WHAT IS NEXTIVA?Founded in 2006, Nextiva is a unified communications company that provides AI-powered customer experience solutions. With over 100,000 customers and one million users, it is known for its reliability and 94% customer satisfaction rating. Nextiva offers an all-in-one platform integrating voice, video, messaging, and customer relationship management (CRM) tools, enhancing customer engagement and streamlining internal collaboration. Its user-friendly and versatile design supports business phone systems, call centers, SIP trunking, collaboration suites, and reputation management tools, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes.
HOW DOES IT WORK?To get started with Nextiva, begin by selecting a plan that aligns with your business needs. Nextiva offers a range of service tiers, each providing different features to support businesses of all sizes. Once you’ve chosen a plan, you can either port your existing phone numbers or acquire new ones through Nextiva, ensuring a seamless transition for your communication needs.
After choosing your plan, download the NextivaONE application, compatible with macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android devices. This cross-platform availability ensures that your team can access the platform from desktops, laptops, and mobile devices, promoting flexible and remote work environments.
Next, configure your communication system by setting up call flows, auto-attendants, voicemail, and user permissions. The platform’s intuitive interface makes it easy to customize settings to fit your operational needs, ensuring efficient call routing and a professional caller experience. This customization enhances customer interactions while streamlining internal communication.
Once the setup and configuration are complete, your team can start making and receiving calls, sending messages, and hosting video conferences. Nextiva’s unified platform keeps all communications centralized, boosting collaboration and efficiency across your organization. The platform supports both traditional desktop VoIP phones and the NextivaONE softphone apps, giving you the flexibility to choose the devices that work best for your team.
Overall, the setup and configuration process is straightforward, and the user-friendly design of Nextiva makes it easy to integrate into your daily operations, supporting both in-office and remote work environments effectively.
WHAT ARE THE KEY FEATURES?Nextiva offers a comprehensive suite of features designed to enhance business communication and productivity. From unlimited calling to advanced call analytics, its robust platform supports seamless interactions and efficient collaboration. Here are some of the key features that make Nextiva a powerful solution for modern businesses:
Unlimited Calling Nextiva provides unlimited voice calling within the U.S. and Canada, allowing businesses to communicate seamlessly with clients and partners without worrying about call limits or additional charges. This feature is included across all pricing tiers, ensuring cost-effective communication.
Video Conferencing Nextiva supports high-quality video conferencing for up to 250 participants, making it suitable for team meetings, client presentations, and webinars. The platform allows screen sharing, chat during meetings, and meeting scheduling, enhancing virtual collaboration and productivity.
Internet Faxing With Nextiva's internet faxing feature, you can send and receive faxes digitally, eliminating the need for traditional fax machines. This feature is integrated directly into the platform, streamlining document sharing and reducing paper usage.
Voicemail to Email Nextiva enables voicemail-to-email functionality, which sends voicemail audio files as email attachments. This feature enhances convenience by allowing users to check voicemails directly from their email inbox, ensuring no important message is missed.
Call Analytics Nextiva provides comprehensive call analytics and reporting tools. These reports include call volume, duration, missed calls, and other performance metrics, helping businesses monitor communication efficiency and make data-driven decisions.
CRM Integration Nextiva seamlessly integrates with popular CRM platforms like Salesforce, Zoho, and HubSpot. This integration ensures streamlined customer management, as call details and interactions are automatically synced with your CRM system, enhancing sales and support processes.
Team Collaboration Tools Nextiva offers robust team collaboration features, including team chat, file sharing, and task management. The platform supports Rooms and Team Chats, enabling group communication and collaboration, much like Slack, but integrated within the communication platform.
Call Recording Call recording is available for training, quality assurance, or compliance purposes. This feature is included in the Enterprise tier or as an add-on for an additional cost. Recordings are securely stored and easily accessible through the Nextiva dashboard.
Multi-level Auto Attendant Nextiva’s multi-level auto attendant allows businesses to set up automated menus to efficiently route calls to the appropriate department or team member. This feature supports both single-digit and multi-digit extensions, enhancing customer service and operational efficiency.
Mobile App Functionality The NextivaONE mobile app is available for iOS and Android devices, providing access to all communication features on the go. It includes voice calling, messaging, video conferencing, and voicemail management, ensuring continuous connectivity and productivity from anywhere.
Auto Attendant Nextiva’s auto attendant is remarkably user-friendly and includes a call flow setup wizard that simplifies configuration. Small business owners benefit from dedicated implementation support, ensuring a smooth setup process. Administrators can easily manage system updates, such as adding or removing employees or adjusting permissions, all from a centralized screen, enhancing efficiency and control. This intuitive design makes Nextiva’s virtual receptionist a standout feature compared to other cloud phone systems.
Integrations Nextiva supports integration with various third-party applications, including Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and popular CRM platforms. This connectivity enhances functionality and streamlines workflows, centralizing communication and productivity tools in one platform.
Threaded Conversations Threaded Conversations is a powerful feature of NextivaONE that consolidates all communication—emails, text messages, and phone calls—into a single, organized view. This unified display allows users to easily add notes and access survey results without switching between applications, streamlining workflows and boosting productivity. It’s a feature typically found in advanced call center solutions, making it a standout in the VoIP space for enhancing communication efficiency.
Call Notes Nextiva’s Call Notes feature allows employees to attach notes during conversations, providing valuable context to text messages, calls, or contact records. These notes are easily accessible to team members who follow up with clients, enabling them to quickly understand key details from previous interactions. This streamlined information sharing enhances continuity and improves customer service by ensuring that all team members are on the same page when communicating with clients.
Analog and Virtual Faxing Nextiva offers both analog and virtual faxing as part of all its business phone plans, setting it apart from competitors like RingEX, Vonage, and Dialpad that either exclude faxing from base plans or require additional licenses. With Nextiva, employees can send faxes via email, an online portal (Nextiva vFax), or an analog machine using the Nextiva Fax Bridge. Additionally, Nextiva vFax complies with HIPAA regulations, making it an excellent choice for medical practices needing secure communication solutions.
Collaboration Rooms Collaboration Rooms allow users to create up to three active virtual spaces for remote and hybrid team interactions. With one-click audio or video calls, file sharing, and organized folder management, team members can easily communicate and collaborate. This feature streamlines teamwork and boosts productivity, providing a dedicated environment for ongoing projects and discussions.
ARE THERE ADDITIONAL FEATURES?Nextiva offers a range of advanced features that go beyond basic communication tools, making it a powerful and flexible platform for businesses. These features enhance productivity, streamline customer interactions, and provide valuable insights through automation, analytics, and personalization.
Automation Builder Nextiva’s automation builder streamlines communication workflows with a range of customizable tools. You can easily set up call routing, voicemail-to-email/SMS notifications, and automated follow-ups through an intuitive interface. In its AI-powered contact center, advanced automation tools like automated dialers, dynamic scripting, and skill-based routing help optimize both inbound and outbound communication. Additionally, Nextiva supports speech-enabled IVR (Interactive Voice Response) and IVA (Interactive Virtual Agent) systems, enhancing customer experiences through natural language processing and AI-driven personalization.
Analytics and Reporting Nextiva provides powerful analytics and reporting tools that give businesses valuable insights into communication performance. You can track key metrics across all channels using interactive dashboards with graphs and charts, or dive deeper with detailed tables and logs. The platform offers customizable filters for location, call groups, phone numbers, and user activity, allowing businesses to assess team productivity, compare agent performance, and replay recorded calls with added notes and ratings. This data-driven approach supports better decision-making and improved customer engagement strategies.
Gamification Nextiva boosts employee motivation and productivity through gamification features built into its analytics dashboard. Customizable leaderboards display real-time performance metrics, fostering healthy competition among team members. Businesses can set different performance criteria, create individual or team challenges, and select from various leaderboard themes. This engaging approach encourages employees to reach higher productivity levels while maintaining a fun and competitive work environment.
Call Pop Nextiva’s Call Pop feature personalizes customer interactions by displaying key information about callers before agents pick up the phone. Details such as account value, purchase history, sentiment, and survey responses are shown in a pop-up window, giving agents the context needed for more informed and personalized conversations. Integrated with your CRM, Call Pop provides full customer profiles, including recent interactions and notes, directly within the NextivaONE interface. Additionally, automated surveys capture customer feedback after each call, enhancing future interactions and overall customer satisfaction.
These additional features significantly enhance Nextiva’s capabilities, making it a robust and adaptable communication platform that meets the needs of modern businesses.
IS IT SAFE AND RELIABLE?Nextiva is committed to providing a secure and reliable communication platform. It offers a 99.999% uptime guarantee, ensuring that your business communications remain uninterrupted. The platform employs robust security measures, including encryption and secure data centers, to protect your information. However, some advanced security features, such as two-factor authentication, may not be available across all plans.
IS THERE A NEXTIVA APP?Yes, Nextiva provides applications for both desktop and mobile devices. The NextivaONE app is available for MacOS, Windows, iOS, and Android platforms. These apps allow you to make and receive calls, send messages, and participate in video conferences from any location, ensuring that your team stays connected whether they're in the office or on the move.
HOW MUCH IS IT?Nextiva offers a range of service tiers, with pricing based on the number of users and the selected billing cycle. For this overview, we'll consider an organization with 20–99 users, opting for annual billing to take advantage of available discounts.
Digital Package – Starting at $20 per user per month, this package is ideal for businesses focusing on digital channels like social media and email. It includes features such as unlimited internet fax, voicemail, and integration with Google Workspace and Microsoft Outlook.
Core Package – Priced at $30 per user per month, the Core package offers a comprehensive voice and texting solution. It encompasses all features in the Digital package, plus unlimited calling within the U.S. and Canada, unlimited video conferencing for up to 250 participants, screen sharing, a multi-level auto attendant, and SMS/MMS messaging for both mobile and desktop. Additionally, it integrates with popular customer relationship management (CRM) platforms.
Engage Package – At $40 per user per month, the Engage package is designed for businesses requiring advanced customer engagement tools. It includes all features from the Core package and adds robust call center capabilities, advanced analytics, and enhanced CRM integrations.
Power Suite – For $60 per user per month, the Power Suite provides a comprehensive solution for sales and service teams. It includes everything in the Engage package, plus AI-powered interactive voice bots, agent skills-based routing, data dips, and supervisor assistance features.
Nextiva also offers Enterprise packages starting at $129 per agent per month, tailored for brands with high-volume customer contacts. These packages provide extensive features suitable for large organizations.
It's important to note that some advanced features, such as call recording, may be available only in higher-tier plans or as add-ons. This pricing structure positions Nextiva competitively among full-featured business VoIP services. For businesses seeking a no-frills digital phone system, alternative products like Line2, starting at $13.75 per user per month (billed annually), might be more suitable.
CUSTOMER SUPPORTReliable, knowledgeable support teams are crucial when issues arise, and Nextiva stands out by providing 24/7 phone support—a feature not commonly offered by many business phone systems. Unlike other providers that limit support to live chat or restrict phone support to higher-tier plans, Nextiva ensures access to expert-level assistance at any time. Their support agents are patient, knowledgeable, and ready to guide users through all processes, from setting up new phones to configuring call routing.
Nextiva also offers comprehensive user and administrative documentation that is both accessible and detailed, simplifying self-service for customers. However, unlike some competitors, you won’t face obstacles when trying to reach a live agent. For example, while testing other products like GoTo Connect, we found that users needed to fill out a form before accessing support options, and Dialpad’s base plan only includes live chat, with phone support reserved for higher tiers.
In addition to 24/7 phone support, Nextiva provides help through live chat and help tickets, including a priority status option for critical issues, which is especially useful for small teams needing immediate assistance. Furthermore, Nextiva offers a status page, and administrators can sign up for email alerts, ensuring they stay informed about any service issues. This comprehensive approach to customer support makes Nextiva a reliable choice for businesses needing consistent and accessible help.
BOTTOMLINENextiva provides a robust communication platform with integrated video conferencing, team collaboration tools, and seamless contact integration with Google and Microsoft. While its one-way contact syncing and limited call recording options are drawbacks, its flexible setup, powerful collaboration features, and scalable add-on packages make it an excellent choice for businesses seeking a comprehensive communication solution. Though some advanced features are restricted to higher-tier plans, Nextiva’s overall functionality and ease of use make it a strong contender for modern business communication needs.
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