Voice Nation Comparison and Review

Pros:

• Unlimited extensions
• Free 800 toll-free number

Cons:

• No free trial
• Conference calling not available

Conclusion:

If you need unlimited extensions, VoiceNation’s NextPBX offers a good deal, but without conference calling features they don't stand up to competitors who offer more minutes and better features. This plan costs $9.95 per month for 100 minutes and unlimited extensions. While they do offer Internet fax service and significant voicemail storage capability, there are better deals in the Virtual PBX market.

Pricing

Voice Nation’s NextPBX Business plan comes with 100 minutes and unlimited extensions. This plan costs $9.95 per month and comes out to about ten cents per minute. Voice Nation also offers higher level plans with more minutes, including their Executive plan that includes 2500 minutes.

Phone Numbers

Voice Nation provides a local, 800, 866, 877 or 888 toll-free number with a monthly subscription. They offer vanity numbers as well, but these numbers have $25 setup fee. Porting a number you already have into your PBX system costs $50 with Voice Nation. Voice Nation does not have international numbers.

Online Interface

Voice Nation has a quality online interface that includes a setup wizard. The interface gives you access to call logs and allows you to make a block call list for numbers you want to stop receiving calls from. Voice Nation’s interface does not let you record calls. This service gives you the ability to create an online address book, but it does not allow you to import from your Outlook contacts. The various call handling rules you are able to set through the interface include the ability to forward, go to menu, put on hold, and send to a queue.

Voicemail

Voice Nation allows you to store voicemails for up to 90 days. You can receive your voicemails by email or download them directly from the interface to your computer, but the service does not let you convert your voicemails to text messages.

Call Handling

Voice Nation offers a Find Me/Follow Me handling system that redirects calls from one extension to another when the call is not answered, which meets our Market Standard for virtual PBX systems. While on a call, you can transfer or put a call on hold by only using the numbers on your phone’s keypad. The provider also offers  features such as call screening, which lets you see who is calling before answering, and Do Not Disturb, which allows you to turn an extension off when you are out of the office or too busy to take calls. You can also set up an auto attendant with Voice Nation. Auto attendants let people calling into your PBX can decide for themselves which department they need to be routed to (e.g. 1 for sales, 2 for customer service, etc.). Voice Nation does not give you the ability to make calls from outside the U.S. through the PBX system. The audio through Voice Nation is clear and loud with no static.

Conference Calling, Internet Faxing, and Mobile Apps

While Voice Nation does not give you conference calling abilities, they do include the ability to send and receive faxes from your PBX interface.

Customer Support

Voice Nation’s customer support offers good customer support and a knowledgeable staff. Their phone support is available Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST. They have online FAQs and tutorials accessible to all users at any time.