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RingCentral

RingCentral Rating:
4.7/5

Features

  • Customer Experience & Support - 9/10
    9/10
  • Pricing & Value - 9.5/10
    9.5/10
  • Security - 9.5/10
    9.5/10
  • Innovation & Future-Proofing - 9.5/10
    9.5/10
9.4/10
0/10
Comments Rating 0/10 (0 reviews)
Details

Rating Breakdown

Our Rating: 4.7/5

Our rating is based on our subjective judgment. Use our resources—including our rating and community ratings and reviews—to find the best fit for your firm.

RingCentral is a VoIP solution that includes Video Conferencing, Business Text Messaging capabilities, and an internet fax platform. Although it is not built specifically for lawyers, a RingCentral has obviously reviewed and focused on the industry. Unfortunately, they do not integrate with any specific law practice management software. However, they do work with many other applications a law firm might use in their practice. This includes Office 365, G Suite, Zapier, and more.

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Who RingCentral is For

RingCentral is ideal for small to medium-sized law firms who are looking for a one-stop solution for their communications needs. The real value of RingCentral, for lawyers, is as a comprehensive solution. It can provide inter-office instant messaging, video conferencing, office phones, business text messaging, and a range of other solutions for your office right out of the box. Your entire team simply works in one platform for communication.

However, many attorneys, like ones who already use MS Teams, may find the solutions duplicative of what they already have. And attorneys who don’t have large teams may not see the value in all of the communication methods. In that case, they may want to look to alternative providers, or entertain the Essentials pricing tier.

RingCentral Features

Website
 RingCentral.com
Starting Price
 19.99
Apps
  • Android
  • iOS
  • iPadOS
  • MacOS
  • Web
  • Windows
Core Voice Features
For VoIP providers, the following are essential Voice features, and you should therefore expect to see a check in every box in this section.
Number Porting
Are you able to transfer your existing numbers to the Provider?
✓
Auto Attendant
Most Providers allow you to set-up a custom greeting and caller guide..
✓
Call Recording
Does the Provider allow you to record phone calls?
✓
Conference Calling
Are you able to make calls to multiple recipients at the same time?
✓
Conference Room (Bridge)
Can you host multiple-user call-in conference rooms?
✓
Voicemail
Can users set-up their own personalized voicemail inboxes?
✓
Intercom
Can you page other individuals on the VoIP system?
✓
Paging
Can you make announcements to multiple users at the same time?
✓
Presence Indicator
Will the system allow you to indicate whether team members are currently on another line?
✓
HD Call Quality
Does the service provide constant HD quality?
✓
Core Management Features
For VoIP providers, the following are essential Call Management features, and you should therefore expect to see a check in every box in this section.
Call Forwarding
Does the Provider allow you to forward your business phone number to your cell phone or other phone line?
✓
Call Management
Is your frontdesk able to hold, route, forward, or even block calls, and can you manage those easily?
✓
Caller ID
Does the Provider show the Caller ID of the incoming caller?
✓
Call Parking
Otherwise known as "shared hold", Call Parking allows you to place a call on hold on one device and switch to another (like your cell phone) without losing the connection.
✓
Call Transfer
Can users transfer calls from one extension directly to another?
✓
Call Waiting
Does the Provider allow you to get notified of another call while you are currently on the line, and then switch back-and-forth between the two calls?
✓
Custom Call Routing
Are you able to set-up automatic menu options for incoming calls?
✓
Custom Schedules
Can you route/restrict calls based on the date and time you receive them?
✓
Do Not Disturb
Can individual users set their incoming calls to go directly to VM, or route elsewhere?
✓
Emergency Services
Are you able to associate particular addresses with extensions so the appropriate Emergency Services are notified when you call 911?
✓
Extensions
Can you set up separate extensions for individual users, and use them to communicate internally?
✓
Security Features
E2E Encryption
Does the provider use true End-to-End Encryption for all calls and at all times?
✗
Location of Data
 Global
Additional Featrues
  • GSuite
  • Microsoft Office365
Web App/Portal
Does the provider give you access to your information via a web application?
✓
Visual Voicemail
Can you access and review your voicemail messages through an app or online account?
✓
Voicemail-to-Email
Can you have voicemail messages transcribed to email?
✓
Hot Desking
Does your user phone number and features follow you to different devices that you log into?
✓
Ring Groups
Can you set-up specific groups to alert to incoming phone calls?
✓
Business Alert
Will the provider alert you that a forwarded phone call is, in fact, forwarded prior to you answering the call?
✓

Additional RingCentral Review Details

Internet Fax

Although the industry is trying to move away from it, many lawyers still need to send facsimiles to Courts (or sometimes even opposing counsel). RingCentral offers users the ability to send and receive faxes via its internet portal, your email application, or even directly from Dropbox.

RingCentral Pricing

Through their tiered pricing, some users may be able to limit their purchase based on what they specifically need. For example, Essentials, RingCentral’s entry level offering, works for up to 20 users and offers unlimited SMS. However, it doesn’t offer video, internet fax, hot desking, or many of the integrations that many users will likely find useful. On the other hand, Ultimate offers features that allow an office to use RingCentral for most of their communications needs. Before determining which tier is right for you, RingCentral buyers would be smart to review what features their offices already have in their tech stack.

Business Text

In addition to VoIP and Video Conferencing, RingCentral offers the ability to send SMS and MMS (except internationally) messages from a business number. No more texting your client from your personal cell phone.

As an added bonus, RingCentral’s text messaging app creates an internal messaging system for your team where you can review past communications, download text strings, and chat with your team in real time. Although, this feature likely won’t replace #Slack or MSTeams in any substantial way.

Page edited by the Lawyerist editorial team. Last updated August 24th, 2020.

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