The internet has made it a lot easier for small business owners to compete against industry giants in your market today. One of the best web tools you can leverage to gain your target markets trust and business is a 1-800 number. Today, a toll-free or a vanity number is not just for big companies, and you will also be glad to know that this is a service that is quite affordable nowadays.
However, since many service providers are offering 800 numbers, to make it easy for you to find the best 800 number service for small business, we have compared the top 3 leading companies, Grasshopper, Phonebooth.com, and Phone.com. The comparisons are based on the five most important factors to consider when selecting the best 800 number service; cost, extension numbers, voicemail management, conference calls, and online management.
Cost
For all three service providers, there is no activation fee for the 855, 866, 877, and 888 number variations. Phonebooth and Grasshopper will only charge an activation fee on the 800 number once you subscribe to the traditional plans while Phone.com will charge a $10 activation fee.
For $8.88, Phone.com will offer you a single number, 300 minutes, and one voicemail. Once you deplete the 300 minutes, you have the option to pay 4.9 cents per minute or subscribe for the unlimited extension plan that costs $22.
Grasshopper offers several monthly packages that range from $12 per user per month to a $199 plan dubbed as the Max Pack. Phonebooth.com, on the other hand, charges a flat $20 per user, per month. However, for the extra cost, you will get unlimited features and two additional numbers for free.
Extension Numbers
One of the features to look for when searching for the best 800 number service for small business is whether they offer extension numbers. These allow you to route a specific call to a particular extension regardless of location. Each of the three service providers provides extension numbers. Grasshopper goes a step further by offering an app that makes it easy to make calls from a particular extension whereas Phone.com comes with an outgoing caller ID.
Voicemail Management
Being able to access voicemail messages from anywhere is one of the top services offered by the best 800 number service. All the three service providers offer voice to text and voice to email features which make it easy to access messages from different locations.
Conference Calls
All three services offer conference calls. Phone.com’s conference call feature can handle up to 500 attendees at a time while Phonebooth’s feature will handle up to 8. Although Grasshopper offers this feature, the number of conference callers it can handle at once isn’t provided.
Online management
Each service provider offers an online console that can be used to manage your 800 number account. This feature makes it easy to perform tasks such as customizing caller IDs and adding extension numbers.
Finding the best 800 number service for small businesses is one of the necessary steps to take to make your business more competitive. All the three service providers offer their unique plans, each with its unique features. To find the best provider, taking a look at pricing plans first and matching these with your business requirements is highly recommended.
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