Zoom Phone vs RingCentral: Which one is the best for your business?

October 10, 2023
phone system for small business

Get ready for a showdown: Zoom Phone vs. RingCentral. Determine the ultimate phone system for your business. Let the competition begin!

Recognized globally as the top video conferencing solution, Zoom has launched Zoom Phone: a cloud-powered communication solution accessible across 47 countries via 3 distinct plans. Perfect for global enterprises and remote teams, Zoom Phone empowers smooth voice/video calls, conferences, messaging, and beyond.

And now, shifting our attention to the rival corner, we see RingCentral: The cloud phone system revolutionizing business communication. Unify calls, messages, video and faxes on a single platform. Choose from 4 plans, 4 contact center options, and exclusive video communication plans.

Compare Zoom Phone and RingCentral plans and features

How many users do you need?

1
Zoom Phone RingCentral
Pick up plan
Price for users /month /month
Channels
Key features
Support Channel
Pros and Cons
Best For

Zoom Phone's annual plan vs Ring Central's monthly but more rigid plans

Priced at $10 per user per month, the Zoom Phone Metered Pack offers unlimited international calling from numbers with an American/Canadian code and metered outgoing calls. This pack also includes services such as IVR call routing, voicemail transcriptions, call recording and select app integrations.

The Unlimited Pack by Zoom Phone is priced at $15 per user per month. This includes all the features of the Metered pack as well as unlimited regional calls in the USA and Canada. An add-on pack allows businesses to make unlimited calls to 19 other countries as well.
phone system for small business

Unlike ZoomPhone, RingCentral does not require an annual commitment. RingCentral plans are available on monthly subscriptions.

If you need only basic calling and messaging features, the RingCentral Essential plan priced at $19.99 per user per month is a good solution. This is however limited to 20 users. It includes unlimited calling within the USA and Canada.

Monthly user license fees for the Standard plan start at $22.99 and go up to $27.99 depending on the number of users. It includes all the features of the Essential plan as well as features such as video meetings with up to 100 participants, quality-of-service reports and select app integrations.

Subscribing to the Premium plan can cost between $32.99 and $34.99 per user per month depending on the number of users. This gives subscribers access to many exclusive features such as live call monitoring and automatic call recording.
phone system for small business

A step-by-step comparison between Zoom Phone and RingCentral

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

Multi-device support from both with similar ease-of-use

In the office, you can make and receive calls on a Zoom Phone number through a desk phone or desktop app.

phone system for small business

ZoomPhone and RingCentral services can be accessed through similar interfaces.

Ringcentral has a free app for Windows and Mac devices, web browser extension and deskphone interface.

phone system for small business

#2 Manage Your Calls On The Go

Stay connected with Zoom Phone and Ring Central mobile apps

Irrespective of whether you use an Android or iOS device, you can make and receive calls with the Zoom Phone app.

phone system for small business

ZoomPhone and RingCentral offer similar out-of-office connectivity.

Smartphone apps by RingCentral for Android and iOS devices can be used to make and receive calls.

phone system for small business

#3 Auto-attendant

Zoom Phone makes call routing accessible to all unlike RingCentral

Zoom Phone subscribers can use IVR menus or auto attendants to route incoming calls.

phone system for small business

While ZoomPhone offers universal access to its auto-attendant feature, RingCentral offers limited access.

The RingCentral auto-attendant feature is limited to the Standard and Premium plans. It is not available to Essential plan subscribers. The Ring Central auto-attendant routes incoming calls based on keystroke responses.

phone system for small business

#4 Greetings Management

Both service providers offer custom greeting capabilities

Zoom Phone users can choose a greeting from their audio library or upload custom audio greetings.

1. Login as an administrator and click on Call Handling from the Settings menu.

2. Select a file from the audio library or add a new recorded message

phone system for small business

RingCentral gives subscribers a wider range of greeting customization options as compared to ZoomPhone.

RingCentral account admins can customize greetings for all incoming calls from the RingCentral web browser or the desktop app.

Step 1. Select Company set up> Review Company Call Flow menu>edit

Step 2. Choose Custom Greeting and click on Record. Record a new message via a phone call/ computer microphone or upload recording.

phone system for small business

#5 Call Tracking

Zoom Phone gains an edge with universal live call monitoring capabilities

Zoom Phone call monitoring services can be used on common phones, shared line groups, call queues and all other phone users. Supervisors can listen to live calls, speak to agents without the other party knowing it, join conversations and take over calls if required.

phone system for small business

RingCentral offers the same call monitoring features only in the upgraded plans.

To help agents prioritize call follow-ups, The Essential plan gives subscribers access to voicemails and voicemail transcriptions in English, French, German and Spanish. These messages can be previewed in the user’s email inbox.

Supervisors of teams subscribed to the Standard plan can also get reports on call analytics such as the total number of calls made and received, call duration, etc. In addition, live call monitoring features are available to the Standard and Premium plan subscribers.

Live call monitoring allows supervisors to listen in to live calls without the agent or the caller’s knowledge, whisper to agents to guide them through query resolution, join in a conversation to speak to both call participants and takeover calls from agents. This feature is available on the desktop apps and IP desk phones.

phone system for small business

#6 Call Recording

Unlike RingCentral, Zoom Phone lets all users record calls for later analysis

Zoom Phone gives businesses an easy way to monitor calls for call quality. Calls made on shared line groups, common phones, etc. can be monitored by supervisors in real time. Supervisors can listen in to calls, whisper to agents, join calls or take over calls from agents. Only 1 supervisor can listen to a call at a time. Calls that cannot be monitored in real time can be recorded for later analysis. This feature needs to be manually enabled.

phone system for small business

Zoom Phone's call recording capabilities give it an edge over RingCentral. Call recording is not included in the RingCentral Essential plan. Standard plan subscribers can record calls manually while all calls made and received by Premium plan subscribers are automatically recorded.

phone system for small business

#7 Call Billing

It's more value for money with Zoom Phone

For the metered plan, Calls to 150+ countries are billed on a per minute rate based on whether the number being called is a landline or mobile number and the call destination. For example, calls to landline numbers in Argentina are billed at $0.1156 per minute while calls to Argentinian mobile numbers are billed at $0.5623 per minute.



Unlimited outgoing calls to numbers in the USA and Canada are included in the unlimited plan. add on plans for calling numbers in 19 other countries can be bought. Calls to numbers in countries not included in this list are billed at a per minute rate.

Unlike ZoomPhone, all RingCentral plans include unlimited calls to numbers within the USA and Canada.

All calls made by RingCentral subscribers apart from calls made to numbers in the USA and Canada are billed at a per minute rate. These call rates depend on locations and number types. For example, calls to Costa Rica are billed $0.068 per minute while calls to India are billed at $0.059 per minute.

ZoomPhone Metered plan subscribers are billed on a per-minute rate for all calls while the Unlimited plan subscribers are billed only for international calls.

#8 Activation

When it comes to administration, both services are comparable

Zoom Phone accounts can be set up online on the Zoom Phone website. You can apply for a new number or port an existing number. Once the account is set up, Zoom Phone services can be accessed through smartphone or desktop applications as well as certain desk phones. These desk phones are available with retailers or on the Zoom Phone website.

phone system for small business

Both Zoom Phone and RingCentral users can set up their accounts online. Subscribers can create an account on the RingCentral website with their email addresses or Google accounts. User extensions, call handling rules, etc. can be customized directly from the RingCentral dashboard. Users can then download and install the RingCentral app for their desktop, laptop or smartphone and login to start making and receiving calls. RingCentral services are also available with certain IP desk phones. You can configure existing desk phones to work with RingCentral or order cordless, receptionist and conference desk phones on the RingCentral website.

phone system for small business