Five9 and NICE inContact offer omnichannel contact center as a service (CCaaS) software with a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) phone system. 

These contact center platforms offer omnichannel routing across multiple channels, such as voice, SMS, and social media. But what features and differences make one option better than the other? Here, we’ll dig into the differences between Five9 and NICE contact center software solutions. By the end of this article, you’ll know which CCaaS provider is right for your company. 

Five9 vs. NICE inContact: Comparing the Benefits

Five9: Exploring the pros

Below are some features that make Five9 stand out in the market.

Unified chat experience

Five9 states that 74% of customers access customer service using three or more channels. Five9 provides users with a unified messaging interface to keep these conversations in the same place. It uses automation to bring all customer interactions on email, social media, SMS, or chatbot into one place. The platform routes conversations to the most suitable agent using intelligent omnichannel routing. 

Five9 offers a seamless messaging experience and simplifies routine tasks like sending appointment reminders or other critical account updates. It allows agents to instantaneously escalate live calls into video meetings with screen sharing to support clients, increasing customer satisfaction.

Comprehensive user interface

The Five9 desktop app’s agent interface lets agents connect with customers via different communication channels. Agents can access the customer’s information and journey, ensuring personalized engagement. 

Agents have the option to monitor multiple phone numbers simultaneously, and various agents can collaborate on one phone number, enabling queue functionality. The interface gives actionable insights into agents’ performance metrics via visibility into their call distribution status, wait times, etc. 

Any new inbound task can be easily tracked via notifications on the left-hand menu. The “My Activity” tab allows agents to view their activities and supplies information like call logs and messages sent, with details like talk time, relevant campaigns, and comments.

Related: Five9 Pricing: How Much Does Its Cloud Contact Center Cost?

Dynamic phone system

Five9 offers HD voice quality on five continents. The platform directs inbound queries to the right agent based on their skills and availability. It allows agents to share inbound call responsibilities and organize calls in a visual queue. The platform has an IVR that customers can navigate using app-style buttons or dual-tone multi-frequency audio selections. 

With Five9, agents record calls and transcribe the audio in real time. These transcripts support artificial intelligence (AI) coaching, helping improve their performance.

Call center supervisors monitor all incoming calls and agents in real time from their dashboards. Five9 supports outbound auto dialer software with predictive, progressive, power, and preview dialers. These tools allow agents to rapidly dial large groups of customers according to preset campaigns, which can be configured in your CRM system or database. The company delivers robust call center software for diverse use cases. 

Related Article

Top 7 Five9 Alternatives & Competitors [Easy To Use in 2024]

NICE inContact: Exploring the pros

NICE inContact shares some pros with Five9. But some stand out.

Diverse communication channels

NICE inContact helps agents connect with customers via more than 30 mediums, which are categorized into seven channel types. One of these channels is voice, which supports features like autodialers. Agents can reply to emails, send messages, and post on social media platforms, all via NICE inContact. 

You can build or import automated chatbots on the NICE inContact platform. It automates customer messaging and lets agents connect with clients on live chat to resolve their issues quickly. 

Unique dashboard

NICE inContact’s desktop app dashboard, My Agent eXperience, offers a user-friendly, intuitive omnichannel inbox. It handles multiple customers, tasks, and queues simultaneously. The multichannel inbox also alerts agents to new functions, and agents can monitor and respond to social media posts, messages, and inbound calls.

It forwards tasks and lets agents add comments and notes for future reference. The dashboard gives complete visibility into calls in queue, wait time, call history, voicemail, and daily schedules. It makes agents more productive, allowing them to better plan their days and prioritize tasks. 

Superior phone system

NICE inContact’s virtual phone system offers global VoIP telephony capable of making HD voice calls to over 130 countries with 99.99% uptime. NICE inContact helps administrators purchase local and toll-free direct inward dialing numbers anywhere and manage them in the administrator portal. It makes international operations seamless. 

The phone system includes built-in inbound routing and automatic call distributor technology, directing calls to the most suitable agent. The outbound autodialer functionality makes proactive outbound calls from campaign lists, reducing the load on agents. 

Related Article

Top 6 NICE CXOne Alternatives for Your Contact Center

Five9 vs. NICE inContact: Comparing the Drawbacks

While both platforms have some incredible features, they have their shortcomings too. Let’s find out what they are.

Five9: The cons

Users talk about challenges around implementation, interface, and a few other things while working with Five9. 

Below are some more notable things users suggest looking out for. 

• Intermittent login issues: While Five9 offers a unified chat experience and an intuitive dashboard, many users report issues when trying to log in. Some users face intermittent login problems where they can’t log in for short periods, leading to operational disruptions. Moreover, their troubleshooting experience isn’t the best.
• Significant delays: Many businesses face significant lag of up to three seconds between the time a caller picks up the phone and an agent responds. These delays can prove to be expensive, as companies can lose out on prospects because of them. 
• Steep learning curve: Five9’s advanced features often require more detailed, in-depth training to get agents up to speed. The learning curve makes training new users or teams with limited cloud contact center software experience more challenging.
• Complicated user interface: Some customers have found the interface not to be very user-friendly and have consistently asked for a better user interface. During live calls, users have limited access to the keypad/dialer.
• Complicated reports: Five9’s extensive reporting module can be a bit complex for smaller businesses that need simple reporting, making it confusing for users to understand.

Related Article

Five9 vs. Genesys: Which Contact Center Platform Is Better?

NICE inContact: The cons 

NICE inContact’s reporting and forecasting module is tricky for some users to understand and navigate. 

Below are a few things you should consider before moving ahead. 

• Price: NICE inContact comes at a premium price with advanced features, making it expensive for many small businesses. Its pricing details are only available on request, making it more challenging for businesses to compare with other solutions.
• Usability: Customers feel NICE inContact’s user interface is a bit outdated and clunky. The platform has limited third-party integrations, making it challenging for companies to sync with other business applications. 
• Reliability: NICE inContact sometimes faces connectivity issues and downtime, making it challenging for businesses to continue operating. 

Contact Center Comparison: Nextiva, Five9 & NICE

Let’s compare Five9 and NICE inContact with Nextiva, which has a rating of 4.6/5, as per Software Advice. The following table gives you a quick overview of what to expect when working with these three platforms. 

As you can see, Nextiva’s pricing is competitive, given the range of features it offers for contact center personnel. The tool provides excellent service across all plans, greater value for money, and superior customer support.

Below are some notable advantages of Nextiva over Five9 and NICE inContact.

• It’s suitable for many different industries: Approximately  78% of the people who reviewed Nextiva on G2 are employees of small businesses, which shows that Nextiva delivers affordable hosted contact center solutions with great ease of use. 
• It meets user expectations: Nextiva easily wins when it comes to delivering a user-centric product. In their G2 reviews, 2,465 Nextiva users indicate that it meets their requirements. 
• It offers high-quality support: A total of 2,451 Nextiva users claim that they receive remarkable 24/7 support from the team, helping them resolve issues faster. 

These data points are based on G2’s comparison of the three products, which was done on April 4, 2024. 

Five9 vs. Nextiva comparison

Curious about how Five9 performs against Nextiva Contact Center? We’ve got you. Here’s a head-to-head matchup of the two platforms.

🔍 Dive Deeper: Is Five9 Better Than Nextiva? [2024 Comparison]

Nextiva: A Flexible Contact Center for Every Business

While Five9 and NICE inContact offer comprehensive contact center solutions, Nextiva combines the positives of both. It offers an easy-to-use platform that small businesses prefer because of its intuitive interface and simplified reporting capabilities. 

Nextiva adds affordability to advanced features. It offers several pricing plans to help companies select one based on their needs. 

For mid-market and enterprise businesses, Nextiva delivers a comprehensive set of features with the advanced capabilities that bigger companies require. It offers call recordings, APIs to integrate with other business systems, workforce engagement features, and a robust cloud platform to deliver decent customer engagement and support. You have a comprehensive knowledge base to promote self-service and enable customers to resolve issues faster.

🏇 Case Study: Full-Throttle Communications Platform Built for an American Icon

Bandwidth and Twilio are two cloud communication platforms that provide features like text messaging and voice calling, with each offering SIP trunking and VoIP systems. They’re both reliable communications platforms, though each has its distinct pros and cons. 

Here, we’ll break down Twilio vs. Bandwidth’s VoIP services with detailed comparisons to help you determine which may be better for you.

Bandwidth vs. Twilio: The Pros

Bandwidth and Twilio are both communication platform as a service (CPaaS) providers with comparable services and functions. Let’s take stock of each platform’s most significant strengths.

Pros of Bandwidth

These are Bandwidth’s advantages that small businesses, enterprise companies, and contact centers can benefit from:

• Global reach: Services cover a wide range of VoIP phone services globally, offering the potential for international scalability, with porting currently available in 65+ countries. 
• Retail and wholesale services: Bandwidth’s VoIP services cater to enterprises with both wholesale and retail solutions.
• Comprehensive and versatile features: Functions include cloud-ready voice, messaging, and E911 APIs to maximize versatility, making it a strong choice for businesses or call centers that want a broad set of communication tools.
• User-friendly dashboard: Customers can take advantage of an intuitive interface for improved ease of use, even when managing, ordering, and configuring several phone numbers and line options.
• Strong customer support: Some reviews mention strong customer support overall, with clients confident that Bandwidth can resolve issues that may arise.

Pros of Twilio

Twilio’s most significant advantages include the following:

• Extensive documentation: All Twilio products come with extensive documentation that makes it easy for businesses to customize workflows, set up integrations, and use various product or service features effectively.
• Ease of use when setting up complex workflows: Twilio’s documentation and UI-based tools allow brands to set up complex workflows without needing to code extensively, making initial and ongoing setup easier.
• Support for diverse channels: Twilio’s Programmable Messaging API specifically supports a wide range of channels that include SMS, MMS, OTT, and email to provide global engagement with customers through redundant carrier connections and multiple phone number types.
• Comprehensive sets of applications: Tools like Flex, Segment, and Frontline are designed to enhance customer engagement across different channels and leverage data to improve personalized interactions.
• Diverse and expansive features: Standout features include Voice API for customized voice experiences with features like interactive voice response, speech recognition, and high-quality connections through the Twilio Super Network.
• Flexible and transparent pricing models: Twilio’s pricing is relatively simple, allowing businesses to choose whether they want to only pay for what they use or opt for committed-use pricing. 

Bandwidth vs. Twilio: The Cons

Just as Bandwidth and Twilio each have distinct advantages, there are a few potential weaknesses to consider.

Cons of Bandwidth

These are the potential cons of Bandwidth:

• Some users find the process for porting telephone numbers cumbersome and time-consuming, as there’s no direct way to add or remove numbers without canceling and re-entering them.
• Adjusting settings on multiple DID numbers can be unintuitive and slow, impacting the efficiency of managing communications.
• Some customers felt that the setup wasn’t intuitive, and the need for developers to set up complex workflows or integrations was cumbersome.
• Some customers were unhappy with the contract pricing and felt like they were overpaying compared to the services used or that there was a lack of flexibility or transparent pricing.  

Cons of Twilio

These are the potential cons of Twilio:

• Specific functions within Twilio can be challenging to set up, even with the available thorough documentation.
• The setup for routing multiple channels to the same agents has been noted as particularly difficult for customers, which can directly impact businesses and call centers trying to streamline their communication channels.
• Some user reviews noted delayed customer support response times, with assistance for their plans only available through email.
• The software and the setup process have steep learning curves for many users, requiring developer work to set up API integrations and complex workflows.

Comparing Bandwidth and Twilio vs. Nextiva

Twilio and Bandwidth are both good options for businesses looking for CPaaS providers, but it’s also important to compare them to additional services.

Nextiva offers many similar functionalities as Bandwidth and Twilio through individual products (like VoIP or SIP trunking services), in addition to a full unified communications as a service platform.

Let’s discuss how Nextiva’s VoIP solution compares to Bandwidth and Twilio.

Cost efficiency

Nextiva offers significant savings on call expenses compared to both Bandwidth and Twilio, potentially reducing your overall phone bills by up to 60% for small businesses.

Nextiva’s pricing model is also transparent, allowing businesses to pay a flat fee per user per month, depending on their plan of choice. Plans start at $18.95 per user per month when paid annually. This includes unlimited voice and video calling.

Twilio and Bandwidth both break down pricing by usage. For example:

• Twilio has prices starting at $0.0085 per minute to receive a call and $0.014  per minute to make a call.
• Bandwidth pricing starts at $0.010 per minute for domestic outbound calls and $0.0055 per minute for domestic inbound calls.

Enhanced accessibility

Nextiva users can make and receive calls from anywhere in the world as long as they have a data connection, offering complete portability and flexibility. This is increasingly essential for a mobile workforce, as workers can access their work phone line through the Nextiva mobile app or the Nextiva desktop app on an existing phone in or out of the office.

Advanced features and scalability

Nextiva offers advanced features that lend themselves to high scalability potential, which can be useful for both growing businesses and call centers.

Some of Nextiva’s most useful features include:

• Visual call flow designer and auto-attendants
• Advanced call routing and call transferring
• Call center analytics, including agent performance data
• Simple setup for small and large teams alike
• No requirement for additional hardware as the business scales
• Easy addition of new business lines
• Local phone numbers in any area code
• Complimentary toll-free phone number included with each account
• Video, voice, and SMS functionality
• VoIP and SIP trunking
• Integrations with tools like Outlook, Gmail, Salesforce, and more

Unique collaboration tools

We know that collaboration is a critical part of being able to reliably deliver strong customer experiences, so Nextiva offers collaboration tools designed to improve communication within teams that include the following:

• Threaded conversations across different communication channels
• Video meetings
• Integrated calendars

These features can enhance teamwork and productivity.

Comprehensive communication solutions

Nextiva’s communication solutions vary depending on the plan you choose, with available solutions potentially including the following:

• Unlimited calling within the U.S. and Canada
• Toll-free minutes
• Integrations with major CRM and customer-facing apps

High reliability and security

Some VoIP platforms don’t have the best reputations when it comes to reliability, with customers frequently citing deliverability issues, dropped calls, or poor call quality.

Both Twilio and Bandwidth had multiple customer reviews complaining about the reliability of the platforms, including message deliverability concerns.

As a result, choosing your provider carefully and considering performance consistency are essential.

Nextiva prides itself on offering both high reliability and security, knowing that these are essential for a customer’s communication channel.

Nextiva promises a 99.999% uptime with our secure network, which is protected by features like call encryption and third-party audits to ensure reliable and secure communications.

Strong customer support

Many customer reviews for Twilio and Bandwidth note negative customer service experiences, including delayed responses or limited options for customer support channels.

All of Nextiva’s plans include 24/7 customer support, with customer service channels for email, chat, and phone. We also offer multisite support and real-time system status alerts for all customers, regardless of plan.

Get the Best Value in VoIP With Nextiva

While Bandwidth and Twilio both offer robust VoIP, SIP trunking, and communication solutions with distinct features, many businesses find that they get more by opting for Nextiva as their communications provider instead.

Where Nextiva lags in open APIs and developer communities, it excels in a flexible and ready-to-use communications platform. You won’t ever need developers or engineers just to get your team talking.

Nextiva’s VoIP service emphasizes cost savings, an extensive feature set, collaboration tools, and exceptional reliability, making it an appealing choice for businesses looking for a comprehensive communication tool.

All our products were designed with ongoing performance in mind, and that includes ease of use to ensure that you can set up and adopt our software as quickly and efficiently as possible — even if your team members aren’t necessarily tech-savvy.

Whether you’re looking for a virtual phone system for your small business or advanced contact center solutions, across diverse channels.

Related: Top 6 Alternatives to Twilio Flex Contact Center

There are many great cloud-based contact center platforms on the market today — so many that it can be hard to find the right one for your business. With all the various vendors, packages, features, and pricing plans out there, finding the right one can feel overwhelming. 

Perhaps the best way to pick a platform is to compare the options and see which ones come out on top. With that in mind, let’s look at the pros and cons of Talkdesk and Five9, what features each one provides, and how they compare to each other.

Talkdesk vs Five9: The Pros

Both Talkdesk and Five9 are popular Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) platforms and for good reason. Both provide several features designed to improve agent productivity and customer satisfaction, but which one has the right tools for your contact center?

Pros of Talkdesk

Talkdesk is a contact center platform praised for its ease of use, customization, and robust functionality. Its platform and agent desktop are very intuitive, which makes Talkdesk easy to learn and allows agents to get right to work without any difficulty.

Talkdesk’s platform is also designed for collaboration, as it features communication tools for both customer support and internal teams. Agents and reps can seamlessly work together, consult experts, and help customers as a team without leaving the Talkdesk platform.

Additionally, Talkdesk uses artificial intelligence (AI) to empower agents and assist customers. This includes AI-powered self-service tools, customer insights, and a suite of customer experience (CX) applications.

Other popular Talkdesk features include:

• Digital engagement tools across SMS, chat, email, and social messaging
• Data-driven analytics on a customizable dashboard
• 70+ pre-built integrations with apps such as Salesforce, Zendesk, and Slack
• 30+ security certifications, including SOC 2 and 3, HIPAA, and GDPR

Talkdesk has four subscription options:

• CX Cloud Essentials and Digital Essentials, each of which costs $85 per user per month
• CX Cloud Elevate, which costs $115 per user per month
• CX Cloud Elite, which costs $145 per user per month

Pros of Five9

Five9 is a leading cloud contact center software provider that offers a comprehensive package, which includes an integrated dialer, lead management, and reporting tools.

Five9 also has a strong focus on employee engagement, as its CCaaS platform includes tools for workflow optimization, workforce management, and quality management. These tools help keep agents organized, scheduled properly, and equipped to provide the best service possible.

Additionally, Five9 uses task automation and multi-channel orchestration to optimize and automate support. These features can help companies maximize revenue and improve customer loyalty.

Five9 supports customers across channels, including SMS, phone calls, messages, email, social media, and video calls.

A few extra Five9 features include:

• AI-powered customer insights, agent assist, and call summaries
• Contact center supervisor tools that help managers monitor and assist agents
• Reporting and analytics tools that provide actionable insights in real-time
• Integrations with other customer relationship management (CRM) and communications platforms, including Salesforce, Oracle, and Microsoft Dynamics 365

Five9 offers five different packages, all of which are priced per user:

• Digital and Core packages, which each cost $175 monthly
• Premium at $235 a month
• Optimum at $290 per month
• Ultimate at $325 per month

Talkdesk vs Five9: The Cons

While Talkdesk and Five9 each have plenty of benefits, they still fall short in certain areas. Here are some of the downsides of each:

Cons of Talkdesk

Users looking for a more customizable contact center platform might be frustrated with Talkdesk. User reviews have stated that certain features can’t be customized on the user end, so users need to contact Talkdesk to make any changes, but support is not always responsive.

Additionally, although Talkdesk offers call recordings, the audio quality could be better. A common complaint is that recordings don’t balance the caller’s and agent’s voices.

This means that if you’re listening to a call, the volume and audio quality can shift dramatically whenever someone speaks, which is not only annoying but also impacts the quality of the review process.

While Talkdesk’s integration library is a point in its favor, setting up and customizing the integrations is another story. Getting integrations to work seamlessly with existing systems can be a complex and time-consuming process.

Cons of Five9

Five9 offers comprehensive and powerful features, but that makes for a steep learning curve. New users often struggle with the complexity, so it can take a while to really see benefits from the platform.

This is made even more difficult when there are technical issues, and some users have reported intermittent login problems where they couldn’t log in for a time. 

Needless to say, being unable to access the contact center makes it impossible for agents to work, so there were operational disruptions any time they couldn’t log in.

Additionally, some Five9 customers have reported connectivity delays in which calls lag for a few seconds before they connect to an agent. Not only are these delays off-putting for customers but those few seconds can add up over time and end up costing hours of productivity.

Nextiva vs. Talkdesk and Five9

After going through the pros and cons of Talkdesk and Five9, you might be uncertain. Perhaps Five9 is out of your price range, and its learning curve and technical issues are putting you off. Or maybe you need more customization than Talkdesk offers.

Fortunately, there is another option: Nextiva.

Nextiva’s AI-powered contact center platform is a flexible, scalable, enterprise-grade contact center solution built for omnichannel communications.

Nextiva users save time and money on every customer interaction when compared to alternative platforms. According to customer reviews, Nextiva is also rated higher overall than Talkdesk and Five9.

In addition, Nextiva offers a wide range of contact center and telephony features, including:

• Inbound and outbound omnichannel communications, including multi-channel conversational history
• Native workforce optimization
• Customizable call routing and auto attendant features, including skills-based routing
• A built-in predictive auto dialer system to optimize outbound calls
• Unified reporting and analytics to track your APIs and key metrics across channels
• Virtual and visual voicemail

So, why should you choose Nextiva? Let’s look at what it brings to the table.

Versatility

Nextiva provides more than just call center software. It provides unified communications and omnichannel contact center capabilities, giving users a broader range of business communication tools.

Organizations looking for an all-in-one VoIP communications solution for their teams and contact centers will find everything they need with Nextiva.

CX focus

Nextiva is dedicated to creating a great CX and user experience. So, not only does Nextiva’s contact center enable users to provide a quality CX, but its own customer support is also awesome.

Nextiva uses AI-driven data and analytics to manage and enhance the CX. It can identify trends, analyze customer sentiment, and improve first-call resolution rates, all of which are great for businesses that prioritize customer satisfaction and engagement.

Nextiva itself also has a quality CX, as Nextiva’s customer support is highly regarded. Anyone contacting Nextiva for support will quickly get firsthand experience of how well their contact center solution works.

Customizable solutions

A contact center is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Every business will have different communication and contact center needs based on its size, industry, and more. That’s why customizable and scalable solutions are so important. 

Nextiva is known for its scalability. Users can add seats as needed so their contact center system can grow with their business. 

Additionally, the Nextiva contact center solution is highly customizable, so organizations can add any apps, CRM integrations, and capabilities they need.

AI

Nextiva also has several AI-powered tools and features to enhance agent productivity and customer satisfaction.

These include customer self-service tools, such as an AI-powered chatbot and speech-enabled IVR, and tools to assist agents with their everyday tasks.

Nextiva’s AI-powered features include:

• Automated outbound campaigns
• Workforce optimization tools to improve first-contact resolution and conversion rates
• Automatic call transcriptions and summaries
• Dynamic scripting
• Task automation
• Virtual assistants for voice, chat, and text channels

Nextiva: There’s Something for Every Business

Talkdesk and Five9 are fine contact center solutions, and each has plenty of features and benefits to offer organizations. They specialize in providing robust contact center software with a focus on AI, automation, and omnichannel support and are well-regarded by their users.

However, Nextiva stands out with its broader focus on wrangling multiple business communication channels, optimizing CX management, and providing versatile solutions that can be tailored to a wide range of business needs.

Now that you know what Five9, Talkdesk, and Nextiva can offer a business, the choice is clear: when you need a robust contact center platform, you can’t go wrong with Nextiva.

Comparing Cisco vs. Avaya contact centers means you’re putting two telecom heavyweights up against each other.

Who comes out on top in this title fight?

Read on to see the pros and cons of each contact center solution to discover which best suits your unique business needs and find out whether there’s a third option worth considering in this battle.

Cisco vs. Avaya Contact Center: The Pros

To make this a fair test, we’re going to break down the pros and cons of both Cisco and Avaya.

In the past, both Cisco and Avaya have provided on-premises and hosted contact centers.

Today’s modern offerings take the shape of virtual call centers and omnichannel contact centers. This means you get channels like voice, SMS, email, web chat, and social media as standard.

You also get a wide range of calling features, like call queueing, auto attendants, and interactive voice response systems.

These are table stakes.

But there are some neat new features you might not be aware of — and they just might make your decision for you.

Pros of Cisco

Administration and customization

By handling incoming calls, providing comprehensive reports and dashboards, and integrating with other collaboration solutions​​, Cisco helps transform contact center efficiency holistically rather than app-by-app.

This is thanks, in part, to its integration into the Webex portfolio (Cisco bought Webex back in 2007 and drip-fed functionality into its unified communications (UC) and video conferencing products over time).

Upon deciding to incorporate all communications into a single stack, an interface refresh and focus on usability began. This overhaul signified a major brand and usability refresh compared to traditional Cisco Systems UC solutions. This change coincides with Gartner’s inclusion of Cisco as a Niche Player in its Magic Quadrant for contact center as a service.

The number of integrations seems to be growing every day at Cisco, making it a flexible solution with a large partner base. This stems from a move away from on-premises Communications Manager setups, favoring web-based SaaS.

There are also several Cisco products that you can integrate with Webex. If you’re a Cisco customer for networking, security, or voice, everything can now live under one roof, with a global admin center for all moves, adds, and changes.

Advanced features

Features include intelligent routing and customizable contact flows, as well as queue management, wrap-up codes for tracking reasons for call ends, and options for callbacks to reduce wait times and provide a better overall customer experience.

Stand-out features of the Webex Contact Center include:

• Queue callback
• Intelligent virtual agents (IVAs)
• Drag-and-drop call flow builder
• Remote agent support (PSTN/mobile)
• Advanced skills-based routing

Cisco’s Webex Contact Center is built for scalability and flexibility, with cloud technology allowing easy deployment and omnichannel support. It includes 360-degree customer journey analytics and predictive analytics for call routing, as well as integration with CRM systems for a comprehensive customer view​​.

Webex offers staff scheduling, as well as efficient and customizable call reports and call flows. This combination helps both agents and customers become more productive.

AI capabilities

Building on an already impressive feature set, AI opens the door to even more functionality designed to make agents more productive and less stressed.

As an example, take the agent-break feature, Thrive Reset, which is focused on user experience. By detecting burnout or stress, Webex will now prompt agents to take breaks so they don’t continue putting themselves under pressure.

By prioritizing agents’ well-being, Webex has a rather nice differentiator when comparing Cisco to Avaya.

That said, when mentioning this feature over dinner the other day, a friend and industry analyst with EnableUC, Kevin Kieller, pondered the repercussions of such a feature. What happens when certain agents keep needing more breaks? Are they the first out the door if downsizing needs to happen?

In the same conversation, Dom Black, Research Director at Cavell, said this would be a good thing for contact center management. Having access to this unique data presents an opportunity for training and better resource planning.

Pros of Avaya Contact Center

Digital and blended interaction capabilities

Avaya’s platform supports digital interactions and blends agents effectively, facilitating seamless transitions between different communication mediums​​.

This encourages the cross-skilling of agents, leading to a more efficient use of your workforce. When agents can tend to both inbound inquiries and outbound calls, there is less dead time when they aren’t contributing to your business. Everything becomes one workflow instead of disjointed departments.

Customer prioritization and skills-based routing

Intelligent algorithms ensure customers get routed to the most appropriate agents, enhancing personalized service delivery and managing queues efficiently​​.

This reduces the customer’s hassle of getting through to the wrong person, repeating their inquiry, and then getting transferred again.

Once a customer interaction is complete, Avaya’s powerful suite of analytics translates data and customer outcomes into trend analysis and graphical displays of your business’s performance.

Related: Avaya Contact Center Pricing: Is It Worth It?

Comprehensive contact management

Avaya has come a long way since being thought of as a phone system with some call queue treatment. Back in the on-premises days, Avaya was in danger of losing out in the cloud-contact center market.

Now we see key contact center features like:

• Call monitoring
• Real-time reporting
• Historical reporting and analytics
• Skills-based routing
• Predictive and auto dialer
• Omnichannel support, including social media, SMS, email, and chat​​

With a renewed focus on contact management, Avaya has stepped into the 21st century, enabling the service of your customers on their channel of choice.

Cisco vs. Avaya Contact Center: The Cons

It’s only right to also point out the weakness of contact centers. Let’s take a look at what real users report as the cons of both Cisco and Avaya.

Cons of Cisco

SMS limitations

While Cisco’s acquisition of IMImobile in 2021 added SMS messaging to its omnichannel roster, business texting remains one-to-one and text-based only. As of early 2024, there is no support for MMS or group chat.

The alternative is to use an app in the Webex store, but this creates a disjointed reporting experience as information gets siloed.

Reporting limitations

There’s no denying Webex has a ton of reports available. But some users find challenges in obtaining detailed reports for specific call scenarios and integrating with recording and other communication solutions​​.

When using multiple platforms for different calling components, some admins report that it’s challenging to find what they need to piece together a full customer journey.

Complex licensing and upgrades

Licensing can be complex, and provisioning specific features may take time. That’s the feedback from those outside the Cisco community.

Rob Harris, an independent technical consultant, scores Cisco 10/10 but still points out, “Licensing is complex, and to get certain things provisioned takes a little bit longer than it probably could.”

If you’re an insider with connections and a dedicated resource, this problem disappears. But new customers getting set up for the first time cite the initial implementation of new features to be problematic.

Even the biggest fans of Webex report that there should be more testing before releasing new features into the wild:

“Upgrades can be problematic, Cisco should do more testing before releasing updates and new versions of software.”

~Verified TrustRadius user

Cons of Avaya Contact Center

Reporting and launch latency

Some users experience delays in reporting and system launching, affecting operational efficiency​​. When considering Avaya alternatives, cloud-native platforms like Five9 and Nextiva tend to get the nod.

App and dashboard limitations

The mobile app can be slow, and TrustRadius reviewers have noted a desire for dashboards that are more customizable to better suit individual needs​​.

In a market that must be highly responsive to demand and fulfill customer satisfaction, taking customer considerations and deploying new features and iterations is a must if Avaya wishes to remain competitive.

Integration and usability challenges

While Avaya integrates well with CRM systems, there can be challenges in streamlining these integrations and ensuring ease of use​​. Often, you need the help of an Avaya support rep when setting up third-party integrations. This potentially lengthens implementation and drives up unexpected costs.

This problem appears to extend to overall implementation and onboarding. Ethan, a writer for SYSGeeker, concludes the following:

“Due to its extensive features and functionalities, Avaya Call Center Elite may require some time and resources for proper implementation and training. Some businesses may find the learning curve a bit steep initially.”

Comparing Cisco and Avaya Contact Center vs. Nextiva

When comparing Cisco vs. Avaya, there’s a third name you need to know about.

Here’s where Nextiva excels when standing next to these old heads.

Ease of use

Nextiva is known for its user-friendly interface, making it accessible even to those who aren’t technologically savvy.

If you have a team of agents who need to get up and running fast, Nextiva makes it possible to turn up to work and learn on the go. The learning curve is minimal, taking UI inspiration from familiar apps agents already have at hand.

This simplicity extends to the setup process and ongoing management of the system​​​​. As a cloud-only solution and SaaS model, you can provision licenses at the click of a button and make changes on the fly in Nextiva’s admin portal.

Cost-effectiveness

Nextiva offers competitive pricing, often coming in as a more affordable option compared to other solutions, without sacrificing features or performance​​.

With the essential package starting at just $99 per user monthly, you can turn on inbound and outbound capabilities, access advanced analytics and reporting, and use its API, if desired.

Upgrading to omnichannel starts at just $20 more.

That means you get web chat, email, SMS, and social media for a few dollars per channel.

Robust features and flexibility

From auto attendant menus, call routing, and supervisor monitoring to advanced reporting and call recording options, Nextiva provides a wide array of functionalities.

As a cloud-native platform, Nextiva customers benefit from new features as soon as they come to market.

There’s no legacy-on-premises hangover, and the culture is very much that of innovation and customer empowerment. You don’t need to be a premium-rate customer, and there’s no waiting list.

If there’s new functionality, like call center automation, you too can start benefiting from 30% cost elimination while automating up to 90% of your routine customer interactions.

High-quality support

Nextiva boasts a 99.999% uptime and is backed by a 24/7 support team and world-class monitoring. The company recognizes the importance of having both self-service customer support and someone on the end of the phone for you.

Nextiva’s technical support is frequently praised for its helpfulness and effectiveness in resolving issues and assisting with system setup and optimization​​.

“We made a phone call to Nextiva and they were able to switch us over immediately, so we had no downtime. The temporary numbers Nextiva gave us rolled in, and it was seamless.”

~Jeff Bratschie, Franchise Director of Operations, Stanley Steemer

Nextiva: There’s Something for Every Business

Nextiva offers the advanced features, flexibility, and support needed to scale your contact center affordably.

That’s why this newcomer always sneaks into the conversation when comparing Cisco vs Avaya contact centers.

While there are use cases for both Cisco and Avaya, unless you’re an existing customer, there’s little drawing you to each vendor when compared to an agile contact center provider like Nextiva.

If your priority list includes:

• Ease of use
• Cost-effectiveness
• Robust features
• Quality of support

Then you need Nextiva.

Don’t just take our word for it, either. We won Best in Show at Channel Partners Expo 2024!

To find out why customers choose Nextiva, check out our customer stories library. It really is a library. There’s that many.

Related: Cisco Contact Center: Is UCCX Right for Your Business?

RingCentral is a cloud-based communication platform offering a suite of business solutions. As a cloud phone system, it lets businesses ditch traditional landlines in favor of a more flexible and scalable solution. But how much does it all cost? And is it worth it?

In this guide, we’ll explore RingCentral’s pricing structure and help you decide if it’s the right fit for your business communication needs. We’ll also discuss scenarios where alternative solutions might be a better match.

RingCentral Plans and Pricing

RingCentral offers VoIP services, virtual meetings, call centers, and AI solutions. It’s a common choice for organizations looking for a business phone system, particularly mid-sized businesses and enterprises.

RingCentral’s phone system offering, RingEX, has three core plans: Core, Advanced, and Ultra. Earlier these plans were part of RingCentral’s MVP offerings, but are now rebranded under RingEX.

Here’s a quick comparison chart of RingEX’s main plans.

Note: These are starting prices, and the exact cost may vary depending on the number of users and specific features you choose. RingCentral also offers a discount for annual billing, so you can save money by paying for a year upfront.

All three plans add or upgrade features from the prior tier.

While this structure enables organizations to purchase a plan that best meets their size and business needs, there are some features only available as add-ons for an extra charge, regardless of the plan.

Let’s look at each plan in detail:

Core plan

RingCentral’s Core plan begins at $30/user/month if paid monthly or $20/user/month when paid annually. This is their most standard offering, including basic call features, limited team messaging, and file-sharing capabilities, as well as:

• Unlimited domestic phone calls in the US and Canada
• 100 toll-free minutes
• Call queues with basic rules and routing
• Voicemail to email
• AI-powered noise cancellation
• 24/7 phone support and professional implementation
• Integrations with Google and Microsoft apps
• Access to APIs

RingCentral’s first pricing tier covers the basics for a small business just getting started. However, it’s pretty limited when it comes to functionalities that allow businesses to be flexible in today’s work environment, including hot desking, custom roles and permissions, and advanced analytics.

Related Article

Nextiva vs. RingCentral: Which Business VoIP Provider Is Best?

Advanced plan

Moving beyond the Core plan, RingCentral’s Advanced plan adds features and upgrades such as enhancements to its team messaging and file-sharing capabilities. This comes at a higher cost, with a price tag of $35/user/month if paid monthly or $25/user/month when paid annually.

RingCentral’s Advanced plan includes everything in the Core plan, plus:

• Advanced call handling features, including automatic call recording and advanced call monitoring
• 1,000 toll-free minutes
• Enhanced administration and analytics features
• Integrations with popular apps and CRM platforms such as Salesforce and Zendesk
• Video meetings for up to 100 participants

RingCentral’s middle tier is the most popular plan according to their website. This plan is built for established companies that are looking for a solution to grow and scale their business, as it includes more features focused on system management and admin.

There are a few notable downsides to the Advanced plan, including the lack of device-specific analytics and limited storage for files, messages, and recordings.

Ultra plan

RingCentral’s third tier has the most features but is also the most expensive. The Ultra plan is available at $45/user/month if paid monthly or $35/user/month when paid annually. 

This tier includes everything from the Advanced plan, plus:

• Unlimited internet fax
• Unlimited storage for files, messages, and recordings
• Unlimited HD video, whiteboards, and messaging
• 10,000 toll-free minutes
• Up to 200 video-meeting participants
• Enhanced business analytics
• Device analytics and alerts
• Customizable business insights

RingCentral’s highest tier includes all the advanced features you would need to implement and manage a communication system for a large business. The biggest advantage for businesses using the Ultra plan is the ability to centralize communications, including phone calls, video, chat, SMS, and fax, into one app.

Options and add-ons

Given the price of the Ultra plan, you might assume that it includes everything RingCentral has to offer, but that’s not actually the case. RingCentral has options that are available as add-on features to any plan, albeit at a higher price.

These add-ons include:

• RingCentral Webinar for hosting online presentations and seminars, starting at $40/host/month
• Additional vanity phone numbers for a one-time fee of $30/number
• Additional international numbers, starting at $5.99/user/month
• RingCentral Rooms licenses, available at $49/room/month or for an annual cost of $468
• Push-to-talk license for $5/user/month
• High-volume SMS for organizations sending a large number of messages, starting at $0.01 per message sent or received

While it’s convenient to add these features to any plan, it can quickly push you over budget. With add-ons, you need to make sure you have a process for license and seat management so you’re not overpaying for users who don’t need these features.

Notable exclusions per plan

While each RingCentral plan offers a respectable number of features, there are still some key capabilities they lack. Organizations looking for these specific features may have to either spend extra for a higher tier or look elsewhere.

For the Core plan, there’s no access to advanced business analytics. This is an important feature for business communications platforms, and its exclusion is worth noting.

Additionally, this plan only offers limited team messaging and file sharing, so collaboration may be challenging. Automatic call recording is also only available as an on-demand feature.

While the Advanced plan has more features than the Core plan, it still only offers limited storage for team messaging and file sharing. And while there are business analytics capabilities, they’re not as comprehensive as those in the Ultra plan, making it hard to fully manage your business communications system at this middle tier.

Related Article

The Top RingCentral Alternatives for Business Phone Service

RingCentral Contact Center Plans and Pricing

RingCentral Contact Center (RingCX) is an omnichannel contact center that allows customers to connect with a business across voice and over multiple digital touchpoints.

It offers features such as workforce engagement management, which includes quality management, conversation analytics, and workforce management. It can also be used for outbound sales, collections, and proactive support.

The plans start at $65, but no clear pricing structure is available on RingCentral’s site. You need to contact their sales team for a custom quote.

RingCentral’s Pricing Compared To Competitors

Now that we understand what RingCentral’s plans provide, it’s time to explore some RingCentral alternatives and glean how much value RingCentral provides compared to its competitors.

We’ll take a look at Nextiva’s business plans — RingCentral’s top competitor — and see how they compare.

Note that what’s shown below is the monthly price — you can save even more on annual plans.

“I recently changed from RingCentral to Nextiva for several reasons, one of which was to make things SIMPLER. So far using Nextiva, it has been remarkable. It’s everything, and more than I previously imagined. If one is looking into a VoIP Provider, I highly suggest you take a deep look at Nextiva.”

~ Miranda S, Nextiva customer since 2022, G2 Reviews

Essential plan

Nextiva’s Essential plan offers business communications necessities for $25.95/user/month if paid monthly or $18.95/user/month when paid annually. This includes a wide array of important features for VoIP calling and omnichannel communications:

• Unlimited calling and fax within the US and Canada
• Voicemail-to-email services
• 1,000 toll-free minutes per month
• Free number porting
• Auto attendant for basic call routing
• Integrations with Outlook and Google Contacts
• 24/7 customer support for any troubleshooting or questions

Professional plan

One tier up from the Essential plan is the Professional plan, which is ideal for growing companies with larger business communications needs. This plan is available at $30.95/user/month if paid monthly or $22.95/user/month when paid annually.

The Nextiva Professional plan includes everything in the Essential plan plus:

• Unlimited audio conferencing and business SMS messaging
• 2,500 toll-free minutes per month
• One free professionally recorded greeting
• Team presence visibility
• Advanced integrations, including Salesforce and other CRM platforms
• A mobile app for iOS and Android devices, which includes cloud communications features

Enterprise plan

Last but certainly not least, Nextiva’s Enterprise plan is aimed at big businesses with big communication requirements. This plan, available at $40.95/user/month if paid monthly or $32.95/user/month when paid annually, provides the most features, toll-free minutes, and integrations, making it a great choice for larger organizations. 

The Nextiva Enterprise plan includes everything in the Professional plan plus:

• 10,000 toll-free minutes per month
• Unlimited video conference participants
• Call recording
• Voice analytics to provide deeper insight into agent/rep performance and customer satisfaction
• Advanced call flows with more customization options to direct calls to the right person each time
• Additional integrations, including Zendesk and HubSpot
• Single sign-on to make accessing everything simple and convenient

Common features across all plans

While each tier adds and improves upon the last, some features are universal. Whether you only want the essentials or are looking for enterprise communications, you’ll find these in every plan:

• Call pop with customer information, providing key context about the caller at a glance
• Customizable call routes to direct inbound calls to the right place or person
• Advanced call management features, including call forwarding, call transfers, call waiting, and call hold
• Voicemail-to-text service, turning voice messages into easily accessible text messages
• Unlimited virtual faxing
• 24/7 customer support via chat or phone

With Nextiva, there are several features you can always expect. All users across every plan have access to amazing service 24/7, making sure Nextiva is easy to use and stress-free so you can focus on your business. 

Notable exclusions per plan

Nextiva’s plans are packaged based on common business scenarios and use cases. Some features are saved for higher tiers, so customers looking for specific features might want to consider upgrading.

The Essential plan doesn’t include conference calls, SMS, or CRM integrations (although it does integrate with Outlook and Google Contacts). It also has fewer toll-free minutes than the higher tiers.

The Professional plan doesn’t include call recording or voice analytics, which are reserved for the Enterprise plan. It also has fewer toll-free minutes than the Enterprise Plan, although it has more than the Essential plan.

Top Features of RingCentral and Nextiva

Now that we understand what RingCentral and Nextiva offer, we can break their plans down into their top features and see what value each can bring to businesses, teams, and employees working in the office or on the go.

“We had RingCentral and changed to Nextiva. Nextiva’s service has been top-notch so far compared to RingCentral. It’s made our business so much easier, and we look forward to growing our business with them. Before, we were always scared of our service going down and being stuck again.” 

~ Tom W, TrustPilot review

RingCentral

The most important features of RingCentral’s communication solution include:

• Unlimited enterprise-grade HD video: RingCentral’s unlimited HD conferencing capabilities are a good fit for larger businesses that need video conferencing, as they enable high-quality communication and collaboration across enterprises and organizations with remote locations.
• Advanced call management: RingCentral offers call management features such as call routing, call monitoring, call whisper, and call barge as part of RingCentral Contact Center, providing organizations with sophisticated tools for handling customer service and internal communications.
• Integration capabilities: RingCentral’s UCaaS platform can integrate with a wide array of applications, including Salesforce, Zendesk, and several other apps and platforms. This allows businesses to connect their VoIP phone systems with their CRM and other business tools.
• Analytics and insights: RingCentral provides comprehensive analytics and reporting tools, which businesses can use to gain insights into their communications, manage training and compliance, and make data-driven decisions.
• Customizability and API access: Businesses in need of a tailored solution can access RingCentral’s developer platform and APIs to create custom integrations and workflows.

Nextiva

Nextiva’s top features are quite impressive, with an array of tools to improve business communications and the customer experience. These include:

• Voice analytics: Nextiva’s Enterprise plan includes voice analytics, providing businesses with deeper insights into their call data. This helps create new strategies to optimize customer interactions as well as improve internal communications.
• Unlimited participants in video conferences: The ability to allow unlimited participants is vital for companies that conduct large-scale meetings, webinars, or training sessions.
• Call recording: Nextiva offers call recording — an important tool for organizations of all sizes. Recordings can be used for quality assurance, compliance, training, and dispute resolution, making them vital for contact centers, sales teams, and more.
• CRM integrations: Nextiva’s integrations with major CRM systems, such as Salesforce, let employees easily create call logs and access customer information. This is essential for organizations that rely on CRM data for their sales, marketing, and customer service.
• Unlimited SMS and conference calling: For businesses with large workforces, unlimited SMS and conference calling can ensure that communications remain uninterrupted, no matter how many conferences or text messages they require.

Nextiva vs. RingCentral Comparison Table

Key findings:

• Cost: Nextiva offers a slight edge on price, with their Essential plan starting at $18.95 per user per month compared to RingCentral’s Core at $20 per user per month.
• Video conferencing: Nextiva allows for more participants in video meetings across all plans (250 vs 100 for RingCentral on most plans).
• Call recording: Nextiva includes call recording in all tiers, whereas RingCentral requires an additional fee for this feature on most plans.
• Toll-free minutes: Nextiva offers a significantly higher number of free toll minutes in their basic plans (1500 vs 100 for RingCentral).

Which Provider Is Right for Your Business?

Now that it’s clear what RingCentral and Nextiva have to offer, we can weigh the pros and cons for each to see what they bring to businesses.

RingCentral

RingCentral provides a good selection of features for businesses looking for:

• Advanced features and integrations: RingCentral has an extensive list of integrations, including over 300 apps, which can be beneficial for businesses that need a wider range of integrations with other software and services.
• International presence: RingCentral has a broad scope of international calling and office locations, which larger enterprises with a global footprint might find preferable.
• High-volume communications: RingCentral’s plans offer a high number of toll-free minutes and call-handling features, which are useful for businesses with high call volumes.
• Comprehensive analytics: RingCentral’s advanced analytics capabilities can provide valuable insights into communications performance and customer interactions.

Nextiva

Nextiva is an excellent choice for organizations that want:

• Cost-effectiveness: Nextiva’s competitive pricing (particularly for the entry-level Essential plan) provides a budget-friendly option for businesses keeping an eye on their bottom line.
• Simplicity and user-friendly service: Nextiva’s Essential plan offers a straightforward feature set, including unlimited calling, faxing, and voicemail to email, which is great for businesses looking for ease of use.
• Scalability: Nextiva offers a scalable cloud communications platform, so businesses can move to new plans with more advanced features (such as CRM integrations and voice analytics) as they grow.
• Reliability and customer support: With 24/7 customer support and a reputation for high reliability and quality of service, Nextiva customers can rest assured that they don’t have to worry about downtime and can reach customer service whenever they need it.
• Integrated communications: Nextiva’s Enterprise plan offers extensive CRM integrations, making it a great choice for sales-driven organizations that rely on CRM solutions and need to tie their communications tools to their customer data.

Final Verdict on RingCentral Pricing

RingCentral offers a feature-rich cloud communication platform with various plans to suit different business needs. Here’s a breakdown of the key points:

Pros:

• Wide range of features, including video conferencing, call management, integrations with many CRMs, and analytics.
• Scalable plans for businesses of all sizes.
• Strong international presence for global enterprises.
• High volume communication capabilities.

Cons:

• Can be expensive compared to competitors like Nextiva, especially with add-on features.
• Some core features like call recording require extra fees on lower tiers.
• Limited storage space for messaging and files on some plans.

RingCentral vs. Nextiva: Nextiva Edges Out on Price

While both RingCentral and Nextiva offer competitive services…

Nextiva is the best choice for both growing small businesses and larger organizations that are looking for a cost-effective solution to scale.

And with Nextiva’s recent expansion in the contact center software space, you’re sure to have everything your company needs to stay connected, serve customers, and scale faster. 

Nextiva’s Essential plan provides all the necessary tools and features businesses need for excellent communication and collaboration, with an intuitive user interface.

Learn more about Nextiva’s enterprise communications platform and what it brings to your business.