Keypad vs Google Voice: Business Phone Service Comparison

As of February 8, 2020, Keypad is no longer accepting new clients. Instead, check out our Virtual Receptionist, Outreach Campaign, and Chat services.

Cutting costs and getting the most feature rich solution is the basic goal for essentially every service you use for business where phone service certainly is no exception. As there are countless providers and a myriad of functions offered by each provider, to many it often seems like overkill, especially if you’re looking for something on the simpler side for a functional business phone.

Here, we compare Smith.ai's cloud business phone system, Keypad with Google Voice.

Setup Fees & Trials

Keypad

• No fees for setup
• No contract or cancellation fees
• 14-day money-back guarantee

Google Voice

• Free to use
• Requires existing phone service to use
• Only pay for calls outside the US & Canada

Google Voice is free service, which is helpful for businesses who are looking to take advantage of its voicemail capabilities and ability to consolidate other numbers. Keypad is a paid service, offering calling, messaging, call routing, unlimited extensions, and many other features at a rate much lower than most competitors and with no contract.

Monthly Plans

Google Voice

• No plans – adding credits to your Google account is only needed for international calling.

Keypad

• Pay $25 for 1000 minutes, 250 text messages, and a phone number (local or toll-free)
• Unlimited to destination numbers (i.e. "extensions"), greetings, or voicemails are included
• Voicemail transcription is $5 an extra month, call recording runs an addition $10 a month, and faxing can be added for $10 a month for a fax number and 200 pages.

Getting started with Google Voice is incredibly simple in the sense that you can select a number from just about any area code you choose for you Google Voice number and use it to make free calls and send texts, so long as you can validate service with a working phone number from another service provider. Other numbers you link can be setup to ring as well, so this makes it highly appealing for a kind of “starter” business number. Calls to and from this number are free anywhere in the US & Canada plus, the voicemail services, like automatic transcription, don’t cost.

Setting up service with Keypad was designed to be a quick and easy process where you simply create an account with an email, pick number with an area code of your choosing (or toll-free). For $25 a month, you receive 1000 minutes, 250 SMS messages, and your phone number. You have the option to choose whether you’d like to add call recording for an additional $10 a month and/or voicemail transcription for an extra $5 per month. Everything is month to month, so there are no contracts.

Overage Costs

Keypad

• Calls over 1000 minutes is 3¢ per minute
• Texts over 250 run 2¢ a message
• Pay an extra $5 for an additional number

Google

• Completely free
• Check Google Voice Rate for International calling rates if calling outside the US or Canada

By using your Google account, you can easily select a free phone number and link existing mobile or landlines – some restrictions apply with VoIP providers that don’t allow conditional forwarding – to make free calls and send free texts in the US and Canada. There’s no limits and the only costs you incur are for international calling.

With Keypad, you get a limited number of minutes and texts so it’s not ideal if you’re planning on being on the phone all day. You’re best to use this number to connect other departments or individuals at your company since extensions are free. Advanced routing will tell you how your minutes or texts are being used which allows you to optimize the systems by using conditional forwarding as well as the VIP and block lists.

Features

Both Google Voice and Keypad offer the following features:

• Voice calling
• SMS messaging
• Voicemail and transcription capabilities
• Call recording
• Call forwarding
• Number porting

Keypad offers the following additional options:

• Easily configure complete call paths
• Integration with Smith.ai virtual receptionists
• Adaptive routing based on time, day of the week, or a custom schedule
• Call blasting
• Spam filtering for unwanted calls
• VIP lists
• Performance metrics and a digestible dashboard
• Optional faxing package

Google Voice integrates with other products, like Google Hangouts for video calling, and the interface is basically the same as Gmail. Perhaps the best feature is the free, consolidated voicemail – all calls to that number go the same inbox which you can visually review plus, it automatically transcribes messages.

One of the best perks to using Keypad is that it affords businesses an opportunity to advantage of the multiple free extensions, without paying heavy costs for extra lines or fees for additional extensions found in other solutions. A powerful but easy to use routing system allows you to configure call paths for incoming calls based on the time of day and other conditions. Too, you can have your call forwarded with no extra cost.

Summary

Keypad offers several more options, compared to Google Voice. The biggest draw to Google Voice is that it’s a stripped-down calling service and completely free which is unique in the market. Keypad isn’t free, like virtually every other option on the market yet, it comes with several additional features.

Google Voice is a useful service, just because it’s free and could come in handy as a supplemental phone service. With Keypad, you’ll be able to deliver a better communication experience throughout your company. Built in analytics will show you how you’re using your service and if you happen to go over your monthly allotment, per minute or text charges are only a couple cents apiece. Best of all, unlimited extensions mean everyone stays connected.

Learn More About Keypad

If you’re looking to simply get a second number and upgrade your voicemail from your mobile carrier, Google Voice is incredibly economical. If you’re looking for more features from additional extensions, a toll-free number, powerful call routing and more, click here to learn more about Keypad and get started.