Aircall: Powerful Phone-Centric Solutions

Aircall at a Glance

Aircall markets their solutions as being completely cloud-based, and not tied to physical phone hardware as other companies' solutions might be. Their solutions are targeted towards small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and large companies, who want to scale their operations through efficient and reliable business communications software and services. They count over 17,000 such companies as clients worldwide in over 40 countries, with solutions tailored to their clients' specific sales, customer support, IT, and operations teams; or made to fit their entire company's infrastructure. They serve many industries, including healthcare, recruitment, financial services, retail, e-commerce, software, technology, marketing and advertising, education and e-learning, travel, and hospitality.

Aircall offers progressive phone communication tools beyond those you'd find in a simple Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system, including those of call analytics, collaboration, and productivity. Their system integrates with various platforms and apps to cater to almost all purposes, including help desk, eCommerce, CRM, HR, recruiting, data, and reporting. They also take your call and data security seriously by limiting permissions via user roles. However, they also allow you the convenience of single sign-on through your pre-existing identity provider, such as JumpCloud or Ping One.

Additionally, their security and compliance controls and mechanisms are based on the ISO 27001 Information Security Standard and NIST Standards, which include programs covering policies and procedures, business continuity, HR security, network infrastructure security, third-party security, vulnerability management, and incident response.

They have won numerous awards for their innovative technology and customer service. In 2021, they were named by G2 as Leaders in Contact Center Operations and Small-Business Phone Systems, as well as High Performers for Call Tracking and Call Recording Software. They were also finalists for the 2020 SaaS Awards and received the 2020 Stevie Award for Customer Service Department of the Year in the Computer Software category. In fact, Aircall is now a Deloitte Fast 500 centaur company, having exceeded $100M in annual recurring revenue for 2022. However, they are not accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

Aircall Phone System Solutions

Aircall offers customized solutions based on various aspects. That means how they present your solution to your business may vary based on your use case, role, and industry. You may have different features emphasized over others depending on whether your focus is on your sales, IT, or support team, for example; or whether you are in the healthcare field or the marketing industry. That being said, the general features they offer are the following:

• Phone system: These associated features are your more standard business telecommunications services. Those include toll-free numbers for over 100 countries, local and international numbers, call conferencing with up to five participants, set business hours, voicemail, call routing, interactive voice response (IVR), user extensions, number blocking, a virtual call center, and business SMS
• Collaboration: These are benefits which encourage teamwork, like warm transfers, shared contacts and call inboxes for follow-ups, and inter-team call assignments and commenting
• Call center: These are features specific to call center software, such as call queuing, ring groups for specialized teams, parallel calls with an unlimited amount taken simultaneously, callback services for inbound callers, call recording, and so on
• Productivity: These ensure you are getting the most out of your calls, and include such benefits as call transcription, desktop call notifications, custom call search filters, click-to-dial, and the business phone mobile app, among many others. They also allow you to integrate into your current CRM tools for seamless customer communications management
• Analytics: They keep track of all your team's call activities call center metric in one dashboard for better management, and allow you to monitor live calls and 'whisper' to teammates while on a live call
• Integrations: Aside from their CRM computer telephony integration (CTI), they also offer integrations to Google apps, PieSync imports, and a whole suite of other essential apps for business. You can also create custom workflow integrations using their API and Webhooks tools. One of the many benefits of their integrated system comes in the form of insight cards, which show you data based on previous caller insights when they call
• Admin and security: For the sake of convenience and added security, they allow you to sign in through your Okta, Auth0, JumpCloud, Ping One, or Azure AD logins. As an administrator, they also allow you to set user roles and permissions, thereby limiting access to privileged information and system capabilities
• AI and transcription: Their leveraging of artificial intelligence can be seen in their call and voicemail transcription, after-call summaries, topic recognition during calls, an easily filterable call log center, and their talk-to-listen ratio reviews. These tools come as add-ons and are not part of any standard plan

Aircall Phone System Pricing

Aircall advertises three types of plans with different pricing criteria. Those plans can be taken on a month-to-month basis or annually, where you would save up to 25% of the costs. You can take advantage of a free trial period of up to seven days to test their plans, during which you can evaluate the services without any charges, except for any usage fees that may apply. This is an opportunity for you to try out features and determine if they meet your needs before committing.

The plans are as follows:

• Essentials: This basic plan costs $30 a user per month when subscribing annually, and $40 a user per month if you choose the monthly subscription. It includes unlimited internal and inbound calls, business SMS within US & Canada, call recordings with up to a year of accessibility, basic call analytics, desktop and mobile softphone app, IVR, voicemail, click-to-dial, email reporting, phone support, parallel calls, and many other features. You also gain CTI with more than 100 integrations, including to Zendesk, Hubspot, Pipedrive, Intercom, Slack, and Zoho; as well as API and Webhooks access. Keep in mind that if you choose the monthly subscription, you must have four users or more, while the annual subscription has no such limits. However, you may only have up to three teams on this plan
• Professional: This plan costs $50 a user per month when subscribing annually and $70 a user per month if you choose the monthly subscription. This adds to the Essentials plan with Salesforce integrations, unlimited access to recordings, advanced analytics, queue callbacks, live call monitoring and whispering, call tagging, PowerDialer, personalized onboarding sessions, and a dedicated account manager. As with Essentials, you must have at least four users if you opt for the monthly subscription, but you can have an unlimited amount of teams
• Custom: This plan is provided for you if you want to tailor the features to fit your business requirements, and you have to discuss those along with your personalized costs with Aircall's sales team. It may include everything you find under the Professional plan, as well as prioritized call support, custom analytics, custom onboarding, API developer support, a service-level agreement (SLA), and many other features based on the business size, industry, and needs. To qualify for this plan, you must have at least 25 users, but you can have an unlimited number of teams

We could not mention most of the features above, so you are encouraged to consult Aircall's pricing table for the full list. You would receive one local or toll-free number with all plans, with each additional number costing you an extra $6 per month. You also have the option of adding on one of two optional packages that come at extra costs, which are:

• AI Starter: At an extra $9 a user per month, you would gain smarter tools that leverage the power of AI, which include call and voicemail transcription, conversation center, talk-to-listen ratio reviews, key topic recognition, call summaries, and transcription API
• Analytics+: For more involved analytics capabilities, you would pay an extra $15 a user per month. With that, you get advanced filters, structured dashboards around your areas of interest, drill-down-and-export, unlimited history, and intuitive charts and heatmaps

The Perks of Choosing Aircall

There are many benefits to Aircall's business phone solution, some of which are:

• Unlimited calling in the US and Canada: Aircall provides unlimited outbound, inbound, and internal calls within the United States and Canada, offering businesses cost-effective communication solutions. Outside of those countries, you get unlimited internal and inbound calls, but would have to add an international calling bundle for outbound calls
• Business SMS: The availability of business texting enhances communication flexibility, allowing teams to connect with clients and colleagues through text messages
• Additional business numbers: Aircall allows users to add extra business or toll-free numbers, as needed, at an affordable monthly rate of $6 each, providing flexibility for expanding business operations or managing multiple projects in over 100 countries
• Extensive app integrations: With over 100 app integrations, Aircall seamlessly integrates with popular third-party software such as Slack, Zendesk, HubSpot, Salesforce, and Zoho, enhancing workflow efficiency
• User-friendly interface: Their user-friendly interface simplifies call distribution setup, making it easy for businesses to manage their phone systems without requiring extensive technical expertise
• Call recording: Call recording is a standard feature included in all their plans, providing businesses with a valuable tool for training, quality assurance, and compliance
• Free trial: They allow you to try their product for free, with few restrictions, for a period of seven days. However, usage fees may apply

Why You Might Not Choose Aircall

• Three-user monthly minimum: If you opt for a monthly subscription, you must have a minimum of three users to qualify, making it less suitable for smaller teams or solo entrepreneurs. You may not have such a restriction with an annual contract, but that means you have to budget for higher upfront costs to enter into their services
• Lack of UCaaS solutions: They cannot be considered a unified communications as a service (UCaaS) provider as they lack native video conferencing and virtual faxing features. This requires you to integrate additional software for comprehensive collaboration, and it might not be the best option if you rely heavily on video meetings

The Aircall Customer Experience

Customer feedback about their services is generally positive, with them getting a review score of 4.3 out of 5 on both G2 and Capterra. However, they get a somewhat lower score on Trustpilot, 3.4 out of 5. They do receive a few complaints on the BBB, where they currently have an F rating.

Overall, users have praised Aircall as a great alternative for call centers, commending its ease of use, quick setup, reasonable pricing, and advanced features. Some users appreciate the reliability of the service, while others highlight exceptional customer support, quick responses, and effective solutions to queries or issues. However, there are mixed sentiments regarding the functionality and performance of the platform, with some users reporting minor glitches and occasional issues such as slow reporting and UI. Despite these issues, users who have had a positive experience recommend Aircall for its reliability and efficient customer support, emphasizing its role in improving communication efficiency.

On the other hand, negative feedback about Aircall includes strong criticisms, with complaints about the company's billing practices and dissatisfaction with the support team. Some users mention difficulty canceling subscriptions, while others express frustration with the platform's inconsistency and limitations. Complaints range from difficulties obtaining refunds, confusing user settings resulting in additional charges, and unresponsive customer service.

They do not respond to the complaints found on the BBB, although they are relatively few in number. However, they do respond to some reviews in a professional and collaborative manner, indicating that they are taking that feedback constructively.

Customer Support

Aircall provides several customer support options. In the US, you may contact them by phone at +1-888-240-6923, and they have numbers for other countries listed on their Contact Us page.

To submit an online request for support, you would log in to their system. From there, you may be able to get email or live chat support. If you prefer to troubleshoot by yourself, they have an online knowledge base with many helpful topics, live training opportunities, and on-demand webinars. They also have a glossary page and many blog articles you may find useful.

Final Thoughts

Aircall stands out as a top cloud-based communication solution targeting all business sizes across various industries. With over 17,000 clients globally and recognition for innovation and customer service, Aircall offers an array of features, including advanced call analytics, collaboration tools, and integrations with popular platforms. Additionally, their emphasis on security and compliance controls showcases a commitment to protecting your user and customer data.

However, while Aircall excels in providing unlimited calling, business SMS, and user-friendly interfaces, potential users should be mindful of the minimum three-user requirement for monthly subscriptions, and the absence of native video conferencing and other unified communications solutions. Their predominantly positive customer experiences, highlighted by quick setup, efficient customer support, and reliable services, contrast with occasional criticisms about billing practices, customer support issues, and other inconsistencies. Overall, Aircall offers a robust communication solution but may not be the most cost-effective choice for smaller teams or those heavily reliant on video conferencing.

When looking for a business phone system provider, we suggest you shop around before making a decision. You can visit our company reviews page and compare your favorite providers based on the communication features they offer. Additionally, we have informative blog articles that cover various topics surrounding VoIP networks and other related topics. No matter where you are in your purchasing journey, we aim to make it a smooth experience for you!

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