Dialpad Review and Pricing

Dialpad Editor’s Score: 8.8/10

Why We Chose Dialpad for Voice Intelligence

AI technologies can benefit sales teams, recruiters and businesses that want to leverage communication data. Dialpad knew this when it purchased TalkIQ in 2018 and began training the large language model (LLM) on proprietary data. We love the ways small businesses can use DialpadGPT for voice intelligence thanks to this innovation. 

Unlike generic AI, Dialpad tailored its model specifically to business language. Besides supplying billions of minutes of conversational sales, service and collaboration data, Dialpad refined language elements. This unique capability allows companies to set up a dictionary on Dialpad and add or delete brands, keywords or other important terms. Although a few of the best business phone systems upgraded their AI features recently, we have yet to come across a company dictionary quite like Dialpad’s.

By entering words and phrases in a company dictionary, you can train Dialpad Ai to understand your business and customers. Source: Dialpad

Dialpad’s voice call summaries transcribe calls in real time, share vital moments and tag the purpose of each call. The call history center is customizable. You can filter calls by purpose or keywords, like clients asking for refunds or a manager. We found that the speech coaching cards, which remind representatives to slow down or speak clearly on a call, would be helpful for any customer service team. 

Lastly, Dialpad’s relatively low price and well-rounded call management features give it an edge over alternatives. Overall, we recommend this cloud-based phone system for teams that benefit from tracking action items and having voice call summaries.  

Ease of Use

Dialpad’s VoIP system is easier to use than 8×8’s, but it falls slightly behind Ooma’s simplicity. The desktop client looks busier than other applications we’ve tested. But once you understand the layout, it isn’t much different from other cloud tools. 

If you’re switching from a landline to VoIP and have many first-time virtual phone users, you may prefer a more straightforward system with 24/7 phone support. Dialpad’s base plan, Standard, doesn’t include phone assistance. For an alternative option, check out our Ooma Office review to see why it’s our preferred phone service for usability. 

As for the Dialpad platform, the left sidebar displays your communications apps, which are resizable. On the right side, you can drag and drop the fields for user profiles or close the sidebar to enlarge the conversation space. 

Dialpad’s mobile apps are straightforward. They have fewer buttons compared with Zoom or RingCentral, both of which have main screen keys to start a video meeting or add another person to the call. Considering some business professionals and employees use iPads with keyboards while traveling, we liked that Dialpad’s iPad app worked in both portrait and landscape modes.

In the Dialpad iPad app, the phone icon appears in the left sidebar, inbox and conversation threads. Source: Dialpad

Dialpad Features

Dialpad’s business phone system offers voice, meeting and messaging tools. We analyzed and tested the features that make Dialpad an excellent multiline phone system for voice intelligence, in addition to studying and trying other aspects of its functionality.

Dialpad AI Recap

Many phone system providers have launched AI-powered call or meeting summaries recently. But Dialpad’s well-developed natural language processing and understanding models do a particularly excellent job on voice calls. One reason for this is that the system was custom-built to work equally well on smartphones and Poly conferencing systems and was trained on business language. 

We loved the comprehensive and customizable AI-generated summaries. These recaps provide key conversation points, purposes and action items. Users can ask DialpadGPT to adjust the content style by adding bullet points or trimming the length. The system features a company dictionary and custom keywords, and every recap is searchable. 

Dialpad’s Ai Recaps for keywords help you find important information quickly. Source: Dialpad

Speech Coaching 

Dialpad features a unique speech coaching tool. Speech coaching is more common with call center systems, and Dialpad expands the functionality in its Sales Ai and Contact Center Ai plans by adding its Real-Time Assist cards. These cards advise your team members whether they’re speaking too fast, for instance. Such speech coaching tools are helpful for small teams with inexperienced staff members. 

Dialpad’s AI-enabled coaching helps your team learn on the job. Source: Dialpad

Call History 

Although most VoIP providers offer call logs, we especially loved the look and style of Dialpad’s call history menus. It’s a comprehensive space with filters for specific offices, dates or users. We like that Dialpad displays AI recaps, lets you customize record columns, and stores call history for at least one year. 

See call data at a glance by clicking tabs and adding filters. Source: Dialpad

Call Analytics and Charts

Dialpad’s out-of-the-box reporting options offer graph visualizations, heat maps, pie charts and more. The insights cover most business communications. We like the ability to review interactive voice response (IVR) call flows and see the total text volume for specific time frames. Dialpad lets admins save and export data or schedule reports. The Calling Habits section is a neat feature that shows team and individual statistics. 

Dialpad’s colorful charts help you understand how your workforce uses the platform. Source: Dialpad

Call Handling and Management

Most business phone systems support call forwarding, transfers and routing configurations, and companies often need a virtual receptionist to route calls to the right staff or department. We like that all Dialpad plans include a multilevel auto-attendant. The custom call routing and personal work-hour solutions allow small and midsize businesses to establish call flows that fit their needs. 

Employees can set office hours in their Dialpad account and accept calls when they’re available. Source: Dialpad

Sales CRM Integrations

Combining voice intelligence with customer relationship management (CRM) data improves call outcomes. Users on Dialpad’s Pro and Enterprise plans can connect to HubSpot and Salesforce, two of the best CRM systems. Meanwhile, Standard users can access Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. [Check out our HubSpot review and review of Salesforce for more information.]

The Salesforce and Google integrations are productivity boosters, but Dialpad offers far fewer integrations than RingCentral. If your company uses a lot of industry-specific tools, we recommend you check out our RingCentral review, as this provider syncs with hundreds of third-party apps.

Dialpad AI Meetings 

Modern sales and service teams need VoIP systems with video conferencing capabilities. Dialpad’s phone plans allow unlimited five-hour meetings with up to 10 people. The platform also supports desktop and mobile screen sharing, has in-meeting chat, and offers waiting rooms. However, we don’t recommend Dialpad for video-intensive workforces. Instead, see our review of Zoom to learn how its AI-powered features and advanced tools enable productive video communications. 

Share your screen’s video, images and audio in online meetings hosted by Dialpad. Source: Dialpad

Dialpad Pricing

Dialpad’s affordable pricing starts at $15 per user per month with annual billing or $23 per user per month with monthly billing. The vendor offers three business communications plans, and companies can realize significant savings when choosing Dialpad over popular alternatives such as 8×8 or Nextiva. Each subscription comes with one local VoIP number and allows users to assign an executive assistant to take incoming calls. 

We love that Dialpad includes AI features and the free version of Dialpad Ai Meetings on the Standard plan. Some rivals lock generative AI assistants behind higher-tier packages or consider it an add-on. 

Here’s how Dialpad’s service plans compare.

Dialpad doesn’t offer internet faxing as a regular feature. Businesses can purchase a fax number and choose from other add-ons, such as a conference room line or toll-free number. Companies looking for a more customizable phone and AI solution may want to check out our review of Vonage. It has more plan flexibility, but the AI features are less developed than Dialpad’s.

Implementation and Onboarding

Dialpad offers quote-based professional implementation services and a self-start deployment guide. It walks users through testing network speeds and choosing hardware, like headsets and IP phones. We used a personal phone and downloaded Dialpad’s app, which turned our device into a VoIP softphone. A single user can be up and running within minutes. Understandably, setting up additional users takes more time. 

We could add users through the Dialpad web portal via Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace directories for larger teams and through email for just a few people. We appreciated the failover options for central lines. This configuration allows businesses to make and receive calls even if they lose power or their internet connection. 

Dialpad provides interactive product tours, and the support team can guide administrators and users through basic tasks over live chat. The help center is similar to 8×8’s in that it covers nearly every topic related to setting up and using the business phone system. We like that many articles include screenshots or GIFs alongside step-by-step instructions.

Customer Support

Dialpad provides customer service Monday through Friday via live chat and web support tickets for users of the Standard plan. Pro and Enterprise users get 24/7 assistance, including phone support. The company has dedicated numbers for sales and technical support, but this level of customer service falls behind alternatives such as Nextiva and Ooma, which offer phone support to all account administrators regardless of their plan. [See our full Nextiva review.]

In the Dialpad application, you can tap the Contact Us button to submit a ticket and view live help options, including multilingual chat services and phone support. The platform’s help center has resources for administrators and regular users. We particularly loved the self-service guides. Every tutorial includes multiple screenshots with step-by-step instructions. Users and admins can access these materials, which simplify onboarding and troubleshooting. 

Limitations

Although Dialpad has the most notable in-house generative AI tools for voice, these capabilities don’t currently extend to video conferencing and chat messaging. Other types of business phone systems can leverage AI to summarize text message threads and answer questions during video sessions. 

It’s also worth noting that Dialpad doesn’t offer unlimited international calling like GoTo Connect and 8×8 do. Plus, Dialpad caps meetings at 10 participants, whereas 8×8 X Series allows 500. We discuss this platform’s voice, video and AI features in our 8×8 review.   

Methodology

In evaluating Dialpad and other top business phone solutions, we investigated and tried each system’s latest software updates and features. Our process also involved gathering user feedback and interacting with customer service. While testing mobile and desktop apps, we assessed overall phone functionality. 

In seeking a business phone system that excelled in voice intelligence, we analyzed voice intelligence tools for ease of use, accuracy and business relevance. For more ways to compare VoIP services, see our guide to choosing a business phone system. 

Bottom Line

We recommend Dialpad for …

• Sales managers and teams that want to track action items.
• Small call centers that are looking for inexpensive coaching tools.
• Recruiters who need AI-powered summaries.

We don’t recommend Dialpad for …

• Organizations with high outgoing international call volumes. 
• Companies that need VoIP systems with full-featured video software. 
• Remote teams that want advanced voice and collaboration tools.