Thinking about trying RingCentral? Or maybe you’re already using it and starting to run into roadblocks.
With phone, text, and video support, it might seem like it has everything you need. But once you dig in, the interface can feel clunky and harder to manage than expected. Between limited features on lower-tier plans, delays for texting registration, and surprise fees, there are a few things to know before you commit.
In this post, we’ll break down how RingCentral works and the most common issues teams run into. We’ll also explain why it might be worth considering a more flexible, modern alternative — especially if your business is growing.
RingCentral pros
RingCentral offers a few features that may be useful for larger enterprises with more traditional office setups. The way it handles ring groups, desk phones, and phone menus could be helpful, depending on how your business is structured.
Let’s take a closer look:
1. Shared numbers for calls
RingCentral lets your team share phone numbers for incoming and outgoing calls. That way, anyone on your team can answer a call or follow up when someone else is unavailable to respond. If your business handles a high call volume, this can help spread the workload and avoid missed opportunities.
2. Supports desk phones
While most modern businesses have moved on from desk phones, RingCentral still supports physical hardware. If your team hasn’t made the switch to softphones, this compatibility makes it easy to keep your current setup. RingCentral also lets you rent desk phones directly from them, but it does come with extra costs.
3. Multi-level auto-attendant
RingCentral lets you build a phone menu with up to 250 submenus. That’s a lot of options — great if you’re running a huge company with tons of departments.
But for most small businesses, it’s way more than you’ll need. A setup that complex can take a lot of time to manage and make things harder for callers to navigate.
If all you need is a simple menu to direct customers to the right representative or team, you shouldn’t have to deal with something so complicated.
RingCentral cons
Of course, no phone system is perfect — and RingCentral is no exception. While it checks a few boxes, several areas can make day-to-day work harder, not easier. From texting limitations to gaps in customer support, there are a number of concerns to be aware of, especially if you’re looking for a reliable VoIP provider.
Here’s what to keep in mind:
1. Texting registration can drag on for months
Many users have run into months-long delays when trying to complete RingCentral’s TCR registration. Some have had their applications rejected multiple times, each time for a different reason, making the whole process more frustrating than it needs to be. Others have seen their applications sit in the “review in progress” stage for weeks, with few to no updates from support.
These delays can make it tough for teams to stay in touch with customers, leading to missed messages, slower response times, and a frustrating experience for everyone involved.
2. Texting is limited
If your team sends a lot of customer texts, RingCentral’s limits can quickly get in the way. On its Core plan, you only get 25 outgoing messages for each user per month. The Advanced plan bumps that up to 100, and the Ultra plan to 200. That includes both SMS and MMS messages.
Once you hit your monthly limit, every additional message costs $0.0085. That might not sound like much, but it adds up fast, especially if your team sends texts to book reminder appointments, follow up with leads, or stay in touch with customers throughout the day.
3. Shared numbers don’t support texting
RingCentral only lets teams share phone numbers for phone calls, not for texting. That means your team can’t send and reply to text messages using the same number. Instead, each rep has to send texts from their individual number.
This makes it harder for teams to work together to solve customer problems over text. There’s no shared inbox for texts, so you can’t see what’s already been said or who’s replied. It can also be confusing for the customer, who might get messages from multiple phone numbers instead of just one.
4. Customer service struggles to resolve issues efficiently
When something goes wrong, you expect your VoIP provider’s support team to step in and fix the issue. But according to RingCentral users, that’s not always the case.
One business owner who used RingCentral for over two years shared how their issue was escalated multiple times, only to be bounced between reps who couldn’t resolve it. In the end, their service still wasn’t restored.
5. Calls are stored for a limited amount of time
RingCentral only stores call recordings for 90 days. After that, they’re automatically deleted.
That might be fine if you just need to review a recent conversation. But it becomes a problem if you want to save important calls for training new team members, resolving long-term customer issues, or keeping records for legal or compliance reasons.
Most teams don’t want to worry about a countdown every time they record a call. You need the flexibility to keep key conversations on hand for as long as they’re useful, not just for 90 days.
6. You have to upgrade to the highest tier to access an AI assistant for SMS
RingCentral does offer AI communication tools like its SMS assistant to help with drafting texts, but there’s a catch. It’s only available on the Ultra plan, which costs $35 per user per month. So if you want access to this feature, you’ll need to upgrade your whole team, even if you don’t need the other features that come with that plan.
For small businesses that want a straightforward way to improve texts, gating basic tools like this behind a high-tier plan can feel unnecessary and expensive.
7. Toll-free number and calling limitations
At first, 100 toll-free minutes each month might seem like plenty. But with RingCentral’s Core plan, that’s all you get to share across your entire team. Take a few customer calls or leave your number on your website, and suddenly, you’ve hit the limit. After that, every additional minute costs 3.9 cents.
Plus, if you want a custom toll-free number that’s easy to remember (like 1-800-FLOWERS), there’s a one-time $30 setup fee. Between that and the minute limits, it’s one more cost to factor in as you scale your business.
8. The interface is outdated
RingCentral’s phone app can feel clunky and slow to use. The layout isn’t as clean or intuitive as it could be, making simple tasks more frustrating for your team.
Compared to other business phone systems (like OpenPhone) that provide a modern and easy-to-use interface, RingCentral’s design can feel outdated.
9. Customer conversations are siloed
RingCentral separates calls, texts, and voicemails into different folders, making it harder to see full conversations you have with customers. Instead of viewing everything in one thread, your team has to jump between tabs to figure out what was said and when.
It might not seem like a big deal at first, but over time, it can slow your team down and lead to miscommunication. If someone texts after a call or leaves a voicemail after a missed message, important context can slip through the cracks.
10. Users have said it’s difficult to close their accounts
Switching to a new phone system should be simple. But some RingCentral users have said that even closing their account was surprisingly difficult.
“There are repeated online use cases where users cannot cancel. I have had the same experience. I ultimately reported to the State Attorney General and charged back after recording my online and phone events.”
11. Limitations with RingCentral’s Salesforce integration
RingCentral’s Salesforce integration is available for you to use, but it’s not always straightforward to set up or maintain. According to RingCentral’s own documentation, fixing certain issues may require help from a Salesforce developer.
That can be a deal-breaker for small teams without technical resources on hand. Instead of a plug-and-play experience, you might end up spending extra time and money to solve issues.
Why OpenPhone is a better alternative to RingCentral
If you’re tired of limitations and outdated features, there’s good news — OpenPhone is the modern business phone system you’ve been looking for.
Smoother texting registration
Getting approved to send business texts shouldn’t take months. With OpenPhone, you can complete US carrier registration in just 5-7 business days.
We guide you through the entire process with clear steps right inside the OpenPhone app, plus we offer additional US carrier registration support in our Resource Center.
And if your application gets rejected by The Campaign Registry? You’ll get an email from us, instead of being left in the dark like some RingCentral users have reported.
Texting automations that save you time
With OpenPhone, you don’t have to manually send every message or stay glued to your phone after hours. You can set up:
- Auto-replies to let people know when to expect a response
- Scheduled texts to go out during business hours in your customer’s time zone to help stay TCPA compliant
- Message templates (snippets) so you’re not typing the same replies again and again
Shared phone numbers for texts and calls
With OpenPhone, your team can share one phone number for calls and texts. This means everyone can see the full conversation history and step in to help with context — whether a customer texts with a follow-up question or calls to get an update about a past issue. Team members aren’t forced to ask customers repeat questions, and nothing gets lost between inboxes.
You can also tag teammates in internal comments that only your team can see. This lets you ask for details or loop in a coworker without disrupting the conversation with the customer. Everything stays organized behind the scenes so your team can collaborate in real time.
Unlimited calls and texts to US and Canadian numbers
OpenPhone includes unlimited texting to US and Canadian numbers on every plan. You can send as many messages as you need without worrying about hitting a cap or getting charged extra.
You also get unlimited calling to the US and Canada, including with toll-free numbers. Unlike RingCentral, there’s no limit on minutes or surprise fees. Just a simple, reliable way to communicate with customers that your team can count on.
Modern interface that’s easy to use
From the moment you launch OpenPhone, the experience is straightforward. The layout is clean, the features are easy to access, and you can start making calls and sending texts without much setup.
This also makes onboarding simple. Whether you’re using it for the first time or bringing a new teammate on board, you can spend less time figuring out how the app works and more time using it to communicate with customers. It’s a win-win.
OpenPhone: The best RingCentral alternative
RingCentral’s pricing and features might work for some businesses, but if you’re looking for a phone system that’s easier to use, more flexible, and built for modern teams, OpenPhone is a better choice.
With OpenPhone, your team can share one number for calls and texts, collaborate behind the scenes using internal threads, manage every conversation in one place, and easily comply with A2P 10DLC texting regulations. You won’t have to deal with clunky menus, unexpected fees, or features locked behind the most expensive plan.
You can set up your business phone system in minutes, customize it to fit how your team works, and access powerful tools like call recording, AI call summaries, and integrations with HubSpot and Make — all without headaches.
Try OpenPhone free for seven days and see how simple business communication can be.
