Nextiva Virtual PBX is a reliable communication system that allows business owners and employees to communicate with the office’s phone system wherever they go. Nextiva is affordably priced and can be scaled to suit the needs of small, medium, and large businesses.
- Features
- Pricing
- The Good
- The Bad
Nextiva Virtual PBX Features
Nextiva Virtual PBX Calling
Unlimited Calling: Nextiva Virtual PBX offers unlimited calling over the ‘Unlimited’ plan.
Unlimited Toll-Free Minutes: Unlimited toll-free minutes are available over the ‘Unlimited’ plan.
Included Minute Packages: Nextiva Virtual PBX offers 100 minute plans and 500 minute plans.
International Calling: International calling is available but not included on all plans.
No Pay Per Minute Plan: Nextiva does not offer a pay-as-you-go plan.
Toll-Free and Local Numbers: All plans include one free local or toll-free telephone number.
Unlimited Toll-Free Minutes: Unlimited toll-free minutes are available over the ‘Unlimited’ plan.
Included Minute Packages: Nextiva Virtual PBX offers 100 minute plans and 500 minute plans.
International Calling: International calling is available but not included on all plans.
No Pay Per Minute Plan: Nextiva does not offer a pay-as-you-go plan.
Toll-Free and Local Numbers: All plans include one free local or toll-free telephone number.
Nextiva Virtual PBX Call Management
Included Features: Nextiva plans include online faxing, auto-attendant, professional voicemail, dial-by-name directories, flexible forwarding, and other features.
Premium Features: Additional features are available for purchase.
Online Faxing: Nextiva offers online faxing.
Voicemail to Email: Voicemail messages are received in your email inbox in .mp3 format.
Mobile Apps: Manage your PBX system using iPhone and Android apps.
Desktop Platform: Nextiva offers a user-friendly desktop platform.
No Hardware: Nextiva does not require any hardware; all call management is performed over the desktop and mobile platforms.
Premium Features: Additional features are available for purchase.
Online Faxing: Nextiva offers online faxing.
Voicemail to Email: Voicemail messages are received in your email inbox in .mp3 format.
Mobile Apps: Manage your PBX system using iPhone and Android apps.
Desktop Platform: Nextiva offers a user-friendly desktop platform.
No Hardware: Nextiva does not require any hardware; all call management is performed over the desktop and mobile platforms.
Other Nextiva Virtual PBX Features
Tech Support: Nextiva’s tech support is based in Arizona and is available over live chat, toll-free telephone, and email.
No Free Trial: Nextiva does not offer a free trial.
Voicemail: Voicemail is included on all plans, and customers can personalize their voicemail to respond to callers.
Keep Existing Phone Number: Nextiva Connect customers can keep their existing phone number at a cost of $4.95 per month with a $19.95 setup fee.
No Free Trial: Nextiva does not offer a free trial.
Voicemail: Voicemail is included on all plans, and customers can personalize their voicemail to respond to callers.
Keep Existing Phone Number: Nextiva Connect customers can keep their existing phone number at a cost of $4.95 per month with a $19.95 setup fee.
100 Minutes
$8.95/mo
1 Free Local or Toll-Free Number
Auto-Attendant
Professional Voicemail
Unlimited Extensions
500 Minutes
$19.95/mo
1 Free Local or Toll-Free Number
Auto-Attendant
Professional Voicemail
Unlimited Extensions
Unlimited
$69.95/mo
1 Free Local or Toll-Free Number
Auto-Attendant
Professional Voicemail
Unlimited Extensions
The Good On Nextiva Virtual PBX
Communicate With the Office from Anywhere
The main reason companies invest in virtual PBX systems is to connect employees with the office when they’re on-the-go. Nextiva Virtual PBX lets employees easily access the company’s telephone network from their mobile device. After organizing your business around Nextiva, employees can connect to Nextiva using the desktop platform or the iPhone and Android apps. As long as your mobile device is connected to the internet, you will be able to handle business calls on-the-go.
Free Local & Toll-Free Number
Nextiva includes a free number on all plans. Whether you sign up for the 100 Minutes plan or the Unlimited Plan, Nextiva will provide you with a local or toll-free number. You can also continue using an existing number. During the signup process, you will be able to choose your business’s new number from a list of available numbers. Toll-free numbers are available with the following prefixes: 855, 866, 877, and 888.
Professional Voice Attendant
Nextiva Connect includes auto-attendant on all plans. The auto-attendant, also known as a virtual secretary, is an automated greeting system that helps connect callers with the individual or department they’re trying to reach. Callers simply listen to the auto-attendant and then type in the correct number. There’s also a “dial-by-name directory” where callers can view employee extension information through a directory.
Online Faxing
Like most other virtual PBX providers, Nextiva includes online faxing on all plans. Online faxing involves sending and receiving faxes over your mobile device. To create a mobile fax, you simply compose a new email and attach the document you wish to fax. Incoming faxes are received as emails with attached documents. This process is way more efficient than receiving faxes over a costly physical device. Businesses with high-volume monthly faxing needs will likely save a lot of money. No more paper, ink, or costly fax machine repairs are required!
Included Bonus Features
Nextiva includes a generous range of bonus features on all plans. Those bonus features include auto-attendant, professional voicemail, flexible routing and forwarding, unlimited extensions, and voicemail to email. Some other providers charge for these options, but most don’t. That being said, Nextiva’s bonus features are more limited than those offered by providers like Vonage and Volusion, so customers can expect to pay extra for certain additional features.
Automatic Call Forwarding
Nextiva automatically forwards calls to 5 different numbers sequentially. If the first phone does not pick up, then Nextiva will automatically reroute that call to the next phone in the sequence. This is an excellent way to avoid dropped calls and missed calls. If your business can’t afford to miss a call, then you’ll find the automatic call forwarding feature on Nextiva to be very useful.
No Hardware Required
Nextiva does not come with nay hardware or specialized phones. Instead, users simply access an online control panel and Nextiva software where they can manage all aspects of their PBX system. Mobile apps are available for Android and iOS and desktop software is available. The Nextiva desktop software is user-friendly and straightforward to use – even if you’re not an expert with computers.
Affordable Pricing
Nextiva’s pricing is great for small businesses and large businesses. Medium businesses, however, will find better deals with Vonage, Virtual PBX, Grasshopper, and other competitors. Here’s why: Nextiva’s entry plans start at $8.95 per month and $19.95 per month and include 100 minutes and 500 minutes, respectively. The next lowest plan is the unlimited plan, which charges $69.95 per month for an unlimited number of minutes. The lower level plans are relatively affordable compared to other providers, but Nextiva doesn’t offer a mid-range plan for medium-sized businesses. If your business uses fewer than 500 minutes per month or more than 5,000 minutes per month, then Nextiva is likely the best value package available.
24/7 Tech Support with Minimal Hold Times
Lots of other VoIP companies offer 24/7 customer service. Unfortunately, customer service often means long hold times. That’s not true with Nextiva. Nextiva claims that it answers 95% of sales and support calls by the second ring and calls have little to no hold time. Multiple tech support options are available, including live online chat, toll-free sales and support phone numbers, and email support. If tech support is important to you, then Nextiva offers the industry’s finest support options.
Voicemail to Email
All voicemails are automatically sent to your email inbox in .mp3 format. Customers can also personalize their voicemail with a professional message to manage callers even when away from your phone. Voicemails are sent to your email inbox as a simple email attachment, making it easy to check up on the office in just seconds.
The Bad On Nextiva Virtual PBX
Costly Setup Charges
Nextiva does not charge a setup fee on its accounts. However, if you have any special requests for your account, then you may need to pay anywhere from $10 to $30 in setup fees. Nextiva charges a $9.95 setup fee to add a new local phone number to your account, for example, and charges a $19.95 setup fee to keep an existing number. Additional toll-free 800 numbers require a $30 setup fee, while other additional toll-free numbers cost $9.95 to activate. All of the above options also cost an additional $4.95 per month. Since many other VoIP providers add features like “keep an existing number” to an account for free, businesses with specialized needs may find Nextiva expensive.
Relatively Expensive Unlimited Plan
Nextiva offers three different levels of service: 100 minutes, 500 minutes, and ‘Unlimited’. The Unlimited plan is available for $69.95 per month. This is great for businesses that use a large number of minutes per month, but it’s not ideal for those which use between 500 minutes and say, 2,000 minutes. Grasshopper, for example, offers a $49 per month plan that includes 2,000 minutes, while Virtual PBX offers a $24.99 per month plan that also includes 2,000 minutes. In other words, it’s difficult to justify the costs of Nextiva if you’re not taking advantage of the ‘Unlimited’ plan.
Our Verdict On Nextiva Virtual PBX
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Nextiva was one of the VoIP industry’s first big players. Founded in 2005, Nextiva has consistently offered competitive pricing and useful features that help it edge out the competition. Since prices are closely aligned with those offered by other major providers, Nextiva is a popular choice for small and medium-sized businesses.
However, pricing is also one of Nextiva’s downsides. If your business uses fewer than 500 minutes per month, then Nextiva is a great deal. If your business uses between 500 minutes and 2,000 minutes, however, then there are better options available. Nextiva doesn’t offer a mid-range plan and instead funnels users into its Unlimited plan.
Ultimately, if you plan on taking full advantage of ‘Unlimited’ minutes, then Nextiva is an excellent option. All plans come with a free local and toll-free number and the ability to add unlimited extensions. Other valuable features include auto-attendant, flexible call routing, and easy online platform management.
Determine how many minutes your business uses each month. If it’s fewer than 500 minutes or greater than 2,000, then Nextiva offers excellent value for your business. If you’re between 500 minutes and 2,000 minutes, then other providers offer cheaper plans.
