CircleLoop alternatives: What to look for and options to choose from

Have you ever felt like you're stuck in an endless loop with your phone system?

Are you using multiple apps and software to give your team access to communication channels beyond phone calls? (Since CircleLoop doesn't have video conferencing or team messaging functionality.)

Then it might be time to look into some CircleLoop alternatives.

In this guide, we'll explore what to look for when you’re in the market for a new communications platform that gives you more than a traditional business phone system (at roughly the same price), along with some of the best options to choose from and how they compare.

What is CircleLoop?

CircleLoop is a cloud-based phone system that enables businesses and individuals to make and receive calls using their existing devices such as smartphones, laptops, and desktops.

In its own words, CircleLoop claims to provide “modern-day business communications that you can set up in a matter of minutes” and “everything you expect from a business phone system and more."

Offering basic features, including call recording, voicemail, and call forwarding, it is a provider that some remote and distributed teams in the UK use as their business phone system, especially if they don't want to shell out for expensive hardware or technical expertise.

Now, let's take a closer look at what factors to consider when looking at alternatives to CircleLoop.

What to look for when choosing CircleLoop alternatives

AI (Artificial Intelligence)

One of the initial factors to consider when you’re considering CircleLoop alternatives is the presence of AI features.

As AI continues to gain traction in the communications industry, more and more businesses are using it to glean valuable insights from their everyday calls, and improve the customer experience, and more.

For instance, with Dialpad Ai, you get cutting-edge natural language processing (NLP) technology and a wide range of advanced features including real-time voice transcription, voicemail transcriptions, automated post-call summaries, real-time analytics and reporting, and even live agent coaching for support and sales teams:

Unified Communications (UC)

Unified communications platforms provide a comprehensive and centralised solution for businesses to communicate and collaborate effectively across various channels.

CircleLoop does offer voice calls, SMS messaging, and call routing. But, what you don’t get with CircleLoop is video conferencing or team messaging. So, if your team uses these communication channels regularly and you don't want to pay extra for different tools, look at a Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) solution instead that can streamline all these conversations into one platform.

Features that your specific business needs

Of course, a good CircleLoop alternative should offer the same or similar features as CircleLoop, like call recording, call forwarding, and voicemail.

But if you want more advanced conversation intelligence features that can help you, say, track how often customers ask certain questions or help your sales team handle objections more effectively, then you may want to consider a more AI-forward solution.

Variety of integrations

CircleLoop has a decent selection of integrations with business tools such as HubSpot, Pipedrive, and Zoho CRM¹, but doesn't have many industry-specific integrations, such as Clio (for law), Outreach (for sales), Bullhorn (for recruiting), and so on.

This may not be a deal breaker, depending on your company's tech stack, just something to consider.

Top 10 CircleLoop alternatives to consider in 2023

1. Dialpad Ai Voice

While both CircleLoop and Dialpad offer calling and SMS text messaging capabilities, Dialpad provides more advanced AI-powered features including real-time transcription and call summaries at every paid plan level:

That's in addition to the full set of communication channels you get with Dialpad, which includes screen sharing, video calls, and team messaging

2. Zoom One

Zoom is a video conferencing platform that gained popularity in recent years, and now has a Zoom One product that also provides group messaging and cloud conferencing. Working across Windows, iOS, Android, and Mac devices, Zoom comes with features like virtual backgrounds, screen sharing, and recording.

The platform can also be accessed via a mobile app and integrates with a fair number of other tools and applications.

3. 8x8

Like RingCentral, 8x8 is another legacy phone system provider that's been around for over a decade that now offers voice calling, video conferencing, SMS/MMS messaging, and other team collaboration features through a desktop and mobile app. Like other CircleLoop competitors, 8x8 has native integrations with business tools such as Salesforce, Microsoft Teams, and Google Workspace.

4. RingCentral MVP

RingCentral is a legacy communication platform that's been around since the days of PBX systems. Today, the RingCentral MVP product provides features such as voice calls, video meetings, messaging, and fax capabilities.

What's important to note, however, is that RingCentral's least expensive MVP plan does not come with unlimited calling, whereas other top CircleLoop alternatives do provide unlimited calling.² There's also no video conferencing—you'll have to upgrade to a more expensive plan to unlock that feature. Again, this is unlike other options, which do include video conferencing in their lowest tiers.

5. Vonage Business Communications

Vonage is a SaaS communication platform, and most people who've heard of Vonage are probably familiar with its residential phone services.

It does offer a wider range of communication channels compared to CircleLoop including video conferencing, team messaging, and other team collaboration tools.

However, like RingCentral MVP's lowest pricing plan, Vonage charges for calls on an as-you-go basis.³ If you think you'll need unlimited calling, better to go with a CircleLoop alternative that comes with unlimited calling.

6. GoTo Connect

GoTo Connect offers businesses and institutions hosted VoIP and unified communications solutions, bringing different communication channels (voice, video, and messaging) into one platform. GoTo Connect also comes with basic virtual phone system features such as call routing, call recording, and call analytics.

What's a bit unique about GoTo Connect amongst the competitors on this list is that there's also a webinar and virtual training product that is part of the overall GoTo suite, if that's something your company needs.

7. Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a collaboration tool that almost everyone around the world is familiar with, providing businesses with various communication and collaboration features, including voice and video calling, messaging, and team collaboration.

It's quite a robust solution, but one important thing to note is that the telephony piece isn't quite as integrated into the product, requirig a separate licence and additional fees.⁴

8. CloudTalk

Unlike most of these other options, CloudTalk is first and foremost a call centre solution. It does offer voice calling, SMS messaging, and some CRM integrations, but it's really not an omnichannel communications provider.⁵ If your customers are contacting you through digital channels like social media, WhatsApp, and live chat, then you'll need an omnichannel contact centre solution.

If you just need something for internal communications between colleagues, the other CircleLoop alternatives will give you more options as well, hence CloudTalk's low position on this list.

9. Aircall

Aircall is a phone system and call centre software that businesses and teams can access on both the desktop and mobile softphone app.

Aircall is known for its relatively simple setup process, but again, like CloudTalk, its communication channels only cover voice calls and SMS messaging. If you need to make video calls or send team/instant messages, you'd need to pay for a separate piece of software.⁶

10. 3CX

3CX is a software-based communication platform that offers IP PBX (Private Branch Exchange) capabilities for businesses. It provides voice and video calling, chat and messaging, and call centre features like call queuing, IVR, and call recording.

3CX can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud if you'd like that option, and also works with Linux, which is quite unique—but unfortunately the company was hacked recently⁷ which caused some issues for its customers.

Looking for CircleLoop alternatives for your business?

Whether you need more options when it comes to communication channels or more contact centre AI functionality, there are many excellent CircleLoop alternatives that are designed for businesses.

if you're interested in omnichannel communications, getting real-time customer insights, and excellent call quality, then it's worth taking a bit more time to sign up for a few free trials and product demos to really get a sense of how these apps work and how easy to use they are.

With Dialpad, you get not just a business phone system—there's robust contact centre features such as intelligent call routing, real-time agent assists, call monitoring, and much more, all in an intuitively designed desktop and mobile app.

As a truly unified communications solution that's also AI-native, Dialpad is loved by both small team and global enterprises, from C.R. England to Xero. See why now!

¹circleloop.com/features

²ringcentral.com/gb/en/office/plansandpricing

³vonage.co.uk/unified-communications/pricing/

⁴microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-teams/compare-microsoft-teams-options

⁵cloudtalk.io/pricing/

⁶aircall.io/pricing/

⁷pcmag.com/news/uninstall-now-hackers-hijack-3cx-desktop-app-to-deliver-malware