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Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager) vs. NetFortris (discontinued)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/ACall Manager is a unified call control center from Cisco that supports enterprise collaboration functions across the spectrum of IP telephony, video & web conferencing, and messaging. Features include call forwarding, call back, call transfer, ad hoc conferencing, and call park.N/A

    NetFortris (discontinued)

    Score6.4 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    NetFortris, and the former Fonality, provided business phone systems using Polycom and Yealink IP phones. In 2022 the company was acquired by Sangoma. NetFortris and Fonality UCaaS and other services are no longer available.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)NetFortris (discontinued)
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Hybrid Premise Purchase
    Varies
    Varies
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)NetFortris (discontinued)
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsMust contact sales team for pricing—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)NetFortris (discontinued)
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    89%
    Would buy again
    24 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    25 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    93%
    Happy with the feature set
    25 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    95%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    19 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    91%
    Implementation went as expected
    20 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)NetFortris (discontinued)
    Cloud PBX
    Comparison of Cloud PBX features of Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager) and NetFortris (discontinued)
    Feature
    Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
    7.3
    42 Ratings
    9% below category average
    NetFortris (discontinued)
    7.8
    90 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Hosted PBX9.021 Ratings7.058 Ratings
    Multi-level Interactive Voice Response (IVR)5.130 Ratings6.046 Ratings
    User templates7.040 Ratings6.82 Ratings
    Call reports6.939 Ratings9.078 Ratings
    Directory of employee names8.640 Ratings10.078 Ratings
    Call Management
    Comparison of Call Management features of Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager) and NetFortris (discontinued)
    Feature
    Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
    8.2
    45 Ratings
    2% below category average
    NetFortris (discontinued)
    7.4
    94 Ratings
    12% below category average
    Answering rules9.043 Ratings7.089 Ratings
    Call recording7.027 Ratings7.067 Ratings
    Call park9.039 Ratings6.073 Ratings
    Call screening8.036 Ratings8.067 Ratings
    Message alerts8.139 Ratings9.078 Ratings
    VoIP system collaboration
    Comparison of VoIP system collaboration features of Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager) and NetFortris (discontinued)
    Feature
    Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
    8.3
    41 Ratings
    4% above category average
    NetFortris (discontinued)
    7.5
    55 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Video conferencing8.631 Ratings7.017 Ratings
    Audio conferencing8.641 Ratings8.054 Ratings
    Video screen sharing7.016 Ratings00 Ratings
    Instant messaging9.019 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile apps
    Comparison of Mobile apps features of Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager) and NetFortris (discontinued)
    Feature
    Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
    8.0
    25 Ratings
    1% above category average
    NetFortris (discontinued)
    9.0
    55 Ratings
    13% above category average
    Mobile app for iOS8.025 Ratings9.046 Ratings
    Mobile app for Android8.023 Ratings9.033 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)NetFortris (discontinued)
    Small Businesses
    Zoom Phone
    Score9 out of 10
    Zoom Phone
    Score9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Zoom Phone
    Score9 out of 10
    Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Google Voice
    Score7.8 out of 10
    Google Voice
    Score7.8 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)NetFortris (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.4
    (46 ratings)
    7.0
    (108 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.8
    (16 ratings)
    Usability
    8.9
    (6 ratings)
    7.6
    (8 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.0
    (14 ratings)
    9.1
    (7 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.2
    (4 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.8
    (4 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.7
    (3 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.1
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)NetFortris (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    Cisco Unified Communications Manager is suited for medium to large customers who are in search for a solid call control platform with added security in mind. Cisco Unified Communications Manager also supports receptions, small groups and also a mini contact center type of set up with its Hunt Group, Pick up Group and call queuing facilities and also with set up of music on hold function while calls queuing.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    For Insurance agencies, small practices, small call centers, anyone that need call forwarding or work with his number remotely while away from office. I can't list all the things I'm gaining as a Fonality customer. From the installation process, the configuration phase with the technicians, the account managers, every Fonality employee was professional and savvy. I was a contact center specialist for more than 10 years and I can tell you that I've never been this happy with a service! Never! Probably if you need a more complex solution and you have an enterprise level company having your own hardware gives you more control over your calls and how to manage them. But again, I think that Fonality can cover most scenarios without the need of a huge investment.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Cisco
    • This solution is extremely stable and has been running in our environment for several years without (unscheduled) downtime.
    • The ability to have voicemails automatically sent as an email message is extremely helpful in helping us to keep in touch while away from the desk.
    • The Call Manager provides us very granular settings to route our calls as we want.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • From an administrator's perspective, Fonality makes administering the company's phone system easy. Configuration menus and setup options are logically structured and easy to understand.
    • Technical support has been very good. Early on in our deployment, we had some nagging voice quality issues which were network related. Fonality provided exceptional support even though it was not technically their issue. It is important to know ahead of time how well your vendors work with other vendors for integrated services like a VOIP telephone system. Fonality support demonstrated their patience and perseverance in helping us resolve our issues.
    • Although we don't use remote office capabilities much, the ability to set up phones on the system in remote locations has been a significant help to several of our departments.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cisco
    • Administration web page is little bit hard to understand at the beginning specially if you are not familiar with naming convention and GU Interfaces.
    • Call Detail Record interface is fine but would be desirable to include more options that fit organization needs in terms of reporting purposes.
    • Self Care Portal interface could be more useful to the end user if it includes options to manage some features without administrators involving.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Bugginess - Some things just really need some tweaking. I had to get very creative with my call routing and hold music, because the in-queue announcements don't work right at all. For example, even set to 'play once' it would loop the 'you are the first caller' announcement over and over, and cause call drops. Or my caller-name ID, which shows the registered user's name on each line on outgoing calls, even though it's not set to such anywhere in the CP settings.
    • Support - I'll give them 50/50 on this. My experience with Verizon VCE was everyone playing hot potato with issues and saying it was the responsibility of another department, meaning several phone calls and lots of hold time. Fonality doesn't have that issue, I've never really been passed around or blown off. However, some of the 'offshore' CS reps are... wow. I spent about half a dozen emails back and forth with two of them, trying to figure out why queues I deleted from the CP randomly and consistently reappeared in the HUD. Most of those emails were spent trying to explain that no, my issue was NOT that I wanted to create those queues again in the CP.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    We have been using this product for 20+ years and will continue too. This is a great product and new features are always coming out.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    We've already made a deep investment in the system hardware. We wouldn't be interested in another system at this point! And by the look of my colleagues faces when they see the HUD, I don't think we'd want to switch to a system that would limit us or take away any of these features! We may look at putting the server in the cloud, should internet outages prove to be such a common issue that it is preventing our other locations from functioning smoothly
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Cisco
    The usability part of Cisco Unified Communications Manager is very much simple from a usability point of view. Day-to-day Move Add Change Delete (MACD) can be performed by the administrators very easily with simple training. From the initial deployment point of view, some of the thing can be improved to simplify the process.
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    Overall excellent usability, with a few adjustments I feel this is the absolute best VoIP system out there. Just a clarification on the licences and limit the interface to reflect what licence we have. There should be a back or redunancy feature to Fonality Server, If there was a mistake we should be able to resort back to a usable state asap. Before implementing changes to the server, there should be a trial or sample of the changes to make sure it behaves as intended before effecting customer experience. It would be nice to have a demo version of Fonality interface so possible clients can truly evauluate the system. Because of the quality, it would have made it easier to convince the owners to make the transition sooner
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    Fonality has been available to us 99% of the time. There have rarely been any lengthy outages. If any issues do occur, their support staff is available around the clock to help. This is important, since communication is a big part in our company and availability of the phone system is important in maintaining this reliability
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    Fonality's performance is excellent. The phones work flawlessly and the calls are clear. It is a well put-together system that does not need daily support. It is not complex from a user standpoint, as most of our staff are quick to learn how to use the phones. More systems should strive to work as well as Fonality's
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Cisco
    CUCM is supported by most third-party vendors for related products, so it makes finding solutions to specific needs easy. Also Cisco TAC is very knowledgeable, and we have never run into a problem they have not been able to resolve. Usually they are resolved without the need to escalate tickers either.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    Because of their customer support and their attention for details in our problems that we face during our initial stage. We simply love fonality just for the way we are treated when we reach them with our fonality issues - they take it seriously and resolve it as early as possible and the most important part is we dont need to keep on insisting them to do so.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    Training was provided by the in-house IT administrator. Fonality was able to provide support to the admin, who then assisted the users. It went smoothly and all the details and functions of the system were made available to the office staff. Any questions were answered promptly and if any issues did arise, Fonality was available to answer them
    Incentivized
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    Online Training
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    Training was excellent, but most of what they had was webinars and not real world situation for our company's need. It would be better to have them remote in my local computer and test my system using inbound / outbound calls. This would have made it easier to learn and more relevant
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    This was the first phone system we implemented that could span multiple locations. We were very satisfied once fully implemented
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    Everything from the installation to the implementation has been great with Fonality, there is a lot of freedom to how the system will operate but the freedom comes at a cost of more technical experience to make sure it is configured correctly. The staff is very helpful can will make sure that the system is setup correctly and work perfectly.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    We have been a Cisco based shop and have looked at other cloud voice options such as MS Teams pbx, and others, but ultimately, the features, endpoints, and reliability of Cisco has been the common factor in staying with them as our voice provider. Their integrations, room systems, and hybrid design allows for us to be flexible and keep a high up time vs reliance on 100% cloud.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    I have not used any other VoIP system that I have been paying for. I hope that Fonality proves itself enough to where I will not have to switch. So far, for the price and the functionality, this is my recommendation for small businesses. I might recommend going with a more high end phone to increase functionality, but other than that, the system is one I would definitely recommend.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    It is easy to scale this system, as long as you have the proper technical staff available to support it. Adding users and phones is straightforward. The main work involves having the physical network in place and configuring the networking equipment. Overall, it is not that difficult as long as all of this is in place.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • Communication and collaboration - Our offices are able to communicate both internally and externally due to this system.
    • Down time - Struggles with CUCM has caused a lot of down time due to the instability of the system.
    • High Costs - the cost of both the license and the maintenance was much higher than other systems.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • We are still new to Fonality, but having the flexability has proven quite successful thus far.
    • The management of incoming calls and voicemail messages has really helped us to be able to follow up with potential clients.
    • The service at Fonality helped our new business take a leap into 2017, and we expect much growth with the continued use of Fonality.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    NetFortris (discontinued) Screenshots

    Screenshot of Fonality's Heads Up Display (HUD) Web dashboard is home base for connecting with colleagues and customers.Screenshot of Chatting is easy in HUD as they are easily launched by hovering over a fellow user's avatar. Chats are also available within Groups and Conferences.Screenshot of Managers with Fonality's Advance Call Center license can Barge, Monitor, or Whisper with one click. Useful for training, customer insights, and quality assurance. Real-time call queue information is shown in the Dock area to the right.Screenshot of Every Fonality system comes with voicemail boxes for all users, but with optional Voicemail Transcription you'll never have to listen to a voicemail again. Transcribed voicemails are delivered in HUD and via email.