WaveStreet Managed Services PBX voice
PBX voice solutions let down by a lack of transparency
WaveStreet Managed Services is a company based in Santa Clara, California. It provides a range of cloud and managed cloud products, including voice, data center, and storage solutions. What’s more, it has been delivering premium Private Branch Exchange (PBX) phone solutions to businesses across the United States and internationally since 2000.
We came across WaveStreet during our search for the best VoIP services on the market. While PBX and VoIP are slightly different, they both have their pros and cons. In the rest of this evaluation, we take a close look at WaveStreet, focusing on its PBX voice solutions to help you decide whether it’s the right option for your business.
- Our guide to the best VoIP services
Plans and pricing
Unfortunately, WaveStreet provides little information about its prices or price structure. In saying that, there is a small box on the homepage that advertises hosted PBX (based on VoIP technology) for $14.99 per extension, per month.
This appears to get you access to a powerful PBX interface that provides standard phone service through the WaveStreet Voice program. This integrates with the Salesforce and Zendesk CRM platforms, enabling you to collect call information and monitor long-term statistics.
And on top of this, WaveStreet provides end-to-end solutions that focus on ensuring you get your PBX system up and running as soon as possible. The company’s IT team will help you ensure your infrastructure is compatible with the cloud, and if it isn’t, they will help you upgrade. Migration can also be handled by the tech team, and all maintenance can be completed via the cloud-based admin control panel.
At the end of the day, we’d recommend reaching out to the WaveStreet team via the online quote form to find out more about how much you can expect to pay.
How it works
To keep things simple, WaveStreet uses a VoIP-based PBX phone system that’s designed to run via a standard internet connection. This eliminates the need for specialized phone infrastructure, minimizing costs and improving management efficiency.
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If you do decide to go ahead with WaveStreet, you will get access to a cloud-based admin panel that you can use to manage your service. The software can be used via a desk phone, a mobile device, or even directly from your computer, which saves money once again.
Where needed, you can connect hundreds of extensions, allowing you to deploy your PBX phone system across multiple locations and business sectors. Each extension can be connected to as many as eight devices, which provides excellent flexibility and versatility across the board.
Features and services
WaveStreet’s PBX solutions come with the main features you would expect from an internet phone service provider, but there was little that really stood out to us as exceptional.
One thing that we did like about WaveStreet’s voice solutions was the large local number presence. Basically, this means that you can use a local number in any of more than 30 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and France.
As expected, WaveStreet’s solutions come with a range of call management features, including call forwarding, call transferring, and do not disturb. You will also benefit from speed dialing, audio conferencing, and more.
WaveStreet’s phone solutions also support powerful internal communications across the world. All internal calling is free and requires nothing more than a four-digit number. And there are no geographical constraints, which means employees from different offices can speak with each other at the touch of a button.
Support and customer care
If you need to speak with the WaveStreet customer service team, there are a couple of options. For one, you can submit a ticket via the online help desk. Alternatively, speak directly with a company representative by calling the listed phone number.
Meanwhile, there is a knowledge base that initially appears to offer a selection of self-help resources. However, a closer look reveals that this contains no more than five articles, and only one of them is relevant to PBX systems. There are technical hardware guides available for the company’s phone systems, but don’t expect anything too fancy.
What’s more, we were unable to find any past customer reviews outlining the quality of WaveStreet’s service. While this is a concern, it’s certainly not a deal-breaker.
The competition
Although WaveStreet appears to offer decent PBX phone solutions, there are numerous other options that you might find are better suited to your needs.
For example, modern VoIP service providers like RingCentral provide highly flexible, customizable voice and messaging solutions for businesses of all sizes. This company offers standard internet phone service that’s backed by a huge range of advanced features, including secure internet fax, call recording, on-hold music, powerful analytics, and more.
Another great option is Ooma Office, which provides basic VoIP solutions from just $19.95 per month. It is slightly simple compared to some other providers, but you essentially get what you pay for here.
Final verdict
While WaveStreet’s managed PBX voice solutions aren’t terrible, there’s nothing to really make them stand out either. The company’s website is quite outdated and lacks information, the knowledge base is terrible, and it was very hard for us to find out anything about exactly what is on offer.
At the end of the day, there’s probably absolutely nothing wrong with WaveStreet. However, there are plenty of high-quality VoIP service providers out there that are much more transparent and open about their services, so we just can’t recommend using this company.
Further reading
- Read our our guide to the best VoIP services
Daniel is a freelance copywriter with over six years experience writing for publications such as TechRadar, Tom’s Guide, and Hosting Review. He specializes in B2B and B2C tech and finance, with a particular focus on VoIP, website building, web hosting, and other related fields.