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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    NetFortris (discontinued)

    Score6.4 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    NetFortris, and the former Fonality, provided business phone systems using Polycom and Yealink IP phones. In 2022 the company was acquired by Sangoma. NetFortris and Fonality UCaaS and other services are no longer available.N/A

    Whereby

    Score9.9 out of 10
    N/ANorwegian company appear.in offers their flagship video conferencing platform to small teams, both in a free edition hosting up to 4 guests simultaneously in a session or a paid edition that supports up to 12 simultaneous meeting guests, among other features.

    $0

    per user

    Pricing
    NetFortris (discontinued)Whereby
    Editions & Modules
    Hybrid Premise Purchase
    Varies
    Varies
    Free
    $0
    per user
    Pro
    $9.99
    per user
    Business
    $59.99 and up
    per user/room
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    NetFortris (discontinued)Whereby
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    NetFortris (discontinued)Whereby
    Considered Both Products
    Discontinued Products
    Chose NetFortris (discontinued)
    I have not used any other VoIP system that I have been paying for. I hope that Fonality proves itself enough to where I will not have to switch. So far, for the price and the functionality, this is my recommendation for small businesses. I might recommend going with a more high …
    Incentivized
    Whereby
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    93%
    Would buy again
    13 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    14 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    14 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    92%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    11 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    13 Answers
    Features
    NetFortris (discontinued)Whereby
    Cloud PBX
    Comparison of Cloud PBX features of NetFortris (discontinued) and Whereby
    Feature
    NetFortris (discontinued)
    7.8
    90 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Whereby
    -
    Ratings
    Hosted PBX7.058 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multi-level Interactive Voice Response (IVR)6.046 Ratings00 Ratings
    User templates6.82 Ratings00 Ratings
    Call reports9.078 Ratings00 Ratings
    Directory of employee names10.078 Ratings00 Ratings
    Call Management
    Comparison of Call Management features of NetFortris (discontinued) and Whereby
    Feature
    NetFortris (discontinued)
    7.4
    94 Ratings
    11% below category average
    Whereby
    -
    Ratings
    Answering rules7.089 Ratings00 Ratings
    Call recording7.067 Ratings00 Ratings
    Call park6.073 Ratings00 Ratings
    Call screening8.067 Ratings00 Ratings
    Message alerts9.078 Ratings00 Ratings
    VoIP system collaboration
    Comparison of VoIP system collaboration features of NetFortris (discontinued) and Whereby
    Feature
    NetFortris (discontinued)
    7.5
    55 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Whereby
    -
    Ratings
    Video conferencing7.017 Ratings00 Ratings
    Audio conferencing8.054 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile apps
    Comparison of Mobile apps features of NetFortris (discontinued) and Whereby
    Feature
    NetFortris (discontinued)
    9.0
    55 Ratings
    13% above category average
    Whereby
    -
    Ratings
    Mobile app for iOS9.046 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile app for Android9.033 Ratings00 Ratings
    Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software
    Comparison of Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software features of NetFortris (discontinued) and Whereby
    Feature
    NetFortris (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Whereby
    7.8
    14 Ratings
    1% below category average
    High quality audio00 Ratings9.014 Ratings
    High quality video00 Ratings9.014 Ratings
    Low bandwidth requirements00 Ratings8.012 Ratings
    Mobile support00 Ratings5.011 Ratings
    Screen Sharing
    Comparison of Screen Sharing features of NetFortris (discontinued) and Whereby
    Feature
    NetFortris (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Whereby
    8.0
    13 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Desktop sharing00 Ratings8.013 Ratings
    Whiteboards00 Ratings8.04 Ratings
    Online Meetings / Events
    Comparison of Online Meetings / Events features of NetFortris (discontinued) and Whereby
    Feature
    NetFortris (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Whereby
    9.4
    13 Ratings
    14% above category average
    Calendar integration00 Ratings9.94 Ratings
    Meeting initiation00 Ratings9.010 Ratings
    Integrates with social media00 Ratings9.72 Ratings
    Record meetings / events00 Ratings9.07 Ratings
    Slideshows00 Ratings9.35 Ratings
    Online Events Collaboration
    Comparison of Online Events Collaboration features of NetFortris (discontinued) and Whereby
    Feature
    NetFortris (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Whereby
    8.3
    9 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Live chat00 Ratings9.09 Ratings
    Audience polling00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Q&A00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Online Events Security
    Comparison of Online Events Security features of NetFortris (discontinued) and Whereby
    Feature
    NetFortris (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Whereby
    6.9
    11 Ratings
    16% below category average
    User authentication00 Ratings8.86 Ratings
    Participant roles & permissions00 Ratings5.09 Ratings
    Confidential attendee list00 Ratings7.04 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    NetFortris (discontinued)Whereby
    Small Businesses
    CallFire
    Score9.7 out of 10
    ClickMeeting
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Fuze
    Score8.2 out of 10
    JioMeet
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Webex Meetings
    Score8.7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    NetFortris (discontinued)Whereby
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.0
    (108 ratings)
    9.0
    (15 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.8
    (16 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    7.6
    (8 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Availability
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.1
    (7 ratings)
    5.1
    (9 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    7.2
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.8
    (4 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.7
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    NetFortris (discontinued)Whereby
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Discontinued Products
    For Insurance agencies, small practices, small call centers, anyone that need call forwarding or work with his number remotely while away from office. I can't list all the things I'm gaining as a Fonality customer. From the installation process, the configuration phase with the technicians, the account managers, every Fonality employee was professional and savvy. I was a contact center specialist for more than 10 years and I can tell you that I've never been this happy with a service! Never! Probably if you need a more complex solution and you have an enterprise level company having your own hardware gives you more control over your calls and how to manage them. But again, I think that Fonality can cover most scenarios without the need of a huge investment.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Whereby
    If you cannot use another more common solution on the market or are looking for an alternative to the known solutions, it is a great alternative. If you have other tools already, and just want to test [them], that's fine, but I think the better-known ones have a better chance of using, knowing, and the learning curve will be shorter.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Discontinued Products
    • From an administrator's perspective, Fonality makes administering the company's phone system easy. Configuration menus and setup options are logically structured and easy to understand.
    • Technical support has been very good. Early on in our deployment, we had some nagging voice quality issues which were network related. Fonality provided exceptional support even though it was not technically their issue. It is important to know ahead of time how well your vendors work with other vendors for integrated services like a VOIP telephone system. Fonality support demonstrated their patience and perseverance in helping us resolve our issues.
    • Although we don't use remote office capabilities much, the ability to set up phones on the system in remote locations has been a significant help to several of our departments.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Whereby
    • Easy to use: The app is very, very easy to use. Literally just create a chat room (input a name) and access it to chat.
    • Call/video quality: I've experienced better call quality on appear.in than in almost all other chat and video conferencing services out there.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Discontinued Products
    • Bugginess - Some things just really need some tweaking. I had to get very creative with my call routing and hold music, because the in-queue announcements don't work right at all. For example, even set to 'play once' it would loop the 'you are the first caller' announcement over and over, and cause call drops. Or my caller-name ID, which shows the registered user's name on each line on outgoing calls, even though it's not set to such anywhere in the CP settings.
    • Support - I'll give them 50/50 on this. My experience with Verizon VCE was everyone playing hot potato with issues and saying it was the responsibility of another department, meaning several phone calls and lots of hold time. Fonality doesn't have that issue, I've never really been passed around or blown off. However, some of the 'offshore' CS reps are... wow. I spent about half a dozen emails back and forth with two of them, trying to figure out why queues I deleted from the CP randomly and consistently reappeared in the HUD. Most of those emails were spent trying to explain that no, my issue was NOT that I wanted to create those queues again in the CP.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Whereby
    • The paid version may have dial-in. But I have always used the free version. Dial-in is typically required for an "official" multi-purpose teleconference platform.
    • I did have some trouble with larger groups (5+) when it was Appear.in but almost always use it for small 1-on-1 or 3 person meetings.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Discontinued Products
    We've already made a deep investment in the system hardware. We wouldn't be interested in another system at this point! And by the look of my colleagues faces when they see the HUD, I don't think we'd want to switch to a system that would limit us or take away any of these features! We may look at putting the server in the cloud, should internet outages prove to be such a common issue that it is preventing our other locations from functioning smoothly
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Whereby
    We are using a larger tool suite that already includes video conferencing instead of our older approach of using different apps from different vendors. appear.in has a simple but great set of features but its pricing scheme is not as scalable as we really need in a 500+ employee company.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Discontinued Products
    Overall excellent usability, with a few adjustments I feel this is the absolute best VoIP system out there. Just a clarification on the licences and limit the interface to reflect what licence we have. There should be a back or redunancy feature to Fonality Server, If there was a mistake we should be able to resort back to a usable state asap. Before implementing changes to the server, there should be a trial or sample of the changes to make sure it behaves as intended before effecting customer experience. It would be nice to have a demo version of Fonality interface so possible clients can truly evauluate the system. Because of the quality, it would have made it easier to convince the owners to make the transition sooner
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Whereby
    Very easy to use, technical and non-technical colleagues have used it with no instructions needed. That says all about the app and services.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Discontinued Products
    Fonality has been available to us 99% of the time. There have rarely been any lengthy outages. If any issues do occur, their support staff is available around the clock to help. This is important, since communication is a big part in our company and availability of the phone system is important in maintaining this reliability
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Whereby
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Discontinued Products
    Fonality's performance is excellent. The phones work flawlessly and the calls are clear. It is a well put-together system that does not need daily support. It is not complex from a user standpoint, as most of our staff are quick to learn how to use the phones. More systems should strive to work as well as Fonality's
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Whereby
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Discontinued Products
    Because of their customer support and their attention for details in our problems that we face during our initial stage. We simply love fonality just for the way we are treated when we reach them with our fonality issues - they take it seriously and resolve it as early as possible and the most important part is we dont need to keep on insisting them to do so.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Whereby
    Never had to contact support, so we cannot give a rating for their overall support. When we noticed the audio was not always great quality, we simply educated our users to mute the mic and use the in-room conference phone which is connected via a dedicated VOIP link and had much better voice quality. The video performance varied by locations network speed and found it got much worse when the room size increased to over 4 connections.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Discontinued Products
    Training was provided by the in-house IT administrator. Fonality was able to provide support to the admin, who then assisted the users. It went smoothly and all the details and functions of the system were made available to the office staff. Any questions were answered promptly and if any issues did arise, Fonality was available to answer them
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Whereby
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Discontinued Products
    Training was excellent, but most of what they had was webinars and not real world situation for our company's need. It would be better to have them remote in my local computer and test my system using inbound / outbound calls. This would have made it easier to learn and more relevant
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Whereby
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Discontinued Products
    Everything from the installation to the implementation has been great with Fonality, there is a lot of freedom to how the system will operate but the freedom comes at a cost of more technical experience to make sure it is configured correctly. The staff is very helpful can will make sure that the system is setup correctly and work perfectly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Whereby
    After a recommendation from a partner, as the system is very easy to use, we simply start.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Discontinued Products
    I have not used any other VoIP system that I have been paying for. I hope that Fonality proves itself enough to where I will not have to switch. So far, for the price and the functionality, this is my recommendation for small businesses. I might recommend going with a more high end phone to increase functionality, but other than that, the system is one I would definitely recommend.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Whereby
    I find Zoom more complicated to use and harder to use because a lot of people do not like having to download things to their computers or devices and Whereby is so easy to get connected with . I like that Zoom offers larger rooms, but at this point the cost is not worth the extra expense.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Discontinued Products
    It is easy to scale this system, as long as you have the proper technical staff available to support it. Adding users and phones is straightforward. The main work involves having the physical network in place and configuring the networking equipment. Overall, it is not that difficult as long as all of this is in place.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Whereby
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Discontinued Products
    • We are still new to Fonality, but having the flexability has proven quite successful thus far.
    • The management of incoming calls and voicemail messages has really helped us to be able to follow up with potential clients.
    • The service at Fonality helped our new business take a leap into 2017, and we expect much growth with the continued use of Fonality.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Whereby
    • In general, any sort of online collaborations saves a lot on your budget. The meetings are rather more on time and can be efficient and short.
    • Easy to drop-by and have a small talk with clients/teammates within COVID era.
    • The URL makes you look fancy instead of a random hash.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    NetFortris (discontinued) Screenshots

    Screenshot of Fonality's Heads Up Display (HUD) Web dashboard is home base for connecting with colleagues and customers.Screenshot of Chatting is easy in HUD as they are easily launched by hovering over a fellow user's avatar. Chats are also available within Groups and Conferences.Screenshot of Managers with Fonality's Advance Call Center license can Barge, Monitor, or Whisper with one click. Useful for training, customer insights, and quality assurance. Real-time call queue information is shown in the Dock area to the right.Screenshot of Every Fonality system comes with voicemail boxes for all users, but with optional Voicemail Transcription you'll never have to listen to a voicemail again. Transcribed voicemails are delivered in HUD and via email.

    Whereby Screenshots

    Screenshot of Easy video meetings in your browser. No downloads, no login.Screenshot of Up to 50 participants in Townhall rooms.Screenshot of Record, save, and share meetings.