Best Auto Attendant Phone Systems 2024
An auto attendant phone system is a great way to handle incoming calls and route them to the appropriate people. But selecting the right auto attendant phone system for your business can be challenging.
Even so, a phone with auto attendant will provide call management features that route calls effectively. Our Best Auto Attendant Phone Systems 2024 review will help you choose the right auto attendant phone system for your business.
Recommended: RingCentral offers an automated phone system with plenty of features, that's inexpensive and easy to set up and manage.
Auto Attendant Phone Systems
An auto attendant phone system is a key part of many businesses. It allows callers to be greeted by a professional-sounding voice and given options to reach the person or department they need. There are many different auto attendant phone systems on the market, so how do you know which one is the best for your business?
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Best Auto Attendant Phone System |
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RingCentral
4.9/5 |
BEST BASIC PACKAGE
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($19.99/Month) |
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Phone.com
4.8/5 |
MOST AFFORDABLE SERVICE
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($11.99/Month) |
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Grasshopper
4.1/5 |
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($26/Month) |
Our Approach
A company's auto attendant is the first voice customers hear when they call. It's important to make a good impression, so it's worth taking the time to choose the best auto attendant phone system for your business.
We picked auto attendants that met the following criteria:
- Easy set-up and management
- Integration with existing business phone systems
- Useful features
- Affordable for small businesses and startups
3 Best Auto Attendant Phone Systems: Breakdown
1. RingCentral ($19.99–$49.99/User/Month)
RingCentral is a popular choice for businesses of all sizes. It offers many features, such as call forwarding, caller ID, and voicemail. RingCentral also has a mobile app so you can take your calls with you when you're out of the office.
The RingCentral auto attendant phone system is like a trusted virtual receptionist. It brings many useful features, is affordable in cost, and is extremely easy to set up and manage.
RingCentral Auto Attendant Features
RingCentral offers numerous features like video meetings, a mobile phone app, small business video conferencing, unlimited calling, and phone numbers. We recommend it as the best option for small businesses thanks to its affordable cost, loaded features, and ease of use. Here are some more features handled by its auto attendants.
- Call routing — with RingCentral, you can route calls to any extension, whether it's in your office or across the globe. You can also set up rules for how your system should handle calls during after-hours or on weekends.
- Customizable greetings — you can record your own custom greeting for callers or choose from one of the many pre-recorded greetings offered by RingCentral.
- Call forwarding — never miss a call with RingCentral's call forwarding feature.
Setting Up RingCentral
Setting up RingCentral's business phone system and auto attendant phone system was easy. Here are the steps we went through:
- Log in to your RingCentral account and go to the Admin Portal.
- Click on Phone System > Auto Receptionist > Create New Auto Receptionist.
- Give your auto attendant a name and choose a greeting type.
- Record your greeting and choose what hours you want it to play.
- Set up your call routing rules to know where each call will go.
- Save your changes and activate your new auto attendant.
PROS
- Custom or professional company greeting
- Filter and manage call flow
- Dial by name directory
- Modify from any device
- Multi-level auto attendant
- Video meetings
- VoIP phone system
- Virtual receptionist
- Handles high call volumes
- Conference calls
- Visual voicemail
- Unlimited SMS
- Receive calls from anywhere
- Direct callers anywhere with routing features
- Mobile phone app
- Works with desk phone calls
- Toll-free number interactive voice response
- Great for small business calls
CONS
- Difficult to track who is available to take calls and when
- Some automated message options are confusing or frustrating
RingCentral is an auto attendant phone system that you can easily customize to meet the specific needs of your business. You can create custom greetings, set call routing rules, and more. Additionally, RingCentral offers excellent call quality and reliability.
2. Phone.com ($11.99–$23.99/User/Month)
Phone.com is another good option for businesses looking for an auto attendant phone system, offering many of the same features as RingCentral for a lower cost. Phone.com also has a feature that allows callers to leave a voicemail without talking to someone first.
Phone.com Auto Attendant Features
Phone.com offers a business phone system that is reliable and easy to use. In addition, Phone.com’s auto attendant features are a great way to manage calls and ensure that customers always get the help they need.
Here are some of the features that make Phone.com’s auto attendant a great choice for businesses:
- 24/7 availability — customers can call your business anytime, day or night, and reach a friendly voice.
- Customizable options — you can choose how many rings before the call goes to voicemail, your business's hours, and more.
Setting Up Phone.com
Setting up Phone.com business phone system and its auto attendant phone system wasn't difficult. Here are the steps we went through:
- Log in to your Phone.com account and click on the "Menu" icon in the top left-hand corner.
- From the dropdown menu, select "Features."
- On the next page, scroll down until you see the "Auto Attendant" section and click on the "Enable" button.
To start customizing your auto attendant, you can record a greeting that callers will hear when they first reach your company's phone line:
- Click on the "Greetings" tab, then select the "Record New Greeting" option.
- Enter a name for your auto attendant and choose a greeting message.
- Configure the call flow for your auto attendant by adding various menu options.
- Save your changes.
PROS
- High-definition voice input
- Flexible call handling
- 24/7 live support
- SMS text messaging
- Voicemail to email
- Call routing features
- Hold music
- Unlimited extensions
- Incoming call queuing
- Cloud phone system
- Video conferencing
- Handles high peak call volumes well
- Automated attendant auto attendant feature
- Answers every inbound cal
- Call recording
- Toll-free number interactive voice response
- Multi-level auto attendant
- Unlimited phone numbers
- Great for small business calls
- Toll-free numbers
CONS
- Difficult to train employees on the platform
- Auto attendants take longer to set up
- Menu options can be confusing
Phone.com offers a variety of features that can make your business sound professional and help you manage calls more efficiently.
3. Grasshopper ($26–$80/Month, Plus $10/User/Month)
Grasshopper is one of the leading providers of auto attendant phone systems. They have a wide variety of features designed to make life easier for businesses and their customers. For example, their systems are designed to be highly scalable so that they can grow with your business.
Grasshopper also has features like call forwarding and caller ID that can help to make sure that your customers always reach the right person.
Grasshopper Auto Attendant Features
Grasshopper allows customers to reach the right person within the company quickly and efficiently. In addition, it allows callers to be automatically routed to the correct extension without the need for a live operator.
Grasshopper offers many features for their auto attendant, including:
- Custom greetings — These are recorded messages that play when someone calls your business number. You can create a different greeting for each time of day or day of the week.
- Call forwarding — lets you send calls from your Grasshopper number to any other phone number (landline or mobile).
- Extensions — Let you add additional numbers to your Grasshopper account so multiple people can have their own extensions.
Setting Up Grasshopper
Setting up the Grasshopper auto attendant phone system was simple enough. Here are the steps we went through:
- Log into your Grasshopper account.
- Click on the "Settings" tab.
- Under the "General" section, click on "Auto Attendant."
- Select the "Enable Auto Attendant" option.
- In the "Main Menu" section, specify what options callers will have (e.g., press 1 for sales, 2 for customer service, etc.).
- In the "After Hours Menu" section, specify what options callers will have when your business is closed.
- Follow the prompts to create your greeting and choose your call routing options.
PROS
- Custom greetings
- Virtual receptionist
- Add extensions
- Record greetings
- VoIP Wi-Fi calling
- Call transfers
- Mobile and desktop apps
- Business texting with instant response
- Call handling for inbound calls is easy
- Unified communications for small business owners
- Toll-free phone numbers with interactive voice response
- Call recording for inbound calls
- Incoming call auto attendants interact
- Unlimited calls
- Unified communications
- Manages peak call volume well
- Route calls to a cell phone or telephone operator
- Video meetings
- Video conferencing
- Great for small business calls
CONS
- It can be difficult to transfer calls to the correct person.
- Auto attendants can sometimes give customers the wrong information
- Some people find the automated voice of the auto attendant to be annoying
Grasshopper is a virtual phone system that's perfect for small businesses. With Grasshopper, you can choose your own toll-free or local number and customize your greeting and voicemail messages. You can also add extensions for employees, forward calls to any phone, and even use call forwarding when you're out of the office.
Which Phone System Is Best for Auto Attendant?
RingCentral, Phone.com, and Grasshopper were incredibly reliable, low-cost, and feature-rich. Each automated system was easy to set up and manage, and even basic users will be able to take advantage of all the features.
As for the customer experience, we felt RingCentral was the best auto attendant phone system overall because its customer relations and technical support teams helped turn our business communications vision into reality. What’s more, our customer satisfaction levels rated high with all three auto attendants.
FAQ
An auto attendant phone system is a telephone system that automatically answers and routes incoming calls. Businesses can use this type of system in a variety of settings, including businesses, organizations, and home offices.
Auto attendants can be an ideal solution for businesses that want to improve their customer service or for organizations that need to route calls more efficiently.
An auto attendant system works by answering calls without the intervention of a human operator. Instead, the caller is greeted with a pre-recorded menu where they can make a selection by pressing a key or by speaking.
The benefits of an auto attendant system include increased efficiency, lower costs, and improved customer service.
Auto attendants can answer calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This means your customers can always reach someone when they need to, even if it’s outside normal business hours.
Additionally, auto attendants can handle multiple calls simultaneously, which is impossible with a human operator. This means your customers will never have to wait on hold for an extended period.
Another benefit of an auto attendant system is that it can save you money. With an auto attendant handling your calls, you won’t need to hire additional staff to answer the phone.
Each auto attendant is different. But the main features include interactive voice response, unlimited calling, virtual receptionist, automatic call recording, automated answering service, dial-by-name directory, professional voice recording, voice input, day and night mode, answering rules, text-to-speech, and more.
The cost of an auto attendant system can vary depending on the features and functionality you require. However, many systems start at around $500 and can go up to $2,000 or more for enterprise-level solutions.
An auto attendant system can be a great way to manage your business’s phone calls, but you need to make sure you set up your hours correctly. Here’s how to do it for RingCentral, Phone.com, and Grasshopper:
- Log in to your RingCentral account and go to the “Settings” tab.
- Under the “General” section, click on “Business Hours.”
- Click on the “Add Business Hours” button and enter the days and times that your business is open.
- Save your changes.
If you’re using Phone.com or Grasshopper, the process is similar – just log in to your account and look for the “Business Hours” settings.
A phone system is an integral part of any business, large or small. It allows customers and clients to contact the company, and it provides a way for employees to communicate with one another. But not all phone systems are created equal. Not all business phone systems have auto attendants, but for those who do, it can be a valuable asset for many small businesses.
If your business receives many calls, you may consider investing in a business phone with an auto attendant feature to help free up employees from answering and transferring multiple calls at a time. Instead, callers can be directed to the appropriate extension immediately.