For our RingCentral review, we put this VoIP and customer management solution to the test. Customers today expect lightning-fast responses and zero waiting, so every business is bound to use one of these sooner or later.
Trouble is, the market is flooded with solutions claiming to be the best, which is why we’ve researched and reviewed dozens of VoIP providers to present you with the best in the industry.
Regardless of the size of your business, an intelligent communications system has become a need of the hour given how fast-paced and automated the industry is getting. Is RingCentral a pioneer with its AI-driven solutions or a hard pass when compared to its competitors? Read on to find out.
It also provides your customers with a great experience, so we have all the ingredients for a VoIP system that allows you to place and receive calls over the internet and do away with those bulky landlines.
That said, RingCentral’s is not just any VoIP system. It’s got CRM integrations, advanced call management features, real-time data analytics, and more – all of which we explore in our guide. Simply put, RingCentral is an all-in-one communications system to look after everything internal and external.
It’s got a strong pitch for businesses of all sizes, as there are tons of plans to choose from depending on what your needs and preferences are.
With everything moving online, businesses, too, need reliable online services to keep up with the industry and operate with the highest degree of efficiency possible – RingCentral equips you to do just that.
RingCentral’s primary function is to fully replace the archaic telephone systems in your offices, if your company has a landline on every desk, and use the local internet network to smoothly carry out calls, video conferences, meetings, events, and more.
While your employees will certainly be able to benefit from having RingCentral’s app on their handheld devices, you’ll also have the option to order and use dedicated physical VoIP phones.
Needless to say, RingCentral’s VoIP phones more advanced and feature-packed than traditional landlines. For example, they come with built-in cameras (for carrying out video meetings), touch-screen displays, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, among other things.
Although opting for physical VoIP phones isn’t necessary, they can be a good choice for businesses that would very much like the traditional touch in going about their communication.
You’ll be using RingCentral via its easy-to-navigate apps on iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows, which will be accessible to you once you’ve purchased a RingCentral plan. The provider prides itself on its speed of setting up – you’ll be able to get started within minutes of purchasing a plan.
From our research, the delivery of RingCentral hardware might take longer than expected. Fortunately, that can’t stop you from using the RingCentral software from the get-go.
There’s hardly something RingCentral doesn’t do, from simple VoIP calling services to AI-based analytics, it has it all. Here we’ve tried to prepare an exhaustive list of possibly the best VoIP business phone system for you:
Let’s briefly look at the positives and the slight downsides of RingCentral as a whole:
RingCentral is one of the cheapest VoIP phone service providers. There are four different categories of RingCentral products, and there are 3 to 4 plans under each one of them. We’ll now go over them one by one for a detailed analysis of its offerings:
There are 3 plans on offer here, all of them are quite affordable when compared to the competition.
The Core plan at $20 per user per month is on par with the most affordable services in the industry. For example, Ooma starts at $19.95 and Nextiva at $21.95 per user per month.
While the basic Core plan is going to be more than enough for most small to medium-sized businesses, the Advanced plan offers the best value for money since it’s only $5 more than the Core plan and comes with features like hot desking, custom roles and permissions, adoption analytics, Salesforce integration, Zendesk, and more.
Here you have 2 plans to choose from but the most basic one – Video Pro – is completely free of charge and is, in fact, one of the highlights of RingCentral as a whole.
You can upgrade to the Video Pro+ plan if you want advanced features, including single sign-on, user management, business app international, company and user-level meetings settings, and so on and so forth.
It’s worth noting that there’s also a Rooms plan for businesses that thrive on conference room meetings and would like an experience as close to the real one as possible on Internet calls.
There are surveys, call/screen/digital recordings, guided customer journeys, customer journey analytics, and so much more to benefit from. Pick a plan that is able to provide what you’re looking for and then contact the RingCentral team for a custom quote.
First up is the sole Webinar plan that will allow you to reach out to your target audience in the most efficient way possible. You’ll be able to conduct polls and give your attendees the option to take part in an interactive Q&A session.
This is a go-to choice for education-based businesses such as coaching centers and online certification schools for which webinars are non-negotiable.
There are 3 Events plans to choose from, the first of which is completely free. However, unlike the free Video Pro plan that’s actually super feature-packed, a paid plan here makes more sense.
For starters, they (Events Starer and Events Business plans) come with the ability to record and replay the events in addition to a simple website builder that’s powered by Canvas. This means that even if you’re a stranger to coding, you’ll be able to craft an excellent website all by yourself.
The Events Business plan is a custom solution for large businesses that want their own branding and customizations on every aspect of an event.
It’s fairly simple to cancel a RingCentral plan: all you have to do is call them on their given number and say that you want to cancel.
Refunds aren’t guaranteed and are handled on a case-by-case basis. However, it’s worth noting that you may be charged an additional $30 in case you’ve purchased any equipment and the quality that you return them in isn’t on par with what you received.
Let’s now delve into what RingCentral is all about:
RingSense for Sales is an AI-powered conversation intelligence system that will analyze all customer interactions (whether they’re on calls, messages, emails, or video calls) and churn out actionable insights so that your business is able to amplify their performance and increase the number of converted leads.
The insights you’ll get include the top topics discussed in the conversation and whether the customer mentioned any competitors. You can also tweak the service to look for specific keywords in your interactions with the customers.
RingSense will also automatically generate call transcripts and provide you with real-time closed captioning. International businesses that deal with customers with varied accents will benefit immensely from this.
Not just that, this AI solution can also analyze the tone and the level of interest therein of the customers, besides providing your sales representatives with key junctures in the conversation, including questions, feedback, and more. It’d be fair to term this as AI Coaching for your sales and revenue teams.
Last but not least, you’ll also be able to share a conversation with your team members from within the RingCentral app, allowing all concerned parties to get on board and convert a lead.
RingCentral is a frontrunner in the industry, thanks to its feature-packed call management system. This is one of the most important areas for businesses, as it determines the ease and quality with which they’re able to handle incoming calls, drive engagement, and increase customer satisfaction.
The features that caught our attention are as follows:
Call parking allows a user to place calls on hold on their device and leave it for another person to tune in and continue the call from a different device. This promotes healthy delegation in a business because the calls can be directed to the correct answering department/individual.
RingCentral makes sure that all your incoming and outgoing calls are dealt with by allowing you to park up to 50 calls at the same time. What’s even better is that in case a call goes unanswered, this feature will ring back after 5 minutes, allowing you to boost your brand image.
All untimely and non-essential callers, including telemarketers and spam, can suck valuable time off your business. Here’s where RingCentral’s call screening comes to your rescue by giving you complete control over the callers who can reach you.
It essentially screens the caller ID details for you. This way you can decide if the call should be picked up, declined, or sent straight to the voicemail.
Call flip saves you from cutting important calls short and avoiding the hassle and uncertainty of rescheduling.
For example, if you’re on an important call at the time of leaving the office, you can simply click asterisk (*) followed by the number assigned to the device you want to flip the call to (which, in this case, will be your personal phone), and you can then continue the conversation from a second device.
RingCentral offers toll-free numbers to businesses at no extra cost. Your customers will be able to reach out to your business without spending any money. Besides that, toll-free numbers are a real marketing asset and will enhance your business’s reputation and make it come across as more professional.
You can either choose the most common prefix, 800, or go for any other prefixes, including 888, 887, 877, 866, and so on.
RingCentral gives out toll-free minutes in bundles ranging from 1,000 to 100,000 minutes, which you can purchase at very affordable rates. And you’ll always have the option to purchase additional minutes in case you go beyond your purchased limit. What’s more, RingCentral also allows you to transfer your toll-free numbers from other providers to its own app hassle-free.
The SMS Automator is a robust automation tool by RingCentral. You can create automated replies on different grounds, which will come in handy for after-hour replies to missed calls, and out-of-office replies.
If your business frequently gets a similar question from the customers, setting up automated replies will save your team valuable time, which would have otherwise been spent repeatedly answering the same question.
Customers often want to know more about product specs. Automated responses fill these requests with the correct information without you having to spare time replying to each one of them.
An added benefit is that the SMS Automator can also place calls and create meetings on behalf of the users.
RingCentral’s IVR system is pretty much like a virtual receptionist in that it’ll answer callers on your behalf by first giving them various menus so that they’re able to pinpoint their concerns and then provide them with a suitable answer.
When it’s unable to handle a customer query, it’ll forward it to a human agent. Its forwarding mechanism is also based on the customer’s query – if it’s a billing-related RingCentral complaint, the call will automatically be transferred to the billing department.
All in all, RingCentral’s IVR system makes it a solid VoIP for small businesses that don’t have the manpower and resources to appoint a human receptionist.
The best part is that attendees don’t have to  download the RingCentral app if they don’t want to, they can join the meetings directly from the browser.
RingCentral works on three different platforms: web, desktop (Windows and Mac), and mobile phones (iOS, Android).
The system will also work on any SIP-based standard analog device, and on standard analog cordless phone using RingCentral’s analog adapter. It’s highly flexible as you can also switch between devices to make or transfer calls, receive voicemails, and enhance team collaboration.
Speaking of RingCentral’s interface, we found it to be highly responsive and easy to use. For example, the desktop interface has all the recent messages and calls neatly presented on the main “Overview” page of the software.
For details of more than just the recent calls and messages, you can head over to the “Activity Log” tab from the bar at the top.
Next, the Settings Shortcuts containing options to manage departments, phones, and users are in a box on the right-hand side. Also, both Admin Shortcuts and User Shortcuts are in separate columns within the same box, meaning everybody from the employer to the employees will find it very easy to access.
Another aspect we liked about the RingCentral interface is that, under “Contacts,” each user will have two options to choose from: Company and Personal. This will allow your employees to carry out both company and personal communication from the same interface, and since all RingCentral plans come with unlimited domestic calling.
RingCentral offers over 220+ integrations. Some of its best integrations include industry giants, namely Google, Microsoft, and Salesforce.
These integrations allow you to benefit from what this VoIP brings to the table without having to migrate from apps and platforms, which your business and everybody therein have been accustomed to. What’s more, integrations also help you save time and money which would have otherwise gone into training your staff to be adept in tackling new software.
For example, by integrating Microsoft solutions with your RingCentral subscription, you’ll be able to schedule meetings, send and receive messages, make HD calls, and check voicemails from Outlook’s dashboard.
RingCentral’s integration with Salesforce – the best CRM software on the market right now – will allow you to automate tasks, skyrocket your call efficiency, and build meaningful relationships with your customers.
Your agents will be able to quickly get their hands on customer information with Salesforce, which helps them interact in a manner best suited to that particular customer.
Other powerful RingCentral integrations include Zoho CRM, HubSpot, Google Calendar, and more.
RingCentral ensures industry-standard online safety with multiple layers of built-in security that include host, application, infrastructure, and more.
RingCentral’s transmission security measures make sure that the data you send and receive from other devices are safeguarded from third-party interception. Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol (SRTP) are the two different encryption protocols used here.
TLS is responsible for encrypting the starting and end points of a VoIP call, whereas SRTP does the heavy lifting of encrypting the actual audio data of the call. Simply put, encryption converts your data into cryptographic algorithms, making it unreadable if not for the same algorithm that decrypts the transmitted data once it has reached its destination.
Plus, RingCentral undergoes third-party audits every year to confirm whether it’s keeping up with the above-mentioned standard – and it does, every single time. Your business security authorities can request and get this report.
Its SOC 3 report is available to the public. The audit’s purpose is to check the effectiveness of RingCentral’s internal controls over its cloud and data security can be accessed by the general public to check the security standards of RingCentral.
Given that RingCentral is fit for all kinds of businesses, including those in the healthcare industry, the provider offers HIPAA compliance. This means that it employs HIPAA-approved high-end security measures to safeguard the Protected Health Information (PHI) of every single end-user.
Besides all the above-mentioned stamps of security, RingCentral is also PCI DSS compliant and employs proactive fraud mitigation to combat all kinds of digital threats that may infiltrate and jeopardize your business security and therefore put your employee and customer data at risk.
While RingCentral is certainly a top choice in the industry, there are several other software that came up in our research, which we believe deserve your attention. Here’s a table highlighting the key differences between the industry juggernauts:
Given how differently each of these services is packaged, there are quite a few differences to be drawn and let’s not forget that RingCentral is ahead of the competition on automation. Replies to certain caller questions can be automated right from its basic plan, which is not something you’ll find anywhere else – automation features are usually reserved for high-end plans.
On the security front, RingCentral has our vote of confidence as it comes with a transparent audit trail that lets you see if anyone you’ve given access to the account has made any changes to the backend.
That said, a lot of the tools, including MightyCall, Vonage, and RingCentral have very few differences them if all you want is a cheap service with unlimited calling. All these services come with unlimited domestic calling on the cheapest plan, but Vonage is just that little bit behind as it doesn’t offer unlimited SMS, while the others do.
All in all, it’s really about matching your needs with the correct service, which is something that’s very easy to do with RingCentral, thanks to its carefully designed plans for every use case. Whether that’s phone solutions, meetings, or webinars & events, RingCentral has at least three plans on offer for each of them.
This means that you’ll be able to double down on features you actually want and just pay for them – nothing more, nothing less.
Read our detailed guide on the best VoIP services to find out more about how these tools compare to one another. 
Launched in 2001, Five9 is quite a popular VoIP and customer management solution with some solid features, like the smart dialer and Automated Call Distribution (ACD), on offer.
Although this might make the cut for a small business with specific needs, medium to large-sized organizations will be better off with RingCentral packages, which have progressive pricing, with the most high-end one offering everything the tool has under its belt.
Speaking of pricing, Five9 is easily one of the most expensive options in the industry, with its basic plan being priced at a whopping $149 per month per user. This is nowhere close to how affordable RingCentral is, which asks for just $20 per month per user for its Core plan. Plus, one would argue that the latter packs a heavier punch than Five9, thanks to unlimited domestic calling and IVR (Interactive Voice Response).
Last but not least, while RingCentral comes with a 14-day free trial to allow you to try the service risk-free before committing to a paid subscription, Five9 misses out in this regard and there’s only a demo for you to get a taste of the platform.
With a brilliant 4.8/5 rating on the App Store, a 4.6/5 rating on the Google Play Store, and a decent 3.9/5 rating on both Glassdoor and G2, RingCentral ratings suggest that it’s certainly a quality service.
A lot of RingCentral reviews on Reddit and similar channels talk about RingCentral’s ease of use, namely how simple and navigable its Admin Portal is, and its compatibility with various device types. There also seem to be a lot of positive RingCentral fax reviews, particularly because of the portability of the service.
Customers are in awe of the smoothness with which features such as call parking and call forwarding can be carried out.
A slight downside, which we’ve noticed after combing through tens and hundreds of RingCentral customer reviews, is that their sales team is a tad bit aggressive in that you’d be asked to sign up rather quickly.
Also, users have run into issues during cancellations and renewals. It wasn’t as easy to cancel as they’d have liked and some of them didn’t receive any intimation before their credit card was charged towards the renewal.
On the plus side, onboarding is fantastic, so you can rest assured that you won’t be asked to sign up for something you haven’t had a detailed walkthrough of. And as far as cancellations and renewals are concerned, you can easily reach out to their customer support rep and they’ll help you out in a prompt manner.
We also liked how all customer complaints on the above-mentioned review websites have been answered and their queries have been resolved.
In addition to a thorough review of one of the best VoIP services, we also have tons of other VoIP guides in store so that you can zero in on the best one for your use case:
We crafted our RingCentral review only after testing the platform first-hand, thanks to the 14-day free trial on offer. We found out that the features were as easy to use as the provider claims on the tin.
We played around with some of the most important offerings, including video meetings, conferencing, and Ring Groups. A test on the latter was carried out by using three devices and RingCentral passed with flying colors as all of them rang at the same time, every time.
Plus, the customer support was quite fantastic as well, and all our queries were handled promptly – a live agent is assigned to you almost instantaneously, and there isn’t too much meddling to be done with the chatbot, which is appreciable.
For features we couldn’t reach a conclusion about, since they would warrant real-time usage by a team or prolonged use for a better verdict, we skimmed through tons of customer feedback on TrustPilot, Reddit, and G2. They were along the lines of what we expected – that the service is simply superb and is a game-changer for small and growing businesses.
Our step-by-step guide will help you find your way around using RingCentral:
To get things underway, you first need to create an account with RingCentral. Go to the RingCentral website and sign up. You’ll then be given a short tour of the platform following which you’ll have to select the plan you want.
We recommend that you download the RingCentral app, as it’s the easiest way to use the service. Installation is as simple as it can get, with the app available on both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
Launch the app and then log in using your preferred method – either your Google account credentials or your RingCentral account credentials.
The RingCentral app, as we mentioned earlier, is seamless to use. All the main options – messages, video, phone, events, and more – are neatly presented in the bottom bar of the app interface. What’s even better is that you can change the options you want on the bottom bar for quick access.
Here’s a look at the RingCentral Android app interface:
A major reason our RingCentral iPhone app review is super positive is that the interface isn’t something you’ll be seeing for the first time – it draws a lot of inspiration from social media platforms like WhatsApp, Messenger, and Skype, which is certainly a good thing.
Here’s a look at the RingCentral iPhone app interface:
RingCentral is a cloud-based VoIP and business communications system provider that has a lot to offer, including RingSense, SMS Automator, toll-free business numbers, call management, analytics, among others. And not just that, you can also buy desktop and cordless phones, conferencing tools, and headsets from RingCentral itself – a true one-stop destination for all your business communication needs.
While its support regarding billing and renewals could be more clarity-oriented, quick, and should keep up with the customer queries, those who have been using the service vouche for its efficiency and, based on our own time with the tool, we’re on the same page.
The 14-day free trial will give you ample time to try out RingCentral without putting any money on the line. This way, if it doesn’t turn out to be your cup of tea, you won’t lose a single penny. Give it a try today.
With a rock-solid network and data security in place and home to over 400,000 users, including small and growing businesses and large-scale enterprises, RingCentral is as legitimate as it gets. Packed with features like RingSense, VoIP calls, events, webinars, and robust call management, it also boasts a class-leading 99.9999% uptime.
RingCentral is one of the best VoIP and business communication systems. It offers high-quality audio and video conferencing across multiple devices, irrespective of their physical location. Your employees will be able to interact with each other without having to juggle multiple devices or apps, which will ultimately enhance your business’s rapport with customers.
While Google Voice is the more affordable option and offers unlimited domestic calling, it doesn’t come with toll-free numbers which are a must for large businesses with customers in various regions. Also, Google Voice falls short of RingCentral as far as internal communication is concerned, as it doesn’t offer the kind of team messaging and management features that RingCentral does.
RingCentral is highly beneficial for businesses looking for an all-purpose communications solution. It makes the communication process hassle-free, more flexible, and faster by allowing users to send messages, place audio/video calls, attend meetings, and derive meaningful conclusions via data-driven insights all from one place.
Its AI-powered features and automation tools will streamline routine tasks and allow you to focus on the more important aspects of your business.
RingCentral is hands down one of the simplest VoIP services. Irrespective of whether you’re using its web interface or the mobile/desktop app, the presentation is neat and all the important options, such as call & message logs and contacts are just a simple click away. Plus, the mobile apps also allow you to customize the bottom bar – you can select the options you would like to access quickly.
RingCentral’s Video Pro plan is completely free of cost, and it comes with unlimited video meetings for up to 100 participants, AI-powered meeting insights, collaborative notes, content sharing, whiteboard, and annotations. Besides this, all other RingCentral plans come with a 14-day free trial so that you can test out the tool risk-free.
Yes, you can use a regular phone with RingCentral as long as it’s a standard analog cordless phone that is compatible with RingCentral’s analog adapter. Plus the standard SIP-based devices also work seamlessly with RingCentral.
And as far as smartphones are concerned, you can easily use RingCentral on them by simply installing the RingCentral app.
You can use RingCentral via both Wi-Fi and mobile data connection. Regardless of your connection choice, the bottom line is that you need a stable and reliable internet connection to carry out calls and video meetings without any interruptions.
Vaishnavi is a dedicated software and product review writer who crafts skilful guides, helping readers zero in on the best choice for their needs.
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