Virtual Offices
RingCentral Office Wins Kudos from Clients, Analysts
Published August 4th, 2009 by Jennifer LeClaire
In case you missed it, RingCentral is getting aggressive with its pricing through a new program called RingCentral Office. RingCentral is offering a four-line business phone package for $99 via a cloud computing based system.
For that price, you get four unlimited phone lines with local numbers, unlimited virtual extensions and voicemail boxes, an auto-receptionist and dial-by-name directory, integrated Internet fax with a dedicated fax number, and unlimited inbound/outbound calling and faxing. There are no contracts and no set up costs. This is a competitive move against Phone.com.
“RingCentral Office changes the rules of the office phone system. Small businesses are not doing business the same way they were five years or even one year ago, yet they have been saddled with conventional phone systems that are not only expensive to deploy and maintain, but also incur expensive and unpredictable monthly charges,” says Vlad Shmunis, CEO of RingCentral. “Small businesses should expect more from their business phone system and RingCentral Office delivers – making business communications easy, affordable and accessible for today’s business world.”
A Hosted Phone System
Let’s face it, a traditional business phone systems cost thousands of dollars to set up and maintain. A hosted solution is the right solution for many small companies – even large companies. When you eliminate the need for complex hardware, lengthy installation and technical expertise, you significantly shave the cost of a traditional PBX phone system.
RingCentral Office includes four key components:
- Complete hosted phone and fax system with multiple extensions, multiple voice mail boxes, call management and call routing for real-time call control, Internet fax and more
- Unlimited long distance and toll-free service anywhere within the U.S. and Canada
- Pre-configured phones (Linksys IP phones delivered ready-to-dial)
- All-inclusive, low, simple, flat and fixed monthly bill
Unbiased Views
The fact that RingCentral offers a unique self-service capability with an all inclusive pricing model and no contracts is quite revolutionary in the business phone systems market, according to David Lemelin, senior analyst at market research firm In-Stat.
“In addition, this system delivers more business class telecommunication services and functions than many office phone systems designed for small businesses, yet remains affordable,” Lemelin says. “With small businesses cutting costs due to the economic downturn, RingCentral Office is an attractive phone service, particularly due to its low and predictable monthly fixed cost.”
Chris Coard, manager of Buyers Capital Stamford, a full service real estate company, says RingCentral Office gives his company everything it needs for his office phone system and saves thousands of dollars over a traditional phone system.
“More importantly, we now have a more efficient solution for managing one of the most critical part of our business – client and staff communications,” Coard says. “With RingCentral, we can easily connect our multiple offices under one complete phone system and seamlessly integrate with agents working from home or on the road.”
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Marcus Hester August 4th, 2009 at 3:48 am
That’s a pretty big deal to get such an endorsement from IDC. RingCenter is definitely doing a lot of things right here. Getting creative with its 800 number phone service package and educating business owners about the benefits of the cloud should take this firm a long way in the competition for market share.
Elizabeth Sanchez August 4th, 2009 at 4:24 am
LOL. I bet if you quoted Phone.com in this story they’d tell you all the reasons why their virtual office plans were better. Anyway, RingCentral is big on this cloud computing concept and as I recall they have some big name investors behind them that makes them more likely than some of the other players to grow in this market. This is an interesting new offering for sure.
Maggie Correta August 4th, 2009 at 5:17 am
Revolutionary is a strong word. The fact that IDC used it to describe RingCentral’s technology should not be underestimated. This cloud computing stuff is taking the whole world by storm. It looks like RingCentral is the only virtual office/800 number provider to latch on to it. That could make the company a major winner in this space.
Rob Zeus August 4th, 2009 at 6:13 am
The concept of everything going hosted, including PBX systems, is here to stay. RingCentral looks to be on the forefront in the 800 number space for sure. This company appears to have come out of nowhere with its services. Other virtual office set ups may have been around longer, but this shows how virtual office technologies can be a game changer.
Melanie Jones August 4th, 2009 at 6:28 am
Client and staff communications is definitely critical. I like the dimension of showing a real client experience here. That speaks volumes. Although I’m sure RingCentral’s competitors can also parade out their own testimonials, the analyst and the customer, along with the benefits of cloud computing, make this really interesting for companies looking for a new virtual office service.