Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager) vs. Nextiva Business Phone Service

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Call Manager is a unified call control center from Cisco that supports enterprise collaboration functions across the spectrum of IP telephony, video & web conferencing, and messaging. Features include call forwarding, call back, call transfer, ad hoc conferencing, and call park.N/A
Nextiva Business Phone Service
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
Nextiva is a business communications platform that includes a VoIP solution, CRM software, BI software, cloud storage, phone and device rentals, email marketing automation software, and a contact center solution. These products can be purchased individually or together.
$18.95
per month
Pricing
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Nextiva Business Phone Service
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Essential
$23.95
Per User Per Month
Professional
$27.95
Per User Per Month
Enterprise
$37.95
Per User Per Month
Ultimate
$67.95
Per User Per Month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Nextiva Business Phone Service
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsMust contact sales team for pricing
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Nextiva Business Phone Service
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Nextiva Business Phone Service
Cloud PBX
Comparison of Cloud PBX features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
7.4
40 Ratings
10% below category average
Nextiva Business Phone Service
9.2
207 Ratings
12% above category average
Hosted PBX9.919 Ratings9.493 Ratings
Multi-level Interactive Voice Response (IVR)6.029 Ratings9.4110 Ratings
User templates8.238 Ratings8.8127 Ratings
Call reports5.137 Ratings9.2172 Ratings
Directory of employee names8.038 Ratings9.4169 Ratings
Call Management
Comparison of Call Management features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
7.3
43 Ratings
14% below category average
Nextiva Business Phone Service
9.2
227 Ratings
9% above category average
Answering rules7.841 Ratings9.4203 Ratings
Call recording5.526 Ratings9.1173 Ratings
Call park8.037 Ratings9.2161 Ratings
Call screening7.534 Ratings9.1164 Ratings
Message alerts7.838 Ratings9.1202 Ratings
VoIP system collaboration
Comparison of VoIP system collaboration features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
7.7
39 Ratings
7% below category average
Nextiva Business Phone Service
8.7
155 Ratings
5% above category average
Video conferencing9.329 Ratings8.775 Ratings
Audio conferencing8.839 Ratings9.2135 Ratings
Video screen sharing6.115 Ratings8.464 Ratings
Instant messaging6.618 Ratings8.7105 Ratings
Mobile apps
Comparison of Mobile apps features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
8.7
23 Ratings
5% above category average
Nextiva Business Phone Service
8.7
194 Ratings
5% above category average
Mobile app for iOS8.423 Ratings8.8165 Ratings
Mobile app for Android9.121 Ratings8.6135 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Nextiva Business Phone Service
Small Businesses
CloudTalk
CloudTalk
Score 9.5 out of 10
CloudTalk
CloudTalk
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
CloudTalk
CloudTalk
Score 9.5 out of 10
CloudTalk
CloudTalk
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
Score 9.0 out of 10
Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Nextiva Business Phone Service
Likelihood to Recommend
9.2
(44 ratings)
9.3
(243 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(1 ratings)
9.4
(7 ratings)
Usability
8.7
(4 ratings)
9.6
(5 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(14 ratings)
9.1
(8 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
9.6
(4 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)Nextiva Business Phone Service
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
The Cisco Unified Communications Manager platform would be most suited for the below scenarios. 1. An organization with very restricted policies and compliance where can't move to cloud-based solutions for data security. They can install the CUCM on-premises. 2. An organization that is still on a legacy phone system could adopt CUCM to save costs and have better services.
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Nextiva
We have had great service with Nextiva Business Phone Service and it is reliable and reasonably priced for the offered features. User Friendly and minimal issues. We are able to control most of the set up for new users and or new phones when needed. Only would like to see the app - Nextiva One be enhanced with more features than it currently has.
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Pros
Cisco
  • This solution is extremely stable and has been running in our environment for several years without (unscheduled) downtime.
  • The ability to have voicemails automatically sent as an email message is extremely helpful in helping us to keep in touch while away from the desk.
  • The Call Manager provides us very granular settings to route our calls as we want.
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Nextiva
  • Up-time, We've never had any sort of extended downtime because of Nextiva Business Phone Service, there services just work
  • Provisioning of supported devices is very easy to do and is almost automatic, this makes new device roll out especially smooth
  • The call flow functionality is especially smooth and intuitive to setup.
  • Their customer service is very effective and I've never waited more than 2 days for a solution, that's for more complicated issues too.
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Cons
Cisco
  • Administration web page is little bit hard to understand at the beginning specially if you are not familiar with naming convention and GU Interfaces.
  • Call Detail Record interface is fine but would be desirable to include more options that fit organization needs in terms of reporting purposes.
  • Self Care Portal interface could be more useful to the end user if it includes options to manage some features without administrators involving.
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Nextiva
  • The use of two apps when you're a supervisor. We have to use Unity and the Nextiva app instead of one app. It can be cumbersome.
  • Better integration with CRM's. We use Zendesk and it works ok as it does pull up customer records if we have their phone number on file. But it would be better if we could have more functionality from one place and have it write to the CRM directly.
  • Accept higher quality audio for greeting recordings. We had to trim the file size down several times losing a lot of audio quality in the process. Mono is fine since callers will only need to hear the one channel. But the Hz limit and file size limit were rough.
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Likelihood to Renew
Cisco
We have been using this product for 20+ years and will continue too. This is a great product and new features are always coming out.
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Nextiva
Its user friendly, easy to use and has been very reliable. We have nothing but good things to say about our service with Nextiva Business Phone Service. When needed their support team has always resolved any and all issues one way or another. They have been helpful, knowledgeable and very friendly. The features vs the cost is wonderful compared to other service providers.
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Usability
Cisco
Although it's very easy to use, once you understand the concepts of IP telephony, as I said before, I think Cisco could have improved the management interface of the platform, adding modern technologies and the design language of the other platforms like DNA Center, etc. This interface hasn't had a substantial improvement for about 10 years
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Nextiva
Nextiva Business Phone Service system is very usable. We have desk phones, that were included at no cost. The function just as one would expect from an office phone system. I can also answer my calls from my PC and even on my cell phone if I have to leave the office.
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Reliability and Availability
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Nextiva
We have not yet experienced any issues the Nextiva Business Phone Service availability. It has always worked as needed.
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Performance
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Nextiva
Nextiva Business Phone Service performance is great. The call quality is much better than our old analog land lines at a fraction of the cost.
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Support Rating
Cisco
CUCM is supported by most third-party vendors for related products, so it makes finding solutions to specific needs easy. Also Cisco TAC is very knowledgeable, and we have never run into a problem they have not been able to resolve. Usually they are resolved without the need to escalate tickers either.
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Nextiva
Support is great. We usually get someone on the phone; they answer our questions and help us with our issues. They are responsive when we call, and there is also a wealth of information on their online help center, which will typically answer our question or send us in the right direction.
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Online Training
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Nextiva
The training we received from Nextiva Business Phone Service was thorough, and detailed. It also did not take very long.
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Implementation Rating
Cisco
This was the first phone system we implemented that could span multiple locations. We were very satisfied once fully implemented
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Nextiva
No was done by Agency Owner and was done with the help of Nextiva Support and Sales team. Went very well and has been working great since then. Was originally only two phones and then we continue to add to that. We did not have any reported issues and was a great experience for our Agency and Small Business.
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Alternatives Considered
Cisco
We have been a Cisco based shop and have looked at other cloud voice options such as MS Teams pbx, and others, but ultimately, the features, endpoints, and reliability of Cisco has been the common factor in staying with them as our voice provider. Their integrations, room systems, and hybrid design allows for us to be flexible and keep a high up time vs reliance on 100% cloud.
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Nextiva
We switched for better uptime, ease of use, and better tech support and got all that from Nextiva. We were constantly losing connection with our previous provider, a package service for internet and phone. The web portal is much easier to use, and the call center offers many more features.
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Scalability
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Nextiva
We have not yet needed top scale up our phone system yet, but I can tell that it will be very quick and effortless to do so when the need arises.
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Return on Investment
Cisco
  • Communication and collaboration - Our offices are able to communicate both internally and externally due to this system.
  • Down time - Struggles with CUCM has caused a lot of down time due to the instability of the system.
  • High Costs - the cost of both the license and the maintenance was much higher than other systems.
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Nextiva
  • ROI - we are saving money, a lot of money, and we have a MUCH better phone system
  • Consolidation - we migrated 6 different phone systems in 6 different counties into one, and it's been wonderful!
  • Management - managing this system is so much better than Mitel, Panasonic, and any other system I have used. We are able to assign rights to certain staff to also make changes, and it's user friendly and almost fool proof.
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