8x8 vs GoogleVoice: Which one is the best for your business?

October 10, 2023
phone system for small business

Experience the ultimate rivalry: 8x8 vs. Google Voice. Uncover the perfect phone system for your business. Let the competition commence!

Meet 8x8: Elevate business communication with cloud solutions. Consolidate voice, video, text onto one platform. Enjoy unlimited calling, team messaging, call monitoring, analytics. Opt for 3 business communication plans and 3 contact center options.

Facing off against our first contender, we have in the opposing corner Google Voice: VoIP mastery for companies in 14 nations. Connection made simple via web, mobile, or desk phones. Seamlessly blend with Google apps. Voice, video, and more, complemented by texts, voicemail transcriptions. Discover their three plans.

Compare 8x8 and GoogleVoice plans and features

How many users do you need?

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8x8 Google Voice
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Price for users /month /month
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Pros and Cons
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Google Voice scores for lower prices but 8x8 offers more features

Subscribing to the X2 plan will cost businesses $28 per user per month. This includes unlimited calling to 12 other countries such as France and Germany and gives you access to hot desking, voicemail transcriptions on top of basic calling features.

Upgrading to the X4 gives subscribers free unlimited calls to numbers in 48 countries. This subscription is priced at $57 per user. It also includes CRM integrations, supervisor analytics and call monitoring.
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8x8 works out to a higher monthly cost as compared to GoogleVoice.

Paying $10 per user per month gives businesses a subscription to the Google Voice Starter plan. A subscription can be used by teams of up to 10 people in up to 10 domestic locations. It is inclusive of voicemail transcription, call forwarding, Google app integration and more.

Businesses must pay a user license fee of $20 per month for a subscription to the Google Voice Standard plan. It has no user limit. Apart from the features of the Starter plan, this includes ring groups, multi-level auto attendant, ad-hoc call recording and more.

The Premier plan is the most advanced plan by Google Voice. It is priced at $30 per user per month and includes all the Standard plan features and exclusive features like automatic call recording.
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A step-by-step comparison between 8x8 and GoogleVoice

To help you find what solution fits best your need between Zoom Phone and Ringcentral, we have conducted an unbiased comparison based on 8 criterias:
#1 Manage your office calls : How will you handle calls while at the office? Can you use computer-based calls or do you require an office phone?
#2 Manage your calls on the go: Does it offer a mobile app with VoIP calls? Do you need to set up call forwarding to your mobile device?
#3 Auto-attendant : Can you easily distribute calls to your team?
#4 Greetings Management : Can you set up company greetings on your own? How easy is it to create and manage announcements?
#5 Call Tracking : How easy is it to monitor your business calls?
#6 Call recording : Can you record and listen to calls?
#7 Call billing : How much does it cost to make and receive calls? Is everything included?
#8 Activation : How easy is it to activate a phone number and set up your phone system?
COMPARE
  • Manage Your Office Calls
  • Manage Your Calls On The Go
  • Auto-attendant
  • Greetings Management
  • Call Tracking
  • Call recording
  • Call billing
  • Activation

#1 Manage Your Office Calls

Desktop and deskphone support for all 8x8 and Google Voice plans

The 8x8 communication services are accessible through desktop apps, IP desk phones and web browsers.

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Like 8x8, Google Voice subscribers can make and receive calls through a web application or deskphone.

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#2 Manage Your Calls On The Go

Android and iOS app support by 8x8 and Google Voice

Smartphone apps for Android and iOS devices can be used to access 8x8 services.

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While they look different, the 8x8 and GoogleVoice apps have similar functions. Google Voice offers a free mobile app for Android and iOS users to make and receive calls.

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#3 Auto-attendant

Automated receptionist available with 8x8 but missing from Google Voice starter plan

The X2 and X4 plans offer call routing and allow users to create multi-level call menus. Call flows depend on customer size, location, etc.

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GoogleVoice has limited call routing options as compared to 8x8.

IVR and auto attendant facilities are not included in the Google Voice Starter plan. Subscribing to the Standard and Premier plans gives businesses access to a multi-level auto attendant that can be set up to route calls to different agents and ring groups.

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#4 Greetings Management

Custom greetings possible with both 8x8 and Google Voice

To customize greetings, account admins must sign in to the admin console.

Step 1. Select Auto attendant and click on the pencil icon.

Step 2. Choose one of the following: Weekdays/ Holidays/ Alternate from the Call Handling Menus.

Step 3. Choose between Open Hours Menu/ Closed Hours Menu/ Lunch Hours Menu.

Step 4. Select Create Audio Files. You can then call a number to record a new greeting or upload a prerecorded message.

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In the case of both 8x8 and GoogleVoice, admin users can customize greetings from the mobile app or a web browser.

Step 1: Select Voicemail greetings from the Settings menu.

Step 2: Click on the Record button to start recording your message.

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#5 Call Tracking

Wider range of call management options available with 8x8

Though they cannot monitor live calls, supervisors can study status reports to assess agent productivity. They can see which lines are free and busy at any given point of time as well as when and how agents log in to their accounts.

The 8x8 X2 plan gives team supervisors a wide range of options to assess agent productivity and monitor calls. They can view status updates as well as get updates on when agents are free to take a call, busy or unavailable. In addition, they can read voicemail transcriptions from their email inbox to prioritize follow-ups. During audio/video meetings, supervisors can moderate participant mics and camera access.

Subscribing to the X4 plan is the only way 8x8 business communication team supervisors can monitor live calls. They can listen to calls, whisper to agents to coach them, join a call to make it a conference call or take over calls. They can also access advanced call analytics reports.

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When it comes to the advanced pans, 8x8's inclusion of live call monitoring gives it an edge over GoogleVoice.

Along with giving team supervisors access to reports on call logs and usage, the Google Voice Starter plan includes access to voicemail transcriptions. This helps prioritize responses and follow-ups. Agents can also transfer calls to other agents or supervisors if required.

Subscribing to the Standard plan gives businesses access to eDiscovery. This helps them find specific conversations from calls, text messages and voicemail records. The plan also includes ad-hoc call recording. This allows them to assess calls at a later date.

Automatic call recording is an inbuilt feature of the Premier plan. Subscribing to this plan also includes access to advanced call reports and all the Starter and Standard plan features.

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#6 Call Recording

Call recording unavailable with both 8x8 and Google Voice starter plans

X2 and X4 subscribers can record all incoming and outgoing calls for compliance and quality control.

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Both the 8x8 and GoogleVoice starter plans do not include call recording.

Call recording is available only to Standard and Premier plan subscribers. It is available on an ad-hoc basis for the Standard plan and automated for the Premier plan.

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#7 Call Billing

call destinations and per minute call rates determine your final monthly bill

The cost of making international calls varies from country to country. Rates are set on a per minute basis with call durations being rounded up to the next minute. For example, rates for calls to Italy start from $0.03 per minute while rates for calls to India start from $0.06 per minute

Irrespective of the plan chosen, there are similarities in the way calls are billed for 8x8 and GoogleVoice subscribers. GoogleVoice subscribers can make and receive unlimited calls between other Google Voice accounts and numbers within the USA and Canada. Per minute international call billing rates vary by location. For example, calls to Cook Islands are billed at $0.8 per minute.

#8 Activation

Easy account setup processes by both service providers

Businesses can set up an 8x8 account through the service provider’s website. For this, you need a valid email address. Once the registration process has been completed, you can set up user profiles and start using the 8x8 service through iOS and Android smartphone and MAC and Windows desktop applications, the web browser or IP desk phones. The latter are available on the 8x8 website.

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While there may be differences in the steps involved, both 8x8 and GoogleVoice accounts can be created online.

All subscriptions can be set up from the Google Voice app or web browser. You can use your existing google account. Once the account is set up, services can be accessed through desk phones with Obi Edition firmware, web browsers or a smartphone application.

phone system for small business