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11
Sources Reviewed
41
Business Phone Services Considered
10
Companies Selected
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Pros:
Straightforward pricing
Most integrations available with basic plan
Cons:
Some features require separate add-ons
Video conferencing maxes out at 200 participants
Why Trust U.S. News
Our ratings are unbiased. We follow strict editorial guidelines, maintain a separate business team, and have a transparent methodology.
11
Sources Reviewed
41
Business Phone Services Considered
10
Companies Selected
Intermedia is a cloud communications company providing service and hardware to over 135,000 businesses. Founded in 1993, Intermedia is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and is led by CEO Michael Gold. In addition to voice calls, Intermedia provides audio and video conferencing tools, call analytics, team chat, file backups, and online faxing. The company offers two plan tiers that are particularly well-suited to small to medium-sized businesses.
Intermedia Details
Companies that want a straightforward pricing experience
Customers who don’t want to have upgrade to get popular UCaaS features and integrations
Very large, enterprise-level businesses
Those who do not want to have to consider separate add ons for certain features
Intermedia Details
Companies that want a straightforward pricing experience
Customers who don’t want to have upgrade to get popular UCaaS features and integrations
Very large, enterprise-level businesses
Those who do not want to have to consider separate add ons for certain features
Intermedia is No. 1 in our rating of the Best Business Phone Systems of 2024. It provides straightforward pricing on its pair of phone service plans, beginning at $27.99 per month per user.
Plans: Intermedia’s standard service tier, Unite Pro, provides many options that competing business phone service providers split across multiple plans. For example, features like HD video conferencing, business SMS, mobile app use, meeting transcription, unlimited recordings, online faxing, auto attendant, call recording, and voicemail are all available to start with no upgrades required.
Additional Features: There are several add-ons, such as an additional fax line, email service, and contact center. Toll-free numbers are available as an add-on, but you must contact Intermedia for pricing. Intermedia differs here from many of its competitors, who include toll-free numbers and even toll-free minutes as part of a service plan instead of making customers buy them separately.
Customer Support: Intermedia also doesn’t charge customers for access to support, and instead provides a phone number and instructions for how to reach a specific department after calling. Customers can also reach out using a contact form. The site does have a live chat option, but it can be difficult to find. The live chat and other support features are on the company’s support page.
Security and Privacy: Intermedia ensures data security through multiple enterprise-tier firewall systems to prevent unwanted third-party intrusion. Additionally, its data centers are heavily secured using motion centers, closed-circuit televisions (CCTVs), and controlled ID cards. Intermedia relies on Tier-1 internet service providers to help protect against denial of service (DoS) attacks. Additionally, its services and controls earned a SOC 2 certification.
Intermedia’s HIPAA compliance measures are third-party audited to ensure they meet standards. They also designed their services to comply with privacy and security requirements for Protected Health Information (PHI). Intermedia does not take final responsibility for failing to meet HIPAA compliance, placing the primary responsibility on the customers to sign a HIPAA Business Associates Agreement and maintain standards through due diligence.
Intermedia’s business phone service features two distinct service tiers: Unite Pro and Unite Enterprise. Though the tiers share many of the same features, Unite Enterprise offers supervisor functions, including the ability to call monitor, barge, or whisper. The higher subscription tier also doubles video conferencing and screen sharing capabilities from 100 to 200 participants.
Below is a breakdown of Intermedia’s service plans and features:
It’s worth noting that Intermedia offers a single, flat-rate charge for its service plans. There are no annual contracts or associated discounts.
Customers can include several add-ons with their Intermedia service at a monthly charge:
Pricing for toll-free or additional phone numbers or a call center feature aren’t shared publicly by Intermedia. You’ll need to contact their sales team for quotes.
Intermedia’s business phone system costs customers between $27.99 and $32.99 per month per user. There aren’t any discounts for the number of users as you scale upward. There also isn’t an emphasis on savings through annual contracts. The flat fees shared on the pricing page give an idea of what you should expect to spend each month as your company adds new users.
Because the “Unite Enterprise” tier costs just $5 more per month than the Unite Pro plan, it may be worth it for a business to upgrade and receive access to all available features.
Intermedia
On-Premise IP-PBX
Hosted IP-PBX
Cloud VoIP
Virtual
Monthly Cost
$27.99/User
Trial Period
30 Days
Intermedia vs. Nextiva
Nextiva’s pricing is as low as $17.95 per month per user, while Intermedia’s pricing is a flat $27.99 per month. Despite Nextiva’s lower cost, companies must sign up with at least 100 users on an annual contract to get the maximum discount.
A business with 10 users would pay at least $2,634 annually for Nextiva’s most affordable tier, Essential compared to about $3,359 for Intermedia’s Unite Pro. The price difference initially favors Nextiva, and for a very small business that doesn’t need a lot of features, that may be ideal. However, Nextiva’s Essential tier lacks certain features, like business SMS and integrations, like Slack, Zoho, and Zendesk, all of which come standard with Unite Pro.
Nextiva’s basic service comes with a toll-free number, something you must pay extra for as an add-on with Intermedia.
Nextiva and Intermedia each sell hardware from companies like Yealink and Poly, but Nextiva has a wider variety of options. Nextiva’ also publicly shares the purchase and leasing prices, while Intermedia requires you to contact them for pricing information.
For more information check out our full Nextiva review.
Intermedia vs. Dialpad
Dialpad and Intermedia’s basic service features offer customers unlimited domestic calls, internet faxing, and HD voice calls.
While Dialpad has three pricing plans, its Enterprise tier requires you to contact the company for a quote. Intermedia’s own Enterprise service plan is publicly available and priced at $32.99 per month per user. An annual Dialpad Pro subscription would cost $25 per month per user without an annual contract, compared to paying $27.99 for Intermedia’s Unite Pro.
Not only is Dialpad potentially more affordable, but you do not need to buy a business phone line as an add-on. If you sign up for Pro, you get an additional local or international line. Neither Unite Pro nor Unite Enterprise comes with a business line, which must be purchased as an add-on. Though Intermedia provides more add-ons, you still need to contact the sales team directly to know what half of the features cost. By comparison, Dialpad’s add-on pricing is more transparent.
Both Intermedia and Dialpad take steps to provide quality data and service security, including firewalls, physical security personnel, and SOC 2-level third-party auditing. With Dialpad, application data “at rest” is protected through AES 256-bit encryption while stored on the Google Cloud Platform.
For more information check out our full Dialpad review.
Similar Business Phone Systems
Pros:
Straightforward pricing
Most integrations available with basic plan
Cons:
Some features require separate add-ons
Video conferencing maxes out at 200 participants
Unlike some competitors, buying Intermedia’s business phone systems does not involve going through a series of steps through the website or visiting a checkout page. Instead, you will need to reach out directly to Intermedia and work with its team to set up your account. Below are a few basic steps to use for buying business phone service through Intermedia:
Learn more in our How To Buy a Business Phone System guide.
Intermedia’s customer service consists of a series of options, all available 24/7 through both “Unite Pro” and “Unite Enterprise.” You do not need to upgrade for support access.
You can contact Intermedia by phone and press a specific number key that directs you to the sales or support team. Intermedia also has a live chat option, though you need to access the support page; there is no chat window available to click on, as is the case with other services.
Additionally, Intermedia offers a support center to help address specific products and features a database of knowledge for frequently asked questions. As of now, Intermedia’s customer support services are only available in English. The company also admits its response time is slower a few days before and a few days after the first of the month.
Intermedia supports remote employees with apps and service options. For instance, Intermedia provides HD video and audio tools for conferencing. These features include video meetings and sharing screens for hundreds of participants. Additionally, Intermedia offers team-friendly integrations with Slack, Google G Suite, and Microsoft Outlook.
These features should let your business work with staff members remotely or on a hybrid basis.
Intermedia offers integrations with popular apps across its two tiers. “Unite Pro” offers integrations with Chrome’s click-to-call feature, Google’s G Suite, Microsoft Outlook, a generic CRM screen pop, and CRM integrations with Sugar, Zoho, and Zendesk. “Unite Enterprise” adds integrations with Salesforce, ServiceNow, NetSuite, MS Dynamics.
Customers can download the Intermedia Unite mobile app through Google Play or the App Store. The mobile app does not share your information with third parties, and data gets encrypted in transit. Intermedia also offers a desktop app for Windows and Mac computers and a web app compatible with Chrome browsers.
The app lets you send calls and text messages, have audio or video meetings, and share files with the rest of your team, no matter where you are.
Intermedia offers standard unified messaging features such as SMS, fax, email, voicemail, and video messaging. These items are available through “Unite Pro” without an upgrade. You do have the choice to buy an additional fax line or email exchange as an add-on with a monthly fee.
Intermedia provides high-definition (HD) video conferencing. The “Unite Pro” plan lets you hold video conferences with up to 100 participants. Upgrading to “Unite Enterprise” increases the number to 200 participants. Based on your business system plan, you may share screens with as many as 200 people. Regardless of your service subscription, you may also have up to 30 different videos on your screen at once.
Intermedia secures its business phone systems through a variety of measures. Intermedia’s data centers have third parties provide SOC 1 Type 2, SOC 2 Type 2, and Soc 3 audits, ensuring their security standards are up to code. They received a Star Level 1 designation from the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), which checks best practices for ensuring a secure cloud computing environment.
Intermedia gets third-party audited to ensure it is compliant with HIPAA standards. Additionally, Intermedia states its services meet privacy and security standards for Protected Health Information (PHI).
Intermedia does insist that customers are ultimately responsible for ensuring they are HIPAA-compliant. Customers are encouraged to sign a Business Associate Agreement with Intermedia to ensure mutual compliance.
Intermedia hardware includes desktop phones, conferencing devices, headsets, webcams, and speakers. The company currently offers a free phone or headset for signing up. Customers can choose products from companies like Yealink, Poly, Grandstream, and Logitech.
Though Intermedia offers detailed spec information on its hardware, you will need to contact the company directly for pricing information.
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