Connect Parents, Students, and Staff with Ease

Q: What is a school VoIP system?

A school VoIP is a telephone system that uses the internet to operate. It provides phone extensions for staff members and advanced voicemail features, enabling connections between students, faculty, and parents.

Q: What equipment is required for VoIP?

You need a high-speed internet connection and a service provider to use VoIP. The provider can offer physical phones or a mobile app , such as CloudTalk, to receive calls on a computer or iPad.

Q: What are the benefits of VoIP for educational institutions?

VoIP offers advanced voicemail features, including voicemail transcriptions sent to email. It also provides unlimited calling, low-cost long-distance calling, virtual voicemail, auto attendant for call routing, and one-click conference calling. VoIP and cloud solutions also enable users to utilize their business phone numbers from anywhere with a mobile app.

Q: How do I choose the right phone systems for schools?

When choosing a phone system for your school, consider the specific features you need, such as call recording, call routing, and video conferencing. You can also use pre-recorded messages to guide callers to the right department or record answers to common questions to save administrative staff time. Consider a product demo or POC when choosing the right cloud phone system for your school, as specific features can vary between providers.

Q: How do VoIP phone systems for schools work?

VoIP phone systems for schools utilize communication over the internet instead of conventional phone lines, allowing users to make phone calls using a mix of hardware and software, such as smartphones and laptop computers. To get a VoIP phone system for your school, sign up for a free trial or a product demo, then pay a subscription fee on a monthly or annual basis. Most unified communications and VoIP providers offer similar overall features that allow staff to communicate with each other from anywhere, even across multiple campuses.

Q: Why is CloudTalk a great alternative to Avaya and Cisco?

1. Cost: CloudTalk offers a more affordable pricing model compared to Avaya and Cisco. Its cloud-based solution means there are no hardware or maintenance costs, and you only pay for what you use. 2. Ease of use: CloudTalk’s web-based interface makes it easy to manage and use. It requires no installation or configuration, and you can access it from anywhere with an internet connection. 3. Scalability: CloudTalk is highly scalable, meaning it can grow and adapt to meet the changing needs of a business. It can easily accommodate remote workers and new office locations. 4. Integration: CloudTalk integrates with a range of business tools and platforms, such as CRMs and helpdesk software, allowing for more streamlined communication and better customer support. 5. Customer support: CloudTalk offers excellent customer support, with a dedicated team available to help customers with any issues or questions they may have. Read more about Cisco and Avaya alternatives .

Question 1

#1 CloudTalk | Best All-Round School Phone System Solution

Answer

CloudTalk is the perfect phone system for mid-sized companies looking to grow. Typically, it’s used in sales for outbound calls and in customer service for inbound calls.

Cloudtalk’s Benefits

CloudTalk Voice provides high-quality offers, care, and service, all included in our business phone system solution.

Easy Management: Use CloudTalk’s web-based admin interface to manage your call center in real-time, add agents, phone numbers, and set up everything you need at any given moment.
Reduced Operational Costs: With our business phone system, you can significantly reduce your operational costs, as no special skills are required and there’s no need to hire extra IT specialists. CloudTalk can be managed in a user-friendly interface – all you need is an internet connection.
Accessible Anywhere: CloudTalk is a completely cloud-based business phone system – all you need is to set up your CloudTalk account. But don’t worry, if you already have an existing infrastructure, CloudTalk can be easily linked to it. Switch between your laptop and your cell phone easily.
Smarter Calls: Distribute all calls to your team in a smart way and view past customer interactions during the call to enhance customer experience. Native integrations with CRM, helpdesk or other popular apps boost your productivity and take lots of manual tasks out of your workflow.
SLA: A service level agreement can be provided for all CloudTalk PBX business phone systems, guaranteeing a maximum level of reliability and technical support.
Reliable Operation with 24/7 Monitoring: We always make sure your data and voice services are safe. All data (including VoIP itself) are stored in secured locations of Amazon AWS with 24/7 monitoring provided by CloudTalk experts.

Key Features

With CloudTalk advanced features, your phone experience will get to a whole new level.

ACD: Automated smart and efficient queue distribution of inbound calls based on all available data to make sure that callers are always directed to the most qualified agent or agent group.
IVR: Create your multi-level interactive voice response (IVR) menu to guide the caller through different options. Make sure they are always directed to the right department, agent or group of agents and that they are receiving relevant information through customized messages.
Call Queuing: Create customized call queues. Inbound calls are sorted in call queues based on pre-defined rules and steered to available agents within the right group. Personalized messages are available as well.
Call Recording: CloudTalk can automatically make a recording of all calls. Once the call ends, you can listen to it directly from your internet browser anywhere and anytime. Improve customer interactions by monitoring your team’s calls.
International Numbers: Acquire international numbers (with geographic or non-geographic codes) from more than 160 countries. Local phone numbers allow customers from abroad to call you at standard local rates or free of charge.
Real-time Customer Card: Your agents can see all caller information displayed in one place. During the phone call, they can instantly look at the client’s history of interactions, orders, chat, or notes. This allows them to deliver top-notch customer service.
Callback: If there are any unanswered phone calls, CloudTalk can automatically call your customers back. A missed call from a customer is registered in the system, which will later dial the customer’s number until the agent and the customer are successfully connected.
Business Hours: Define your business hours and decide when you are available for receiving calls. Outside of these hours, you can choose a special personalized absence message, redirect calls to a different phone number or answering machine or even use various combinations.

What is CloudTalk Missing?

According to our users, CloudTalk Analytics needed remastering in order to give users more precise data. That is why we launched a new version of Analytics with in-depth insights into your calls, including call steps, reasons for missed calls, and much more.

What Type of Business is It Best For?

CloudTalk is the perfect phone system for mid-sized companies looking to grow. Typically, it’s used in sales for outbound calls and in customer service for inbound calls.

Pricing

Question 2

#2 Nextiva | Comprehensive School Phone System Solution

Answer

Nextiva is a big player in the VoIP market, providing services to more than 15,000 customers. Nextiva is widely regarded as user-friendly — users can start calling within minutes thanks to a simple and intuitive setup process. Furthermore, the system is hosted by Nextiva, which makes maintenance of the software Nextiva’s responsibility.

Nextiva Benefits

Nextiva offers various advanced features, including conference calling, voicemail transcription, multi-level attendant, and much more. The provider also integrates with solutions like Zendesk, ConnectWise or MS Teams.

Nextiva’s HIPAA-compliant virtual faxing makes it a great solution for healthcare workers. Medical employees can share information without having to worry about data breach.

Furthermore, 24/7 support means agents are always on hand to assist you.

Key Features:

Unlimited Calling
Video Conference Recordings
Mobile & Desktop Apps
Workflow Optimization
Omnichannel Communications

What is Nextiva Missing?

Although Nextiva is a well-known VoIP solution, there are some issues you should know about when considering this provider:

Integrations: Nextiva is missing certain integrations, like Slack or Zapier. With Zapier, users are able to connect your VoIP telephony system with thousands of non-native systems.

Prices: Many consider Nextiva’s prices high, especially for small businesses.

What Type of Business Is It Best For?

Businesses that need a robust, secure and reliable enterprise phone system that works across every device and comes with advanced features like video conferencing, mobile app, call recording, and more.

Pricing

Question 3

#3 Mitel | School Phone System Optimized for Remote

Answer

Mitel’s VoIP product, MiVoice Business, provides users with a comprehensive calling platform capable of meeting both their sales and customer support needs.

Mitel’s Benefits:

Mite’ls list of features offers a number of benefits to users, improving their efficiency and productivity, regardless of whether they work from the comfort of their home or the office. The phone system was designed with flexibility in mind, making it easy to scale with your business, without breaking the bank. What’s more, Mitel pays close attention to their customer experience, so you’ll always have someone to talk to, should anything ever go wrong.

Key Features:

Call forwarding to mobile numbers
Video conferencing
Drag-and-drop call flow designer

What is Mitel Missing?

Reviewers on G2 have complained about connectivity issues with this service. The interface can also be difficult to navigate for new users, according to some.

What Type of Business Is It Best For?

Mitel is best suited to enterprise-level businesses looking to maximize the productivity of their call center agents.

Pricing:

Pricing per Request.

Question 4

#4 Dialpad | Reliable Analytic-Powered School Phone Solution

Answer

Unless you’re new to the VoIP telephony market, you’ll surely have heard of Dialpad. It’s a reliable, unified telephony solution with simple built-in AI, and advanced analytics. A live chat, phone hotline, and knowledge base make it a great deal for customer support teams.

Dialpad’s Benefits

Dialpad’s main advantages are voice intelligence and uptime between 99% and 100%. You’ll get conference video calls, sentiment analysis, voicemail transcriptions, call tracking metrics, Speech-to-Text for an automatic call recording, and much more.

With Dialpad, you can call to the US and Canada for free and from anywhere in the world. Inbound and outbound calling within your country is also free of charge. The provider has a modern, well-organized UI, plenty of training videos and a well-built mobile application.

Key Features:

Call Recording
Machine Learning
Call Analysis
Customer Scoring
Call Routing

What is Dialpad Missing?

While Dialpad does offer a Power dialer, it lacks a Smart dialer and a Predictive dialer. The Power dialer feature is limited, as it only works in conjunction with Salesforce. Unlike the CloudTalk app, the Dialpad app only allows users to only dial phone numbers manually.

The Preferred agent feature only works through API.

Dialpad also lacks a visual flow editor for its Call flow designer. Furthermore, you can’t send SMS messages outside of the US and Canada, although this feature will soon become available to those in the UK.

The provider offers a pretty limited integration stack, and Voicemail drop comes only with Dialpad Sell.

What Type of Business Is It Best For?

Any size of sales organization looking to drive agent efficiency and speed up ramp times.

Pricing

Question 5

#5 GoTo Connect | Automated Phone Solution for Schools

Answer

GoTo Connect is a frequent go-to choice for scaling businesses. Let’s take a closer look at this VoIP provider’s offering, examine its strengths and weaknesses, and determine whether it delivers on its promises.

GoTo Connect’s Benefits

Seamless integration with other GoTo products for improved communication.
Provides a unified communication solution for remote teams.
Offers an easy-to-use interface for call management and administration.
Provides scalable solutions for businesses of all sizes.
Excellent customer support.

Key Features:

Voice and video calling: Make and receive calls from anywhere.
Screen sharing: Share screens with others to collaborate on documents and presentations.
Virtual meetings: Host and join virtual meetings from any device.
Call management: Manage calls and voicemails through an intuitive interface.
Mobile app: Access GoTo Connect features from a mobile device.

What is GoTo Connect Missing?

GoTo Connect does not provide advanced call center features such as Automatic Call Distribution (ACD), skill-based routing, or smart dialers. It also does not provide local phone numbers for all countries, which may be a disadvantage for some businesses.

What Type of Business Is It Best For?

GoTo Connect is an ideal solution for small to medium-sized businesses looking for a unified communication solution that can support remote teams. It’s also suitable for businesses that need an easy-to-use interface for call management and administration, as well as excellent customer support.

Pricing

Question 6

#6 Ooma | Streamlined School Phone Solution

Answer

Ooma is an ideal solution for smaller companies with up to 500 employees or a home phone service. It is mostly used for call logging, alerts, and escalations.

Ooma Benefits

Simple set-up: you can install the phone system without any technical expertise, and it comes pre-configured.
Feature-rich mobile app that is compatible with both iPhones and Android devices.
Ooma’s Virtual Receptionist is a great option for managing calls for your company. You can program a personalized welcome, direct callers to various extensions, or offer a menu of choices that can direct callers to the appropriate party.

Key Features:

Voicemail-to-email forwarding
Caller ID or video conferencing
Desktop and mobile apps for Android and iPhone

What is Ooma Missing?

Although the set-up is very simple, and you can seek assistance from guides or customer support, there is no in-person training involved. Ooma also doesn’t offer predictive dialers and telemarketing management these features speed up your workflow and make your sales efforts much smoother. Ooma lacks reporting and analytics capabilities.

What Type of Business Is It Best For?

Ooma is best for smaller businesses looking for a basic VoIP service.

Pricing

Question 7

#7 RingCentral | Omnichannel Phone Solution for Schools

Answer

When you think about VoIP telephony solutions, RingCentral is probably among the first ones that come to your mind. It’s no wonder the company has been on the market for over 20 years and has built quite a reputation for itself.

RingCentral’s Benefits

RingCentral has a great variety of features and offers HD-quality voice and video. The provider is a good fit for enterprises since it offers an omnichannel experience and lead qualification tools, as well as management, collaboration, and performance features – all in a single software.

Key Features:

SIP Trunking
IVR
Call Recording
Call Routing
Contact Management

What is RingCentral Missing?

Despite all the positives, RingCentral does lack quite a few essential tools that modern businesses require.

features like native sentiment analytics, Speech-to-Text transcription, smart dialers or Skill-based routing are only included in Contact Centre Solution. The same goes for some agent management features, like monitoring.

The Call recording tool and Toll-free numbers are only available as add-ons, for an additional cost.

Furthermore, RingCentral’s implementation can take as much as 90 days and involves an implementation fee.

RingCentral UI is also not always the friendliest to work with.