Not Tied Down, Part 2: Phone Systems, Pros & Cons

By Andrew Bundy

Private practices and businesses of all sizes are all switching to phone systems that use Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which is a system that uses the internet to make phone calls.

While VoIP is getting a lot of attention right now, it is not exactly a new thing. The technology to send phone calls digitally has existed in that long-ago time called “The 1990s.” In essence, VoIP is a last-century innovation coming to its own this century.

This blog will discuss the positives of 10 popular VoIP phone systems used by mental health therapy practices that have worked with Move Forward Virtual Assistants. The versatility of VoIP means that a busy therapy practice can contract a mental health virtual assistant using any of the following products, so no practice is locked into what the other practices are using. If one practice prefers RingCentral, for example, there is nothing stopping another from using Vonage.

All information is gathered from talking to virtual assistants at Move Forward Virtual Assistants, company websites, PC Mag, TechRadar, Get VoIP, and Business.org. The companies are listed in alphabetical order.

Charm

Charm Health is an integrated telehealth solution and one of the newer ones on this list. It has mobile apps, connection for electronic health records and billing, as well as a communication platform. It allows patients to create appointments and alerts the provider. It operates like many of the others on this list, but it integrates directly with its own records system.

Since it is a completely integrated platform, the fixed-pricing plan is $350 per month, making it one of the more expensive platforms on the list. It also has off-shore customer service and not real-time connection. Customer service is often listed as a con in the services, with one, in particular, receiving especially bad reviews. Charm also has reviews wishing it were more streamlined and intuitive.

Fusion

Fusion is a program that calls itself a single-source solution for small businesses. Like all the platforms on this list, it is a VoIP provider that can do texts and calls. It advertises that it works with its clients to “tailor” its services. 

People who have used it say that it has good call quality and connectivity to different services, such as text, calls, and voicemail, and the cost is lower than many other services.

However, a Google search for “Fusion VoIP reviews” brings up many stories of customer-service difficulties. Many complained that terminating a relationship with Fusion is very difficult.

GoDaddy

Perhaps initially known for its edgy commercials, GoDaddy is really a services platform that has website building, webmail, domain searching, web hosting, design services, and now, a phone platform.

GoDaddy SmartLine is a business phone line alternative that offers a second phone number to a cell phone. Useful for an inexpensive way to keep a personal phone number private, GoDaddy allows setup for voicemail, text messages, and basic business calling.

If a practice is looking for a quick way to get another line that allows a voicemail-to-text transcription feature for a cheaper price than many other services, the $3.99 GoDaddy SmartLine has that. However, that means that it is a basic service with few features, and it is tied to a specific device, so it is not as versatile as some practices may need.

Google Voice

Everybody knows Google, and Google Voice has a dedicated app on most Android phones. With Google Voice, you have a virtual local phone number that you answer through the Google Voice app. You can also run it on your desktop. 

It is a good basic phone service, but that is really all it is. You can send texts and receive calls, and it does integrate with the G-Suite for Google’s business side. However, if you want advanced features, Google Voice is a better basic phone service.

Perhaps the biggest drawback is the usual “How is Google using my data?” problem. A previous blog post covered ways of securing Google.

Grasshopper

Smaller practices might benefit from a platform like Grasshopper. Plans are scalable and can be billed annually. The mobile and desktop apps allow for dedicated business numbers, texting, voice, call forwarding, and voicemail. It can also use extensions and create custom greetings. 

Grasshopper boasts that it has an easy setup, and the simple features are more geared toward smaller businesses than something like a massive call center. However, one downside is that it does not integrate with VoIP desktop phones, and it only offers three plans, so there may be businesses that fall in the gaps of their services. 

An additional drawback is a fact that Grasshopper is designed for smaller businesses, so it is not the most advanced platform on the internet. However, that may be what a particular practice needs. Sometimes, simplicity is best. Other times, simplicity makes more work.

RingCentral

RingCentral boasts that it is the #1 phone and video system with plans starting at $19.99 per month. While every company declares itself as #1 of something, RingCentral often comes at the top of “Best VoIP” lists on the internet.

RingCentral has the standard services – voice, video, text – as well as some AI capabilities, like an auto-attendant. There are tiered plans, ranging from the Essential level, which is a basic VoIP program, to a Premium level, which can automatically record calls. RingCentral also has desktop and mobile apps, and practices can customize their service with various optional add-ons.

One main strength of RingCentral is also its drawback. The customization can act as a money pit, requiring practices to buy piecemeal to build its platform, potentially increasing the expense beyond the budget of a small mental health practice. 

While the basic services are included in the base price, more advanced features are add-ons, so a practice owner may need to do additional research to make sure every feature mentioned on the website is included in the price.

Spruce

Spruce bills itself as an all-in-one healthcare platform that integrates telemedicine, secure calls, and text messages, and even fax. It also integrates with many electronic health records. 

Clients can create a secure account or use the text-messaging options. It has a mobile platform, as well as a desktop app. Many people who use it say that they appreciate that they have a Spruce number and their personal cell phone numbers are secret.

However, some reviewers say that a few of the features are complicated to set up and can be run more efficiently through other platforms. Another downside is that the Spruce number can be seen as a spam call and is ignored by the client. Spruce also does not have group calling or screen sharing, but it does allow for scheduled messages, so a practice can alert clients to their appointments in an efficient manner.

Vonage

Vonage is one of the older companies in the VoIP business. People in their 30s and 40s may clearly remember the Vonage commercials that used “Woo Hoo” by the 5.6.7.8’s. While the song and the commercials may have stayed in the early 2000s, the company has continued to develop its project.

Vonage is considered a leader in small business VoIP, and it boasts that it integrates well with APIs, or intermediary programs that connect it to other programs like electronic health records. It has basic voice and text communications, as well as video conferencing, and the website has a starting price of $19.99 per line. Vonage has desktop and mobile apps that connect callers and providers.

While Vonage is robust, some electronic medical records may not integrate with the program. Checking with a Vonage representative is a good idea, but since there are many records programs, the representatives may think it will integrate, but the software does not connect. When it works, practices seem to be happy. When it does not, getting out of the agreement may be a problem.

Zoom

Early in the pandemic, it seemed like Zoom won the online meeting race. Many people now use “Zoom meeting” as a generic term for online meetings, much like how “Xerox” once became the go-to verb for making copies and “Kleenex” became the basic word for a tissue. 

Zoom’s video, voice, and text systems made it a versatile platform, and the pricing ranges from free to $300 a year. Because of its ubiquity, telling clients that they will meet up over Zoom gives a sense of familiarity, especially if a practice is branching out to telehealth meetings. 

The downsides, however, can range from not being compatible with electronic health records to limited phone services. Some online reviews say that there are no direct lines through Zoom and changing features like voice messages is very difficult.

Traditional phone companies

Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint also offer VoIP business solutions that range in pricing. These companies have the advantage of already being a telecom company, so a practice owner is likely to already have a service through one of them. 

However, many of these companies have weaknesses that the VoIP companies evolved to correct, but that does not mean that there is not a situation where they could be useful.

In addition to traditional phone companies, companies like Microsoft offer a business voice solution. Microsoft 365 Business Voice can be added to Office 365 and has connection to Microsoft Teams and both desktop and mobile capabilities. However, its calling plan has a 3,000-minute limit, which may be a big problem for a practice with a high call volume. 

Final thoughts

Only the practice owner can be sure which service will work best with their practice. Many programs have pros that work well with one practice’s needs, but the cons may make another practice’s work tedious. If one of the descriptions in this blog piques your interest, the best thing to do would be to search for reviews of that product to see what others are saying.

An additional factor to consider is integration with an electronic medical records system. Some of these products are a “one-stop” product with an all-in-one approach that include medical records and billing while others only offer phone and text capabilities. 

Checking with the company’s customer-service department might be necessary to make sure some of these services integrate with your other systems. Ones that have difficult-to-reach customer service departments, such as Charm and Fusion, might make it hard to make sure the programs will connect.

One more factor to consider will be the contracts. Some of these are monthly contracts while other services require year-long or three-year-long contracts. Making sure that the contract is agreeable to your practice is key, especially looking to see what recourse you have if the provider does not meet your expectations.

Finally, depending on how you use these services, a provider may want to make sure that they are HIPAA compliant. That topic will be covered in the third part of this blog series.

Disclaimer: Products listed in this blog are for example purposes only. This should not be read as an endorsement by Move Forward Virtual Assistants, LLC, or its affiliates. 

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