Broadvoice is a provider of hosted voice, UCaaS, CCaaS, and CX solutions for small and mid-market enterprises and BPOs. Broadvoice solutions offer enterprise-class features to simplify communications and streamline operations.
$10
monthly, 12 or 36 months per seat
Grasshopper
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Grasshopper is an IP telephony business communication solution that provides companies with a toll-free or local phone number. It has both desktop and mobile applications and includes features such as custom greeting recording, call forwarding, call transfer, call reporting, and voicemail.
Broadvoice is extremely robust and well-suited for a variety of contexts, but I think it excels best in tighter-knit work environments where contacting each other is the main use as opposed to receiving many incoming calls from outside guests. There have been a few instances where I think the features would conflict with user intention -- namely, having a number linked to two different phones, but one phone was meant more for receiving outside calls and the other was an office phone in the same area. Because of this, if a guest called, it would disturb the office, but if a vendor called, the guest phone would also ring, leading to confusion. I think this is an instance of the peer ecosystem conflicting with a more customer-facing need, but if a peer line needed to contact that department, it is best to have both of them ring.
Grasshopper is well suited for basic needs of texting in and out as well as calling out if you would like to avoid using your personal line. It also eliminates the need to have a dedicated land land in your office or business. You can obtain a vanity number and forward calls through grasshopper.
Broadvoice is excellent for customizing/tailoring to a business's specific needs.
Tech Support is easy to reach, and provides consistent help.
Onboarding new customers is very thorough and supportive. Changing phone systems is overwhelming and time-consuming. Broadvoice makes it as easy as possible with clear expectations and fantastic training.
When changing users on the URL page there are some steps that can be a bit clunky based on the type of phone you're using.
Separating users devices into multiple locations inside the URL is nice but you're not able to move those users around if they do change spots in the company.
For some reason within the b-hive mobile app if I miss a call and then go into the app to check the call and exit the app I still show a notification icon constantly. It seems to be related to the the Chat portion of the app. If you go to that part of the app and refresh when you exit the app the notification icon is gone.
It would be nice to have the ability to transfer some calls to another Grasshopper IVR, for those customers who mistakenly dial the wrong number (we have two incoming numbers, one for corporate and one for sales).
Likewise, it would be nice to have the ability to forward to a toll-free number, which would have allowed us to work around the inability to transfer between IVRs (see above).
Lastly, it would be great to have an 'emergency' switch setting (default off but could be toggled on) that would let us override all IVR settings and transfer all incoming calls elsewhere (either to a direct dial or toll free number) for those rare times when we cannot take any calls (such as a weather emergency OR the one time each year we take all of our staff on a retreat) - that would allow us to send all calls to a backup answering service rather than just voicemail.
Broadvoice is an ideal value. It's not the best possible IP based phone system but it's easily one of the best options if cost is a factor. We got a capable and easy to use product while lowering our costs, a total win-win.
Once the phones are operational it just works. Broadvoice will customize the phones the way you want not they way they want you to have. There are several different ringtones to choose from. Also, Broadvoice can make the volume of phone calls to stay at whatever level you set them at
Any issues are usually overcome fairly quickly. We don't utilize reports offered by the system - we are a small company and the monitoring that would provide is just not something we would utilize.
Laura H. our Service Coordinator was exceptionally helpful when the inevitable hiccups occurred along the way. She calmly sought out solutions that kept the project moving so that we could meet our move-out/move-in deadlines. Also, their 24/7 Business Support line is staffed with knowledgeable people that answer my questions quickly and accurately.
When I was setting up my account I contacted support a couple of times. They were also very professional, personable, and helpful. Their response is prompt and thorough. I'm confident I can get any question answered as well as help with any issue I might have. That's pretty important to me.
Overcame obstacles of everyone being in different places. Trainer was excellent (do not remember her name!). Open to all questions no matter how technical. The feedback from my colleagues were they were happy
It was straightforward to set up. The phone was delivered prior to installation. The script and routing of calls were established prior to installation as well. The on-site technician installed each phone and offered training to anyone who asked. The main setup for hours, calls, and extensions was already set up via online meeting, making the phone install on-site a seamless experience.
We used Comcast mobility lines for years, but compared to Broadvoice, they have a long way to go. I would sometimes have to call Comcast because their website wouldn't let me connect, while their side was showing no issues.
I have not used any other phone services like Grasshopper. I know that there is another option out there called Ruby, which is more like a virtual receptionist but since I did not try it out I cannot compare the two. When I started my company I found the services that Grasshopper offers to be perfect. It still works for us and we have no need to change to anything else right now.
