is rare, as most competitors display rates, and some, like Ooma, even offer interactive tools to assist small businesses with determining their costs. We were disappointed in this lack of transparency and also listed this as a con in our 8×8 review. 

GoTo Connect provides one business phone system plan, a customer engagement package and two subscriptions with call center features. The platform supports unlimited locations and users. Notably, all GoTo Connect plans include unlimited international calling to 52 countries. 

Administrators can add product licenses from the GoTo Admin panel, which we appreciate. We also like the ability to scale communications from voice and video to webchat and Facebook Messenger. 

Add customer engagement tools to run campaigns from your business phone system. Source: GoTo 

The Reporting & Analytics add-on gives leaders more visibility than standard call reports. It lets admins search audio records and transcripts to better understand every caller’s journey. Zoom’s popular Power Pack add-on displays real-time analytics and historical reports, whereas RingEX has interactive reports and real-time queue management tools. See how these options stack up in our RingEX vs. Zoom comparison.

Implementation and Onboarding

We were impressed with recent updates to GoTo Connect’s onboarding process. Requesting a business VoIP phone number, adding users, registering sites and testing networks takes minutes. Companies with many on-site devices can follow step-by-step instructions to deploy GoTo Connect to multiple computers.

We also appreciate that new users automatically receive an email invite to download GoTo apps and sign in to their accounts. The vendor supports single sign-on, social media accounts and email logins. Updated user tutorials and hardware guides are helpful. Yet GoTo’s knowledge base is less comprehensive than most competitors’. We’d like to see more screenshots and video walk-throughs to assist small companies with implementation.

Customer Support

While GoTo Connect offers 24/7 customer support, your options may differ by location. During our testing, which was conducted in the United States, we could access customer service only through email or an online ticketing system. The company responds to emails within 24 hours but falls short of GoTo Connect alternatives, many of which provide live chat and phone support.

We found it helpful that GoTo managers monitor the vendor’s community forum and answer user questions within a few hours. This is a selling point over rivals, as most provider message boards are either inactive or rely on self-help support from peers instead of company employees.

Limitations

GoTo Connect’s multisite compatibility is a massive benefit. However, its AI capabilities fall behind those of several competitors, as many are still in beta. In comparison, our Dialpad review explains how the system’s voice intelligence features can improve productivity and customer experiences. 

We also found some things that could be improved with GoTo Connect’s analytics. Not all companies want to purchase an add-on package to analyze communications data. We prefer Nextiva’s user-friendly reporting services and recommend checking out our review of Nextiva to learn more.

Methodology

Choosing a business phone system for multiple locations has unique challenges, and we considered these when assessing platforms for our buyer’s guides. We spent dozens of hours gathering feedback from business owners and talking with customer service representatives. Our team evaluated web and softphone applications for usability. We also tested administrative tools to learn how the software functioned across two or more sites. 

Bottom Line

We recommend GoTo Connect for …

• Organizations with multiple locations.
• Companies looking to save money on international calls.
• Small businesses that want to use their current IP phones.

We don’t recommend GoTo Connect for …

• Fully remote teams that want an all-in-one collaboration platform.  
• Solopreneurs looking for inexpensive VoIP services. 
• Companies wanting advanced AI-powered tools.