ChatBeacon vs. Ruby Virtual Receptionist Services

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ChatBeacon
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
ChatBeacon (formerly SightMax) is a live chat tool from SmartMax Software headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.N/A
Ruby
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
Ruby, or Ruby Receptionists headquartered in Portland, boasts supporting more than 10,000 businesses with live virtual receptionists and 24/7 available chat services. Users set their preferences to have Ruby answer the phone part-time, full-time, or after hours, and Ruby deploys personalized company greetings to custom call handling instructions.
$129
per month
Pricing
ChatBeaconRuby Virtual Receptionist Services
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Chat Ruby 10
$129
monthly
Chat Ruby 30
$299
monthly
Call Ruby 100
$319
monthly
Chat Ruby 50
$469
monthly
Call Ruby 200
$599
monthly
Call Ruby 350
$999
monthly
Call Ruby 500
$1,399
monthly
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ChatBeaconRuby
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional Details—Bundled Chat Ruby 10 Your Call Ruby Plan + Up to 10 Chats for $99 Bundled Chat Ruby 30 Your Call Ruby Plan + Up to 30 Chats for $249 Bundled Chat Ruby 50 Your Call Ruby Plan + Up to 50 Chats for $399
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ChatBeaconRuby Virtual Receptionist Services
Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Best Alternatives
ChatBeaconRuby Virtual Receptionist Services
Small Businesses
Gist
Gist
Score 9.6 out of 10
Smith.ai Live Website Chat
Smith.ai Live Website Chat
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Genesys DX (discontinued)
Genesys DX (discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Enterprises
Genesys DX (discontinued)
Genesys DX (discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10

No answers on this topic

All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
ChatBeaconRuby Virtual Receptionist Services
Likelihood to Recommend
6.0
(1 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
ChatBeaconRuby Virtual Receptionist Services
Likelihood to Recommend
SmartMax Software
ChatBeacon is a decent choice for on-premises chat support, but the clunky agent UI sparks no joy. If your organization can use a cloud-based solution, there are plenty of other fish in the sea
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Ruby Receptionists, Inc
Ruby Virtual Receptionist Services is well suited for a business that needs call screening and message-taking services. The service is expensive but if the user is willing to put a lot of time and effort into planning and scriptwriting, as well as call handling instructions, it may work well. Also, if there is not much information that must be captured by the receptionist, I feel this may be a better fit.
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Pros
SmartMax Software
  • Easy to install and configure.
  • Easy for customers to use.
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Ruby Receptionists, Inc
  • Call-out request "personal assistant services."
  • Ruby Receptionist app.
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Cons
SmartMax Software
  • ChatBeacon is just SightMax with a fresh coat of paint.
  • The entire agent UI is remarkably worse than SightMax.
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Ruby Receptionists, Inc
  • Clarity in billing.
  • Shortened hold times.
  • Less transfer time from call to receptionist (between English and Spanish).
  • Better training of receptionists to prevent certain things from being said to clients - decreases client confidence.
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Support Rating
SmartMax Software
Support is a strong point for ChatBeacon - their support team is small, but you definitely get white-glove service. Zero complaints about ChatBeacon support!
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Ruby Receptionists, Inc
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
SmartMax Software
Before using SightMax (now ChatBeacon), we used AliveChat, which was an OK SaaS product, but the team operating the service would frequently restart the servers after maintenance and forget to start our instance back up. ChatBeacon(SightMax) as on-prem software eliminated this concern. We've been evaluating ChatBeacon vs. other products lately, and we really like how DeskPro stacks up vs. ChatBeacon - ChatBeacon is purely a chat product, and DeskPro does web chat/phone/email ticketing.
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Ruby Receptionists, Inc
We switched over from Answer First to Ruby Receptionist because we wanted a more full-service answering service. We wanted to be able to call out using our business number as well as text in and out. We also really liked the "call-out request" feature as it freed up our time and allowed Ruby to handle minor client communications, etc.
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Return on Investment
SmartMax Software
  • Using website chat (often with an agent:customer ratio of up to 1:3 or more ) vs. phone support (with an agent ratio of 1:1) has greatly reduced support costs in every business unit.
  • Providing realtime feedback and links (vs. phone calls) has greatly improved the turnaround on the sales and customer inquiry processes.
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Ruby Receptionists, Inc
  • Increased efficiency.
  • NEGATIVE ROI.
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ScreenShots