GoToConnect

Jive Communications was founded in 2006. Jive’s hosted VoIP services run on their proprietary Jive Core. Jive’s Hosted VoIP pricing comes in 5 tiers based on the number of users in your business, with each plan including unlimited minutes, Jive’s top-ranked Technical Support, and a no hidden fees monthly contract.

Jive has partnerships or other agreements with some of the biggest names in telephony and networks, including Microsoft, Cisco, Polycom, Panasonic, Verizon Business, Bandwidth, Level (3), Brocade, and XO.

Jive Communications is not related to Jive Software.

GoToConnect Pricing and Services

Service Guarantee:
Jive offers a paid trial. During the trial you get a temporary phone number, and there is a one-time $15 fee to port your number in. If you leave Jive, there is no fee to port your number out.

Best For:
Tax services, insurance agencies, hospitals, car manufacturers, and school districts/government agencies. Jive attracts several businesses that are spread out geographically, whether in different buildings in the same zip code or throughout the country or world.

Plans & Prices:

• Phone numbers are $1.75/mo, or $5 if you are on Tier 1. You only need one phone number.
• Tier 1 (1-4 Users): $29.95 Per Device
• Tier 2 (5-9 Users): $25.95 Per Device
• Tier 3 (10-24 Users): $23.95 Per Device
• Tier 4 (25-49 Users): $21.95 Per Device
• Tier 5 (50-100 Users): $19.95 Per Device
• Basic phones are $70-$150
• Executive phones are $135-$500
• Conference phones are $380-$840
• Jive Mobility App is available for free on iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac

All Available System Features:
82 Unified Communications features, including:

• • 99.99% Uptime SLA: A guarantee in writing that your service will work.
  • 10-Party Conference Bridge: Connect up to ten participants on the same phone call by dialing a special number for conferences called a bridge
  • Auto Attendants: You can have an unlimited number of options to route the call
  • Auto-Divert: Send telemarketers and other unwanted calls to a different extension, or set it up the other way and have important callers skip the auto-attendant and call you directly.
  • Auto-Reject: Block telemarketers and other unwanted calls
  • Call Analytics: See who called, why, and for how long
  • Call Forwarding: Send all inbound calls to another number
  • Call Logs/Analytics: Review who called, why, for how long, and the result of the call
  • Call Monitoring: A third caller can listen in on an ongoing call. The third caller can be silent to one party, called whisper or spy, or can be heard by both parties, called barge.
  • Call Park/Pickup: Transfer a call to a dedicated “empty” line while you find the best person to take the call, who can pick up the call without having to talk to the first agent again
  • Call Queues (Automatic Distribution): Create call groups to take certain types of calls. Inbound callers may wait on hold until an agent is available
  • Call Recording: Record some or all calls for security. All calls are stored remotely
  • Call Transfers: Transfer calls with or without talking to the extension you are transferring to
  • Call Waiting & Caller ID: Get these basic features for free
  • Conferencing (3-way): Have three callers on one call without setting up a conference bridge
  • Corporate/Local Directory on Phone: Phones have access to a database of employee information called an LDAP.
  • Custom Greetings: Record your message to greet inbound callers
  • Custom Messages: You can create outgoing messages for every step of the auto-attendant, and you can also create messages personalized for specific callers
  • Custom Queue Hold Message/Hold Music: Create a playlist of many songs for your hold music and you can change it anytime you like
  • Custom Schedules: Set different calling rules depending on whether the office is open or closed
  • Dial by Name: In addition to extension dialing, you can have new callers dial the correct person by their name
  • Direct Inward Dialing: Assign one phone/extension its own number
  • Direct Outward Dialing: Some PBX systems require you to dial 9 first to dial out. Jive does not.
  • Do Not Disturb: Temporarily send all calls to voicemail
  • E911: Send your physical location to emergency services
  • Escape from Call Queue: When a call is on hold, the caller can go back to a menu or leave a message rather than having to hang up and start over
  • Extension Dialing: Inbound calls and callers within the network can dial an extension rather than a full number.
  • Extension Transfers: You can transfer a call with or without talking to the other extension first
  • Fax to Email: No need for a clunky fax machine, all faxes are sent to your email just by dialing your number
  • Find Me/Follow Me: Other phones ring simultaneously or sequentially when your phone rings
  • Intercom: Talk through your phone’s speakerphone within the office
  • LDAP Integration: An LDAP is a type of internal directory that keeps information on members of an organization
  • Line Failover: If your Internet or Jive servers are unavailable, your calls are forwarded to your cell phone or the number of your choice
  • Missed Call/Message Waiting Indicator: Your phone light up to let you know that you missed a call
  • Multiple Calls per Line: You can have an unlimited number of concurrent calls coming from and going to one phone number
  • Paging: Your desk phones’ speakerphones become a mini PA system within a department
  • Pre-Call Announcement: Gives information about the inbound caller before the agent begins speaking to him or her

• Paperless Fax: Use your phone or scanner to send outgoing faxes. Inbound faxes go to your email.
• Presence Monitoring: Sometimes called Busy Lamp Field (BLP), see who your colleagues are talking to, if anyone, before transferring a call
• Report Caller Hold Time: The agent will hear how long the caller has been on hold, which may influence how the caller is treated
• Speed Dial: Dial just one digit to get your most frequently called numbers.
• Unlimited Call Queues: No matter how high your call volume is, you can route your calls efficiently and minimize confusion and hold time by setting proper hold queues
• Unlimited Extensions: You are not limited to one extension per seat. Multiple users can use the same phones and have their voice mailbox. In addition, your extension can be a 3-,4-,5, or 6-digit number
• Visual Dial Plan Editor: The easiest way to program your auto-attendant. In your user portal, you can design a call flow by dragging-and-dropping icons. If you can make a flow chart, you can configure how inbound calls are routed.
• Voicemail to Email: No need to sign in to hear your voicemail messages, a copy of your voice mail message will be sent to your email.
• Wait Time Announcement: Callers on hold get to know ahead of time how long to expect to wait on hold before reaching an agent. Callers may opt not to call during peak times if they know how long they’ll have to wait.

International Calling:
In terms of additional costs, Jive Communications does not include international calls and also features some extended calling areas. With the extended calling areas, each has its price relative to the location. The extended territories include Alaska, American Samos, Canada, Guam, Hawaii, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands.

While the location may vary the price, some features, though included, may affect pricing as well. One feature, in particular, is the Call recording feature. While the setup is free, there is a rate charge to this feature. Though it is relatively inexpensive at around $0.02 per minute, it is still a factor customers should be aware of before using the feature.

Editor’s Bottom Line

Jive has made a name for itself providing services for enterprise businesses and large government organizations. Their awards and clients page includes a dozen financial planning or insurance companies, half a dozen nationwide chains that focus on fitness and wellness, and several school districts and county seats. And, of course, their biggest names have to be Panasonic and Ford. Some of the largest and most geographically-separated offices can stay in touch as easily as if they were down the hall from each other. At the largest tiers, Jive becomes a bargain. All tiers get the same features, so scaling up is easy. Jive also gives discounted and free phones, so you can keep the startup costs (CAPEX) down.

One of Jive’s biggest selling points is the visual dial plan, so let me explain exactly what this means. The auto-attendant, sometimes called a virtual receptionist or a phone tree, routes all the calls to the correct extension. A poorly planned dial plan is a nightmare for the caller, so the dial plan must be easy to understand. Many VoIP providers set the dial plan with drop-down menus or some other text-based plan. With a visual plan, you drop an icon of the person you want to connect to, or the next set of options. From there, it’s as easy as playing connect-the-dots; you can have multiple pathways to the same extension, have a dial plan that doubles back to another point in the chain, and so on. The visual dial plan gives you as many options as you want, but doesn’t give you so many options that you get overwhelmed. If at any point you need to change or delete an extension or level of options, it’s as easy as a mouse click.

A few more things related to the auto-attendant: You can record as many levels of the auto-attendant as you want; you can record a greeting for each level of the auto-attendant; you can set certain numbers to never hear the auto-attendant and reach the person they want directly every time they call (eliminating the need to have more than one DID number); because you can record a message for level, you can have a message that answers the most frequent questions (e.g., hours and directions) and save your workers time; you can set the auto-attendant to answer the call before your own phone rings.