An auto attendant is a pre-recorded voice that welcomes telephone callers with a menu of options, such as pressing 1 to speak with earnings or pressing 9 to leave a voicemail. It serves as your business’ virtual receptionist assistance, greeting your customers, providing them choices to track their telephone, or delivering fundamental pre-recorded information like your operating hours or location.
Although this technology utilized to only be accessible to larger businesses with all the budgets to match, it is now affordable and easy for any small business to use. In reality, it’s included as a standard feature with most VoIP phone providers.
We looked in the most popular phone system options that have an auto attendant and that covered the range of options for small companies concerning ease of use and other accessible features.
Greatest Phone Systems with a Car Attendant Summary
| Service Name | What Makes It Unique? |
|---|---|
| Nextiva | (Best overall) Businesses that need an auto attendant + full company phone system |
| Grasshopper | Adding an auto attendant + business phone line to your (or ) your workers’ cell phones |
| RingCentral | Most attributes + free trial |
| Vonage | Amazon Chime users |
| Phone.com | Most affordable à la carte solution |
| 8×8 | International calling rates |
When considering which telephone systems using an auto attendant are the most appropriate for small businesses, we looked at the leading VoIP phone providers which have a car attendant as a portion of their standard features. But because it’s generally a typical feature that’s included with most VoIP phone service packages, an auto attendant is merely part of the entire service offering your business will receive.
Because of that, this buyer’s guide will exhibit the leading VoIP telephone service options which have an auto attendant as well as outline the other characteristics you can expect to get from each provider — and, naturally, what they each cost. This can allow you to compare suppliers to determine which is the best match for your needs and price range.
Greatest Phone System with an Auto Attendant: Nextiva
Who’s Nextiva is best suited to
Nextiva’s primary differentiating feature is the level of customer service which they provide. When you initially register for the support, Nextiva’s award winning group welcomes your little business a US-based account representative to assist you through the process of setting this up and ensuring you’re making the best use of its available features.
Nextiva’s industry-leading commitment and delivery continue while you’re using their service. In the event you experience any problems, 95% of their incoming sales and service calls are answered by the second ring with the objective of answering any question or solving any issue inside your very first contact with them.
Finally, Nextiva’s pricing model is competitive with other high end VoIP telephone service providers, give or take a few dollars based upon your particular requirements.
For more details, check out our consumer reviews of Nextiva.
What Nextiva costs
Nextiva costs their service based on the number of users:
- $34.95/month per user for 1-4 consumers
- $29.95/month per user to get 5-19 users
- $24.95/month per user to get 20-99 users
- $21.95/month per user for 100+ users
All of Nextiva’s plans include their car attendant feature.
What other attributes Nextiva contains
Nextiva’s cloud-based PBX service provides the Majority of the standard calling and administrative features you would expect from a VoIP telephone service provider, such as:
- Web-based system administration
- Hold music
- Call forwarding
- Conference bridge
- Send audio records of voicemails to email
- Voicemail transcription
- User extensions
- Telephone barging
Stop by Nextiva
Best Cheap Phone System with a Car Attendant: Grasshopper
Who’s Grasshopper is best suited to
Grasshopper gives companies the ability to present a most important business line to their clients or to set up a phone number in another area code from where they are based. Calls are made and received on the client’s personal cell phone, although they seem to come out of and to the virtual number.
This service can serve two useful purposes for small businesses:
- Produce a main company phone number to provide to your clients without the need for a complete telephone service; or,
- Produce a phone number in town you do the majority of your company in, even if you live elsewhere, to reduce your long distance expenses.
If your business demands a quick and economical solution to appear larger and more professional, then Grasshopper’s virtual phone service may provide you with a single.
For additional information, check out our user reviews of Grasshopper.
What Grasshopper costs
Grasshopper offers four plan amounts that change depending on utilization, including:
- $12/month and $0.06/minute
- $24/month for 500 minutes
- $49/month for 2,000 minutes
- $199/month for 10,000 moments
Every Grasshopper plan comprises custom greetings, infinite extensions, and unlimited call handling, which together comprise the basic functions of an automatic attendant. Click here to try Grasshopper with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
What other features Grasshopper contains
In addition to the individual features that together comprise the performance of an auto attendant, Grasshopper offers:
- Internet and app-based account direction
- Telephone obstructing
- Call forwarding
- Telephone screening
- Conference calling
- Voicemail transcription
- Incoming faxes emailed to you as PDFs
Visit Grasshopper
Greatest Full-Featured Phone System using an Auto Attendant: RingCentral
Who’s RingCentral is best suited for
RingCentral is among the primary VoIP phone service providers in the marketplace. They offer a feature-rich service with accessible and comprehensive customer care, albeit at a generally higher cost than many of their opponents. If your company’ primary consideration in choosing a VoIP phone system would be the range of features offered and you’re willing to pay a premium for a premium service, then RingCentral may be the right match for you.
For additional information, check out our user reviews of RingCentral.
What RingCentral costs
RingCentral’s Standard plan begins at:
- $49.99/month per user for 1 user
- $34.99/month per user for 2-19 users
- $31.99per month per user for 20-99 users
- $29.99/month per user for 100-999 users
And all of RingCentral’s plans include their auto attendant feature. Click here to test RingCentral free for 30 days.
What other attributes RingCentral contains
RingCentral is among the very full-featured VoIP phone services available on the market, with a vast range of cloud PBX and in-call characteristics which will help your small business. Some of these include:
- Multi-level interactive voice response
- Pre-recorded or habit greetings
- Hold music
- User extensions
- Dial-by-name directory
- Telephone tracking
- Incoming and outgoing caller ID
- Computer-based dialing
- Call forwarding
- Call recording
- Send sound files of voicemails to email
- Paging and intercom
- Conference calling with screen sharing
- Third-party application integrations
Visit RingCentral
Greatest End-to-End Phone System with a Car Attendant: Vonage
Who Vonage is best suited for
Vonage’s unique partnership with Amazon Chime integrates the online communication and collaboration tool with Vonage’s VoIP phone services. Chime’s online meetings, video conferencing, online chat, and file sharing capabilities help enhance Vonage’s phone service for a more complete end-to-end business solution than other VoIP phone providers.
For additional information, have a look at our consumer reviews of Vonage.
What Vonage costs
Vonage prices their service based on the number of users:
- $39.99/month per user for 1-5 users
- $29.99per month per user for 6-9 users
- $24.99/month per user for 10-20 consumers
- $19.99/month per user for 20+ users
All of Vonage’s plans include their digital receptionist feature, which is their version of an automatic attendant.
What additional attributes Vonage includes
In addition to their virtual secretary, Vonage includes many other features to assist your business present a professional face and manage your calls, including:
- Hold audio
- Call conferencing
- Call forwarding
- Call waiting
- Caller ID
- Send audio files of voicemails to email
Other features that come at an additional cost include:
- Toll-free numbers
- Call groups
- Call monitoring
- Telephone recording
- Conference bridge
Visit Vonage
Greatest À la Carte Phone System with a Car Attendant: Phone.com
Who’s Phone.com is best suited for
Phone.com offers a lot more of a à la carte package where some of the features that come along with different services incur an additional charge. This makes Phone.com a potentially cheaper solution, based upon your needs. For example, if your primary need is for a car attendant service and you don’t need any additional attributes, then Phone.com is among the cheapest priced choices to provide you .
But notice that the service we reviewed from Phone.com isn’t a complete VoIP phone support. Instead, Phone.com forwards calls to your present phones — usually your mobile apparatus, to supply you with a company line on the move. This implies that while Phone.com’s prices are usually low, it relies on you with your existing telephone service’s call program’s minutes.
For more details, check out our user reviews of Phone.com.
What Phone.com prices
Base plans from:
- $12.99/month for 100 min
- $19.99/month for 500 minutes
- $29.99/month for 1,000 minutes
All Phone.com’s programs include their auto attendant feature. Click here to try Phone.com with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
What additional features Phone.com contains
Phone.com includes many standard call features with all of their cost bundles. A number of the more useful features for small businesses include:
- Incoming and outgoing caller ID
- Call forwarding
- Pre-recorded or habit greetings
- Hold music
- Call transfer
- Send sound records of voicemails to email
- Telephone waiting
- User extensions
Phone.com also offers a range of premium features for an additional price, including:
- Telephone recording
- Voicemail transcription
- CRM integration
- Custom toll-free numbers
See Phone.com
Greatest Phone System with an Auto Attendant for International Calling: 8×8
Who 8×8 is best suited for
If a little business conducts a lot of its business outside the US, then 8×8 top two pricing grade packages may work out for much cheaper solution. Their Unlimited and International plans include international calls to either their best nine or 40 destinations, respectively.
However, for the more typical users, the extra costs for features which other providers include as standard, such as call queuing and toll-free amounts, cost extra with 8×8 and this may quickly cause your overall costs to grow. As well, 8×8 lacks 24/7 client support.
For additional information, have a look at our consumer reviews of 8×8.
What 8×8 prices
8×8 provides three levels of pricing programs, which are priced per user and include different levels of calling time to different areas:
- $24.99/month per user for 250 outbound minutes to the US and Canada and $0.029/minute afterward
- $39.99/month per user for unlimited minutes to the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and Guam and calls to landlines in France, Italy, Ireland, Spain and the UK
- $79.99/month per user for unlimited minutes to 8×8’s top 40 calling countries
All 8×8’s programs include their auto attendant feature.
What other attributes 8×8 comprises
The most useful feature that 8×8 provides is their Infinite and worldwide pricing programs include international calls to 8×8’s nine or 40 leading destinations, respectively. And for global calls outside of the destinations that are included, 8×8’s rates start at $0.034/moment. For businesses who make a good deal of international calls, this could present significant cost savings over other VoIP telephone service providers.
Other standard calling features with 8×8 comprise:
- Compliant with HIPAA, PCI, and FISMA
- Ring groups
- Hold music
- User extensions
- Call forwarding
- Incoming caller ID
- Call waiting
- Telephone transfers
- Send sound files of voicemails to email
- Third-party application integrations
Stop by 8×8
Bottom Line: Best Phone Systems With An Auto-Attendant
Auto attendants used to be available to businesses who could afford more sophisticated and expensive phone systems, but the advancements in both the availability and affordability of VoIP phone systems has put it, and several other advanced features, within reach of most small companies. In reality, automated attendants are now commonly included as a standard feature with most phone systems at no extra price. Which phone supplier you choose is dependent upon your business’ special requirements and there are currently several choices available on the market.
Still not sure which phone system is ideal for you? Read our head-to-head review of RingCentral vs Grasshopper to determine which is most suitable for your small business.
