Overview
What is NetFortris?
NetFortris provides business phone systems using Polycom and Yealink IP phones. They offer three subscription-based pricing plans, all including unlimited VoIP and desktop phone options. Advanced plans include other features such as video collaboration, softphone, and on-demand recording.
Play with the cloud (communication)
Fonality Review
Low-cost on premise IP PBX with less than stellar support
My year and a half with Fonality
It truly is the Hud!
Disappointed User
My happy experience with Fonality
Small Business - First Phone System
A great (but not perfect) hosted VoIP option
Great!
Great product. I can't imagine by business without Fonality.
Fonality on campus at SEA
TAC loves Fonality!
Upgrade to Call Center
Fonality Cloud based PBX worth a look
Popular Features
- Directory of employee names (78)10.0100%
- Call reports (78)9.090%
- Message alerts (78)9.090%
- Answering rules (89)7.070%
Pricing
Hybrid Software Subscription (Required with Hybrid Premise)
$14.99
Essentials Edition
$19.99
Professional Edition
$24.99
Entry-level set up fee?
- $5 per userRequired
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Starting price (does not include set up fee)
- $30 per month
Product Demos
NetFortris Product Spotlight - Comm-unity HUDWeb Demo
Features
Cloud PBX
A cloud PBX system is based on cloud computing technology where data is stored and transferred over the intenet without any need for on-site PBX equipment
- 7Hosted PBX(58) Ratings
Hosted telephony infrastructure obviated the need for local PBX hardware
- 6Multi-level Interactive Voice Response (IVR)(46) Ratings
IVR is a phone menu allowing callers to interact with the system through voice and keypad
- 6.8User templates(2) Ratings
Create and apply batch configurations to multiple users at once
- 9Call reports(78) Ratings
Historical call analysis and trending metrics
- 10Directory of employee names(78) Ratings
Voice directory of all employees for self-service dialing
Call Management
Customized phone system settings
- 7Answering rules(89) Ratings
Ability to enter rules to route calls to main number or other extensions in case of absence
- 7Call recording(67) Ratings
Automatic recording of inbound and outbound calls
- 6Call park(73) Ratings
Ability to hold calls in virtual location and subsequently access from any phone in system
- 8Call screening(67) Ratings
Ability to block numbers or send calls directly to voicemail
- 9Message alerts(78) Ratings
Receive SMS and email message notifications for voice and fax messages
VoIP system collaboration
Team collaboration via cloud phone system
- 7Video conferencing(17) Ratings
Built-in video conferencing capabilities
- 8Audio conferencing(54) Ratings
Audio conferencing credentials for all on the system.
Mobile apps
Apps are compatible with mobile devices.
- 9Mobile app for iOS(46) Ratings
App for iPhone and iPad
- 9Mobile app for Android(33) Ratings
Android app
Product Details
- About
- Integrations
- Competitors
- Tech Details
- FAQs
What is NetFortris?
Rated PCMag's Editors' Choice for Business VoIP 2016, NetFortris (formerly Fonality) is a leading business phone system provider that bundles its unified communications software for a complete business communications solution. NetFortris says it is known for:
- Innovating with Heads Up Display (HUD) so users can see who's available, chat, audio and video conference, record calls on the fly, and more
- Building in fundamental call center features like simple queues
- Offering advanced features that make enterprise-level call center available at the fraction of the price
- Including a web phone and mobile app at no additional cost
- Lowering costs with unlimited calling plans between the U.S. and more than a half dozen other countries and territories
- Providing 24/7 support - even on holidays
- Transparency: if there is an issue, they'll tell users
NetFortris Features
Cloud PBX Features
- Supported: Hosted PBX
- Supported: Multi-level Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
- Supported: Call reports
- Supported: Directory of employee names
Call Management Features
- Supported: Answering rules
- Supported: Call recording
- Supported: Call park
- Supported: Call screening
- Supported: Message alerts
VoIP system collaboration Features
- Supported: Video conferencing
- Supported: Audio conferencing
Mobile apps Features
- Supported: Mobile app for iOS
- Supported: Mobile app for Android
Additional Features
- Supported: Heads Up Display (HUD) UC applications
- Supported: 100+ Business Phone System Features
- Supported: Softphone (Included)
- Supported: Voicemail Transcription
- Supported: Call Center Software (Built-in)
- Supported: On Demand Recording / Record All
- Supported: Paperless Fax / FaxLync
- Supported: 24/7 Support
NetFortris Screenshots
NetFortris Video
Watch What is NetFortris?
NetFortris Integrations
- Salesforce Sales Cloud
- Box
- Twilio Zipwhip (discontinued)
- Intellinote
- Snap Recordings
- Allstate eAgent
- Blitz Lead Manager
NetFortris Competitors
NetFortris Technical Details
Deployment Types | On-premise, Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
---|---|
Operating Systems | Windows, Mac |
Mobile Application | Apple iOS, Android |
Supported Countries | Global (99 countries and territories) |
Supported Languages | English |
Frequently Asked Questions
NetFortris Customer Size Distribution
Consumers | 0% |
---|---|
Small Businesses (1-50 employees) | 40% |
Mid-Size Companies (51-500 employees) | 50% |
Enterprises (more than 500 employees) | 10% |
Comparisons
Compare with
Reviews and Ratings
(162)Attribute Ratings
- 8.8Likelihood to Renew16 ratings
- 8Availability4 ratings
- 8Performance2 ratings
- 7.6Usability8 ratings
- 9.1Support Rating7 ratings
- 7.2Online Training4 ratings
- 8In-Person Training2 ratings
- 9.8Implementation Rating4 ratings
- 9.7Configurability3 ratings
- 8.1Product Scalability2 ratings
- 8Ease of integration1 rating
- 8Vendor pre-sale1 rating
- 8Vendor post-sale1 rating
Reviews
(1-25 of 31)My year and a half with Fonality
- The new handsets we purchased do provide a helpful log of calls -- outgoing, incoming, missed, etc. -- however, I imagine that any VoIP provider can also provide this service.
- We now use headsets that allow us to move about the office freely while on calls, which we could not do with our old phone system. Again, this probably has more to do with VoIP and the newer handsets than anything provided to us by Fonality/NetFortris.
- Fonality/NetFortris, for some reason, limits the functionality of the handsets that are compatible with it and which we purchased to compliment it. We are forced to use the HUDweb interface or the HUD desktop app to do simple things like placing calls on hold, transferring calls, and initiating conference calls. In my office, most employees have several windows open at once -- as I'm sure is common in most offices -- and it can be distracting and clumsy to have to minimize windows in order to pull up the HUD to put a call on hold.
- In addition, the lighted buttons on the handset can be used to indicate when another user is currently on the line, or if they are unavailable (I know this because I have been speaking with another VoIP provider who offers this feature); however, Fonality/NetFortris does not allow us to use this feature. Again, we are funneled into using the HUD desktop app, which does provide the information that we want to have handy, but not where we want it (on the handsets).
- Customer service has been less that helpful when we call to address our concerns. Ironically, the call quality with customer service is often very poor, and on more than one occasion, I was greeted with someone who did not know how to help me and didn't make any effort to do so.
Small Business - First Phone System
- Great Customer Service
- Good Onboarding process
- Comprehensive Training for users and setup
- Hardware may need to be upgraded to facilitate better call quality.
- Call quality via cell phone app has been spotty on WiFi, requires the use of a carrier network.
A great (but not perfect) hosted VoIP option
- Ease of use. Fonality works as well (if not better than) our previous land-line based phone systems. The transition was incredibly easy thanks to its ease of use - and Fonality's onboarding team was extremely responsive whenever we had a concern.
- Pricing. Fonality's pricing model is very intuitive and is easily budgetable.
- The mobile platform allows our on-call teams to give our customers the confidence that their calls will be answered, even if it is after hours, and no one is physically in the office.
- Id like to see recordings be integrated into Fonality's main CP. Today, these are separate, and make the QC process a bit more labor intensive than it should be. Additionally, the search features are a bit cumbersome.
- The overall control panel, while very effective, looks dated, an the overall UX is behind some of Fonality's other competitors (CoreDial for example).
- Proactive support would be nice - with our QOS as part of Fonality's system, it would be nice to receive automated notices whenever a potential issue arises, as opposed to being reactive to a service-impacting issue.
Upgrade to Call Center
- Reliability of the system
- The customization of the inbound call experience
- Ability to transfer calls to a softphone, hardphone and cell phone
- Great customer service
- More clear on the subscription features and costs at time of quotes
- Remove unusable features from the softphone if subscription does not cover
- For the most part, the sound quality is great. Some hiccups here and there but good overall.
- I really do like their HUD and it's better that most out there.
- If our internet goes down it does not mean you lose everything as you can switch it to another device.
- They need to provide their sales and install departments with more knowledge of their own system.
- Give the new user better startup (setup) tools to help implement things in a better format.
- The ability to switch on the fly your status when on the mobile app.
- Flexibility in sales in order to help the user if a promo changes within the first year.
- Can't mass upload your phone book.
Fonality vs. Vonage for small business owners
- Impressed with the quality of the equipment provided (Polycom VVX 4 Series handset). Great speakerphone compared to the phone that was provided by the previous provider with a lower overall cost.
- Like the dashboard and softphone capabilities.
- Customer service and setup was excellent. Available and willing to take necessary time during the setup phase.
- The initial setup is a seemed a little challenging (however, the customer service was very patient in stepping through the process).
- Setting up the remote phone location was a little challenging compared to other lines.
- Would be nice if the record all function was available at a lower cost.
Fonality: the good and the bad
- Ability to be mobile
- Ease of use
- The soft phone (but the app needs work)
- The ease of use for some people
- The setup of call cues
- Need better training when first setting up
Click to Dial Enthusiast
- The Click to Dial feature is one of my favorites. Especially because it integrates directly with Blitz Lead Manager - the CRM I am using. Simply clicking the number in the lead or prospect starts the phone dialing. It saves time with every call, adding time to my day.
- Setting up the phone tree can be a little cumbersome, but it is a great feature. I know that, when a call gets to me, the person on the other end of the line is looking to get a quote for insurance. Once you have a system in place, it works very well.
- Call quality, thus far, has been more than satisfactory. The calls are clear and consistent
- The web launcher has been causing me problems. After it did not initially work (despite numerous attempts to set it up), it started to work improperly. It is still not doing exactly what it is intended to do.
The Polycom phones are a little basic and finding missed calls is a little difficult. Also, the HUD is a little confusing. Depending on how you dial or how the call comes into the office, the call log may only show your extension instead of the external number being contacted.
DTV's Fonality Review
- The user interface is done in an intuitive way where it's easy to set nup and understand. There are many things you can do for call routing and other phone tree setup.
- We went from a standard BCM phone system to VOIP system. So having everything done over IP and UI is a lot easier for users to manage.
- All the different functionality is important too. We can have people working from anywhere and still be connected to the business. You can forward on phone calls to your cell phones. The HUD is a neat feature that [lets] customer service users use a computer app instead of the phone handset.
- The customer service is almost non-existent. It's really hard to get good service with tough questions. With minor things it's fine, but with more advanced things it wasn't very good.
- The HUDWeb, the online versions of the phone software, was really bad at connecting for users that worked from home. But to be fair it could have been their internet connection.
- Call quality has been an issue....if not properly set up. The phone system needs high internet speeds which is something Northfield doesn't have. We've seen diminished call quality when bandwidth is getting sucked up.
Fonality VOIP phones
- Technical support is very knowledgeable.
- The web portal is very easy to navigate and make changes on the spot.
- HUD integration is a very important feature to Fonality. I did not have that when I first purchased the system.
- I run a Insurance sales office and would like to be able to log onto the Fonality site and track how many phone call are going out from my sales team and how many incoming calls are picked up by my support staff.
- I have not been able to figure out how to use mobile HUD yet.
- I would like to be able to log into the Fonality site using an app on my phone, preferably using Touch ID.
Overall Satisfied
- Our employees work from multiple locations and home. Fonality makes it easy to stay connected at all times. We use the phones in our home offices and the soft-phone when on the road.
- We are an IT support company. Sometimes calls run extremely long and Fonality makes it easy to transfer calls from our office phones over to our cell phones. This allows us to continue calls with vendors or support when we have to travel onsite or to another customer.
- Setting up the voice recordings for the automated attendant is extremely easy.
- Setting up the open, closed, and holiday schedules for the automated attendant is very simple.
- Changing our location in the HUD doesn't always work and we need to login on the web to updates our status. For example, if I have to leave my office for any reason I normally change my location so my cell phone rings. The calls do not always get forwarded to my cell as expected.
- Our initial setup took an unusually long time. We were in a bit of a hurry due to an issue with our previous system and were told that we would be setup within a week. The technician assigned to our case canceled a couple of appointments and we had to reach out to our sales rep to get things moving along. Once we contacted our sales rep, the setup got completed quickly, but all in all, it took about two weeks to complete the online setup.
- The mobile client tends to take a relatively long time to start sometimes.
Fonality - fun, phones, and features
- User friendliness of the system not only as an admin but for users as well
- A lot of features and functionality
- Quick response time for tech support
- Provide a checklist of systems that could be affected by VOIP. We ran into issues with our very expensive all in one machine (printer, fax, copy), CC terminal, and polycom conference phone not being compatible with VOIP so we had the additional cost of upgrading or buying additional equipment to make them compatible.
- I think the onboarding process could be a little stronger especially when migrating an entire organization. I had to piece together the information and training for the end users. Although they do provide a wealth of information it's not well organized.
- They provide a lot of tools (apps for mobile users, Heads Up Display, and call center solutions)
- Even their basic handsets are feature rich.
- We have not experienced any issues with phone quality or down time.
- Love that we are able to quickly customize our on hold messages, routing calls, etc.
1 Year Fonality Deployment for @100 endpoints-mixed bag
- On-site product is truly built on Asterisk/CentOS, able to debug and manage detailed issues that go unsolved with other vendors.
- Voice uptime (along with Flowroute SIPs and FiOS) has been as good as telco.
- We specifically inquired to the sales rep about an on-site version of the product, which we thought we purchased. In our discussions part of this was the requirement that the system be up even if Fonality or our connection to Fonality was down and he answered it would be that way. What we have found is the mobile and web portions of the product are served from Fonality SaaS itself which has had carrier issues in our time with them. Worse, our on-site Fonality server requires integration with their SaaS system even to login (???), and they push configuration changes to our on-site system with no change control per client. This means bugs we have worked on with Fonality support where fixes were implemented directly in our system via config files, and which never make it back into the Fonality core system constantly overwrite our changes. Most of these bugs have come back and we are now just living with them, although they are categorized as annoyances. Upshot: Sales was misleading.
- We were given the choice on a few brands of phones Fonality offered. On a recommendation from a very large Yealink rollout from a family member (non-fonality), we went with T42g's and T46g's. We have since found Fonality offers no specific services or controls over this brand of phone, meaning that while basic functions like calls and number keys work, features like on-screen directories are TFTP hacks we must maintain, there is no way to propagate a configuration change across all phones from Fonality, and controls for things like constantly blinking voicemail indicators when we have Fonality set to email their voicemail are not available except through temporary hacks to to our server that get overwritten by Fonality.
- When we started the implementation we were assigned a bright project manager who coordinated with us over google docs. It became clear this was a new process for them and the organization of data and specific requests became unmanageable as different engineers and PMs entered our project which lead to many mistakes in our build with constant re-dos which drug out implementation/testing time. Support has been a mixed bag; it's evident there are really good agents and engineers working at Fonality, however as time passes it gets harder to be assigned one or get access. Our recent interactions have been reduced to "restart your server", "no you can't do that", "Oh that didn't work for you. We have nothing else, we are closing the ticket". We run our own support division and also use ZenDesk - this would never fly with us.
- HUDweb audio no longer works for us, which means we cannot use the native web-based softphone. When we got the product (Q4 2015) we were told there was an issue with the audio plugin for Chrome on Mac they would eventually fix. The problem has now spread to all platforms and all browsers. It appears Fonality relies on NPAPI or custom proprietary (MS?) libraries that are no longer web-compliant or supported, even on Windows 10 with recent Firefox or Chrome. To our knowledge our users no longer use the web feature which is a complete failure considering the expectations you would have of a modern VoIP system. The HUDMobile product has had a 50/50 chance of working since we opened it up to our users. Neither product provides logging or support for our technicians to help diagnose issues. Regarding HUDMobile, problems arise largely when outside our network, which is understandable save for the requirement the software also talk to the Fonality SaaS system which is whitelisted for communication. We ended up using Wireshark to identify specific issues with the way each was attempting to communicate with our Fonality on-site server and Fonality SaaS (still in question why this is in play when we purchased the on-site product). We found Fonality engineers to have little understanding of how Cisco and Juniper identify and manage VoIP traffic across NAT, left alone to figure out a solution. We were successful for about a 6 month period until Fonality updates or configuration changes.
- The web-based administration tool is awkward, first calling Fonality's SaaS system to be "blessed" and allowed to continue. It appears to proxy data from our server through Fonality, which makes every click's request/response round trip painful, especially when working with our phone, user, or extensions lists. We were given specific instructions on how to manually work around interface bugs when adding/modifying phone devices in the Fonality system that have never been addressed in the software. This makes for difficult knowledge transfer to new staff.
Always watching!
- The live call monitoring helps with training. We are able to listen to a call live; we can just listen, we can whisper to our employee and the customer can't hear us, or we can barge in and take over the call as needed.
- We have 7 offices across Central Texas and the IM features are great! It allows us to feel as if we are in the same place without being in the same place.
- I, personally, use the Mobile HUD when I'm not in the office. This is great because it makes me mobile and accessible anywhere and I don't have to be sitting in front of the desk all day.
- On the Mobile HUD I'd recommend allowing users to listen to calls as if they were on the desktop version. It doesn't appear to be an option.
Fair and Balanced
- The HUD application provides a great dashboard for seeing who is on the phone, who they are talking to as well as who is logged into the support queue.
- The cloud deployment has proven to be pretty reliable and trouble free for remote employees using a traditional handset.
- The administration console is pretty user friendly for managing the system.
- The softphone options have not proven particularly reliable. The HUDweb application has some potential as far as a visual tool, but has just proven way too unreliable for everyday use. Would not recommend it for use. With that being said, a new softphone application is to be released on 12/16/16, so that may render use of HUDweb obsolete. Am hopeful the dedicated softphone application will prove worthy.
- HUD Mobile is also less than an ideal solution. Not sure if the mobile OS is to blame for some of the disappointment, but having to run the mobile application in the foreground in order to receive calls is not really practical. Also, the design of the application is not very efficient as it's not obvious immediately how to get to the keypad and direct dialing an extension is not working for us. It does however make calls and can work, but it's more of a hassle than it's really worth. My remote sales team just uses their carrier minutes for calls.
- The click to call feature while it has worked for us in the past, it has also caused issues with adding extra characters and logos in random areas of email messages, so our users have pretty much turned that feature off.
HUD dud
- The ability to move a call from your desk to your mobile phone almost seamlessly has been an effective tool for the staff.
- The ease of accessing the recent call log. It assists us in logging accurate call times with our clients.
- An identifier for parked calls. When multiple calls are parked, some type of numbering system would help.
- Ability to merge Outlook contacts into the HUD.
- Ability to put HUD mobile on vibrate.
Fonality Phone Systems
- Voicemail
- Call Transfer
- Hold music
- PBX type functionality
- Pricing could be lower
- Call forwarding to mobile
- iPhone application
Fonality is a simple VoIP solution that works.
- Web interface is easy to use.
- Setting up new phones and users is quick.
- Fonality provides good support if there are ever any issues.
- Quality service and easy to work with.
- Sometimes the account managers take longer to respond when dealing with account issues.
- Should have access to add a new phone directly through the web, but Fonality needs the MAC address to do that.
- Setting up the company directory could be more straightforward.
Works great!
- Record all feature allows me to record every conversation made from each user.
- Enjoy using the HUD.
- Works well with Salesforce.
- Would like to see more support on the third party app side. For example with Salesforce it was not working as intended at first but got it working within a week. I would like to have seen a shorter resolution time frame.
- A more user friendly control panel. The UI takes a little time to get used to.
- I can't think of any other areas.
We Recommend Fonality
- Sound Quality. Believe me this is its best strength.
- HUD puts all communication under one app (chat and voice). Once you have this feature it's hard to go somewhere else.
- There are lots of setup options to make it fit your company's and customers' needs.
- Would like to see free web conferencing integration. But this may be a dream.
- Would like the capitcha to be removed from the login [screen], at least for the administration [team].
- Would like more constant system updates. Lets face it there are bugs and security holes. System updates lets the consumer know that they are always protected and retains the feeling that their system will always be supported.
Fonality consolidates multiple apps into one and saves us money
- Chat
- Video Conferencing
- Conference Calling
- Repeat occurrences with Zoom
- Do not display "missed call" to those that didn't pickup the call when a call comes in through the Blast group
Phone everyone with Fonality
- The HUD feature, so you can see who is on what lines, what numbers they are talking to, and chat within the system, even if you are physically far apart, is very useful.
- Allowing calls to transfer between not only your lines, but cell phones of the users, and to call out with the system while out of the office by using your cell with the system is amazing.
- Calls are clearer than standard landlines. There is also a lot of room to set up the system how you want, even down to the hold music.
- iOS app could be useful.
- Not having to dial area codes would be nice.
- Adding a digital fax system would make having one phone company possible.
Great Service once you finally get it up and running!
We started using a CRM program (RepairShopr) that has some great integration with being able to associate inbound phone calls with our customer records and shows a live pop-up of the ticket status of the customers as they're calling. Fonality was one of the providers that supports the integration so we decided to make the switch.
- The call quality is outstanding. I do a fair amount of small business consulting and have used a variety of VOIP providers in different roles. The call quality with Fonality has been the best of any service I've used.
- Ticket Response Time is great. I've had to make a few phone calls for minor issues after deployment and I usually get somebody on the phone within a few minutes and they've been knowledgeable and helpful.
- Abundance of useful features. I'm sure a lof of VOIP Providers have similiar features, but the integration that Fonality's Hudweb provides has been very useful. For our business, if I hear a call ringing at a co-workers desk and he's away, I can literally just drag the phone call to my own extension and answer the call for him without having a specific ring group in place to ring both phones.
- Onboarding. I spent 8 hours getting our system setup with tech support. EIGHT HOURS of actual time on the phone with support. It took their support staff 7 of those hours to basically determine that my router was blocking a required port and preventing activating my system. Even after reaching out to their sales team to impress upon how frustrating this was, the sales associate helping me (Dan Halloran) offered me a measly two weeks ($35 equivalent) of free service for the time I wasted on the phone and had my own customers waiting an extra day for service. I understand a 2 or even 3 hour onboarding, but it was pretty ridiculous. Honestly, I probably would have just cancelled the service if it wasn't for the unique integration they provide with our CRM Provider.
- Communication. During the course of signing up, Fonality called 1hr before my scheduled install because an employee had called in sick and they didn't have anybody else to help me. They were able to get another technician to help, but he was (obviously) not very knowledgeable as he wasn't able to get my system setup.
- On another occasion, my sales rep (Dan Halloran) indicated via e-mail that he was start the porting process for me. 7 days later, I reached out to inquire about the process, and it hadn't been initiated.
- As a third example, the rep that was finally able to get my system going (Syed Rizvi) was supposed to follow up with me on a Friday, and I never heard from him. After reaching out to him nearly 5 days later, he apologized and indicated he had been very busy.
- Mobile App. Overall, the Mobile App (I'm using the one on Android) is great. It has it's own dialer so that I can call my clients so they see my work number instead of cell phone. But, I can't access the contacts on my phone from the app. I have to lookup a number, memorize the number and then type it into the dialer. Very minor, but would be great to see this added.
Phantastic Fone system
- Transparent mobility.
- Highly customizable.
- Strong technical support from Fonality.
- Would like to see an improved desktop app for when it is preferred over the webHUD.
- Stronger built in protection from SIP attacks.
- Mobile app could be improved, even though it does function well.
Fonality review of Voip and App
- Voicemails are emailed
- Voicemails can be accessed online
- Interface works but is slow
- Sometimes calls are very bad quality and clients can't hear me
- Mobile app volume is really low