Vonage 2024: Features, Pros & Cons (2024)

Vonage Business Communications is an award-winning VoIP and UCaaS provider founded in 2001. Though it initially provided service to families and small businesses, Vonage today focuses on providing business cloud communications to companies of all sizes.
Vonage’s standard cloud phone and collaboration tools include:

• Unlimited calling
• Business SMS and MMS
• Auto attendant
• Call forwarding
• Video conferencing
• Unlimited team messaging
• Call hold and music on hold
• Do not disturb
• Dozens of additional features

Local and international business numbers and features such as call queuing or call recording are also available, but must get purchased separately.

Vonage provides internet-based phone service; your company’s internet quality impacts its quality and availability. With optimal high-speed internet, Vonage’s desktop and mobile software lets you place and receive phone calls and text messages. You can also collaborate with team members using audio and video conferencing tools.

Though Vonage often requires internet service, it is still usable with device data when Wi-Fi or an Ethernet connection is unavailable.

Vonage is capable of supporting companies large and small. However, this brand is best for those who need lines for at least 20 users. If your team consists of 100 or more people, you must contact Vonage’s sales team directly for a quote. As for smaller groups, Vonage is, in our experience, tough to sign up for, even to test its products. As such, we cannot recommend Vonage for sole proprietors or teams with fewer than 20 members.

Vonage Is Best For:

• Unlimited calling and texting: Because there is no limit on calls and SMS, you can make and receive as many business calls as needed.
• Operating on a user-friendly interface: Vonage’s features are easy to locate and quickly access.
• High-grade voice quality: Vonage software provides high-quality audio for calling.
• Unlimited team messaging: Collaborate with team members as often as needed without concerns about message or timeframe limitations.
• Guaranteed uptime: Vonage offers its customers a 99.999% uptime guarantee.

Vonage Is Not Recommended For:

• Individuals or particularly small teams: Based on our research and experience, we cannot recommend Vonage to individuals or companies operating with very few people.
• Consistently good customer service: Customer service can be hit or miss, with complaints around a lack of transparency or difficulty canceling service.
• Avoiding additional expenses: A few features, including toll-free numbers and CRM integrations, require add-ons and upgrades with Vonage, but not so with some of its top competitors.

Ultimately, you must compare what Vonage offers to other providers to determine if the pricing and features suit your business. We provide a series of such comparisons later on in this article.

At its core, Vonage is a VoIP service. It does provide video conferencing and third-party integrations, but Vonage’s features are not quite as numerous as top competitors such as RingCentral or Dialpad. Even so, there are aspects of Vonage that we think make Vonage worth consideration, as detailed in the next sections.

Ease of Use

Vonage’s interface makes it easy for customers to navigate. For instance, you will find all the main tools and features on one side of the desktop application, or you may quickly locate them through the mobile app or on your desktop phone screen.

Hardware

Vonage sells VoIP equipment through its website, primarily desktop and conference phones. Brands offered include Panasonic, Poly and Yealink, or you can transfer compatible VoIP hardware. Vonage doesn’t list prices publicly, so you need to contact its sales team for pricing information.

Software

Vonage’s software is accessible through your web browser; you can log in using single sign-on (SSO) where applicable. Firefox, Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers include an integration suite add-on that lets you start a call from any web page using a single click. You may also download the company’s desktop or mobile app.

Call Quality

Vonage ensures high-quality communication, though if you want to examine the exact caliber of calls, you can review reporting features related to call quality. This type of data is useful in assuring all call experiences are up to your desired standards and, should concerns arise, gives you a point of reference for reaching out concerning any technical issues.

Uptime

Vonage’s uptime reliability is 99.999%, though the service emphasizes that its reliability claim is not the same as a service level agreement or SLA. Instead, Vonage ensures you maintain access to all of its UCaaS tools without worrying that any of the features will suddenly go off-line.

Security

Vonage maintains security measures for its wide range of services to ensure it maintains standards in line with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements and international privacy laws and regulations. It uses independent and third-party testing measures, including ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, SOC, HITRUST and CSA STAR. Vonage also frequently invests in and leverages industry-leading security tools to maintain the integrity of its products and services.

Vonage’s UCaaS features are both DSS and HIPAA compliant; related certificates are available for download through its website.

Third-Party Integrations

Overall, Vonage integrates with about 24 different applications. However, some integrations must be purchased separately. There are currently 14 free integrations, those available with standard service, including:

• Google Workspace
• HubSpot
• Microsoft 365
• Microsoft Dynamics
• VBC for Slack
• Zapier
• Zendesk

Vonage has 10 paid integrations. Some apps requiring an add-on purchase include:

• Bullhorn: $4.99 per month
• Salesforce: $4.99 per month
• Apptivo Invoices: $10 per month
• Authvia: $25 per month
• Surfly – Business: $31 per month

We also noted that while Vonage refers to certain integrations as free, you would not have access to CRM integrations until upgrading from the standard Mobile tier to Premium.

Mobile

Vonage designed its Mobile plan for companies operating remotely or “on the go,” so it is bare-bones compared to Vonage’s Premium and Advanced tiers. You get unlimited calling and texting, though SMS is not accessible in Mexico. This subscription plan also provides access to about 20 third-party integrations but not CRM apps.

Premium

Premium includes everything in the Mobile tier, and you also gain access to popular integrations such as HubSpot, Salesforce, SugarCRM, Zendesk and Zoho. The Premium plan also lets you host unlimited meetings for up to 100 participants, use the multilevel auto attendant tool, and provides IP desk phone capabilities.

Advanced

The Advanced tier offers everything from Mobile and Premium and adds on-demand call recording for up to 15 hours. Additionally, you get the call group and visual voice mail tools.

Reaction to Vonage’s customer service is somewhat mixed. We found that some customers were satisfied with the support they received, while other current or former customers were very frustrated. In attempting to review Vonage, we interacted with a sales support team member who was very polite, but never returned the call as promised.

We also found the sign-up process very difficult, and customer service could have been more helpful in straightening this issue out, which contributed to forgoing hands-on testing for this review.

Vonage vs. 8×8

Though Vonage and 8×8 are each best suited for medium to enterprise-level businesses in terms of pricing, 8×8 has a far greater range of VoIP, call center and collaboration tools. Unlike Vonage, whose pricing changes according to the number of users, 8×8 charges a flat rate and lets you add as many users as you want. Vonage and 8×8 each provide unlimited calling and texting, but 8×8 extends this capability to at least 14 countries.

If you prefer access to common UCaaS services and call center capabilities without relying on add-ons and upgrades, we recommend 8×8.

Vonage vs. RingCentral

Though Vonage has a potentially lower starting price, the range is close enough that we believe RingCentral to provide greater value for the money. For instance, RingCentral plans include a toll-free number; you must pay Vonage $39.99 monthly to get this as an add-on. Each service is accessible through desktop and mobile apps that are easy to use, though Vonage’s is more modern and visually appealing.

RingCentral is the better fit for small to medium businesses. Please read our Vonage vs. RingCentral article for a more in-depth comparison of these two services.

Vonage vs. Nextiva

Vonage and Nextiva each provide a sliding scale for pricing according to how many users need their services. However, Nextiva’s pricing is publicly available no matter how many lines you need; once you exceed 100 users, you must contact Vonage to get a quote.

Vonage does have a lower starting cost, and very small teams would pay more per user with Nextiva. Our experience shows Nextiva may be less likely to turn smaller units away. As such, Nextiva would be the better option for small to medium-sized companies.