Item: GoTo Connect
Rating: 10
Author: Sarah Pratt

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Everyone within our firm is using GoToConnect VoIP. We never have to worry about dropped calls (unless the internet is down due to weather or such), we have seamless and easy integration with our phone systems, and our marketing team can even successfully track our calls. Cost is a huge factor for small businesses and the product and services received are not only affordable, but exceed our expectations. Using GoToConnect gives us the ability to connect with our callers and clients at any time, day or night with the app. Being accessible to clients and potential clients sets us above the rest, and we could not do it without GoToConnect.

Pros and Cons

Customer service is outstanding! They are always knowledgable, trustworthy, and make sure to take care of all of your needs; whether it's resending an invoice for records, trouble shooting an issue, or adding services, they make sure they listen, resolve, and think forward for their customers.
Price is exceptional for the services we receive; there is no comparison to the price for other similar services and I can attest to that as we've attempted to use multiple companies and GoToConnect is the only one that worked for us while saving us money!
Technical Support- Some of us in the office are not very technical savvy. Any time there is an issue they make sure to get it resolved; and they don't make us feel less than for our lack of knowledge. It's nice to be treated with respect when you need help with something you don't understand. It's even better to be confident that you are speaking with an expert who will quickly and efficiently resolve the issue.

PBX portal is a bit bulky; there are a lot of links but not always the most intuitive. That said, customer service is great about helping to navigate and change it if anything is needed.
When I call they always ask me for the ticket number first. It would be good if they could ask if I have opened a ticket or need to open one. Conversations can be a bit lengthy trying to explain what I'm needing to do.

Return on Investment

Having the app and being able to take calls while out of the office is a HUGE PLUS for us- in the legal services field we get a lot of general questions because let's face it; hiring an attorney is not cheap. So we get a lot of calls; being available to answer the phone helps to ensure we pick up business. Increasing client base is our number one priority!
Price point is a huge POSTIVE- cost is extremely affordable for a small business. Comparative landline services would have been well over $300.00 per month in our location. As a small firm, our monthly budget for bills is limited; ensuring that we keep production and expense costs down is very important to us and GoToConnect allows us to do just that!

Usability

Once the initial set up is complete there is almost no work or effort required. In a fast paced environment such as ours where we sell time (as we are an attorney office) none of us have the time, patience, or financial impact cost available to us to waste time. GoToConnect lets us keep our focus on what we need to be doing, connect with our existing clients, and answer the phone any time day or night.

Products Replaced

Yes - Vonage; they did not port all of our numbers so we never even had successful full service. The number that was ported we had constant issues; we ended up cancelling and should have trusted our gut to go with GoToConnect.

Alternatives Considered

vonage enterprise

Vonage, Ring Central, and Suddenlink are all ones we considered. We did try Vonage and it was a disaster to say the least- they never ported all of the numbers, call quality was terrible, and the price was expensive for minimal services. GoToConnect took care of everything right away. Within a day we were set up and ready to go and we've had nothing but great experiences with them. Ring Central and Suddenlink were too expensive for what they offered so we declined the service; selecting instead to go with Vonage; we should have trusted our gut and went with GoToConnect the first time.

Support Rating

I'm not tech savvy AT ALL. GoToConnect is. In the few instances I've needed support, they are there to help, ready and willing. I appreciate that the support team explains the processes, allows me to be a part of the resolution, and thinks forward by suggesting how to avoid the issue in the future (such as voicemail issues or changing the ring path for incoming calls).

Other Software Used

MyCase

Likelihood to Recommend

We have a third-party marketing team who tracks our calls, and records incoming calls based on the internet number the potential client is calling from - there have been zero issues with call quality or anything like that. It's fantastic that two separate companies can do what they need to do while still getting quality for an affordable price.

App is fantastic, we LOVE that we can answer the phone anytime and anyplace!

Users and Roles

4 - Two are attorneys, two are paralegals. All of us use the phone and/or the app daily throughout our work week.
Paralegals do the majority of phone calls, both incoming and outgoing. We schedule conference calls and there are oftentimes that we have to connect clients to the attorneys outside of the office. Ensuring that we have a working phone systems is the most important thing we need (after internet access of course) to make sure our clients are cared for and our bosses can get their job done.

Support Headcount Required

4 - Courteous and professional are the most important. You don't have to be on the up and up with technology; that's what the GoToConnect support team does for you!

Business Processes Supported

Working system- making sure that the calls are coming in and routed correctly is first and foremost. If we can't help our existing clients then our reputation suffers and we won't get new clients.
Cost- making sure we are receiving quality product and services for the price paid
availability- we have one person who is knowledgable about computers, hardware, and other technology related items/processes. If he's not here then the rest of us would not be able to do our jobs. But we don't have to worry about that because the support team is readily available to assist with any problems we have (although it is RARE).

Innovative Uses

We were able to have secretaries from two different companies answer each other's lines and transfer as needed. No other company could provide that service without a lot of issues, error, or convenience being negatively impacted. SO IMPRESSED!
Using the app let's us enjoy the holiday by staying home and doing fun activities while still being able to be connected to clients or potential clients. LOVE LOVE LOVE that we can answer the phone from anywhere at any time!
Setting controls: As the PBX portal offers so many options and controls, it's important that the right people are doing the right thing. Setting administrator levels really helps resolve this issue!

Future Planned Uses

Talk to Text would be amazing! Much like Google Voice, I would love to see this option be available. Our clients want us to text them, it would be great to see a feature like this available.

Likelihood to Renew

I don't think we would ever consider using something different. We are committed to the excellent service, fair prices, and quality product that GoToConnect offers us. We've recommended GoToConnect to all of the local offices in our field; but their loss is our gain. We have been able to increase productivity, increase clientele, and increase profit margin.

Key Differentiators

Price
Product Features
Product Usability

Features- we needed to be able to transfer calls from two offices between secretaries and we needed to be able to answer the phone while outside of the office. No one else gave us what we needed with a knowledgable staff and a decent price.

Evaluation Lessons Learned

We initially went with Vonage because they were more well known; reputation and name brand has a huge impact on the decision making power of people. I wish we would have done a pros and cons list for the different companies; we would have been able to see all of the additional features and trusted in GoToConnect from the start. I would have saved us a lot of time, effort, and money.

Implementation Rating

We changed from a landline (horrible and expensive) to Verizon One Talk (WORLD'S WORST PRODUCT) to Vonage (GIANT DISASTER) to GoToConnect. GoToConnect not only met all of our needs but exceeded our expectations with the services we receive. We could not have had a better process for set up; it actually worked like it was supposed to and gave us more than what we needed!

Implementation Details / Implementation Partner

Implemented in-house

GoTo Connect Customer Support Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Immediate help available Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response	None

Premium Support

Not needed, any issues we have experienced were quickly resolved.

Exceptional Examples of GoTo Connect Support

Some clients advised us they could not reach us. Review of our marketing call tracking did not report these calls; GoToConnect support is the one that figured out that some phones had an old call out line still attached and these clients were calling the number that really didn't go anywhere within our ring system. They quickly fixed the issue by removing the number and identified who had called it so that we could notify the clients. WAY TO SAVE THE DAY!!!

Usability Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Like to use Technical support not required Consistent	Lots to learn

Easy Tasks

GoToConnect App
Call routing (hold, transfers, conference, etc.)

Difficult Tasks

PBX portal is bulky; everything you need is in it, just takes a bit to figure out where
choosing hold music is a bit difficult and there are not enough options

Mobile Interface Availability and Impressions

Yes - I like the app. The only problem I have with it is that the ring notice doesn't match the timing to unlock my phone so I miss some calls. Honestly I think this is just because I don't have the newest phone.

Why settle for less when you can have the BEST!

Overall Satisfaction with GoToConnect (formerly Jive)