Nextiva Review

Why Nextiva Is Best for Multisite Retail and Healthcare

Nextiva offers the security, encryption and data center redundancy needed to support multisite retail and healthcare organizations with a wide range of communications needs. You don’t need to be beholden to HIPAA requirements to get the most out of Nextiva’s security standards, though — even very small businesses can rest assured their data and customers’ sensitive information is protected.

Nextiva’s diverse data centers are located strategically across the country with eight points of presence and 24/7 monitoring to ensure potential issues are flagged and solved immediately. As a result, many of Nexiva’s features and services are HIPAA-compliant, including voice phone calls, call recording, analytics, video conferencing and some integrations, including CRMs. 

We appreciate that Nextiva’s mix-and-match plans allow organizations to provide the appropriate set of communications tools and permissions to the right employees without overspending on staffers who only need a basic VoIP phone solution. This is great for new businesses and those on a budget who want to avoid spending money on features they don’t need.

We love that Nextiva’s Call Pop feature highlights everything you need to know about the caller to provide personalized service before you pick up the phone, including information about past interactions, experience score, survey responses and total account value from your desktop, softphone or mobile device. 

Subscribers at every service level receive the same 24/7 customer support, mobile and desktop apps, unlimited calls within the U.S. and Canada and free toll-free or local numbers. Every business from new and very small businesses to mid-sized businesses and enterprises can benefit from around-the-clock support.

Due to the need for extra monitoring, Nextiva requires healthcare providers sign a comprehensive business associate agreement that covers the rules required by both parties under HIPAA. Whether your sector is retail or healthcare, Nextiva has the features to suit your needs.

Usability

Nextiva’s drag-and-drop call flow builder is one of the simplest and most user-friendly we tested in our annual review of business phone systems. This easy-to-use visual tool lets anyone without prior experience, which is perfect for new businesses trying to get up and running without delay. Even beginners will manage setting up a menu for callers and route calls based on set days, times, locations and devices without hassle. More complex routing activities, like round-robin ringing for a sales team, are suggested through drop-down menus, ensuring you’re able to use your phone system to its fullest potential. 

Once the system is set up, you can begin making or receiving calls from any internet-connected device with the mobile app, desktop app or standard office IP softphone. We really like how seamless the experience feels when switching between devices on voice or video calls. Plus, features like Call Pop provide you with a wealth of caller information, including the caller’s previous interactions, survey responses, satisfaction score and total account value to help provide personalized service. This makes for a user-friendly experience that benefits the employee and the caller.

Nextiva Features

Nextiva provides the same core communications features across all of its unified business plans. That includes complete call-handling capabilities, team messaging and basic video conferencing tools. While SMS/MMS and some integrations are limited with the entry-level plan, Nextiva provides everything a business needs to communicate professionally in any industry or business setting.

Security

Nextiva’s core platform resides in North American data centers with eight points of presence that are SSAE 16-certified, SOC II-audited and offer PCI-DSS certification. Each data center has a dedicated power grid with dual OC48 (2.5 Gbps) rings to create redundant call paths. Nextiva’s network is monitored 24/7 and data is protected with transport layer security (TLS) and secure real-time transport protocol (SRTP) encryption between all endpoints. As a result, Nextiva offers HIPAA-compliant services and features for phone, auto attendant, call recording, virtual fax, video conferencing and integrations with some of the best CRM software. This level of security is ideal for both healthcare organizations and multisite retail businesses. [Read related article: How to Find a HIPAA-Compliant CRM]

Threaded Conversations

Nextiva helps you utilize the advantages of having your company’s phone, chat, email and video conference data unified via a single platform with threaded conversations. This feature provides a single, searchable timeline with all of your communications in one simple chronological panel. We liked having the ability to tag important communications, add notes, and track the activity of everyone interacting with the data. All of this helps to make sure nothing important is ever lost or overlooked.

Nextiva’s threaded conversations feature makes communication more efficient. Image source: Nextiva

Call Flow Builder

We like how this phone platform is structured around a convenient drag-and-drop system. Its system lets you visualize your call flow when you’re working from the demo template or starting from scratch. For new call flows, the system will prompt you to select the primary inbound number and any additional numbers you want to follow the same call flow. 

Suggested steps for the next action, like directing callers to your business hours, phone menu, users and teams, voicemail or transfer out, are provided. These suggested steps help you build a user-friendly system quickly. Drop-down menus with prefilled options are available to help you pick the best features for each stage, including turning on settings like round-robin distribution for your sales team. This ensures each team member receives a fair number of opportunities to speak with new customers.

Call Pop

Nextiva’s Call Pop feature populates the user’s display with important caller information to improve conversations with personalized service. Before you pick up the phone or make a call, you’re given loads of context to contextualize the caller. You’ll be able to see your company’s last interaction with the customer, their experience score, any survey responses they’ve provided and the total value of their account. This information helps tailor your service to their needs and expectations. Retail businesses using this Nextiva to close sales and respond to customer inquiries will find this tool particularly valuable.

Call Pop helps personalize each interaction with a customer. Image source: Nextiva

Nextiva Costs

Take care to note how Nextiva’s advertised prices reflect an account with at least 20 users and an annual subscription. When reviewing phone costs, we always select the fewest number of user accounts possible to provide a fair comparison between service providers. In the case of Nextiva, our listed prices reflect accounts with one to four users. 

Nextiva’s Business Communications plans cost slightly more than average, starting at $18.95 per monthly user. Some competitors offer comparable entry-level packages for around $15 per month per user. Nextiva offers a discounted rate of up to 35 percent for annual subscribers, which is reflected in the prices listed below.

We found Nextiva to offer a good value to these very small teams, even if slightly above the average cost of other business phone systems we reviewed. That’s because it offers exceptional security and advanced features for even the smallest of businesses, helping companies grow with confidence.

We really like how competitors 8×8 and Nextiva let you mix and match plans to suit the needs of your team. This means you can save money on accounts for employees who only need basic phone services to perform their duties while providing advanced features to other staffers who will put them to good use. [Learn more in our detailed 8×8 review or see how Nextiva stacks up in our Nextiva vs. 8×8 comparison.]

Nextiva Setup

Most small businesses that select a new phone number for a Nextiva account can have their business phone system operating the same day it’s ordered. Businesses transferring an existing number may have to wait for their previous carrier to release the number. Regardless, we like that the overall setup process is easy. Adding users, setting up locations, assigning business phone numbers and voicemail, managing teams, and creating a phone menu are all simple to do. 

For most modern business phone systems, the bulk of the setup work is in building the call flow. Nextiva makes this process especially straightforward with its drag-and-drop call flow builder that lets you visualize how calls will move through your system. You can just as simply make adjustments as needed later on.

Nextiva Customer Service

We appreciate how Nextiva serves all of its customers equally well with the same 24/7 customer support for all phone plans. If you need assistance, you can reach a Nextiva representative by email, chat or phone. There is also an in-app help button and an online self-help resource center. Nextiva’s resource center is stocked with webinars, quick start account guides, product updates, system status information and password reset options. Users can explore helpful how-to videos, get tips on setting up a menu to greet callers and learn how to make the most of advanced features like voice analytics.

Nextiva Drawbacks

Small businesses with fewer than five user accounts will pay above-average prices with Nextiva. On its website, the company’s pricing page settings are set by default to show the cost for businesses purchasing at least 20 user accounts for a savings of roughly 19 percent. Other providers with sliding scales, like Vonage, show you the standard price for one user as the default setting. Compare cost information in our full Vonage review for another phone option that’s especially great for small businesses.

It’s also worth noting that Nextiva’s voicemail transcription service is only available with its highest tier Enterprise plan. This is true despite it being a fairly ubiquitous feature with cellular and other technology providers. For example, our Dialpad review notes that the vendor includes voicemail transcription and other AI-powered features with all plans. That said, aside from lacking voicemail transcription, Nextiva’s entry-level Essential and mid-tier Professional packages feel more than adequate in terms of basic features and functionality.

Methodology

We researched and analyzed more than a dozen of the industry’s leading business phone systems. Our investigations included participating in product demos, conducting independent research, and testing a variety of phone systems through paid and free trial accounts. Each examination considered factors like pricing, ease of use, features, customer service availability and implementation. We found Nextiva to be the best business phone system for multisite retail and healthcare organizations because of its easy-to-use interface, mix-and-match plans and HIPAA-compliant security features.

Overall Value

We recommend Nextiva for …

• Businesses that can benefit from the ability to mix-and-match phone plans for different employees, teams or locations.
• Companies that prioritize receiving 24/7 customer support with a basic, entry-level subscription.
• Healthcare organizations that need HIPAA-compliant communication methods.

We don’t recommend Nextiva for …

• Very small businesses and independent contractors looking for basic phone service.
• Companies that would prefer an extensive list of third-party integration options.
• Organizations wanting voicemail transcription without signing up for an enterprise-grade phone plan.