Dialpad Overview
What We Like | What’s Missing |
|---|---|
Inexpensive and offers monthly billing options | Occasional bugs like system freezes and lags |
14-day free trial | Video conferencing for up to 100 participants costs an extra $15 per user, per month |
Easy to set up and use | Each plan requires a minimum number of users, unlike alternatives like RingCentral |
International and local phone numbers available, unlike GoToConnect | Extensions are only available in the Enterprise plan, which requires a minimum of 100 users |
Supports VoIP hardware but isn’t required | 100% uptime Service Level Agreement (SLA) available in Enterprise level |
APIs, webhooks, and integrations with popular software like Slack and Salesforce | Most integrations are locked in higher plans |
Voice Intelligence is available in all plans |
What We Recommend Dialpad For
Dialpad is unified communications (UC) software that facilitates business communication and team collaboration across channels from any device. It’s easy to set up and use, and you can access it through voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) hardware, smartphone, or computer. Organizations with multiple offices and those with a flexible work environment setup can look into its offerings.
When to Use Dialpad
- If your small business or remote team wants an affordable virtual business phone system that syncs with other tools: The platform provides an impressive set of features at low monthly costs, with Dialpad pricing starting at $15 per user when billed annually. It makes its platform even more powerful through integrations with popular software, like Salesforce. Dialpad made our lists of the best cheap VoIP services and best Nextiva alternatives for affordable rates and extensive integrations.
- If your business is looking for a platform with artificial intelligence (AI) technology to improve caller outcomes: Dialpad allows all users access to the Voice Intelligence feature that helps create more accurate data, including transcriptions, keywords, and analysis. It made it to our list of the best RingCentral alternatives for providing this advanced AI technology at reasonable rates.
Dialpad Might Not Be a Good Fit For
- Growing companies looking for a scalable platform for the long term: If you are looking to stay with one provider as your business grows, try RingCentral. It has an extensive set of advanced integrations and features, including a higher limit on video conferencing participants. If you are torn between these two providers, read our head-to-head Dialpad vs RingCentral comparison.
- Teams with global calling needs: While Dialpad offers international phone numbers and low per-minute rates, 8×8 provides more value with its services. 8×8 offers unlimited international calls to up to 48 countries and allows video conferencing with a larger audience. If you aren’t sure which platform is for you, read our Dialpad vs 8×8 article for more information.
- Businesses with unlimited internet fax needs: Dialpad’s 100-page monthly limit isn’t for you if you are a heavy internet fax user. Look into Nextiva, which provides unlimited internet fax even on its base plan. It also features more advanced tools, like call pop for detailed customer insights.
Want to discover more about the best unified communications (UC) platforms? Check out our guide on unified communications for more information and provider options.
Dialpad Pricing
Dialpad offers three plans that start at $15 per user, per month with an annual contract. All Dialpad pricing tiers include unlimited calls and texts within the U.S. and Canada, customized voicemail greeting, and call controls like forwarding, transfer, hold, and mute. Those interested in its highest-tier option—Enterprise—must request a quote from its sales team.
Dialpad Plans | Standard | Pro | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
Best For | Small teams looking for a basic business phone system accessible from any device | Businesses that need more advanced communications features and inclusions like international phone numbers and more than 3 ring groups | Large teams with over 100 members looking for a robust, all-in-one cloud-based business communications platform |
Monthly Pricing ($/User/Month) | $20 | $30 | Quote available upon request |
Annual Pricing* ($/User/Month) | $15 | $25 | Quote available upon request |
Minimum Users | 1 | 3 | 100 |
Maximum No. of Ring Groups | 3 | 25 | Unlimited |
Support | 24/5 web and chat | 24/7 web, chat, and phone support | Enhanced 24/7 web, chat, and phone support |
Voice Intelligence (VI) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Additional Numbers Allowed (Local or International) | ✘ | ✓ | ✓ |
Extensions | ✘ | ✘ | ✓ |
100% Uptime SLA | ✘ | ✘ | ✓ |
*Fees are paid in full at the beginning of the billing cycle.
Dialpad packages its plans somewhat differently than other providers, like RingCentral. Its pricing page does not include volume discount information and each plan requires a minimum number of users. Additionally, it doesn’t provide extensions or allow you to purchase extra phone numbers in all plans.
Moreover, Dialpad only offers a limited number of combined inbound and outbound internet fax pages (100), whereas platforms like Nextiva provide unlimited internet fax beginning in the base plan. With Dialpad, if you go over the monthly limit, excess fax pages cost 10 cents each.
Those who need VoIP phones or hardware or have existing devices may also reach out to Dialpad. Apart from letting users utilize their current devices with its services, it also offers desk phones, adapters, and headsets from popular providers like Jabra and Polycom. Published rates are as follows:
- Desk phones: $129 to $199
- Adapters: $30 or $59
- Headsets: Available upon request
Looking for more unified communication systems? Check out our guide on what unified communications as a service (UCaaS) is and how it helps businesses to see which of the featured top providers suits your needs.
Dialpad Features
Dialpad is a cloud-based business communications platform with features for managing calls, voicemails, texts, and faxes from anywhere. Unlike competitors such as GoToConnect, it offers international phone numbers; however, it doesn’t offer the unlimited international calling provided in 8×8 X series plans. Its affordability and feature set make it an excellent choice for small companies looking for a budget-friendly and location-flexible communications solution.
Dialpad lets you quickly jump onto a call and access essential features, like recording, mute, and transfer.
While Dialpad’s offerings can be attractive to those with tight budgets, it’s important to know which features and inclusions matter most to your business. For instance, specific app integrations are locked in higher tiers, and extensions are only allowed with an Enterprise plan. Consider whether you’ll have added costs to make up for limited features like fax and video conferencing.
Let’s dig deeper into its features below.
General Features
Dialpad lets you set up your business phone system from anywhere. All plans provide access to basics like number porting, a dedicated phone number per user, softphone support, and unlimited calls and texts. It also features bring your own device (BYOD) capabilities, customized call routing, multi-level auto-attendant, personal working hours, and automatic spam detection.
Dialpad comes with a voice recognition feature that can distinguish between speakers—useful for more accurate transcription.
One of Dialpad’s strengths is its Voice Intelligence feature that is accessible for all users. It comes with speech recognition, machine learning, natural language processing, and real-time coaching.
This technology provides meeting transcriptions in real time, tracking keywords present in customer conversations, detecting customer sentiment, and automating the creation of post-call summaries. This information is beneficial for businesses to drive sales, improve customer service, and gain competitive insights.
Collaboration & Call Handling
Dialpad ensures that teams—regardless of their locations—can still handle business collaboration as well as communications. Collaboration capabilities include team chat and contact syncing, analytics, and reporting, while call management features include ring groups and hold queues.
Communicate with your teammates through Dialpad’s group chat—create a group name, add up to 24 Dialpad users, and set up notifications.
Along with group chats, users can also create channels, which are conversations based on specific topics. There is no limit to the number of members in a channel, and it can be a private or public space. These topic-focused conversations can easily be accessed within the Dialpad platform and set to a voice/audio channel.
If your business relies on outbound calling, check out Dialpad’s Sales Dialer. It comes with a local presence dialer, customer relationship management (CRM) system integrations, and customized reports. Sales managers can provide agents with coaching in real time, and Voice Intelligence displays “battle cards” to help reps say the right thing on a call, improving caller experiences and outcomes.
Video Meetings
This virtual meeting tool can be accessed through the Dialpad app or a web browser. However, compared with competitors like 8×8, Dialpad’s video conferencing feature falls short. It allows only 10 participants and requires added costs for inviting up to 100 attendees. Additionally, its base meeting duration is only 45 minutes as opposed to 8×8’s unlimited. Even with added costs, its maximum meeting duration is only five hours.
Stay connected with your team, offer small group webinars, or make sales presentations via Dialpad’s video conferencing interface.
Dialpad provides essential video conferencing tools, like screen sharing, in-meeting chat, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered transcriptions, and recording despite the shortcoming in participant limit. It also enables integrations to third-party software, including HubSpot, Slack, and Google Calendar. If your business doesn’t need to host a meeting for a wide audience and for a long duration, Dialpad is still worth considering.
Interested in learning more about Dialpad’s virtual meeting tool? Read our comprehensive Dialpad Meetings review for more information.
App Integrations
Dialpad integrates with numerous popular third-party software like Slack, Salesforce, and Zoom—making it more appealing to those using these platforms in their current workflows. Given its price range, it is impressive that they offer an App Marketplace, unlike more expensive yet more basic virtual calling systems like Grasshopper.
Dialpad’s App Marketplace displays the software it integrates with organized by popularity and categories like productivity and sales engagement.
Apart from letting users integrate their existing systems with Dialpad, it also has an open application programming interface (API) and Zapier integrations. The additional connection capabilities help improve users’ productivity, decreasing unnecessary time spent switching from one platform to another.
Dialpad Alternatives
Dialpad is a capable business phone system with UCaaS functionality, but it is far from the only competitive choice. Here are a few noteworthy Dialpad competitors to consider:
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Best for: Teams looking for an exceptional overall package of unified communications features, usability, and affordability | Best for: Organizations that have an international presence and want unlimited overseas calling | Best for: Best for small teams, business owners, and freelancers on the go looking for an affordable unified communications solution |
Starting price: $29.99 per user, per month, based on 1 user | Starting price: $15 per line, per month | Starting price: $26 per user, per month, based on 1 user |
Looking for more budget-friendly options? Check out our list of the best cheap VoIP services to determine which of the top products matches your needs.
What Users Think
Many Dialpad reviews align with our analysis of it being an excellent option for small businesses looking for an affordable, all-in-one business phone system. It’s best for those with tight budgets still wanting impressive features, but at low prices. If your company does not need advanced tools like device status alerts and reports from providers like RingCentral, Dialpad is worth checking out.
At the time of publication, Dialpad has earned the following scores on popular user review sites:
- GetVoIP: 4.6 out of 5 stars based on 237 reviews
- Software Advice: 4.34 out of 5 stars based on 423 reviews
- TrustRadius: 8.2 out of 10 stars based on 257 reviews
- G2: 4.4 out of 5 stars based on 1,136 reviews
- GetApp: 4.3 out of 5 stars based on 423 reviews
- Trustpilot: 4.7 out of 5 stars based on 1,216 reviews
- Capterra: 4.3 out of 5 stars based on 423 reviews
Most users commend Dialpad’s intuitiveness and ease of setup, enabling them to handle business calls anywhere with a strong internet connection. Others are impressed with its comprehensive set of features and numerous integrations available, especially given its low price points.
On the other hand, several users experienced call quality and connectivity issues. Some commented that its desktop and mobile apps have occasional bugs, such as system freezes or lags. Note that all VoIP products heavily depend on the users’ internet connection, and these apps constantly undergo updates to address bugs, issues, and feature requests.
Bottom Line
Dialpad is an excellent choice for small to mid-sized businesses looking for a budget-friendly unified communications (UC) platform for communication and collaboration. It has an impressive AI technology that even base plan users can utilize that helps them improve their customer service.
However, it lacks a few inclusions and features, such as a higher video meeting participant limit and unlimited faxing that alternatives like RingCentral offer. However, this doesn’t mean Dialpad isn’t for you. The right provider must offer plan inclusions that align with your needs. Try Dialpad for free for 14 days to determine if it works well for your business.
