Talkroute Review
Are They The Best Phone Provider For You?
Last Updated: By TRUiC Team
Are you seeking professional business phone service, but you’re not sure whether Talkroute is the best choice to provide that service? Many companies offer phone solutions for business, and it can be tricky to figure out which one you should use.
As a supplement to your own research, my team and I examined the important details of each major business phone service provider. My goal is to help you make the right decision for your company by sharing this information with you.
In this Talkroute review, you’ll find breakdowns of their pros and cons, pricing and features, customer reviews and much more. Let’s find out if they’re the best provider for you!
Pros & Cons of Talkroute
Pros of Talkroute
- In my opinion, the best part of Talkroute’s business phone service offering is that they offer unlimited minutes with any of their 4 service packages. Some competitors offer just 100 minutes with some plans, so the opportunity for unlimited minutes is a big advantage.
- The business phone service industry isn’t exactly known for positive customer reviews, but Talkroute is a bit of an outlier. It’s difficult to find much negative feedback for this service, which really is unusual when many of their competitors have pretty bad reviews.
- Talkroute has a strong baseline price point of $19 for business phone service. While it’s not the absolute cheapest rate available, there are only a few other major providers that offer service for less than $20.
- Their prices look even better when you consider that they’re flat rates. Quite a few of their competitors charge “per user” rates that can add up in a big hurry if your company is much bigger than a sole proprietorship.
Cons of Talkroute
- Talkroute does not offer customer support via phone to customers who choose their Basic ($19) or Plus ($39) packages. Especially considering that they’re selling a business phone service, it’s a bit ridiculous that they make you pay at least $59/month for the right to reach them via phone.
- Many of their competitors offer 30-day free trials, but Talkroute only gives you 7 days to decide if their service is a good fit for you. One week seems like a bit of a short time period to properly analyze a business phone service.
TalkRoute Alternative
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Talkroute Pricing & Features
Talkroute offers customers their choice of 4 business phone service plans: Basic, Plus, Pro and Enterprise. Take a quick look at how Talkroute presents these options on their website, then we’ll get into the details of each package.
Talkroute structures each of these packages to appeal to a different kind of entrepreneur, as you can see in their own descriptions — Basic for individuals, Plus for growing teams, etc. Let’s examine the included features in each plan to determine if there’s one that sounds like it suits your unique needs.
All plans include unlimited minutes and iPhone/Android apps.
- Basic ($19/month): 1 local or toll-free number, 100 text messages, 1 voicemail inbox, email support
- Plus ($39/month): 2 local or toll-free numbers, 10 extensions, 500 text messages, 3 voicemail inboxes, chat support
- Pro ($59/month): 3 local or toll-free numbers, unlimited extensions, 1000 text messages, 10 voicemail inboxes, phone support, dial-by-name directory, 5 custom professionally recorded greetings
- Enterprise ($99/month): 5 local or toll-free numbers, unlimited extensions, unlimited text messages, 20 voicemail inboxes, priority phone support, dial-by-name directory, 5 custom professionally recorded greetings, dedicated account manager, custom software integration
As you can see, there are quite a few rather significant differences between these 4 tiers of business phone service. Which one you prefer likely boils down to your company’s size, nature of business, and specific requirements.
Based on the way Talkroute advertises these packages though, it’s pretty clear that they want you to go for Pro or Enterprise. If you don’t think you need phone support, you can get by with Basic or Plus, but if you ever need to speak to a representative you’ll be out of luck.
Customer Reviews
I was only able to find a couple dozen online customer reviews for Talkroute on 3rd-party review aggregator websites, but nearly all of them are very positive in nature.
When writing their reviews, Talkroute clients often discuss how helpful and professional their customer service reps are, and how consistent and reliable their business phone service is.
Customer Reviews Section Last Updated 12-12-17
Conclusion: Would it be better to have a huge pile of reviews to dig through? Sure. On the other hand, it’s impossible to complain about the quality of these reviews.
How Talkroute Compares
In all the hours I’ve spent studying the details of various business phone services, I’ve naturally developed some personal favorites. Still, I’m not here to talk you into using the same service I use, but instead to determine if Talkroute fits your company’s needs.
Since there really is no “one size fits all” answer in the business telephone service industry, it’s important to keep track of what the competition has to offer, in case they have service that appeals to you more than Talkroute does. With that in mind, let’s see how Talkroute compares to Nextiva, another one of the best business phone services.
Pricing: Nextiva’s pricing model runs from $34.95/month on the low end, to $44.95/month on the high side. While their entry price point is significantly higher than Talkroute’s $19 offering, their top-shelf plan is much more affordable than the $99 price tag on Talkroute’s Enterprise package. However, it’s important to note that Nextiva’s prices are per user, whereas Talkroute allows multiple users on one account.
Features: There are quite a few differences between what these services offer, so I’ll just touch on a few of the more important ones. Nextiva offers Skype integration, unlimited faxes and a 30-day trial — features Talkroute can’t match. As for Talkroute, they generally offer more phone numbers and extensions than Nextiva does.
Customer Support: Talkroute has 24/7 web support, but their phone support is only from 10am-7pm ET weekdays and 11am-5pm ET on Saturdays. Also, the nature of support you’re eligible for varies by service package (email-only for Basic, chat/email-only for Plus). Nextiva doesn’t offer 24/7 service, but they do have pretty good availability — 8am to 9pm ET on weekdays, 9am to 9pm ET on weekends. Both of these companies have strong reputations when it comes to the quality of support they provide.
Experience: Nextiva opened in 2003, and they’ve served over 150,000 clients since then. Talkroute launched in 2013, but even though they’re a more recent company, they still have customers numbering in the thousands.
Here's A Quick Visual
Talkroute
Pricing $19-$99
1000+ customers served
Perfect for: Anyone wanting a flat rate phone service that offers unlimited minutes
Nextiva
Pricing $34.95-$44.95
150,000+ customers served
Perfect for: Anyone needing a large scale business VoIP phone service & excellent features
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Shouldn’t I Obtain Business Phone Service From a Traditional Phone Company?
The main advantage Talkroute has over a standard landline phone is price. The reason Talkroute is so comparatively inexpensive is because it runs on existing phone lines, like your cell phone, home phone, etc. Instead of buying dedicated business phone lines, think of this service as taking full advantage of the phone service you already have.
How Secure is Their Service?
Continuing with the line of thought in the previous answer, Talkroute’s service is every bit as secure as the phone lines you’re using it on. For what it’s worth, Talkroute has no history of security issues, their website has good security certificates, etc. In short, you can use their services with confidence.
How Easy is the Setup Process?
Talkroute has a setup demo video on their website, and it’s a little over 5 minutes long. That’s a pretty darn good indication of how easy it is to get up and running with Talkroute.
Should You Use Talkroute?
In my opinion, Talkroute earns a score of 4.3/5. I’m a fan of their unlimited minutes offering, and their customer reviews are nearly all positive. That being said, if this doesn’t sound like your perfect fit, check out our Best Business Credit Cards. Cheers!