Review Overview
Nextiva is a comprehensive cloud service provider that offers a wide range of services from cloud PBX platforms and virtual faxing to backups for multiple devices, platforms and hosted call centers. For its PBX platforms, Nextiva offers three packages with low costs and no set-up fees plus a series of standard benefits.
For users who have advanced needs, Nextiva also offers an inbound answering service and a PBX/SIP trunking service that offers support with any VoIP platform that includes an SIP protocol. The Call Center options are perhaps the most unique feature, allowing the company to support companies both large and small.
PBX Focus
Nextiva offers a set of PBX system options, most of which come under its Nextiva Office banner. The company has three plans: Office Pro, Office Pro Plus, and Office Enterprise, with costs ranging from roughly $20 to $50 each month, per line. Costs are a good bit higher for companies who want only 1 to 4 lines.
Packages typically differ based on the extra set of features available, so this review will discuss all standard options on its Office Pro platform and then note the additional options available on other platforms.
Office Pro
The Nextiva Office Pro Cloud PBX platform offers you a unified voice, email, conference and mobile cloud management and presence service. The company allows you to run a complete virtual PBX and combine all of these without any hardware other installation needs.
Office Pro is designed for smaller companies that need little administrative help, but it comes with some great freebies such as a local or toll-free number and the free porting of existing business numbers to your service.
All of its packages include an unlimited fax and call option, which is a big differentiator compared to companies who charge a monthly fee based on minutes used, or any fees for overages.
Because it is a unified platform, you’ll also get unlimited voicemail to email options. These are saved as .WAV files, which are compatible with most smartphones and tablets, as well as all laptops and desktop PCs. The company also makes available a voicemail-to-text transcription service for an additional $2.95 per line.
Included in your monthly charge is also HD-quality hold music for anyone who calls you.
For road warriors, you also get the free option to share a single number across multiple phones, so your cell can ring when you need it or you can take a call in the office if you’re at your desk.
With this package you also get advanced call management and 1 professionally recorded greeting for your company. Depending on your size, costs will range from $35 to $20 per month, per line.
Office Pro Plus
If you need a little more support, Nextiva’s mid-tier plan gives you a few additional features.
While you get everything included in the Office Pro plan, with the Office Pro Plus you’ll bump up to 3 professionally recorded greetings. These can be tailored to your needs and cycled or set up for different calling options.
The plan also adds in a conference bridge that will support calls with up to a total of 10 participants. You can add in more bridges for a monthly cost of $20 each.
You’ll also get access to the Nextiva App for smartphones and tablets. This service brings together your voice and video options plus an optional instant messaging (IM) service that combines all of your communications. PC users can access all of these services from the Nextiva software and portals, while mobile users get a dedicated app.
Costs will range from $38 to $23 per line per month based on the number of lines you have and the term of your agreement.
Office Enterprise
For major office settings with a bit more of a focus, or more departments, the Office Enterprise allows you to step up your game in a big way.
Not only do you move up to 5 professionally recorded greetings and get everything included in the Office Pro and Office Pro Plus.
In addition to those features, you’ll also have access to its Team Presence service that allows you to adjust availability setting for you and contacts. That means you can key up the app and it will show you the best option for contacting them based on the time of day.
If you’re training new team members, you can also set up the service to record all incoming and outgoing calls, so you can review information and provide proper support. It’s a good idea to use those professional greetings to indicate that you may record calls because it is a requirement in many U.S. states to make that notification as a form of consent.
Alongside recording you call also use the Silent Call Barging feature to monitor calls between customers and employees, with the option to bring managers in or have them completely take over a conversation. This works well for training as well as removing employees from a hostile situation. Part of this monitoring is the Attendant Console that provides a real-time monitor of the status of employee phone lines and provides information about who is available, busy, or has designated that is away from their desk.
The plan also includes the Nextiva Toolbar that allows you to make and receive calls from your computer’s Web browser or email service. The setup currently works with Microsoft Outlook and Internet Explorer, though it is likely development will eventually push to more-popular browsers.
Pricing Options
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Nextiva Plans: Cost Per Line Per Month |
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Office Pro |
Office Pro Plus |
Office Enterprise |
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| Month to Month | 12 Month Contract | Month to Month | 12 Month Contract | Month to Month | 12 Month Contract | |
| 1-4 users | $ 34.95 | $ 32.95 | $ 37.95 | $ 35.95 | $ 44.95 | $ 42.95 |
| 5-19 users | $ 29.95 | $ 27.95 | $ 32.95 | $ 30.95 | $ 39.95 | $ 37.95 |
| 20-99 users | $ 24.95 | $ 22.95 | $ 27.95 | $ 25.95 | $ 34.95 | $ 32.95 |
| 100+ users | $ 21.95 | $ 19.95 | $ 24.95 | $ 22.95 | $ 31.95 | $ 29.95 |
Standard Features
The company says all of its communication plans come with the following support and options:
- Unlimited Calling and Faxing
- Unlimited Long Distance
- U.S.-Based Customer Support
- Multi-Tiered Auto Attendants
- Call Forwarding, Waiting, ID
- HD Voice
- Push to Talk
- Group Paging
- User Friendly Web Interface
- Dial by Name Directory
- Voicemail to Email
- Shared Line Appearance
- Unlimited Hunt Groups
- Call Parking
Additional Services
The company also offers a variety of Call Center Services that provide you with a lot of different features that you can add to your PBX plan or order completely separate. The company doesn’t publish rates and representatives on its website said that packages are customized for each order.
The main thing to note with these options is that they provide you with a range of new front office, business integration, quality assurance and service monitoring tools. The Call Center plans include a variety of call routing options that you can adjust on the fly by monitoring queue availability and other systems.
The platform includes a call conferencing service that can be combined with bridging and one-click transfers to route everyone to the right place when you set up meetings. You’ll get a series of features such as:
- Free Auto-Attendant Recordings
- Night and Holiday Service
- Outlook Integration
- Queue-Based Routing
- Remote Agent Support
- Real-Time Agent Management
- Call Recording
- Outgoing Call Monitoring and Controls
- Supervisor Dashboards
Additional Pricing Models
Some of the other additional features that Nextiva offers come with plans and pricing. This section looks as those briefly.
Nextiva Connect
This service provides inbound call management and can automatically answer whatever comes your way. This is popular among small businesses and customers who use multiple numbers for different answering services.
The plans for your needs include:
- 100 monthly minutes as low as $8.95 per month.
- 500 monthly minutes as low as $19.95 per month.
- Unlimited monthly minutes as low as $69.95 per month.
vFax
If you’re only interested in a faxing plan, or want it separate from your PBX platform, you can partake in Nextiva vFax.
The platform is simple and offers you the following options:
- 500 pages for as low as $4.95 per month
- 1,000 pages for as low as $12.95 per month
- 3,000 pages for as low as $29.95 per month
Is It Right for You?
Nextiva offers one of the most robust services around, but it requires you to have a decent wallet to accommodate for all the possible options. You’ll be spending a bit more when you get the full feature set but you also get a lot more control than a standard PBX platform. While it has options for small businesses, it seems the service would most be right for mid and larger businesses because its plans to support larger operations don’t scale in cost as quickly. Small companies will end up paying a lot for the beneficial training and other options.
Pros
- Fair pricing
- Lots of services and options
- Different models for different uses
- No contract requirement
- No set-up or start-up fees
- Offers unlimited plans
- Free vanity or local number with each package
- Includes professional voice greetings
- Integration with lots of business software, especially Outlook
- Monitoring features and well-loved
- Single system (and cost) for voice, text and fax makes monthly costs easier to track
Cons
- Customers report multiple outages each year
- Existing vanity numbers sometimes do not port well
- Future vanity numbers need to be purchased separately
- Some customers say the support staff is not large enough to handle problems
- A few features that require upgraded costs are standard from other providers
Final Say
Nextiva is a great option for growing companies. The PBX platform offers a wide range of support and custom services, with its unlimited calling a big benefit for companies working to maintain consistent costs each month. Connect, vFax, and other options also make it a robust platform that can accommodate many different types of business. If you call a lot or need training and call-center quality assurance tools, Nextiva is a great option. The top-tier programs allow for recording, monitoring, and takeovers, which is rare in the virtual PBX space today.
The downside is that Nextiva charges for some options provided for free by competitors. If you need a Call Center or other secondary functions, it makes a smart choice to support your growth. If you don’t, it might end up being too expensive for your small organization.
