RingCentral alternative · Business phone for service teams
Phone, texts and team chat right next to the work.
Your business number, phone menu, texts, Team chat and video meetings in the same app as your customers, quotes, jobs and invoices. Every call lands on the customer's file.
From a ringing phone to a booked visit.
Watch a call follow the phone menu, land on the customer with its summary, and turn into a visit on the schedule.
- 1The call follows your menu
- 2It lands on the customer
- 3A text confirms the visit
- 4The visit is on the schedule
What changes on Monday.
- 01
Before
With AloriEach call lands on the customer, with the schedule one click away
- 02
Before
With AloriThe phone you need, in the app that runs the business
- 03
Before
With AloriTurn on a greeting, a menu and your hours in plain words
What’s in your app.
Alori starts from ready-made modules, then shapes them to the way you work. Add or remove one any time by asking.
Calls
Phone menu, ring groups, recordings, voicemail written out
Conversations
Calls, texts and email, one thread per customer
Meetings
Video meetings with recording and summary
Schedule
The visit booked from the call
The phone setup, in plain words.
Turn on a greeting, a phone menu and your business hours. Pick who rings, all at once or one after another, and add any cell so calls follow you to the job.
- Record your own greeting, or let Alori read your words.
- Holidays and closures send callers to voicemail.
- Bring your RingCentral number: customers keep calling it.
Team chat and video, in the same app.
Channels, direct messages and voice rooms for the team, and video meetings on the schedule for customers, with a waiting room and a recording that writes its own summary.
- Voice rooms with camera and screen sharing.
- Record a meeting for its transcript and summary.
- Unlimited users on every plan; calls and numbers use credits.
Change it by asking.
Your app isn’t frozen on day one. Write what you need, the way you’d text it. Alori makes the change and shows you before anything goes live.
- Who called today?
- Ring my cell at 416 555 0100 too
- Call Grace Lin
- Put a team video meeting on Friday at 8
The full guide
Everything above, in detail: how it works, what it replaces and what it does not.
RingCentral alternatives: phone, texts and team chat next to the work
Short answer: If you are looking at RingCentral alternatives, ask how much of a phone platform your business really uses. RingCentral is a full business communications suite, with phone, video meetings, team messaging, fax, desk phones, contact center options and numbers in many countries. Alori is the all-in-one app for service businesses: your business number, phone menu, texts, Team chat and video meetings live in the same app as your customers, quotes, jobs and invoices, and every call lands on the customer's file.
Who RingCentral fits well
RingCentral is a strong fit when:
- You run desk phones in an office, need fax, or have locations in several countries.
- A contact center team needs queues, supervisors and detailed call reports.
- IT manages your phones, and your CRM and billing already live in other tools that RingCentral connects to.
For larger companies that need a full communications platform, RingCentral is built for the work.
Why service owners look for alternatives
A service business needs a phone that ends in a booked job:
- The call doesn't know the customer. After the call, someone retypes it in the CRM and books the visit by hand.
- More than you use. Many owners pay for a suite and use a number, a phone menu and voicemail.
- Setup takes a specialist. Call flows, extensions and devices are a project, not a five-minute task.
- Another seat per person. Plans are priced per user, so field techs often go without.
Side by side
| RingCentral | Alori | |
|---|---|---|
| Main idea | A full business communications suite | An all-in-one app for a service business |
| Business numbers | Many countries | Canadian and US numbers, or bring your own |
| Phone menu, hours, ring groups | Yes, very detailed | Yes, set up in plain words or step by step |
| Recordings and voicemail | Yes | Recordings, transcripts and summaries on the customer |
| Texts | Yes | From your business number, in one thread with calls and email |
| Team messaging | Yes | Team chat with channels, threads and voice rooms |
| Video meetings | Yes | Video meetings with recording, transcript and summary |
| Desk phones, fax, contact center | Yes | No |
| Quotes, jobs, invoices | Through integrations | In the same app |
| Users | Per-user plans | Unlimited users on every plan; calls and numbers use credits |
What Alori replaces, and what it does not
For a service business, Alori replaces the phone suite and the tools it connects to:
- Your business number. A local Canadian or US number, or move the one you have so customers keep calling it. Add extra numbers for ads or a second line.
- How calls work. A greeting, a phone menu, business hours with holidays, ring groups, hold music and voicemail, set up in plain words. Calls ring in Alori and on any cell you add.
- Calls on the customer. Call from the customer's page in your browser. Each call lands on their file with its recording, transcript and summary, and voicemails come written out, by email too.
- Texts in one thread. Texts from your business number land in Conversations with the customer's calls and emails.
- Team chat. Channels, direct messages, threads and voice rooms with camera and screen sharing.
- Meetings. Put a video meeting on the schedule, let guests in from a waiting room, and record it for a transcript and summary.
- The work behind the call: customers, quotes, schedule, jobs and invoices, and Ask Alori to answer "who called today?".
What it does not replace: desk phones, fax, a contact center with supervisors and queue reports, numbers outside Canada and the US, and native desktop and mobile phone apps. Extra numbers in Alori take calls only; texts stay on your main business number. If you run an office with desk phones or a contact center, RingCentral is likely the better fit.
How to switch
- Describe your business. Alori builds the app with customers, Conversations and calls.
- Get your business number. Alori picks a local number on its own, or pick one by area code. Calls work right away; US texting needs a one-time business registration.
- Set up how calls work. Turn on a greeting, a phone menu and your hours, pick who rings, and add your cell.
- Bring your RingCentral number. In Phone system › Numbers, click Bring a number you already have, add your account number and a recent bill, and sign the authorization. Keep RingCentral until the move shows Done.
Start on the free plan, no card needed. See pricing.
Questions
Another question? Ask it when you start.
Yes for service businesses that want a business number, texts and voicemail on the customer's file, next to quotes and jobs. For companies that need desk phones, fax or a contact center, RingCentral fits better.
Yes. Move it in Phone system › Numbers. It usually takes one to two weeks, and your current provider keeps working until it's done. A moved number takes calls; texts go out from your Alori business number.
No. Calls ring in Alori in the browser while it's open, and on any cell you add to a ring group.
Service businesses such as plumbing, HVAC and cleaning companies.
Related pages
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- Fathom alternativeMeetings app that records and summarizes
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