Ruby Receptionist, also known as Ruby, is a live answering solution providing virtual receptionists and managed website chat. Its call handling services include bilingual answering, appointment scheduling, and flexible call forwarding, while the live chat covers lead capture and chat-call connection.
In this Ruby Receptionist review, the provider earned a perfect score on general features and ease of use but scored low on pricing. Its subscription packages are more expensive than other live answering solution providers, and a free trial is unavailable.
Ruby Receptionist Review: At a Glance
What We Liked
- 24/7/365 live call answering and chat services ensure that all calls are accommodated
- Multiple call forwarding options give businesses better control over how to manage calls
- Clean, intuitive mobile app interface makes it easy to maximize features
- No setup and holiday fees
What's Missing
- No free trial, unlike Abby Connect, which offers a 14-day free trial
- More expensive subscription fees than VoiceNation and Go Answer
- Limited integrations with third-party apps
- Requiring a multi-channel customer communication solution: Ruby Receptionist accommodates customer concerns and requests over the phone and through live chats. For its multi-channel answering support, it earned the top spot in our list of the best answering services for small businesses.
- Forwarding calls easily from your business phone system: Ruby Receptionist integrates with popular small business voice-over-internet- protocol (VoIP) services like Nextiva. With this, you get to manage call overflow better and let customers connect with a live agent instead of sending them to voicemail.
- Collecting website visitors’ key information: Aside from human agents manning live chats, the provider has an automated lead capture tool, which gathers important customer data, such as the lead’s name, email address, phone number, and the service they’re interested in. This greatly helps in following up with potential customers.
- Engaging with medical patients: Ruby Receptionist complies with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations, having the physical network and process security measures to protect patient data.
- Wanting a virtual receptionist to take orders: Ruby Receptionist doesn’t have order processing services. If you need a dedicated team to manage customer orders, use VoiceNation’s live call answering solutions.
- Relying heavily on customer relationship management (CRM) systems for improving customer service: The provider lacks integrations with CRM tools. Abby Connect is an excellent Ruby alternative if the CRM feature is a priority for you since it integrates with HubSpot and Zapier, which connects with Salesforce, Zoho, Pipedrive, and other CRM systems.
- Wanting an affordable live call answering solution: Ruby Receptionist’s base plan costs $230 a month, offering up to 50 receptionist minutes. This is way higher than Abby Connect’s second-tier package, which provides the same number of minutes for only $115 monthly.
Ruby Receptionist Deciding Factors
Ruby Receptionist offers a wide array of call and chat management services, allowing businesses to have an excellent, extended customer service team. The 24/7 live answering services ensure that no customer inquiry goes unaddressed. The provider caters to different industries, including legal, healthcare, home services, and financial services.
Best For | Businesses that need highly trained agents who will accommodate customer concerns over the phone and live chat |
Standout Features |
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Pricing Plans |
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Annual or Volume Discounts Available | Not available |
Key Integrations | Nextiva, Grasshopper, Zapier, Clio, MyCase, and Rocket Matter |
Customer Service |
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Ruby Receptionist Alternatives
While Ruby Receptionist provides a multi-channel customer communication solution, it lacks robust integrations with third-party platforms and order processing services. Its monthly subscription cost is higher than other providers. If these are deal-breakers for your customer service operations, here are some alternatives to explore:
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Best For | Businesses needing extensive third-party app integrations to allow virtual receptionists to use existing business systems | Organizations looking for an affordable live answering solution with order processing services | Companies preferring a pay-as-you-go pricing model to manage costs better |
Monthly Starting Price | $299 (for 100 receptionist minutes) | $56 (for 20 receptionist minutes) | $50 per month (pay as you go) |
Learn More |
Ruby Receptionist has two separate pricing plans for its virtual receptionist and live chat services. It also features bundled plans, which combine these two services for a discounted price. Although it doesn’t offer a free trial, the provider has a 21-day money-back guarantee policy.
The four reception packages offer the same features, varying only in the number of receptionist minutes. These features include live transferring, call routing, voicemail transcription, outbound calling, and bilingual answering. The provider doesn’t have annual prepayments, so users must pay the subscription monthly.
Learn more about Ruby Receptionist pricing plans here:
Ruby Receptionist Plans | Call Ruby 50 | Call Ruby 100 | Call Ruby 200 | Call Ruby 350 | Call Ruby 500 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Best For | Small teams with low call volume | Businesses with medium call volume | Organizations with high call volume | Companies with higher than average call volumes | Companies with high call volumes and meticulous customer inquiries |
Monthly Pricing | $230 | $365 | $660 | $1,133 | $1,565 |
Receptionist Minutes | 50 | 100 | 200 | 350 | 500 |
Ruby Receptionist Chat Plans
Similarly, the four chat plans differ in the number of chats, but all have the same features: chat transcription, call-connect, and customized frequently asked questions (FAQs). These chat packages are also paid monthly.
Here are the costs for the managed chat services:
- Chat Ruby 10: $135 for up to 10 chats
- Chat Ruby 30: $315 for up to 30 chats
- Chat Ruby 50: $490 for up to 50 chats
Ruby Receptionist Features
Ruby Receptionist answering services address customer needs immediately and help businesses capture opportunities. Its average call answer time is less than 10 seconds, and the chat specialists attend to web visitors’ questions in under a minute, creating a better customer experience. With the Ruby Receptionist app, it’s easy to track all these customer interactions.
In this Ruby Receptionist review, the provider earned a perfect score on general features for having the standard capabilities businesses require from live answering solutions. For one, it has flexible call forwarding services, allowing you to choose among manual, remote, and delayed options:
- Manual forwarding involves dialing a three-digit code followed by the phone number you want the calls to be forwarded to.
- Remote forwarding requires dialing the toll-free number from your phone service provider and forwarding to the phone line you want after a few prompts.
- Delayed forwarding automatically forwards the call when it’s not picked up after a predetermined number of phone rings.
Aside from flexible call forwarding options, Ruby Receptionist features include:
- Live transferring
- Outbound calling
- Local and toll-free phone numbers
- HIPAA-compliant services
- Custom after-hours call routing
- Bilingual receptionist services
- Voicemail transcriptions
- Personalized greetings
- Hold music
- Robocall filtering
- Number porting and hosting
- Message taking
- Mobile app
- Customized FAQs
Ruby Receptionist has a mobile app, giving users easy access to important call and chat information. (Source: Ruby Receptionist)
We scored Ruby Receptionist 3.13 out of 5 on niche features because while it offers specialized services like live chat and appointment scheduling, it lacks order processing, which many businesses look for in a live answering solution. Moreover, its third-party integrations only include Clio, MyCase, Rocket Matter, and business phone systems Nextiva and Grasshopper.
Nonetheless, Ruby Receptionist’s specialized features are highly useful for businesses managing phone lines and live chats for customer service.
Click on its niche features below:
Aside from accommodating inbound calls, Ruby Receptionist handles outbound call campaigns. This is especially beneficial when your business needs to gather information from customers or relay essential details to customers, such as when reminding them of the schedule of an upcoming appointment.
To arrange these outbound calls, select the person you want to call back on the mobile app and click the “Assist” button at the top of the screen. Provide the call details on the input field.
By tapping the “Assist” icon on your Ruby Receptionist mobile app, you’ll be able to request the provider to make a call on your behalf. (Source: YouTube)
Ruby Receptionist engages with web visitors in real time. The chat specialists provide key information to customers, including business hours, location, and services. Aside from answering web visitors’ questions, they collect contact details to help you follow up on leads.
To make it easy for users to know which customers to prioritize for callbacks, Ruby Receptionist specialists use tags like “Lead,” “Current Client,” “Actionable [support],” or “Non-actionable [support].” Access this information easily on your Ruby online dashboard or mobile app.
Ruby Receptionist engages with customers in real time, providing timely answers to questions and concerns. (Source: YouTube)
When someone visits your website, Ruby Receptionist’s lead capture tool automatically starts a chat to collect the visitor’s contact information. The system sends these details over email, allowing you to organize a follow-up list. The lead capture tool lets you create custom flows that incorporate basic yes-or-no and multiple-choice questions customers can easily answer.
The lead capture tool asks multiple-choice questions to help customers answer quickly. (Source: Ruby Receptionist)
Ruby Receptionist lets you communicate with web visitors directly. The chat specialists collect and convey lead information to its Call Connect Team, which will then reach out to the potential customer and connect your sales representative. With this chat-call connection feature, you get the opportunity to pitch to prospects at a time they’re most engaged, increasing the likelihood of purchase.
Ruby Receptionist chat specialists get web visitors’ contact information to allow businesses to communicate with leads directly. (Source: YouTube)
We gave Ruby Receptionist customer service a high score of 4.38 out of 5 because it offers comprehensive support for businesses. You have the option to call the provider, send an email, or message through its live chat. These communication channels are available 24/7.
In addition, Ruby Receptionist has a help center, which features a broad range of helpful topics, including getting started with Ruby, account and billing, app and online portal, and reception and chat services. The help center features a video library, ideal for those who learn best through visuals. On top of this, the provider has a resources page containing blogs that outline tips for maximizing Ruby’s services and features.
In this Ruby Receptionist review, the provider earned a perfect score on ease of use since the process of getting started and using the services is straightforward. Users whose numbers are hosted by Ruby simply have to log into the online portal (my.ruby.com) or mobile app to forward calls. For those with a separate phone provider, Ruby initiates the call forwarding with the telecom company.
As for using the Ruby Receptionist platforms, all the navigation tools are located on the left side of the portal and at the bottom of the app. Here, you’ll see the buttons for “Activity,” “Status,” “Contacts,” and “Account.”
This online portal shows call and chat activities handled by Ruby Receptionist. (Source: Ruby Receptionist)
Based on Ruby Receptionist reviews in third-party platforms, many are pleased with the provider’s services. Some praised the receptionists’ friendliness and appreciated the fact that the receptionists gave the impression that they were right inside the business’ office.
Others commended the great customer service, noting that the provider quickly responds to concerns. There are also users who appreciated how the team quickly arranged call routing despite complicated instructions.
These are the user ratings in third-party review sites:
- Capterra: 4.7 out of 5 based on 7 reviews
- G2: 3.9 out of 5 based on 9 reviews
- TrustRadius: 7.9 out of 10 based on 2 reviews
How We Evaluated Ruby Receptionist
To assess Ruby Receptionist services, we examined critical areas, such as pricing, features, quality of customer support, and ease of use. We checked user ratings and reviews on credible third-party sites as well.
Learn how we evaluated Ruby Receptionist by clicking on the tabs below:
15% of Overall Score
To determine affordability, we looked at the provider’s entry-level pricing, annual discount offerings, and the availability of a free trial. We checked if there’s a setup fee since most providers include this in their pricing.
25% of Overall Score
The general features we considered were bilingual receptionists, voicemail boxes, and custom answering hours. We gave the provider more points for having a mobile app that helps users quickly access information about customer interactions.
20% of Overall Score
The niche features we included in our evaluation were live chat service, order processing, and appointment scheduling. We checked if the provider has broad integrations with third-party apps.
10% of Overall Score
The types of customer service channels the provider offers were part of our assessment, giving more points when there’s phone, email, and live chat support. We looked at the customer service hours as well.
10% of Overall Score
We determined the technical skill required to set up and use the provider’s services. We usually give more points to providers with an intuitive platform interface.
20% of Overall Score
This includes our assessment of the provider’s standout features, popularity, and value for money. We browsed through verified Ruby reviews in third-party platforms to measure the level of customer satisfaction of current users.
Bottom Line
Ruby Receptionist offers a multi-channel customer communication solution ideal for businesses that need to engage with clients online and via phone. Its highly trained team offering 24/7 live answering creates a better customer experience marked by swift, personalized service. Sign up today for Ruby Receptionist’s plan.
