VoIP service Grasshopper considers that its mission is to provide a simple yet perfect phone system to help you stay accessible wherever you are. The service offers all the necessary features of any decent virtual phone system, and with its simple and easy-to-use account manager, everything can be easily customized. Additionally, the iOS and Android apps handily separate business calls and messages from personal ones. All these features, plus such rarities as inbound faxing, are available in three affordable plans. And when you learn about the other advantages, such as your personal virtual receptionist, you’ll be asking yourself why you haven’t already signed up. Grasshopper offers a limited free trial as well, allowing you to try the service without taking any chances.
Fax support | Inbound only |
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Analog phone support | |
Softphone | |
Conference calling |
Grasshopper’s features are simple yet get the job done. From your online account, you can manage all calls, messages, faxes, and voicemails. Unfortunately, making outgoing calls is only possible through the desktop and mobile apps, so downloading them is indispensable. Although the desktop app is a bit buggy, sometimes refusing to start, it provides a straightforward dashboard to manage calls and text messages – not faxes, though.
The software also comes with automated SMS and the option to transfer inbound calls to a designated extension. Sending business messages and reading voicemail transcriptions and faxes are also available right off the bat. Some features cost extra but are worth it, such as call blasting, which forwards one call to a maximum of 15 call-forwarding destinations simultaneously. Additionally, Grasshopper works with professional voice actors to record greetings, which you can find in the company’s voice studio. International calls are also possible, but this feature needs to be activated in your account by Grasshopper’s customer care.
No matter the plethora of tools, call handling is the one feature where a VoIP system should shine. Fortunately, Grasshopper dazzles with its crystal-clear voice quality for both inbound and outbound calls. It has all the basic features that businesses expect from a VoIP service, including seamless call transferring, instant response, and voicemail transcription. If you receive too many calls to handle on your own, Grasshopper helps you out with Ruby, a personalized live receptionist that answers the phone and queries for you.
Grasshopper can put callers on hold, allowing you to return to them at your own pace. If that’s not enough, calls can be transferred to another extension. These extensions can either be customized by your coworkers or turned into informative resources that clients can call directly. This is quite a useful feature when customers want to find out details about store locations, product descriptions, business operating hours, and the like. Better yet, Grasshopper provides an instant response feature that sends text messages on your behalf when nobody’s available to answer the phone.
Even if the overall appearance of the Grasshopper account is nothing to write home about, it’s extremely easy to use thanks to the logically designed interface. It features five tabs, with the ‘messages and calls’ tab being the most straightforward. It displays call logs – including missed and blocked calls – text messages, voicemails, and faxes. These last two are also stored, with faxes saved as convenient PDFs.
Of the remaining four tabs, ‘extensions’ deserves special attention and can be managed either by the system’s admin or by users that are granted the necessary rights. All phone extensions are fully customizable, meaning you can change the extension’s name, default greeting, associated email address, and more. Assuming it’s properly set up, callers can search for the right extension by typing in the team member’s name.
Grasshopper supports local, toll-free, and vanity numbers within the U.S. and Canada. There’s also the option to port your current number for no extra fee, but, unfortunately, the virtual phone system doesn’t cover international numbers. It’s worth mentioning that creating an account with a new number is easier than porting your older one. The service automatically generates a local number for you, as the website identifies your location. The same easy setup can be said for toll-free numbers as well. Again, there is the option to either get a fully customized number with a preferred prefix or just choose one of Grasshopper’s recommendations.
Setup fee | |
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Cancellation fee | |
Toll-free number | $0 |
Local, 800 transfer fee | $0 |
Since the online account isn’t very mobile friendly, downloading the iOS and Android app is a must to use the service on the go. The apps are perfect for separating business calls from personal ones and, thankfully, are more than just simple softphones. They also include some advanced features, such as displaying voicemails and faxes stored in your online account. Additionally, there are options to get push notifications for received text messages and missed calls, change call-forwarding settings, and call any extensions within the same account.
One confusing and frustrating detail is that certain features are locked to particular mobile operating systems – call returning is only available on Android while fax handling is exclusive to iOS.
Web app | |
Mobile optimized | |
macOS | |
Linux |
Included lines |
|
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Included minutes | Unlimited (Domestic) |
Overage minutes | n/a |
Additional lines | $10/number/mo |
Grasshopper provides three plans that come in monthly or yearly subscriptions, where the latter offers 10% off. Thankfully, all subscriptions have the same basic features: unlimited domestic calls, business texting, call forwarding, and the possibility to acquire additional features for an extra cost. The number of included phone numbers and extensions increases with the more you pay, and the Small Business plan also comes with advanced call routing as a bonus. Regardless of the pricing plan, Grasshopper allows you to add extra numbers for a $10 monthly fee.
Starting at $26 per month with an annual subscription, the cheapest plan includes one toll-free or local phone number and three extensions. The Partner plan is almost twice as expensive as Solo but provides three numbers and six extensions. But the best deal for small teams is the most expensive plan. While the $80 per month (which is billed annually) might seem excessive, it gives you access to five phone numbers and unlimited extensions. If you’re still hesitating, you can take advantage of a 7-day free trial. Although it comes with limitations, Grasshopper offers 50% off its full plan during this trial.
Visa | |
Mastercard | |
American Express | |
Discover |
The company provides 24/7 customer support, which includes the option to call the staff on a toll-free phone number. Inquiries can also be sent via email, fax, or social media. Unfortunately, we never received an answer to our query on Facebook, but Grasshopper’s detailed knowledge base makes up for this slight negligence. The website’s chatbot, Sparky, can be found in the bottom-right corner and guides users to the relevant answers.
Additionally, the company has a blog where it discusses business-related topics, and a resource hub for entrepreneurs full of useful tips. Finally, the company’s most advanced and unique support feature is the Grasshopper Academy, where free, animated, and expert-led webinars teach how to start, run, and advertise your business.
24/7 | |
Live chat | |
Phone |
Grasshopper provides excellent phone management tools that lets small- and medium-sized businesses handle calls professionally regardless of their location. With its simple and user-friendly online account manager, Grasshopper guarantees that your company can handle all call-related traffic without any fuss. Additionally, entrepreneurs and business owners will surely appreciate the useful extras such as business texting and the numerous add-ons. And let’s not forget that both the mobile and desktop apps are perfectly suited for handling calls and messages. Add all this to the reasonably priced plans, with their unlimited minutes, and it’s safe to say that Grasshopper is a VoIP service provider that should be seriously considered by anyone looking for a virtual phone system. The best part is that you can see everything for yourself by taking advantage of the 7-day free trial.
However, when it comes to everything else Cloud Phone is a jackpot, particularly for new businesses. All essential features are available regardless of the chosen subscription plan, the service includes a simple, straightforward, mobile browser-compatible account manager, while extras like the completely free mobile-only features provide everything you might need completely for free. And all of this comes with the option to pick and choose how many free domestic calls and business SMSs will fit into your business needs in one of four pricing plans, all of which offer outstanding value for money and a generous 30-day free trial.
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