Virtual PBX Review
Editor’s Rating:
Avg. User Rating:
| Overall |   |
VirtualPBX Review Summary
VirtualPBX Pros
- No Setup/Activation Fees
- Reliability and Quality
- True and most extensive ACD Queing
- Call identification(business vs personal)
- International Virtual Numbers
- Unlimited Extensions
- New Flat Rate Plans w/Unlimited Minutes
VirtualPBX Cons
- Only 1 included incoming phone line per plan
(on usage based plans)
Bottomline
If you are in the small business space and find that some of the more advanced features such as the true ACD Queing are appealing to you, and you want the complete confidence of a company with VirtualPBX’s stability and reliability, you can now get all of this at reasonably priced plans with no setup or activation fees. You also have the option of flat rate plans, with unlimited minutes in North America, for low monthly rates now.
VirtualPBX Features/Benefits
VirtualPBX is heaquarted in San Jose, California and founded in 1997. There is no disputing that VirtualPBX has been doing this longer than any of the other vendors, and because of this they definately provide the most reliable, redundant, and extensive, feature rich product – and now all of it, at very affordable prices.
| Pricing: |
Usage Based Plans –
VPBX-5: $9.99/mo
VPBX-10: $24.99/mo VPBX-20: $44.99/mo VPBX-50: $94.99/mo Flat Rate Plan – 1-User: $39.99/mo
4-User: $23.99/mo per user 10-User: $21.99/mo per user 20 + User: $19.99/mo per user |
| Setup/Installation Fee: | No |
| Disconnect/Cancellation Fee: | No |
| Free Trial: |
Yes for Usage Based Plans,
|
| Customer Service: | 24/7 Excellent, In-House (provided by company employees) |
| Included Minutes: |
Usage Based Plans –
VPBX-5: 300/mo
VPBX-10: 600/mo VPBX-20: 1000/mo VPBX-50: 2500/mo Flat Rate Plan – unlimited local/long distance
1,000 toll free minutes/month |
| Additional Per Minute Costs: |
Usage Based Plans –
VPBX-5: 6.5¢
VPBX-10: 5.8¢ VPBX-20: 4.7¢ VPBX50: 4.4¢ Flat Rate Plan – 3.9¢ for additional toll free minutes
|
| Incoming Lines: |
Usage Based Plans –
VPBX-5: 1
VPBX-10: 1 VPBX-20: 1 VPBX-50: 1 $10 each/month to add a line Flat Rate Plan – 1 local phone number
1 toll free number $10 each/month to add a line |
| Extensions: |
Usage Based Plans –
Unlimited
Flat Rate Plan – 1 extension per user
additional extensions cost $24.99/month |
| Local & 800 Transfer Fee: | $25 – one time |
| 800 Vanity Number Fee: | $25 – one time |
| True 800 Number Setup Fee: | $25 – one time |
Likes
Quality and Reliability: Because VirtualPBX has been doing this longer than anyone else in the space, they definately have the Quality and Reliablity down to a science. Reliablity is not going to be an issue for you with VirtualPBX, but again, don’t overlook that this may come at a cost.
True ACD Queing: VirtualPBX definately defines what True ACD queing is, and probably should be at this point. They started it, and by far have the most extensive functionality in this arena. If you need true ACD queing and it’s critical to your business, then VritualPBX will be a the very top of your short list of vendors.
Caller Identifcation: When a call is sent to your cell phone via VirtualPBX’s auto attendant, the auto attendant identifies the call as a "business" call so that you know to answer it differently than you would a normal personal call to your cell phone.
International Virtual Numbers: Virtual PBX now offers local numbers in other countries. This can benefit your business if you have a customer base, or even employees in another country that you need to communicate with on a regular basis. By adding an International Virtual Number you can totally eliminate the international calling rates to/from that country.! Your customers in the UK for example, could call you without additional charges to them, and reach any of your locations. The same thing applies to any employees you might have in that country – you can now communicate with them any time you need without incuring huge international phone bills. VirtualPBX and Phone.com are the only two merchants to offer this ability.
NO Activation Fee: Kudos to VirtualPBX! As of November 18, 2008 they have eliminated their Setup/Activation fee! Plus are now offering a Trial Period. We feel this now makes them a "real" offering to the very small/small business maket, and a "real" competitor in this space. However we would like them to also eliminate the $25 upgrade fee they have, as well! The upgrade fee is gone! Unless you want an expedited upgrade – then you’ll pay the $25. The only other time you will pay a fee is if you want VoIP phones and then you will pay a one-time activation fee of $19.99 and one-time shipping and handling fee of $12.99 per device ordered for their Ploycom IP phones. This is fairly standard, however and most or the merchants we review charge some kind of fee for activating and shipping their VoIP phones. You however do not have to purchase these phones from VirtualPBX but if you do, they come pre-configured and ready to plug in and go!
Dislikes
No OutBound Internet Fax: Again, this may be picky, but we just find it rather odd, that a provider that offers such advance features as VirtualPBX would not offer Outbound Internet Faxing. We see this as the wave of the future and a means of eliminating the need for the traditional fax machine for most small businesses. Without this feature businesses will still need to have a fax machine or purchase an additioanl service. UPDATE: Today (Jan. 18, 2011) VirtualPBX annouced that their outbound internet faxing was being released into public beta to all customers. It has been in limited customer beta for several months.
Only 1 incoming Phone Line: You only get one incoming phone line by default with any plan you select. Each additional phone line costs you $10/month, which is the highest fee of all the providers by double. If they truly wanted to "hit it out of the park" with their new and revised plans they could have followed Phone.com’s and GotVMail’s lead and went to a defaulted multiple incoming phone line model. This would have allowed small businesses to have both a toll free and local number for their business without the additional monthly cost. UPDATE: With VirtualPBX’s New Flat Rate Plans you get a toll free and local number standard with each plan.
Where to Buy
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Get 1 Month Free on any VirtualPBX Usage Based Plan!
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Get 1 Month Free on any VirtualPBX Flat Rate Plan!
Summary
Since VirtualPBX has completely redone their pricing, removed their setup/activation fees, and gone to a 30 day free trial they are now a great option in our list of providers, especially if you need true ACD queing and the newly added outbound internet faxing!
All in all, if you are in the small business space and find that some of the more advanced features such as the true ACD Queing are appealing to you, and you want the complete confidence of VirtualPBX’s reliability, you can now get all of this at reasonably priced plans!
My experiences definitely echo Jake’s. Your VirtualPBX interface is really antequated, takes about a month just to learn it, and customers are treated horribly. I’ve also emailed 7-8 emails recently, each referencing the last saying HOW NO ONE ANSWERS THEIR EMAILS!!!!!!!! at VirtualPBX.com. Support DOES suck. We even had to complain about Shawn in support (who quickly turned into a Josh lol). Would definitely AVOID!!! Esp with so many competitors out there like Phone.com, RingCentral, Virtual Call System, Grasshopper, uReach, Halloo, and a dozen others. Had the same problems. Who wouldn’t pay a couple extra bucks a month not to deal with this? WAKE UP! We’re in a recession. Those who provide the lowest quality service will quickly find themselves submerged in debt as their customers fall off. The quality of the uploaded outgoing messages sounded like trash on their servers by the time customers heard them. And the customer SUPPORT is MIA. Don’t be fooled by the bogus yes-man here. It’s mock “pretend we care”. Same goes for their sales department. Sending bogus “how we doing?” emails but never answering their own responses!! FUNNY…if it weren’t true. Just remember, if the phone’s not ringing, that’s us not calling on you anymore. The good news? We now know what we DON’T want from a Virtual PBX / IVR / autoattendant.
Hello Mr. Winkerman,
We sincerely apologize for the problem you had in getting the response you wanted to your emails. We’re looking into the problem you had and would like to contact you for more detail. For all of our 15 years of operation, we have worked hard to provide the best support in the industry, and are well known by our clients as having outstanding service. Our first rule at Virtual PBX is “customer issues transcend all others”. We have our own dedicated support team located at our company’s headquarters rather than outsourcing, just so we can keep on top of issues like yours.
We take your feedback very seriously and would like to continue to work with you. Please feel free to call into our main number at 888-825-0800 and press option 1 for sales or 2 for support. You can ask for me directly and I’ll personally help get your issues resolved.
John Coyle
VP of Sales
WORST EVER SERVICE!! They do NOT answer their emails. Support SUCKS!!! Yeah, they allow you to upload your own outgoing messages, but they’re soooooooo grainy that it reflects poorly on your company, even if the messages you uploaded are crystal clear. Email them the OGMs and support (other than their autresponder) never gets back to you and never uploads them or fixes the problem. They’re obviously trying to “SELL” their professional recordings upgrade service by sabotaging the quality on your professionally-recorded uploads. RIDICULOUS!! Also, their system takes about 3-4 weeks to learn (it’s wayyy over complicated and old-fashioned). We’re MONTHS into our service, and still no working menu despite dozens of emails to them!!! AVOID THESE CLOUNS!! More to follow!
Hello Mr. Anson,
We apologize for the lack of response from our Support team. We take feedback like this very seriously and would like to continue working with you to resolve your needs.
We are growing very rapidly and trying to staff accordingly. Unfortunately this has resulted in some customers not being supported in a timely fashion. We are continuing to work on our support processes to meet and exceed our customer’s expectations and solve their support needs..
Should you have any more concerns, please feel more than free to contact me directly. When you call in, just ask for me.
John Coyle
VP of Sales
I have had so many issues with this company in terms of the product and support. First of all, when I send an email to support, they do not respond (Other than the standard message that they received my email). It took 3 emails, 2 calls and 3 weeks for them to change my on hold marketing messages. All I wanted was for them to update my holiday message and by the time they updated the message, the holiday came and went.
Their Polycom phones are not fully supported, e.i. you can’t transfer to another phone by using function keys that come with the phone. Today, calls won’t go through, called time and got voicemail. Left message and have not received a call back. This is late on Friday and I’ll probably go all weekend with phone problems without support. If you need your phone system to just work, stay away from this company!!!
Marcel,
The head of our support team will contact you tonight to help solve the technical issues you’ve encountered.
Speaking as the COO of Virtual PBX, I take the shortcomings you pointed out very seriously and will address them with our team. We are in the process of expanding our support team and improving their processes in order to deliver the best possible service in our industry.
But, thats no excuse. I apologize for the frustrating experience you had and hope you allow us to make it right.
Nice enough.
Set up was rather frustrating, but no more so than other Virtual hone Systems companies I tried.
In the end, I gave up on VirtualPBX because they do not support submenus.
I have tried most companies out there, but I really like this one. The next on the top of my list however would be Nextiva.
VirtualPBX does not allow to upload custom greetings.
Very disipoiting! This is usualy a default feature on all PBX system.
Hello Alex,
You may want to contact your account manager, because this is not correct. VirtualPBX most definitely does allow you to record and upload your own custom greeting. http://www.virtualpbx.com
Please make sure you contact virtualpbx support or your account manager and have them walk your through it.
Best,
Lynn
Virtual Phone System Reviews Team
One negative I do find is lack of an online forum. I find online forums to be a great tool for discussion and troubleshooting. I would highly recommend VirtualPBX to look into adding this to their site.
I’ve recently signed up with Virtual PBX. I’ve been quite impressed so far. I ported a local number and it was active within 1.5 weeks. The few glitches that have come up have been addressed very quickly. Wait time to support has been less than 2 minutes. As of now, I recommend the service….just wish they would launch outbound fax so I could cancel my MyFax account.
Hello Tarch,
Feb 18, 2011
Our inbound and outbound faxing is now in public availability. It is no longer in Beta.
VirtualPBX now offers inbound and outbound faxing as part of every plan. This is an included feature with no additional cost for upto 100 faxes a month.
Hope this helps
Paul Hammond