Intercom vs. Ruby Virtual Receptionist Services

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Intercom
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Intercom creates modern Customer Service software that aims to redefine how businesses support their customers. The platform connects businesses directly to customers using powerful messaging and automation. According to the vendor, Intercom enables teams to scale support without investing more resources - leading to happier customers and more efficient support teams.
$39
per month per seat
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
IntercomRuby Virtual Receptionist Services
Editions & Modules
Essential
$39
per month per seat
Advanced
$99
per month per seat
Expert
$139
per month per seat
The Early Stage program
From $65 for 5 support seats
per month
Proactive Support Plus add-on
from $99
per month
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
IntercomRuby
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional DetailsAI customer service features included in every plan. Intercom integrates Help desk, AI Chat bot, and Proactive support.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
IntercomRuby Virtual Receptionist Services
Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons
Features
IntercomRuby Virtual Receptionist Services
Incident and problem management
Comparison of Incident and problem management features of Product A and Product B
Intercom
8.1
113 Ratings
3% above category average
Ruby Virtual Receptionist Services
-
Ratings
Organize and prioritize service tickets8.4103 Ratings00 Ratings
Expert directory8.069 Ratings00 Ratings
Subscription-based notifications7.768 Ratings00 Ratings
ITSM collaboration and documentation8.276 Ratings00 Ratings
Ticket creation and submission8.3106 Ratings00 Ratings
Ticket response7.9111 Ratings00 Ratings
Self Help Community
Comparison of Self Help Community features of Product A and Product B
Intercom
7.3
117 Ratings
6% below category average
Ruby Virtual Receptionist Services
-
Ratings
External knowledge base7.4116 Ratings00 Ratings
Internal knowledge base7.2101 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-Channel Help
Comparison of Multi-Channel Help features of Product A and Product B
Intercom
8.2
114 Ratings
7% above category average
Ruby Virtual Receptionist Services
-
Ratings
Customer portal8.591 Ratings00 Ratings
IVR7.737 Ratings00 Ratings
Social integration7.570 Ratings00 Ratings
Email support8.8108 Ratings00 Ratings
Help Desk CRM integration8.582 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
IntercomRuby Virtual Receptionist Services
Small Businesses
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10
Smith.ai Live Website Chat
Smith.ai Live Website Chat
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Enterprises
SAP Service Cloud
SAP Service Cloud
Score 8.7 out of 10

No answers on this topic

All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
IntercomRuby Virtual Receptionist Services
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(263 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.9
(19 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.8
(171 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.1
(10 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
8.1
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.5
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
IntercomRuby Virtual Receptionist Services
Likelihood to Recommend
Intercom
Well suited for real time customer support needs - that's where it really shines. Well suited for proactive outreach and the ability to gather feedback from customers + surveys. Less appropriate for a non techie company to set it up, basically any sort of changes in integration have to be done by an engineer.
Read full review
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
Intercom
  • Intercom's ability to centralize customer communication is a game-changer.
  • Intercom's automation features have saved us time and streamlined workflows.
  • Help desk for users.
  • Intercom seamlessly integrates with a variety of other tools and platforms, enhancing its functionality and making it a central part of our tech stack.
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Ruby Receptionists, Inc
  • Call-out request "personal assistant services."
  • Ruby Receptionist app.
Read full review
Cons
Intercom
  • The AI tools should have a make shorter option
  • The research is difficult compared to other platforms such as Zendesk where it is easier to find stuff (accounts, emails, messages...)
  • I know that you could integrate better AI tools! The chatbot is amazing, so I'm just missing more AI tools to increase productivity
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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.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Intercom
We have been and will be continuing our journey with Intercom and nothing too concerning has happened that I have experienced or heard of that has us on the edge yet. If it ever happens it will be something along the lines of "Outgrowing" the use of need of the platform.
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Ruby Receptionists, Inc
No answers on this topic
Usability
Intercom
Everything is very straightforward and easy to see, explore, and use. Intercom provides walkthroughs and helps guides in case something is not apparent to the user and has their agents available to help. I always feel confident when exploring new features or making changes that I can have it accomplished due to the service they provide.
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Ruby Receptionists, Inc
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Intercom
always there
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Ruby Receptionists, Inc
No answers on this topic
Performance
Intercom
works perfect
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Ruby Receptionists, Inc
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Intercom
Intercom is the premier customer support/engagement model and it definitely has one of the top tier customer support teams as well. I don't think I have ever waited more than 5 minutes to get the information I need or get help with an issue. They are incredible and I aim to model our customer service department after them.
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Ruby Receptionists, Inc
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Intercom
Easy to know the learning path
Read full review
Ruby Receptionists, Inc
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Intercom
The implementation was surprisingly easy but we are having to adapt from our old process to work well with Intercom.
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Ruby Receptionists, Inc
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Intercom
We've used both Drift and Salesforce chat at Owl Labs in the past, and I didn't find them to meet our needs or customer needs the way Intercom has been able to. Intercom ranks higher for us regarding Integrations offered, customization, AI functionality, and user-friendliness. In the past, if chat visitors would click around our website, they'd have to start their chat over again from the start and lose their communication history with us. We also found that Salesforce chat did not have enough customization that we needed. One small example is that in Intercom, you can see when another teammate is looking at a chat and tag them in notes to collaborate. We didn't have access to anything like that when using Salesforce chat. Intercom has made it easy to work alongside one another to be more efficient.
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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
Intercom
  • I like how easy it is to spot the user data needed to assist our members.
  • Love how easy it is to link articles on the chat that will help both us and the customers.
  • I like that the sales force or the tickets is already connected on the chat
Read full review
Ruby Receptionists, Inc
  • Increased efficiency.
  • NEGATIVE ROI.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Intercom Screenshots

Screenshot of AI Agent - The agent resolves 50% of support volume.Screenshot of AI Copilot - A personal AI assistant for every support agent.Screenshot of Omnichannel inbox - AI-enhanced to increase productivity.Screenshot of Tickets - Intercom tickets are designed for collaboration so complex issues are resolved faster.Screenshot of Help Center -  The help center powers AI and self-serve support.Screenshot of Workflows - Automations are built using the Intercom no code visual builder.