Sales Director
RingCentral is one of the global leaders in business communications. Its cloud-based phone system provides an impressive range of features and functionality. However, as can be seen, by their relatively poor reviews on Trustpilot (2.4 out of 5), customers don't always have a great experience. We've written this guide for those looking for RingCentral alternatives and have provided our independent reviews of the best providers in the UK.
Compare VoIP Providers
Here are the top 9 RingCentral alternatives for UK-based businesses in 2024:
As we highlighted in our recent reviews of the best business VoIP providers in the UK, RingCentral, for all its strengths, suffers from countless issues when it comes to customer service and support.
Cast your eyes through their Trustpilot reviews, and you'll see many customers complaining, but most are about the support they receive from RingCentral, not the underlying technology platform. As is often the case with big businesses, the bigger they get, the harder it is to provide exceptional customer care. It's a shame really, as the concept and technology RingCentral has is excellent; it's just let down by an inability to provide high levels of support.
We don't want to labour too much on their failings in this post, as you're likely here having seen first-hand some of their issues, but here are some of the issues raised by their customers on Trustpilot:
The list goes on. We tend not to recommend RingCentral often, as there are better alternatives that will give you all the functionality you need, plus excellent support.
Moving on positively, let's start talking about how to find a better alternative to RingCentral. We think it starts with excellent customer service.
Most business phone systems will do everything you need, so customer care and service levels are the main differentiators to pay attention to.
Pre-sales isn't always the best example of what to expect further down the line; however, if you aren't getting a good impression of the business you're speaking to before they take your money, then chances are, you won't afterwards either.
When you're engaging with the sales team at these VoIP providers, pay close attention to the way they talk to you, how quick they are to respond to queries, and whether they are pushy or not. You will likely be tied to this company for several years, so take some time to get to know their technology and them as people.
Without wanting to blow our own trumpet too much, something that stands us out from the crowd here at T2K is that many of our team have been with us for decades, which means we build longstanding relationships with customers.
Salespeople will often have tricks up their sleeves to get you to sign up sooner rather than later. Still, when choosing a new VoIP provider, you need to take your time, as you'll need to stand by that decision for at least a couple of years.
If the sales team starts wheeling out special offers that end soon, effectively looking to pressure you into a decision, take it as a red flag and indicate that they're more interested in taking your money than you making an informed decision.
Customer reviews can be misleading and not representative of broader opinions. Yes, they can highlight recurring themes, good and bad, but there's always that question mark of their legitimacy.
We always recommend that you ask to speak to several existing customers yourselves. If the company you're talking to is as good as they say they are, they shouldn't have an issue with this. You can get a first-hand account of why you should or shouldn't go with them by talking to their existing customers.
In this section of our guide to RingCentral alternatives, we've highlighted the phone systems and providers we believe offer the best service to UK-based businesses. The best provider for many companies will be different from another, so please request a free comparison quote, and we'll come back to you with tailored recommendations.
3CX is different from the rest of the phone systems and providers in this guide in that it's a software-based phone system that you can host anywhere, rather than a fully-managed closed platform.
There are numerous benefits of 3CX, from functionality and a very attractive price point to the flexibility it affords to businesses and the control it gives you over your telecoms.
Perhaps the most important is that 3CX is almost exclusively sold through a network of independent partners (ourselves included). This means that you don't just get access to a brilliant, market-leading VoIP phone system, but if you choose wisely, you'll get a more personal approach to customer support and service from a smaller company.
You get all the benefits of using an internationally renowned piece of technology, backed up with support from a team that genuinely cares about you and your business.
Gamma Horizon is the first system on our shortlist that is a fully-managed cloud-based platform. With Gamma Horizon, you sign up for a service, and the software and hardware that the service runs on aren't your responsibility.
When we recommend phone systems to customers, the choice is usually between Horizon and 3CX. Between them, they will do almost everything a business could want from their communications. Gamma Horizon is the definition of feature-rich, and it gives businesses of all sizes access to tools that have in the past been reserved for only the biggest companies.
Similarly to 3CX, the thing that stands Gamma Horizon out from the crowd is that you buy it through a Gamma partner, meaning you get a much more personal approach to support than you would by going for a company like RingCentral.
bOnline is the first provider on our shortlist that sells through a network of partners and directly to businesses. This flexibility allows you to choose between whether you want direct support or an even more personal approach from a smaller partner.
Relatively rarely for a VoIP provider that sells directly to businesses, they enjoy a very high rating among their customers on reviews platforms like Trustpilot.
bOnline currently has an impressive rating of 4.5 out of 5 from over 8,000 customer reviews. Reviewers often highlight excellent customer service from a professional and helpful team. bOnline, position itself as, first and foremost, a small business phone system aimed at freelancers, start-ups and micro-businesses.
Their system has all the functionality larger businesses will need, too, so it's certainly something that'll grow with you.
8x8 is the first of the international VoIP providers that have made our shortlist of the best RingCentral alternatives.
While their customer reviews aren't as strong as those for the first three systems we've highlighted, they frequently get praise, and the reviews certainly aren't as bad as RingCentral's. 8x8 is aimed at big businesses; it's an enterprise solution designed for multisite, even multinational organisations.
Unlike bOnline, what you'll find is a system aimed much more at people with technical expertise, so if you don't have someone in-house that can offer that, they might not be the best alternative for you.
Mitel MiCloud Connect is another example of a unified communications platform that gives companies the freedom to work from anywhere, from any device.
Built on Google Cloud, providing excellent levels of reliability, Mitel MiCloud Connect makes many aspects of cloud communications secure and straightforward. While not as powerful as some other platforms, it's still terrific and a suitable alternative to RingCentral if you're looking for one.
Vonage is another big international company that is worth some consideration if you're looking for a RingCentral alternative.
Vonage stands out for the access they give you to the underlying software via their APIs. This means that you can build bespoke communications applications that feed directly into your business phone service. Indeed, the developer-friendly aspect of Vonage is something they champion in their sales and marketing materials, with them currently boasting some 1.15 million developers using their platform.
Because they offer comprehensive developer access, it's perhaps no surprise that some of the biggest companies in the world use them as their cloud VoIP provider. That all said, Vonage isn't always the best fit for smaller companies that have less in-house technical expertise.
Microsoft Teams is a well-known chat platform that businesses around the UK will be using as part of their subscription to Microsoft Office 365. But did you know it also has built-in PBX capabilities?
Working off of the underlying technology associated with Skype, Microsoft Teams can become far more than a mere team messaging tool. With Teams Phone, you can make traditional phone calls from your computer, mobile or desk phone.
It's a good choice if you're already paying for one of their Enterprise subscriptions. However, the only word of caution is that it can be difficult to port telephone numbers over to the service. Microsoft Teams phone has plenty of features and will do most of what companies require; however; it's not quite as feature-rich as some higher up this list.
Still, if you're on the lookout for RingCentral alternatives and already using it for internal chat, it's worth taking a look at.
Gradwell is similar to T2k in that they provide other companies with technology; they're value-added resellers. Currently, they offer several VoIP solutions to their customers, one being 3CX, which we've already covered, another called Wave, and finally, Direct Routing, which is their service that hooks into Microsoft Teams.
We've already spoken about 3CX and Microsoft Teams, so we'll focus here on their proprietary VoIP system, Wave. Wave has been designed to make life easier for small businesses looking for lots of features but a simple and easy to use interface.
It's a good option for remote teams and small businesses looking for their first VoIP phone system. The tech is good, but as Gradwell has grown and taken on more customers over the last few years, their service levels have suffered. If you look at some of their recent years, many customers have frustrations with the service they receive.
The final VoIP provider we want to draw your attention to if you're looking for RingCentral alternatives is 4Com. With some 15,000 UK businesses relying on 4Com's technology in one-way, shape or form, it's fair to say they are an established and reliable telephony provider.
They've collected over 1000 Google reviews and have an impressive score of 4.7 out of 5, so if you're looking for high service levels, 4Com could be a good option. 4Com offer several business VoIP services and mobile phone services too.
So there you have it, our list of top RingCentral alternatives in 2024. In our humble opinion, Gamma Horizon and 3CX will be the best options for most companies, as you benefit from superior technology backed up with a local level of support.
If you'd like to find out which phone system is best for your business, please request a comparison quote. Our telecoms experts will do the leg work for you and be in touch with customised recommendations based on your requirements.
Having worked for T2k for nearly 25 years, it's fair to say that Lee is an expert when it comes to all things telephony and business communications. Overseeing the commercial side of the business, he has helped the company evolve and grow through the decades. In recent years, and with the advent of VoIP and hosted telephony, Lee has made sure that T2k is at the forefront of technological developments. With a firm interest in helping businesses navigate the world of telecoms, Lee is responsible for the majority of the content on this website.
