VIRTUAL PBX
REVIEWS

Summary: Phone.com is our No. 1 pick for the top Virtual PBX provider. They are a progressive, forward thinking company with deep industry knowledge from the top on down. With a feature rich Virtual Office product line and plans starting at $9.88/mo with unlimited extensions, and top notch customer support, they are a provider that is hard to beat. Recently added Call Screening/Call Tagging round out their offering, and International Virtual Numbers make any small business a true global venture.

Summary: RingCentral comes in at No. 2 and although similar to Phone.com in pricing, they do not offer multiple incoming lines at no additional charge like Phone.com and in most cases are slightly higher on per minute charges. RingCentral has however gone to unlimited extensions on most of it's mobile plans, and is still a very solid Virtual PBX provider, especially for those looking for a complete office phone system. Their RingCentral Office plans provide unlimited calling/faxing anywhere in the US and Canada(no per minute charges!), unlimited extenstions, and pre-configured business quality VoIP phones.

Summary: #3 rated, VirtualPBX, now offers a 30 day free trial, matching most of their competitors. Thier fee to add incoming lines is a bit high however, at $10 each/month, and they currently don't offer outbound internet faxing. However this provider has been doing it longer than anyone else, and is a solid, stable, feature rich provider with great price points on all their plans. Plus, they are the only provider to offer TRUE ACD Queing in this space. They are an excellent choice for the business needing more advanced features and quality, reliable, robust pbx service.

Summary: Nextiva comes in #4 in our ratings and is new to our reviews. We like what we see so far, and we fully expect to continue to see good things coming out of Nextiva. All in all they appear to be going through a growth period, where they are adding features, services, and re-defining their product lines to more closely compete with the top vendors in the space. We feel you will continue to see changes coming from Nextiva over the next 6 months and beyond that should make them very competitive in features, price and support.

Summary: While my1voice doesn't offer as many features as some of its competitors, they do offer the most popular ones, and we fully expect that My1Voice will be adding the missing features quickly. Even though they are a relatively new player to the virtual pbx scene, My1Voice is able to compete nicely, due to the recent and significant changes they've made to their virtual pbx plans. All in all they are a great option for the home office, or small business needing the basic features of a pbx, with great customer service, and a very nice bundle of included minutes, all at an affordable price.

Summary: In May of 2009, Grasshopper (formerly GotVmail) accomplished a total rebranding from what was formerly known as GotVmail. This resulted in a new and much improved user interface, however we haven't seen any new features, functionality or news since then. The fact that they still charge a $25 activation fee on all, but their $199/mo plan is concerning when their competitors have totally eliminated this fee.

Summary: eVoice Receptionist now offers 3 lower end plans ranging from $12.95/mo to $29.95/mo with limited features, 2 incoming lines at most, 300 to 1000 minutes, and 2 to 5 extensions. You can add extensions for $9.95 ea/mo with 100 added minutes each/month. If you are looking for a basic, simple featured plan, and won't miss being able to send faxes via the system, then eVoice Receptionist may work for you.

Summary: FreedomVoice was established in 1996, and is the only provider to allow customization of features - "no matter how small or large." However they also charge extra fees for many of the features that are standard with other providers. For instance, if you want a local number, it will cost you $10/month, After Hours Answering rules will cost you $5/month, and queuing is an extra fee as well. However, if you want a system that you can literally customize to your needs, then this provider may be a good choice for you.

Summary: Onebox offers two types of plans. One they call "Executive" which we really feel does not qualify as a virtual pbx at all, and another called "Receptionist" which we feel is the plan that is comparable to the other providers we review, and truly a virtual pbx. However, they don't offer a free trial and their prices, when you consider the add-ons puts them at the top end of any of the providers we review. Cost, no free trial, and questional customer service puts them lower in our ratings.