6 Best Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Software of 2024


In the process of searching for the best IVR solutions, I took a deep dive to learn how each feature works, what makes an overall system great, red flags to look out for, and the optimal use cases for all the major options on the market. This guide will walk you through my top six picks and provide you with the information you need to select the right interactive voice response software for your business.

Top IVR systems comparison

You can’t buy IVR systems on their own–they come as part of business communications software. So, it’s best to take a step back and consider your overall needs. The table below covers some of the most important factors to look at when making your purchasing decision.

Best for
Starting price
Call recording
Collaboration tools
Analytics
Vanity numbers
Nextiva
Best IVR system overall
$28.95 per user per month
Top plan only
Yes
Average
No
RingCentral
Most advanced IVR system
$20 per user per month
All plans
Yes
Advanced
Yes
Ooma
Easiest DIY setup
$19.95 per user per month
Top two plans
Top two plans
Basic
Yes
KrispCall
Best for small businesses
$12 per user per month
Top two plans
Some
Average
No
GoTo Connect
Best integrations
Custom quote
All plans
Yes
Advanced
Yes
Aircall
Best user interface
$30 per user per month
All plans
None
Add-on
No

Nextiva: Best IVR system overall

Image: Nextiva

With a range of simple to advanced IVR functions, Nextiva is a great choice for businesses of all sizes. Smaller teams with tighter budgets can leverage its simple auto attendant features while enterprises and call centers can upgrade for full IVR capabilities.

Why I chose Nextiva

Every Nextiva phone plan includes an auto attendant. The second tier and higher include multi-level auto attendants and a call flow builder, making it an affordable way to add basic IVR functionality for small or midsize teams. If you need more features, you can upgrade to Nextiva’s powerful all-in-one contact center solution for full IVR capabilities.

For more details, read my Nextiva vs RingCentral review.

Pricing

  • Essential: Starts at $28.95 per user per month billed annually.
  • Professional: Starts at $32.95 per user per month billed annually.
  • Enterprise: Starts at $42.95 per user per month billed annually.
  • Free trial: No, but there is a free demo.

Nextiva’s entry-level Essential plan includes a single-level auto attendant. You’ll need to upgrade to the Professional plan or higher for multi-level capabilities and the call flow editor.

For call centers needing advanced IVR capabilities, plans start at $129 per user per month.

Features

  • Full range of internal collaboration tools.
  • Unlimited calling in the US and Canada.
  • Auto attendant with all phone plans.
  • Full IVR and ACD on all call center plans.
  • Free toll-free or local phone number.
  • More than 20 integrations.
  • Up to 12,500 complimentary toll-free minutes.
  • Lightweight contact management.
Automate up to 90% of your interactions and eliminate 30% or more of your costs with AI-powered solutions. Image: Nextiva

Pros and cons

Pros Cons
  • Includes voice, video, team chat, texting, and faxing in one.
  • Suitable options for basic or advanced needs with room to grow.
  • Offers more complimentary toll-free numbers than its competitors.
  • Exceptional 24/7 customer service.
  • Call recording and most integrations are only available on the most expensive plan.
  • No texting on the cheapest tier.
  • Vanity numbers aren’t available.

RingCentral: Most advanced IVR system

Image: RingCentral

Where Nextiva is simple and streamlined, RingCentral offers advanced capabilities at a lower price point. Unlike Nextiva, you can use the full extent of RingCentral’s IVR on every plan, including its cheapest phone system.

Why I chose RingCentral

RingCentral’s advanced features, extensive integrations, and nearly infinite scalability make it a great choice for growing midsize and large businesses with complex needs. With an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, you can easily build as many IVR menus as you need. They can be as complex or as simple as you’d like, with nearly no limitations.

Pricing

  • Core: Starts at $20 per user per month billed annually.
  • Advanced: Starts at $35 per user per month billed annually.
  • Ultra: Starts at $45 per user per month billed annually.
  • Free trial: 14 days with up to 20 phone lines.

Month-to-month pricing is a bit more, but there are volume discounts once you reach more than 100 users. You can also upgrade to RingCX or RingCentral Contact Center starting at $65 per agent per month if you need more.

Features

  • Voice, video, messaging, texting, and faxing in one.
  • Advanced quality of service and AI analytics.
  • Full IVR, call queues, and call recording.
  • Strong security features.
  • 300+ integrations and access to API.
  • Cutting edge AI capabilities.
  • Vanity, local, international, and toll-free numbers.
  • Optional revenue intelligence add-on.
Unlock conversation intelligence from customer interactions across calls, emails, and video meetings. Image: RingCentral

Pros and cons

Pros Cons
  • Advanced IVR capabilities on every plan (even the cheapest one).
  • Full team collaboration and communications suite.
  • Powerful AI capabilities and more than 300 integrations.
  • Nearly infinite customization.
  • May be overkill and unnecessarily confusing for smaller teams.
  • More difficult to set up than others.
  • No faxing on the cheapest plan.

Ooma: Easiest DIY setup

Image: Ooma

If you need to outfit a traditional office environment with desk phones and leverage basic IVR capabilities to route callers, Ooma can’t be beat. Ooma’s easy DIY, plug-and-play setup makes it a great choice, even if you don’t have IT pros on staff. The whole setup is so easy, it usually takes less than an hour.

Why I chose Ooma

Every Ooma plan includes its virtual receptionist, which lets you set up phone trees, record greetings, and route callers to the right people. You’ll be able to record general information about your business to help callers answer their own questions, route calls to specific ring groups, and even create special menus that occur during and after business hours. Like everything else with Ooma, setting up your virtual receptionist is easy with an intuitive builder that walks you through every step.

Pricing

  • Essentials: Starts at $19.95 per user per month billed annually.
  • Pro: Starts at $24.95 per user per month billed annually.
  • Pro Plus: Starts at $29.95 per user per month billed annually.
  • Free trial: None, but there is a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Ooma’s virtual receptionist is available on all three plans. While the entry-level tier is simple and straightforward, the middle and top tiers include team collaboration features, like text messaging, video conferencing, and team chat.

I appreciate that they give you the option of a barebones phone system if you want one.

Features

  • Intercom and overhead paging support.
  • Ring groups, hold music, and forwarding.
  • Intuitive virtual receptionist builder.
  • Pre-configured devices for easy set up.
  • Complimentary toll-free or local number.
  • Unlimited calling in all of North America.
  • Texting, video, and team chat on higher tiers.
Stay on top of your business calls with Ooma’s free mobile app. Image: Ooma

Pros and cons

Pros Cons
  • Simple visual–based IVR editor that walks you through every step.
  • Plug-and-play DIY setup that requires no technical expertise.
  • Features like intercom and overhead paging are great for offices.
  • Team collaboration and additional communication channels are optional.
  • Likely too simple for many businesses.
  • Not as feature-rich as other solutions, despite costing about the same.

KrispCall: Best for small businesses

Image: KrispCall

Every IVR system I’ve covered so far includes unlimited calling. For infrequent or variable call volumes, it may not be worth it to pay higher monthly fees in exchange for no usage fees. Enter KrispCall, an affordable alternative for small businesses that don’t make or receive a lot of calls. Despite a monthly rate at nearly (or less than) half the price of the others, you get all the same functionality.

Why I chose KrispCall

Full IVR, text messaging, softphone capabilities, ring groups, integrations, team chat, and analytics are all standard, no matter the plan you choose. You truly don’t have to miss out on advanced capabilities just because you can’t justify paying for unlimited calling. Plus, you can purchase local phone numbers in more than 100 countries, making it easy for your small business to have the appearance of a much larger organization.

Pricing

  • Essential: Starts at $12 per user per month billed annually.
  • Standard: Starts at $32 per user per month billed annually.
  • Enterprise: Custom pricing based on your needs.
  • Free trial: No, but there is a free demo and 14-day money-back guarantee.

IVR is included with every plan. However, you will have to pay per minute for calls and per message for texts. For US-based calls, usage rates start at $0.0197 per minute for inbound and $0.02 for outbound calls. Usage rates vary depending on the country you’re calling.

Features

  • Lightweight CRM functionality.
  • Answer calls in your browser.
  • Shared inbox and phone numbers for collaborative environments.
  • Take notes and use tags or stars to stay organized.
  • Whisper, barge, and active call listening.
  • Standard call analytics on every plan.
  • Call recording and power dialer on most plans.
Own multiple phone numbers from 100+ countries at an affordable price. Image: KrispCall

Pros and cons

Pros Cons
  • All IVR capabilities are available on every plan.
  • Low monthly fee plus competitive usage rates per minute or message.
  • You can buy local and toll-free numbers in more than 100 countries.
  • Advanced features, like call monitoring, integrations, and ring groups at an affordable price.
  • Built-in features for collaboratively managing calls as a team.
  • Usage pricing is expensive at scale.
  • The solution is relatively new, so it’s still rolling out standard features.
  • Limited to one outbound call per second.

GoTo Connect: Best integrations

Image: GoTo

GoTo Connect doesn’t have the most integrations on my list. But it does have some of the deepest and most useful integrations with popular CRMs, collaboration tools, marketing automation suites, and customer service software. Plus, its IVR, smart call routing, and customizable dial features are included with every plan.

Why I chose GoTo Connect

Not only will you be able to create menus to route callers to the right place, you can also set up automations based on time, day of the week, your holiday calendar, or anything else that alters your call flows. And if you need more power, you can easily upgrade to access contact center capabilities.

Pricing

  • Phone System: Standard features for business communications.
  • Customer Engagement: Shared contacts, a team inbox, and social integrations.
  • Complete CX: Advanced features for growing contact centers.
  • Contact Center: All of the above plus quality management.

GoTo Connect’s pricing is based on a custom quote. However, all four plans include IVR and automated call routing capabilities.

Features

  • 1,000 complimentary toll-free minutes.
  • Unlimited calling to 50+ countries.
  • Call recording, queuing, and multi-site management.
  • Texting, faxing, team messaging, and video meetings.
  • Intuitive automated routing rules.
  • Call routing analytics dashboards.
  • Centralized device management.
Integrate with your favorite apps when you sign up with GoTo Connect. Image: GoTo Connect

Pros and cons

Pros Cons
  • Powerful integrations with popular tools, including HubSpot, Salesforce, Slack, and Zapier.
  • Unlimited calling to 50+ countries.
  • Full IVR and automated call routing capabilities on every plan.
  • Feature-rich call center plans you can upgrade to if you need to.
  • Lack of pricing transparency.
  • May be too complicated for small or new businesses.
  • Not as many integrations as other software.

Aircall: Best user interface

Image: Aircall

If usability and a clean, modern interface are important to you, Aircall is worth a closer look. Its interface is my favorite of all the solutions on this list. As a cloud-first alternative to communication giants, like Nextiva and RingCentral, its usability is second to none.

Why I chose Aircall

Creating complex IVR menus is streamlined with a visual rules-based editor. Plus, you can build them regardless of the plan you choose. You can add as many levels as you need, customize for different times of day, optimize around peak hours, and reduce your capacity during slower times.

Pricing

  • Essentials: Starts at $30 per license per month billed annually.
  • Professional: Starts at $50 per license per month billed annually.
  • Custom: Custom quote for teams with at least 25 licenses.
  • Free trial: 7-day trial, no credit card required.

Aircall offers two standard plans and a custom plan, depending on what you need. All of them include full IVR capabilities, unlimited calling within the US and Canada, text messaging, and unlimited simultaneous outbound calls. Overall, Aircall is a bit more expensive than most of the other options. However, it offers unmatched value at this price point.

Features

  • Callbacks, recording, queueing, and ring groups.
  • Call tagging for easy organization and custom analytics.
  • More than 100 integrations to connect all of your tools.
  • Unlimited simultaneous outbound calls.
  • Shared call inbox for a collaborative approach.
  • AI add-on for summaries, topic recognition, and sentiment analysis.
  • Advanced analytics add-on.
Set up a smart IVR directory with Aircall. Image: Aircall

Pros and cons

Pros Cons
  • The best user interface I’ve experienced.
  • All IVR and advanced call routing capabilities come with every plan.
  • Free text-to-speech for recording greetings plus complimentary music.
  • Free trial available with no commitment.
  • More expensive than most.
  • Lacking video, faxing, and other collaboration tools.
  • Three user minimum.

How do I choose the best IVR system for my business?

An IVR system isn’t something you’ll get on its own–it exists within full phone systems and contact center solutions. So, you need to consider the entire function as a whole when making your decision.

The best thing you can do is make a shortlist of suitable options and sign up for free trials or demos.

I recommend paying close attention to customer service, integrations, implementation, the user interface, scalability, and customization options. These are some of the biggest differentiators between business phone systems–the right balance for you depends on what you need.

From there, you can test your top contenders with other members of your team to make sure there aren’t any concerns before you purchase and roll it out across your business.

Methodology

When putting this guide together, I prioritized customer feedback, case studies, user reviews, and my own experiences for a holistic look at each option.

The following factors played a major role in selecting my top picks:

Reputation

I looked at hundreds of reviews for each solution, prioritizing those with happy customers.

Features

Since IVR is one part of communications systems, I looked for providers that include a wide range of adjacent features that enable you to make the most of it.

Pricing

I looked for providers that presented clear and straightforward pricing information so that businesses would have no problem understanding the investment.

Ease of integration

I considered how well each IVR provider integrates with existing business systems, aiming for minimal disruption during implementation.

Scalability

I assessed each provider’s ability to scale alongside a business’s growing needs, ensuring adaptability to changing demands.



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