Nextiva Review (2025): A VoIP System Built for Social Media

Nextiva has four US VoIP plans – Digital, Core, Engage, and Power Suite – that cost $20, $30, $40 and $60 per user, per month (paid annually), respectively. All include unlimited US/Canada calling, video, and SMS support, while Engage and above layer in live chat, plus, uniquely, native Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp inboxes.

In our testing, all its plans scored well and relatively similarly under our various criteria for different-sized business needs. We praised all of them for 24/7 customer support and solid call routing, but marked them down for sharp price jumps and lighter training analytics than competitors, such as RingCentral or 8×8.

Nextiva Review: Key Features

Nextiva has plenty of excellent features, including its most unique proposition compared with the other top VoIP packages we have assessed: integrated social media communications. Let’s dive into them one by one, starting with its base call management tools.

Call management

Clever on-call minimizing with simple transfers and user call settings

When answering a call in the NextivaONE software, you click the pickup icon via the on-screen call pop-up, and see the call turn into a floating module, which is a different approach to many other software programs we’ve tested that tend to take up the whole window with a call.

That’s handy, since it means you can bring up documents or do other things while on the phone. You can also minimize that module, so it sits on the page itself inside the top bar, for even easier multitasking.

Thereafter, you can easily transfer calls by inputting a teammate’s name, number, or extension, and then blind transferring a call to them cold, warmly transferring it (by putting the caller on hold and having a quick chat with the person you’re transferring to) or sending it to the same person’s voicemail.

You can customize your calling within your user settings, under communication channels. Here, there are options for where and how to forward calls to you, personal routing preferences, and setting a voicemail greeting, as you can see in the image below.

The only thing I noted that was missing from general calling was the ability to toggle AI tools on, as with Dialpad or RingCentral. They both offer live transcription, sentiment analysis, and even the ability to bring up company documents that are relevant to the discussion.

There is AI voicemail transcription, which we’ll discuss shortly, but there are none of these other AI tools within the NextivaONE package (you would have to upgrade to its contact center solution instead).

For a platform that feels so modern and light, this feels like a missed opportunity, although with the speed AI is being deployed in various industries, including VoIP, Nextiva may well add further AI features sooner rather than later.

Smart call routing (Simple IVR)

The Core, Engage, and Power Suite plans all bundle a virtual receptionist that greets callers and directs them to options, such as “press 1 for Sales, 2 for Service”. Set-up takes minutes in the admin portal, making it a quick win for small teams.

By comparison, Zoom Phone‘s Regional Unlimited plan adds multi-level menus and more granular time-of-day rules, so it still leads our call-routing assessments, but Nextiva’s interactive voice response (IVR) covers the core needs at a lower entry price.

Priority and skills-based routing

Engage and Power Suite go further by letting you queue and distribute calls according to language, product expertise or customer status. A retailer, for example, can send Spanish-speaking VIPs straight to bilingual agents without manual transfers.

Language is a particularly notable point here, as that’s not often a part of the routing options for other VoIP software, and is a great asset for teams working across countries or in areas with a diverse language-speaking population.

RingCentral Advanced offers similarly rich skills routing and remains the benchmark for depth, yet Nextiva comes very close while layering in social and web-chat context that RingCentral lacks natively.

Inbound call-centre queues and callbacks

An automatic call distribution (ACD) module with live queue dashboards and an automatic “call me back” option helps service teams smooth out peaks in demand.

In our enterprise-level testing, only RingCentral Ultra edged ahead thanks to slightly deeper abandon-rate analytics. Compared with 8×8 Work, Nextiva’s queue tools proved just as reliable and easier to configure.

Training and coaching features

Call recording and AI transcription

Every Nextiva plan lets you record calls for later review, while the Engage and Power Suite plans also auto-transcribe voicemail and store recordings in a searchable library, so managers can pull examples for coaching in seconds.

RingCentral Advanced adds live AI prompts during calls, on top of the same basics, and was the only platform in our medium-business tests to earn a perfect score for training, nudging ahead of Nextiva Engage.

Supervisor console and live monitoring

A browser-based supervisor dashboard (Engage and above) lets leaders listen in, barge into calls, or redistribute queue traffic on the fly.

Strangely, given the other areas that are covered, the console lacks a whisper-only channel, so it lands just behind 8×8 Work and RingCentral Ultra, both of which allow silent coaching as standard.

Gamified coaching workflow

Managers can set KPI alerts, push leaderboards to public screens, and tie performance badges to call-quality thresholds, turning raw metrics into visible goals that could help motivate agents.

Dialpad offers sentiment-driven “moments” instead of leaderboards, so Nextiva is the stronger pick for teams that thrive on healthy competition. In fact, we’ve not seen leaderboards elsewhere in the VoIP-verse, as it’s way more popular in industries like fleet management.

Analytics and data dashboards

All plans surface basic call metrics (which are able to be broken down by ring groups, location and more). Call data is fed into visual dashboards for easy legibility, too. Engage and above add IVR and queue-specific metrics plus queue heatmaps, wallboards and historical voice-analytics scorecards.

Managers can surface trends, trigger coaching alerts and export reports without third-party tools, as a result. While RingCentral and Dialpad both overlay AI sentiment analysis, Nextiva’s simpler approach still gives actionable insight.

Communication channels

Nextiva covers the classic trio of voice, video and SMS as well as any mainstream rival, but its standout is a unified inbox that folds in live chat, social media messaging and email without forcing an upgrade to a contact-centre SKU. Let’s dive into specifically what each of these channels can offer your team via Nextiva.

Voice and video meetings

Core, Engage, and Power Suite layer unlimited HD calling and video conferencing on top of Digital’s omnichannel suite, so a rep can switch from a website chat to a face-to-face call in one click.

Meetings run inside the same desktop or mobile app, with screen-share and recording baked in. We really liked that you can very swiftly add users, who automatically pop up when their name is searched, unlike competitors such as Ooma Office, which requires you to send a meeting link separately.

Zoom Phone and its integrated Zoom One package still rule for sheer participant limits, but Nextiva is a strong competitor in this regard.

Business SMS

Every voice plan supports two-way texting from the company number, letting field staff confirm appointments or send delivery updates via the mobile app.

Engage upgrades this to “customer-to-team” SMS, routing texts to a shared inbox so multiple agents can triage messages, an option RingCentral only offers through its higher-priced Ultra tier.

Team chat

Real-time messaging is built into the Nextiva desktop and mobile apps, complete with file share and threaded group rooms.

The likes of RingCentral and Dialpad offer similar chat features, particularly RingCentral, which also adopts a Slack-style setup, so we couldn’t say this is a unique feature. But it is welcome all the same.

Live chat and web chatbots

Engage and Power Suite add a website chat widget plus optional bot automations for 24/7 FAQs for your company.

Live chat sits natively alongside calls and texts, whereas Zoom Phone and 8×8 Work rely on third-party integrations. If you need a simple web chat without a full contact-centre licence, Nextiva is the clear winner.

Social, messenger and review inbox

The Digital plan and above pull Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Yelp and more into the same pane as calls and emails, so agents never bounce between tabs.

Social media support isn’t something a lot of VoIP packages offer natively. For instance, RingCentral and 8×8 both require a separate contact-centre module (and budget) for true social messaging, giving Nextiva a rare edge for ecommerce or hospitality brands that live on social channels.

Email and digital fax

All plans can route group email into that unified inbox and include e-fax via the vFAX portal. Vonage charges extra for fax bridges and Dialpad drops fax entirely on its cheapest plan, so Nextiva is one of the safer bets for sectors that still exchange paperwork.

Software integrations

Nextiva has all the key integration areas covered. If you run a highly customized tech stack, RingCentral or 8×8 may offer a plug-and-play shortcut, but Nextiva delivers most mainstream connectors and has the advantage of treating social channels as first-class citizens rather than bolt-ons (a surprisingly rare feat for VoIP companies).

Essential business tools built in

Even the entry Digital plan plugs straight into Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 contacts and calendars, plus single sign-on services such as Okta.

That means small teams can click-to-call from their inbox and auto-log conversations without paying extra for CRM licences.

Engage and Power Suite let you place carrier-grade Nextiva calls from the native Microsoft Teams dialer, too, a capability that still costs extra with Zoom Phone and is missing entirely from RingCentral’s mid-tier Advanced plan.

Native CRM connectors where it counts

Sales and service teams can sync caller data, activity logs, and screen-pops with major customer relationship management (CRM) software, including Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle NetSuite, and Zoho.

These connectors sit as part of the Engage and Power Suite plans only, with implementation fees to boot. Once enabled, however, they match RingCentral’s depth for lead and ticket handling, which is to be applauded. As a result, the Engage plan earned perfect marks for integrations under our research criteria, on a par with RingCentral Advanced.

Still, RingCentral’s integration app store totals 500 pre-built connectors and includes niche finance, healthcare and vertical-specific tools. Nextiva’s catalogue is shorter and some add-ons carry deployment fees.

Social, reviews and ecommerce channels in the same panel

Unlike most VoIP suites, Nextiva’s integrations extend beyond back-office apps to frontline engagement: you can reply to Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Google Reviews, Yelp and even app-store or Amazon feedback without leaving the Nextiva inbox.

That’s pretty remarkable, as achieving the same omnichannel coverage with RingCentral or 8×8 would either mean upgrading to a separate contact-centre product or setting up extensive third-party integrations (and even that wouldn’t be the same as having all channels in one inbox).

Hardware integrations

For most SMB and mid-market teams that just need reliable desk, cordless and conference gear without an IT project, Nextiva’s mix of branded options, pre-config and rental pricing hits the sweet spot.

For one, Nextiva certifies a full range of SIP desk phones from Yealink, Poly, Cisco and its own X-series handsets, with 2025-ready picks like the Yealink T57W, Poly Edge E550, and Nextiva X-885 highlighted on its website.

The Yealink T44W shown on Nextiva’s product page is typical: dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and PoE out of the box, so no extra adapters are needed for modern offices.

RingCentral and GoTo Connect still lead the way for sheer breadth, adding certified video-bar room kits on top of the same Poly and Yealink desk range and plug-and-play functionality, respectively.

Plug-and-play shipping

Phones arrive pre-provisioned to each extension, so staff simply plug them into power or ethernet and start calling. This “ship-ready” approach removes the manual firmware loads often required with generic SIP sets.

Mobility, meeting room and legacy options

VTech and Panasonic cordless bundles handle warehouses or retail floors, while conference units and analogue telephone adapters sit in the same storefront, letting you keep fax machines or door phones on the cloud system.

Buy or rent?

Every device on the Nextiva site shows an outright price and a monthly rental rate, so businesses can spread hardware costs without a separate leasing contract – a similar flexibility to RingCentral’s device-as-a-service model, but baked into the standard store checkout.

Security options

Nextiva delivers bank-grade encryption, SOC 2 and HIPAA compliance out of the box, plus always-on monitoring that rivals much larger providers. We’d say RingCentral wins on the breadth of third-party attestations, yet for US businesses that simply need to tick the HIPAA, PCI or SOC 2 boxes without extra fees, Nextiva’s security stack is already enterprise-ready.

End-to-end encryption on every call

Nextiva secures signalling with TLS and locks the media stream with SRTP, so voice packets stay unreadable in transit.

RingCentral does the same but layers HITRUST certification on top, making it the better choice for hospitals that demand that extra badge; for most SMB and mid-market firms, Nextiva’s default encryption is already more than sufficient.

All Nextiva data centres are SSAE-16 and SOC 2 audited and carry PCI-DSS controls for cardholder data.

Pair that with a formal Business Associate Agreement for HIPAA customers, and you have the paperwork needed for healthcare or payments work without buying a separate “secure” add-on. 8×8 Work matches the SOC 2 and HIPAA stance, but Nextiva is quicker to sign the BAA, shaving weeks off onboarding.

24 ⁄ 7 network monitoring and built-in redundancy

Two geographically separated carrier rings back up every point of presence, while DDoS filtering and automatic fail-over keep calls alive during an outage.

RingCentral’s footprint is larger globally, yet Nextiva’s US-centric architecture still hit five-nines uptime in the last twelve months.

Account-level safeguards

Single sign-on with Okta, Azure AD or Google Workspace, optional multi-factor authentication (MFA), granular role permissions, and call-recording encryption ensure that only the right staff can access sensitive logs. RingCentral again edges ahead with STIR ⁄ SHAKEN caller-ID signing and mandatory MFA for admins, but Nextiva covers the practical basics most teams need.

Nextiva Review: Pricing Plans Explained

As stated, Nextiva splits its US offering into four clearly tiered packages, each building on the previous one. Annual-term pricing and headline additions are shown below.

Which tier makes sense for you?

• Digital keeps costs low if you only need web chat, email, and social messaging.
• Core is the first rung with full voice, video and SMS – ideal for owner-managed firms replacing a legacy phone line.
• Engage justifies its $10 jump by bundling live-chat widgets, Teams voice, and deeper analytics, making it the sweet spot for most mid-market teams.
• Power Suite turns Nextiva into a light contact-center platform without the premium of a separate contact center as a service (CCaaS) licence; choose it when you need skills-based routing and AI summaries on every call.

Nextiva Review: Help and Support

With true 24 ⁄ 7 phone assistance, a named account manager for every customer and an optional deployment team, Nextiva’s support package punches above its weight. Here’s what you can expect as a customer of its VoIP packages.

• All Nextiva plans advertise 24 ⁄ 7 help via phone.
• Live webchat has more restrictive hours, from Monday to Friday, 5am–6pm MST, and Saturday to Sunday, 5am–4pm MST.
• With email or raised tickets, there are no particular customer support hours, but Nextiva says it will acknowledge receipt of the ticket within one business day.
• There’s also a knowledge base with video guides for self-serve support, available any time you need it. A searchable knowledge base, with step-by-step videos and PDF user guides, covers everything from setting up a Yealink T57W to building chatbots. Although don’t use too many keywords or no results will be returned, in our experience.

RingCentral runs 24 ⁄ 7 phone and chat, which betters Nextiva’s chat discussion availability times, but its entry plan restricts email tickets, so Nextiva’s coverage is at least on a par for most users.

Dedicated account manager on day one

Every customer is paired with a named account manager who guides setup and serves as a single escalation point – a perk usually saved for top-tier plans elsewhere.

That personal touch is a clear win over Zoom Phone, which relies on pooled reps, and nudges ahead of RingCentral, where named managers appear only on enterprise contracts.

Service delivery team for smoother roll-outs

Core, Engage, and Power Suite customers can tap into an exceptionally named implementation squad to run discovery, deployment, and training (fee-based).

Smaller firms that lack in-house IT will appreciate the hand-holding, while larger ones can treat it as a fast-track alternative to third-party consultants.

Reliability you can quote to the board

The company posts a 99.99% uptime SLA, backed by geo-redundant data centres and continuous monitoring. RingCentral boasts a wider global footprint but for US-centric operations the difference is academic; both deliver five-nines-class resilience.

Nextiva Review: VoIP Phone Alternatives

While we rated Nextiva highly, it isn’t the only option on the US VoIP and integrated communications market (and you’ve likely got your eyes on a few different platforms already).

Our research found some strong competitors that may better suit businesses on a tighter budget or that require different features, such as AI tools, for instance.

Here’s a quick look at the plans we found suitable for medium-sized businesses, before we look at three providers as a whole, compared with Nextiva.

➡️ Zoom Phone

Zoom Phone beats everyone on headline price, with its US & Canada Metered plan costing just $10 per user, per month, and its cheapest unlimited plan set at just $15 per user, per month. As you might expect, it also has tight integration with Zoom Meetings, with all the tools it offers, such as whiteboarding, breakout rooms and AI meeting transcription, to better Nextiva’s capabilities in this area.

Relatedly, it offers an AI companion as part of every tier, unlike Nextiva. However, you lose skills-based routing, social media inboxes, and live-chat widgets that Nextiva bundles into Engage.

Ultimately, you’ll want to choose Zoom Phone if budget is tight and video is king.

➡️ RingCentral

RingCentral’s Ultra plan leads the way on advanced analytics, unlimited toll-free minutes and integration breadth (totalling over 500 ready-made integrations at the time of writing), yet it lacks native social channels, so omnichannel businesses would pay extra for RingCentral Contact Center, while Nextiva covers Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp inside Engage.

RingCentral is our highest-rated provider, so naturally, it is our suggested pick if you need the richest call controls and integrations on the market.

➡️ Dialpad

Dialpad’s entry Standard plan already transcribes and summarises calls, something you only see in Nextiva Power Suite. The trade-off is lighter queue management and the need to bolt on extra AI modules for sentiment scoring or playbooks (albeit, that’s still better AI tool extent than Nextiva).

We suggest choosing Dialpad if real-time AI coaching (and other advanced AI features) is mission-critical. Otherwise, Nextiva’s Engage and Power Suite plans strike a middle ground by delivering built-in omnichannel tools and voice analytics without any add-on costs.