A RingCentral alternative for sales teams that call out.

What is RingCentral, and who is it for?

RingCentral is a communications company with two products that matter here. RingEX is its business phone system, sold as a way to 'unify calls, meetings, and chat in an all-in-one, professional app' for every employee. RingCX is its 'AI-powered contact center solution'.

RingEX Core, at $20 a user a month billed annually, includes unlimited domestic calling, 25 SMS per user a month and HD meetings. Advanced, at $25, adds CRM integrations, multi-site and 100 SMS per user. Ultra, at $35, adds 200 SMS per user, webinars and unlimited storage. RingEX lists no dialer.

RingCX covers voice and 20+ digital channels with ACD, IVR and skills-based routing, and lists 'preview, progressive, predictive, and voice broadcast dialers'. Standard is $65 a user a month billed annually, Professional $95 with AI Quality Management and AI Agent Assist, and Elite $145 with AI Supervisor Assist, analytics and workforce management.

Neither product is a CRM. RingCentral is built to connect to one, with CRM integrations listed from RingEX Advanced.

When is RingCentral the better choice?

RingCentral is the better choice when you're buying a phone system for a whole company, or running a contact center. TopReach is a sales tool for a team and can't do either job.

• You need one phone, meetings and chat system for every employee and every site.
• You run a contact center that needs preview, progressive and predictive dialers with ACD and IVR in one product (RingCX).
• You want webinars, rooms and enterprise compliance from one vendor.
• You keep a CRM you're happy with and want calls logged there; RingEX lists CRM integrations from Advanced.
• Your team needs desk phones. TopReach runs in the browser and the phone app, with no desk phone support.

When does a CRM with a built-in dialer fit better?

A CRM with a built-in dialer fits better when a team's job is a list of people to call, a lot of follow-up and a pipeline to move, and the rest of the company's phones aren't the question.

On RingCentral, that team would need RingCX for the dialer, a CRM for the pipeline and an integration between them. In TopReach, the call, the outcome, the follow-up and the deal sit on the same record. A rep builds a saved list, or a dynamic list that fills itself from rules, starts the dialer and works through it with the call script on the call screen.

When a call isn't answered, TopReach can drop a voicemail and then send a text or an email on the days you choose. Managers see conversations and outcomes per rep, with leaderboards, and can listen in, whisper or barge in on live calls. Teammates who don't call need a seat but no phone license.

How do the RingCentral and TopReach dialers compare?

RingCentral's dialers live in RingCX, which lists four modes: preview, progressive, predictive and voice broadcast. Its pricing page doesn't say which RingCX tier includes which mode, so confirm that with RingCentral before you price it. RingEX, the phone system, lists no dialer.

TopReach has two modes, both on the $99 phone license. Power mode calls one number after another, so whoever answers reaches a rep; it suits warm leads, existing customers and callbacks. Parallel mode rings several numbers at once for one rep and connects whoever picks up first. A predictive dialer paces calls across a whole team of agents; TopReach doesn't have one.

When two people answer a parallel session at the same moment, one is dropped, so keep it for large cold lists. In the US, the Telemarketing Sales Rule limits abandoned calls to 3% of answered calls per campaign over 30 days, and Canada's limit is 5%, whichever tool you use.

Can you dial from your phone?

In TopReach, yes. The iPhone and Android apps run power and parallel sessions: pick a call list, tap Power or Parallel, and the next lead, the live call and the call script share one screen. Parallel shows when your workspace has it turned on. Calls go out over Wi-Fi or mobile data from your team's business numbers, and local presence works the same as on the web.

RingCentral's app is a strong company phone on the go, with calls, messages, meetings, contacts and voicemail. Its listing describes no dialer, and RingCentral's pages don't say RingCX dialer campaigns run in the mobile app. There's no CRM in the app.

How does pricing compare for a calling team?

RingEX costs less per user but doesn't dial. RingCX dials but is a contact center, and neither includes a CRM.

TopReach is $55 a seat a month, or $49 billed yearly. Each person who calls also needs a $99-a-month phone license, which covers power and parallel dialing, local presence and AI summaries and includes 3,000 minutes. Phone numbers are $10 a month each.

Take four callers and one manager who doesn't call. On TopReach with monthly billing, that's five seats at $55, four phone licenses at $99 and four numbers at $10: $711 a month, or $681 with the seats billed yearly, with the CRM included.

Four RingCX Standard licenses are listed at $260 a month billed annually, or $300 monthly, before a CRM and before the taxes and fees RingCentral says may be added, including a Compliance and Administrative Cost Recovery Fee. Five RingEX Advanced users are $125 a month billed annually, with CRM integrations but no dialer. If the team mostly answers calls, or you already pay for RingCentral and a CRM, staying put will usually cost less.

What should you check before you switch?

Check who else in the company relies on the phone system, which features the sales team would give up, and which tools calls need to reach. A short list:

• Company phones: if other teams use RingEX for their lines, meetings or chat, keep it for them and move only the sales team.
• Inbound: TopReach has no IVR menus or call queues. If customers call a main line that needs routing, keep a phone system for it.
• Integrations: TopReach has no built-in integrations with other CRMs or phone systems. It has a public API with keys and webhooks.
• Minutes: RingEX lists unlimited domestic calling. A TopReach phone license includes 3,000 minutes a month per caller, with packs of 1,000, 5,000 or 10,000 for heavy callers.
• Numbers: TopReach can move your existing numbers over, or you can buy local numbers at $10 a month each for local presence.
• Your data: export contacts as a spreadsheet. TopReach finds the phone column on import and can merge duplicates.

What rules apply to outbound calling and texting?

Outbound calling and texting are regulated in both the US and Canada, whichever tool you use. This is general information, not legal advice.

• TCPA: autodialed or prerecorded calls and texts to cell phones generally need the person's prior express consent, and a dropped voicemail counts as a prerecorded message. Many states add their own mini-TCPA rules.
• National Do Not Call Registry: telemarketing calls must respect it. TopReach keeps your own do-not-call list and handles texting opt-outs, but it doesn't scrub numbers against the national registry.
• Telemarketing Sales Rule: covers telemarketing calls, including the 3% abandoned-call limit that parallel and predictive dialing can push against.
• Caller ID: the Truth in Caller ID Act bars sending misleading caller ID to defraud or cause harm, and carriers check calls with STIR/SHAKEN. Calling from local numbers you own is different from spoofing.
• Call recording: some US states require everyone on the call to consent before recording.
• Canada: the CRTC's rules include the National DNCL and a 5% abandoned-call limit, and CASL covers commercial texts and emails. Check with your counsel before you start.