Vonage Business Communications Review (2024): Is It Worth It?

Vonage is an average business phone system if you just need something that supports basic calling and texting functions from your smartphone. If you're looking for more features, it lacks advanced features and team collaboration tools, despite having a higher price tag than many of its competitors.

However, Vonage's support for communication APIs to integrate custom calling capabilities into apps and websites can make up for the lack of other features if that's a priority for your business.

Vonage Pricing

Vonage has three standard business phone system plans:

• Mobile:$19.99 per user per month for select users who only need basic calling and texting capabilities.
• Premium:$29.99 per user per month for small teams that want internal messaging, video conferencing, and desk phones.
• Advanced:39.99 per user per month for on-demand call recording, voicemail transcription, and call groups for teams.

If you handle a high volume of calls, Vonage offers two contact center plans. Pricing for either is not available, but there are plenty of add-ons available, so you can mix and match features to create the right plan for your business.

There is also an exclusive Conversational Commerce package that starts at $1000 per month for up to 10 agents, with the option to add additional agents at $35 per month each. You will also need to pay a $5000 setup fee, making it a significant initial investment.

Pricing for Communication APIs is based on usage:

• Domestic calls start at $0.0127 per minute.
• SMS messages start at $0.0062 per message.
• Video conferencing starts at $0.004 per minute.
• In-app messaging starts at $0.0007 per minute.

You can also use information about numbers, shipping, custom events, reports, social media messages, and verification APIs.

Vonage Key Features

Vonage's standard phone system features include unlimited domestic calling, unlimited texting, free number portability, and a virtual receptionist. But its most notable offering is its robust communications APIs.

Unlimited Talk and Text

Every Vonage plan includes unlimited domestic calling and texting.

If you want a more cost-effective alternative to traditional carrier plans with usage-based billing, this is a great option.

You can make and receive calls or send texts from your current devices without having to purchase any additional hardware. Just download the Vonage app and you can seamlessly switch between your personal and business lines.

Free number portability

If you're interested in switching VoIP providers or want to change your business's phone systems, Vonage makes the process easy. They'll port your number to Vonage for free so you can maintain continuity with your customers without having to worry about number forwarding or dropped calls.

Local and toll-free number porting can take up to 21 business days to fully process, so it's a good idea to keep your current subscription active until the number has officially been transferred to Vonage.

Virtual receptionist

With Vonage Virtual Receptionist, all incoming calls are answered by the virtual auto attendant instead of a live agent.

From there, callers are presented with a list of menu options from which they can select the reason for their call. This allows them to be quickly directed to someone who can help them. You can also set your virtual receptionist to play different greetings based on the time, day of the week, holiday schedules, and more.

This is a standard feature available on all Vonage business phone plans.

Intuitive administration portal

Vonage's easy-to-use management portal makes it easy to quickly manage and see what's happening across your organization with your phone system.

You can monitor system status, track team trends, add new extensions, and manage your numbers. It's a clear interface that helps managers and system administrators complete tasks quickly without having to spend hours scrolling and clicking.

The admin portal also gives you access to the audit log, where you can track changes and restore the original settings if necessary.

This feature is only available to users with designated administrator access. All regular Vonage users on your team can manage their own extension settings from their user portal, but not other system settings.

Communication API

Vonage offers voice, video, SMS, social messaging, in-app messaging, dispatch, verification, number insights, custom events, and reporting APIs that you can use to create truly personalized environments for collaboration and customer interactions.

If you have the resources to build and maintain custom communications applications and integrated solutions, this is the best way to use Vonage.

Advantages of vonage

• Basic telephone systems are easy to implement.
• Each plan includes one free business main line.
• Wide range of communication APIs.
• Unique conversational commerce solution.
• Modular contact center options.
• Easy to use interface.
• Centralized user administration.
• Numerous privacy and security certifications.

Disadvantages of vonage

• Support is not 24/7.
• The phone plans are feature-poor, even though they cost the same as the competition.
• Even less profitable at higher levels.
• There are no desk phones on the cheapest plan.
• Recently sued by the FTC.
• Limited AI capabilities.

Alternatives to Vonage

Nextiva and RingCentral are generally better options than Vonage for most businesses. Nextiva offers the best balance of price, ease of use, and scalability for businesses of all sizes. RingCentral is more advanced than Nextiva and Vonage and is generally a better option for businesses with more than 100 employees.

Below is a more detailed comparison of Vonage on key business communication factors.

Nextiva

Nextiva is my top recommendation for most businesses because it's easy to set up, has great customer service, and you'll likely never have to worry about outgrowing it.

RingCentral

If you need more customization options than Nextiva offers, RingCentral is an advanced alternative that you can tailor to your needs. It's more difficult to set up and use, but offers maximum flexibility.

Ooma

If you want desk phones with Vonage, it will cost you $10 more per user per month than with Ooma, which is my top recommendation for brick-and-mortar offices that need physical phones. Plus, Ooma is much easier to use and deploy, and Vonage requires you to be on the second tier or higher to use desk phones.

Dial pad

Overall, Vonage has very few AI capabilities, especially compared to Dialpad. If AI and automations are important to you, Dialpad is a much better option. Plus, you'll pay $5 less per user per month on the cheapest plan and get more collaboration and productivity tools.

Methodology

I research, test, and review business communication tools, including Vonage, based on a few key considerations.

Standard and advanced functions

I analyzed key features including video conferencing, voicemail, SMS messaging, virtual receptionist, call transfers between devices, call forwarding, desktop apps, and mobile apps, and compared their availability at different plan levels.

Customer Service

I researched each service's customer support availability hours, support channels, and any customer reviews regarding the provider's level and speed of service.

Third-party integrations

To compare enterprise-level functionality, I checked each platform’s ability to sync with commonly used business software, such as CRM, cloud storage, fax, ERP, SMS, and more.

Security and privacy

Encryption, account management, redundancy architecture, data center audits, multi-factor authentication, and multiple servers and data centers in multiple locations were all considered.

Uptime percentage

Check for reports of unplanned outages, infrastructure issues, or technical problems that could cause uptime, delays, or service interruptions.

Demo or free trial

This metric includes both the ability to try out the service via a trial or demo before committing to a subscription, as well as the time provided for that free trial.

Total cost

This includes all related costs, including free trials, discounts, monthly versus annual pricing, cost per installation, and price per user. It also takes into account whether existing or new equipment is required to operate the call center phone system.