Jive Comparison and Review

Pros:

• Low monthly fee for one line
• Low monthly fee per line for five lines
• Low monthly fee per line for ten lines
• Offers conference room user accounts for no additional cost
• Unlimited local minutes provided
• High quality online interface
• 24/7 US based Phone support

Cons:

• Additional charge for local numbers ($5/ month for one, $1.75/ month for two or more)
• Costs $15.00 to port existing number into service
• Desktop softphone activation for Windows and Mac costs $19.95 per user

Conclusion:

Jive offers some of the best pricing for unlimited Business VoIP services listed on ChooseWhat.com, starting at $29.95 per user for 1 to 4 users and topping out at $19.95 per user for 50+ users. Jive also has chosen to include all their features into a single pricing model rather than tiered service levels. Over the last few years, Jive has added a feature list that rivals any competition including a conference bridge, caller ID, auto call recording, integration with Salesforce, a multi-level auto-attendant and call queues, The service doesn't include any phone numbers in it's pricing. Cost $1.75/ month each (unless you only get one, then it's $5.00/ month). Although no toll-free minutes are included in the plan, if you choose a toll-free number, they offer an incredibly reasonable rate of 1.9 cents per minute. Also, if you want to use a "softphone), you'll have to pay a one time $19.95 activation fee. Finally, if you already have a number that you want to port into the service, Jive charges a one time $15 fee.

Pricing

Jive offers tiered pricing plans that are based off the number of lines that you order, all of which include unlimited local and long distance phone calls over a local phone line. No toll-free minutes are charged at 1.9 cents / minute. Its Hosted VoIP plan costs $29.95 per user for 1 to 4 users, $25.95 per user for 5 to 9 users, $23.95 per user for 10 to 24 users, $21.95 per user for 25 to 49 users, and $19.95 per user for 50+ users. Jive does charge a one time fee of $15 to port a number into the service and a one time fee of $19.95 to activate each softphone (using the computer as a phone rather than a physical deskphone). The service also doesn't inlcude any phone numbers with their service. Those are charged at $1.75/ month each or $5/ month if you only get one number. For companies considering plans of 3 users or more, Jive offers a 30 day free trial to test the service.

Online Features

The online interface is an important feature of any Business VoIP system. By logging into the online interface, you are able to set up and maintain your system, as well as view call logs, access voicemails, and more. Jive offers a high quality online interface. You can store an unlimited number of call logs which can be filtered and sorted. You can also record calls and then download them onto your computer, and you can receive voicemails via email.

Phone Numbers

Jive offers local numbers in 48 states as well as 800. 855, 866, 877, and 888 toll-free numbers. No incoming calls to a toll-free number included in the monthly price, so they are charged at a rate of 1.9 cents per minute. You may choose whichever combination of local and toll-free lines that meets the needs of your business. Porting an existing number from a different telecom provider into Jive’s business VoIP system costs $15.00.

Technological Requirements

Jive will work with any high-speed, stable Internet connection such as cable or T1 and requires a minimum of 100 Kbps of bandwidth per concurrent phone call. Current cable modem service providers generally offer at least 1000 Kbps of bandwidth, and often provide much more. Note that your computer and Business VoIP system will both generally share bandwidth, so high volume users of Jive may need to increase their Internet bandwidth provisions.

Technological Accessories

Jive offers IP enabled phones from Polycom, Panasonic, Cisco and Yealink that range from $85 to $1,099 (this phone has a touchscreen and built-in video conferencing capabilities). Each phone purchased from Jive comes preconfigured with your account and extension information to make setting up your system as easy as possible. Jive does not provide its own softphone to use with its service. A softphone is a computer program for making and receiving phone calls with speakers and a microphone connected to your computer. Jive also offers conference phones as well as an attendant console, which allow users to manage multiple calls simultaneously.

Conference Calling, Internet Faxing, and Mobile Apps

Jive includes a conference bridge that can handle up to 10 callers with all their services. The company also includes Internet fax capabilities and smartphone apps for both iOS and Android.

Customer Service

Jive’s phone support is available 24/7. Having around the clock customer service is essential for business communications, especially for businesses that depend greatly on communicating with their customers. Jive also offers email support, live chat support, and tutorials. Its customer support is excellent and located in the US. Jive has server redundancies to ensure minimum service interruption in case one of its servers goes offline.