Slack vs. Microsoft Teams: Which is better?

Slack: The people’s messaging app

If you were asked to find a professional in your network who had never heard the phrase “I’ll Slack it to you,” odds are you’d be on the hunt for quite a while. Slack hasn’t yet reached the level of ubiquity of Kleenex, Tupperware, or Post-It, but it’s pretty close.

There are good reasons why so many business pros have experience using Slack—it’s a solid app that offers nearly all of its features and functions to free users. So even if you have a sizable team that is constantly messaging back and forth, Slack can probably facilitate much of what you need from a collaboration and communication app. 

Pricing is straightforward for Slack, with the aforementioned free version, plus tiers for Pro, Business+, and Enterprise Grid users. For those willing to pay subscription fees, upgraded tiers add unlimited messaging history, workflows, app integrations, identity/access management, and stricter security features. 

Microsoft Teams: Collaboration for the security-conscious

Microsoft has long been a heavy-hitter in the software and business technology space. But as the numerous tech booms have led to a more crowded digital landscape, they’ve made some significant pivots in their efforts to stand apart from the crowd. Most notably, Microsoft’s suite of tools (Office, Teams, OneDrive, etc.) prioritize security, privacy, and access management.

Not every team is sending texts and files that contain sensitive information. Meeting reminders, questions about upcoming marketing campaigns, and discussions of event details aren’t typically regulated by governing bodies to ensure strict privacy compliance. Healthcare teams, financial organizations, and similar GRC-concerned industries, though, are a different story.

For reasons such as these, many security-conscious organizations use Teams, as well as the full complement of Microsoft tools to ensure maximum control over usage, access, identity, and privileges.

Hive: A third option that adds project management

Slack and Microsoft Teams are great for streamlining collaboration and simplifying processes, but they fall short of true project management software. If you need a solution that extends beyond communication and file sharing, consider Hive as an alternative. It offers the same native chat and video conferencing features plus tools for task management, time tracking, team resourcing, and other project management basics.

Hive doesn’t have as many advanced features as full-scale PM solutions like Asana and Wrike, but it’s a solid choice if you want to improve efficiency and collaboration without complicated integrations.

Slack vs. Teams: A closer comparison

Features

It goes without saying that, as messaging apps, communication serves as the core functionality of both Slack and Teams. Both apps offer text-based messaging, as well as audio and video calls. But that’s largely where the similarities end, with both how these features are implemented, and the bells and whistles that come with them, differing greatly.

Integrations

App integrations are an interesting point of division between Teams and Slack, and it all comes down to the central design philosophy of the tool in question. Slack was designed to serve as the communication hub for your current workflows, while Teams is intended to be one branch of a more comprehensive, cohesive toolset. While both apps support some pretty robust third-party integrations, each leans in the direction of their intended design.

Pricing

Surprisingly, there’s a fair amount of convergence in regard to pricing structure between Teams and Slack. Each has a simpler free version, and each has options for customized enterprise service. But the subscription tiers in between those two ends of the spectrum are actually fairly comparable. 

Slack vs. Teams: Ready to choose?

Now that we’ve broken down some of the specifics, it’s time for the obligatory “which one should I pick?” discussion, with the equally obligatory “it depends” response.

Here’s the thing, though: there are at least a few broadly applicable guidelines we can set to help you decide “yea” or “nay” on the two solutions we’ve been comparing. 

When to choose Slack

Slack is better when you want to limit process disruption, and minimize onboarding complexity.

When what you’re looking for is a quick-and-dirty messaging solution, or you don’t want to endure the suffering of adopting multiple new apps just to make your processes work as desired, Slack is the better choice.

When to choose Microsoft Teams

Teams is the product of choice if you’re already running on Microsoft, need deeper security controls, or are looking to upgrade a significant portion of your tech stack.

The Microsoft “experience” is a double-edged sword, true; it can be frustrating for some users and certain implementations to have to use these apps instead of alternatives that prioritize convenience. But there are plenty of situations where flexibility and ease-of-use take a backseat to control and security. For these, Teams will likely serve you better.

About the author

Stephen Porritt is a frequent contributor to TechnologyAdvice. Stephen has covered a variety of topics over his career including CRM, Business Intelligence and Project Management. He has more than ten years of experience writing content in a variety of verticals. He does his best work when he’s clarifying complex subject matter, helping brands share their unique expertise, and cracking dad jokes.

The post Slack vs Teams: Best Collaboration Software in 2024 appeared first on TechnologyAdvice.

What is quiet quitting?

Quiet quitting is a new name for a longstanding problem in an evolving work landscape. It has nothing to do with actually quitting. Rather, it describes when an employee does exactly what their job description states without taking on extra tasks. Some of these above-and-beyond actions might include:

The term quiet quitting entered our vocabulary in 2022, but you’ve likely experienced employees doing only the bare minimum in their roles long before. Some of the signs of employees quietly quitting mirror those of employees experiencing burnout, such as diminishing performance and work enthusiasm.

Although it may seem easier to ignore the signs, failing to address quiet quitting can have long-term consequences, such as negative company culture, lower retention, higher turnover, and increased costs for recruitment and training.

In fact, Gallup’s 2023 State of the Global Workplace indicates that nearly six in every 10 employees are quietly quitting, costing the world’s economy $8.8 trillion. Tackling the causes of workplace quiet quitting helps your company’s bottom line and demonstrates to employees your commitment to their wellbeing through healthy work expectations.

How managers can address quiet quitting

Quiet quitting holds lasting, relevant implications for manager-employee relationships. Quiet quitting invites managers to examine the company culture, have honest conversations with their employees about job expectations, respect employee boundaries, and provide room for employee growth.

1. Examine company culture

Company culture is a north star for employees’ attitude toward work. In fact, a 2022 SHRM study found that 60% of HR professionals attribute quiet quitting to company culture. Company leadership should examine several areas that affect employee morale, including company values, rewards and recognition, and management styles.

Company leadership should be clear and consistent with how they articulate company values and make those values apparent at every stage of recruiting, onboarding, and talent management.

Executives, managers, and HR should also assess the ways they recognize, promote, and evaluate employees to ensure a more equitable workplace. It’s unfair to assume or expect that an employee will go above and beyond their job responsibilities. Managers should celebrate employees who do exactly what their job asks of them and do it well consistently. 

Employee engagement tools, such as Assembly, include ways to give employees praise for what they do. 

3. Have honest conversations about job expectations

A solid understanding of job expectations — on both the employee’s and the manager’s end — goes a long way in assessing how an employee is performing, be it over, under, or at the expected level.   

A manager should converse openly with employees who consistently underperform against their job requirements. The goal of these conversations should be a better understanding of what resources or support employees need to succeed at their job.

Forms of support might include extended leave, flexible work hours, training, or a role switch within the company. Analytics dashboards in performance management software can tip off managers to an employee that may need some assistance.

In the opposite scenario, if the employee consistently does more than what is asked of them, and they do it well, there are a number of things the manager could do besides praising them for their hustle:

• Adjust the employee’s title and pay to fit the range of duties they perform.
• Delegate the over-and-above tasks to the appropriate staff.
• Outsource those tasks to freelancers or contract workers.

Employee engagement software helps facilitate honest conversations between managers and their employees. For example, Leapsome enables managers to regularly schedule one-on-one meetings with direct reports to foster consistent feedback cadences.

Visit Leapsome

4. Provide room for employee growth

Regardless of how an employee is performing, managers should prioritize short-term performance discussions in addition to regular check-ins with their employees. These meetings are a chance to discuss employees’ goals and identify opportunities for growth. 

In fact, growth opportunity factors into employee satisfaction and can help reduce turnover. A 2021 report reveals that 45% of employees are more likely to stay with employers that offer professional development opportunities. 

Charting out career pathways for employees can make the promotion process more transparent and equitable. Career pathways should contain specific goals an employee can work toward if they want to move up in the company.

Performance management software such as Workday’s talent and performance management product helps managers and employees establish baseline metrics for performance and removes a lot of bias from promotion and raise decisions.

Check out our video overview of Workday below.

Replace fear and assumptions with trust and transparency

As many employees continue to work remotely in a distributed workforce, it’s easy to wonder what employees are really up to during the workday. Quiet quitting, which is a scary way of saying someone is setting firm boundaries with their work, has become the new scapegoat for managers who already grapple with remote and hybrid work structures.

However, it’s important for managers to shape a company culture that prevents quiet quitting from becoming an issue to begin with — one that respects employee boundaries, promotes honesty, and provides room for equitable growth. 

Managers should utilize a variety of HR software that help support a healthy, engaging company culture. These include employee engagement software, performance management software, and project management software.

About the author

Lauren Hansen is a former staff writer for TechnologyAdvice who specializes in HR technology and trends. When she’s not writing about technology trends, she’s working out or spending time with family.

The post What Managers Should Know About Quiet Quitting appeared first on TechnologyAdvice.

Gusto vs. ADP: Which is better?

Watch our video overview below:

Gusto: Better for small companies focused on optimizing payroll

Gusto started out as a payroll software-as-a-service (SaaS) company, and it’s clear that payroll is its specialty. However, the software has since expanded to perform a range of capabilities.

Its intuitive user interface, market-leading support, and affordable price point make it a popular HR software solution for many SMBs. Specifically, companies with limited HR staff or those with complex payroll requirements are ideal Gusto customers.

Learn more about Gusto →

Also read: Top Gusto Competitors & Alternatives

ADP: Better for midsize companies focusing on growth and retention

ADP is one of the world’s largest providers of payroll and HR software. It offers a stripped-down solution — ADP Run — for businesses with fewer than 50 employees. ADP’s Workforce Now platform, on the other hand, is built with small businesses in mind and includes HR, payroll, benefits, time, and talent management tools as well as analytics. ADP’s Workforce Now solution is, therefore, more on par for comparison with Gusto.

Learn more about ADP Run →

Learn more about ADP Workforce Now →

Also read: Top ADP Competitors & Alternatives

Gusto vs. ADP: A detailed comparison

Pricing

Gusto and ADP package their features differently, which can make it difficult to understand which vendor provides more value for the money, especially since ADP does not show prices on its website.

While Gusto’s pricing is more transparent and scales with businesses as they grow, ADP customers must switch products entirely based on headcount. For instance, once a company has 50 or more employees, they must upgrade from ADP Run to ADP Workforce Now. Businesses focusing on functionality rather than headcount in selecting a solution may, therefore, find Gusto’s flexibility more appealing than ADP’s more rigid packages.

Benefits administration

Gusto and ADP Workforce Now both help companies stay compliant with federal regulations. They also both allow bring-your-own-broker. However, from there, the two take vastly different approaches to benefits administration.

Bring-your-own-broker is the rule rather than the exception for ADP Workforce Now customers, as the platform is set up to integrate with major insurance carriers. Gusto accommodates both third-party broker plans as well as working with Gusto’s own licensed brokers. In fact, doing the latter saves the company money, so Gusto incentivizes working with its own brokers and advisors.

Gusto

Gusto’s benefits administration features are included with every plan. This is beneficial for businesses that need help with benefits as well as payroll, which are two essential HR capabilities. However, companies that have an existing payroll solution may be paying for additional Gusto payroll capabilities they don’t need.

Benefits selection

Gusto’s licensed advisors assist companies with putting together a competitive benefits package. Not only does this save time, but using these brokers saves money since bring-your-own-broker incurs an additional fee and isn’t available with Gusto’s lowest pricing tier.

For example, upgrading to one of the two higher price tiers (Plus and Premium) unlocks access to more of Gusto’s benefits, which include:

• Workers’ compensation.
• HSAs and FSAs.
• Commuter benefits.

Gusto also offers a variety of no-cost (included), low-cost, and premium financial and health benefit options. While these á la carte benefits allow customers to customize their benefits packages, the costs may add up quickly.

Compliance

Gusto helps companies remain compliant and file the right paperwork with the right government agencies. It offers assistance with:

• Affordable Care Act (ACA).
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
• Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Moreover, Gusto has automated compliance alerts for state and federal regulations but only in its top two plans.

EDI

One drawback to consider is that Gusto’s benefits administration features don’t support electronic data interchange. EDI connection provides a secure, convenient way to automatically communicate changes to carriers, such as an employer’s changes to the benefits package or an employee’s changes to their selection.

Not having EDI means HR teams will likely need to spend extra time and energy contacting carriers and making benefits changes manually during open enrollment.

ADP

Benefits administration is included in ADP Workforce Now’s top two plans. So, a company that selects ADP’s cheapest package must have a stand-alone benefits administration software solution that will integrate with ADP’s platform. However, as a company grows, it’ll eventually need to upgrade to one of the higher packages anyway.

Otherwise, a company currently without benefits administration will need to choose the Enhanced or Premium plan to start with. This latter option is ultimately better, considering most businesses anticipate growth in terms of headcount that will drive down the cost later on.

Plus, benefits administration in ADP Workforce Now integrates with payroll, HR, and accounting and finance software as well as with most enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

This kind of cross-module data integration within one platform enables a company to better plan for and gain better analytical insight on benefits in terms of which ones to offer, how to administer them, and how to streamline communication between employees, the company, and providers.

Plus, HR and finance teams don’t have to manually enter benefit plan information and keep it up to date across multiple systems. This helps reduce the risk of data entry error or duplication and saves time.

ADP Workforce Now packages its features in such a way that makes it hard for companies to even consider the Essential plan because it does not include benefits administration, a key feature of any HR software solution.

Companies choosing ADP Workforce Now are better off starting with the Enhanced or Premium plan, unless they are wedded to a particular benefits administration software vendor and plan to remain small and nimble in a niche market.

Standout features of benefits administration in ADP Workforce Now are its user-friendliness, access, and analytics. ADP Workforce Now features an AI-powered tool called Nayya that helps employees choose benefits that make the most sense for their needs.

The platform also has advanced analytical capabilities to help HR keep track of benefits enrollment and overall cost. Finally, benefits administration is more accessible with ADP Workforce Now through its mobile app, while Gusto does not provide access through an app.

Benefits selection

ADP takes a self-service approach in putting together a customized benefits package. Alternatively, companies can bring their existing benefits to ADP Workforce Now, as it integrates with more than 700 insurance carriers, including major ones like Aetna and Cigna. This makes ADP Workforce Now’s benefits administration great for companies that need minimal assistance in creating a benefits package or migrating an existing one.

This is a major difference from Gusto, which provides more hands-on assistance. ADP Workforce Now offers a limited range of its own licensed specialists to assist companies with selecting the following benefits for an additional fee:

• Group health insurance.
• Retirement planning.
• Workers’ compensation.

ADP Workforce Now is great for companies with established benefits packages they can bring with them to integrate into the platform.

Compliance

Benefits administration through ADP Workforce Now is automatically compliant with ACA, COBRA, and other regulations. It features dashboards to track and measure hours worked and benefits eligibility. This is useful for companies that exempt part-time employees from benefits eligibility.

In addition, when an employee leaves the company, the benefits administration software triggers automated COBRA notifications to ensure the employee gets the option of continued insurance coverage.

State and federal compliance reporting are included in all ADP Workforce Now plans, while they’re only accessible in Gusto’s top two tiers.

EDI

Employee data and benefits information automatically and securely syncs between ADP Workforce Now and benefits providers through EDI. This saves time and reduces the chance of errors. Gusto does not have EDI-enabled benefits administration software.

Which to choose for benefits administration?

It’s a tie. Here’s why: ADP and Gusto target two different customer bases in terms of benefits administration.

ADP caters to more mature, midsize companies that have already established their benefits plans. By comparison, Gusto is oriented towards smaller businesses whose benefits plans are still in flux or perhaps not even set up yet at all.

So in terms of benefits administration, the right vendor depends on whether the company has a benefits package it’s happy with (go with ADP) or is just starting to put one together (go with Gusto).

Visit ADP Visit Gusto

Payroll

Gusto and ADP Workforce Now have similar offerings in their respective payroll modules, such as international payroll, mobile accessibility, and the choice of built-in or customizable payroll reports. However, Gusto and ADP Workforce Now differ in their automations and in the breadth of features.

Gusto

Gusto offers full-service payroll in different scopes depending on the plan. The Simple tier includes single-state payroll, while Plus offers multi-state payroll. Companies with distributed, remote work models that opt for Gusto will likely need to start out with the Plus plan. Gusto also offers international payroll in more than 80 countries, which is a bonus for companies that employ staff around the globe. Like ADP, international payroll is available as an add-on.

Gusto has broad payroll functionality and a variety of automated features to save HR teams valuable time. Smaller companies or those with complex payroll requirements are particularly likely to find more success with Gusto than ADP Workforce Now.

Gusto provides more detailed information about all of the payroll features included in its plans. For example, Gusto distinguishes between single-state and multi-state payroll and stipulates unlimited payroll runs each month. The granularity of features it outlines means it accommodates a range of different types of use cases and payroll schedules.

Automated payroll

Gusto’s winning feature is its AutoPilot, which allows HR to set up payroll to run automatically.

It performs payroll and year-end tax filings through the system, including preparation, filing, and remittance. Additionally, users can send and electronically sign I-9s and W-4s as well as provide their direct deposit information. With advanced product options, administrators can restrict access to sensitive information.

Gusto Wallet app

Gusto’s Wallet is a free app included in Gusto plans. It helps employees set and track their budgets and other financial goals. From the app, employees can easily access pay stubs and monitor how they spend each paycheck.

Employees can also use the Gusto Wallet app to decide which accounts their paychecks go into without asking HR to set it up for them. The Gusto Wallet app enables employee self-service and financial wellness. ADP Workforce Now lacks the financial wellness tools that Gusto offers.

Read also: Why You Should Add Employee Financial Wellness to Your Company’s Benefits

ADP

ADP is one of the world’s largest providers of payroll and HR software. The ADP Workforce Now platform includes core payroll features in all of its plans. Beyond that, users can opt for additional ADP products—some free of charge—to administer international payroll and a variety of ways to pay employees.

Automation

ADP Workforce Now also boasts automation, though it’s different from Gusto’s automation. ADP automatically reports new hires to state agencies for tax purposes to remain compliant. ADP Workforce Now includes compliance support for every state as well as for other countries in all of its plans. With Gusto, this kind of support is only available in its top two packages as an add-on to the Plus package and as an included feature in the Premium plan.

It also reconciles multiple rates of pay for reporting and accounting purposes. This automatic reconciliation is helpful for companies with employees in different countries and of different types, for example, contractors versus full-time employees.

However, ADP Workforce does not offer an automated payroll feature comparable to Gusto’s Auto Pilot.

Global payroll

ADP Workforce Now supports compliant payroll in more than 140 countries with its Celergo and GlobalView products that are available as add-ons to any plan, which is a plus for companies with employees and contractors located outside of the U.S.

Flexible payroll methods

ADP Workforce Now enables employers to pay their employees via multiple payroll methods. Even the basic plan allows direct deposit into as many as four accounts, and its partner apps enable payment via carrier mail or prepaid Visa debit card.

Employees also have access to on-demand pay via the Wisely by ADP and ZayZoon Wages On-Demand apps that integrate with ADP Workforce Now. Wisely services can be added to Workforce Now plans for free, but certain terms and conditions may incur fees for both employers and employees.

Employers can offer ZayZoon service as a benefit employees can elect and pay for at their discretion. A variety of payment methods with this solution means employers have flexibility in how they pay their employees.

Which to choose for payroll?

Gusto. Here’s why: Gusto enables unlimited, automated payroll and offers detailed features that serve a variety of customer payroll needs. It also integrates with other popular payroll software, such as Xero or QuickBooks, making Gusto a flexible, plug-and-play payroll software that can incorporate into any existing tech stack.

ADP Workforce Now provides many of the standard features that Gusto does but does not offer much more, rendering it a more rigid, one-size-fits-all solution that won’t work for every company.

Visit Gusto

Also read: How to Avoid These 3 Costly Payroll Mistakes

Time and attendance tracking

Time tracking tools are rolled into Gusto’s payroll module in the Plus and Premium plans, but its most basic plan allows for integration with a company’s time tracking tool of choice. ADP Workforce Now houses time tracking tools in its Workforce Management module which is only available in its Premium plan. Time tracking features are, thus, accessible to more of Gusto’s customers.

Gusto

Payroll integration

Gusto’s native time tracking tool integrates with payroll but not with other areas of HR, which makes it tricky to align employee time-off benefits with the amount of time they request and receive. This may require managers and employees to cross-check between the time tracking and benefits modules when managing time off.

HR teams can customize paid time off (PTO) policies and select paid holidays through the time tracking tool. These policies then sync with payroll.

Time-off management and calendar sync

Employees manage time-off requests directly in Gusto’s time tracking tool. Approved time off syncs with payroll and Gusto’s built-in calendar. Alternatively, users can integrate Gusto with a third-party calendar such as Google, Outlook, or iCal, while ADP users only have the option of syncing with Outlook. However, employee scheduling with Gusto requires integration with a third-party app like When I Work or ClockShark.

Reporting

Gusto features time tracking reports to gauge workforce cost based on hours worked but not by labor type, which may be a drawback for companies that work with employees as well as contractors.

ADP

Automated scheduling

With ADP’s native time tracking tool, managers can have schedules automatically created and synced with the Microsoft Outlook calendar. Gusto lacks a native scheduling tool but integrates with more calendars than ADP does.

Reporting

Customers get more advanced reporting and analytics for time tracking in ADP Workforce Now. While Gusto’s reporting focuses on workforce cost and PTO use, ADP’s time tracking reports deliver insights on:

• Absences.
• Hours worked.
• Labor costs.
• Overtime.
• Industry benchmarks and comparison.

ADP’s reporting can even generate predictive insights to help a company better prepare for staffing bottlenecks or surpluses. This is useful for companies operating in seasonal industries.

Time Kiosk tool

ADP Workforce Now offers several ways to manage employees’ time and attendance via computer terminal, mobile device, and even voice and facial recognition in the Time Kiosk tool. Regardless of the way employees clock in and out, ADP automatically tracks and calculates the time worked and transfers that data to the payroll, HR, and benefits administration information systems in the platform.

Compliant time tracking domestically and abroad

The time tracking module helps a company navigate local and country-specific compliance requirements for domestic and international employees and contractors, such as fair scheduling regulations, laws related to work and rest, and union agreements.

Gusto, on the other hand, does help a company stay compliant with time tracking by automatically storing wage records, but its compliance help is not as specific as that of ADP Workforce Now.

Which to choose for time tracking?

ADP Workforce Now. Here’s why: ADP Workforce Now offers automated schedule creation, more nuanced compliance support, and advanced time management and reporting features. Gusto fulfills basic time-tracking needs, but ADP Workforce Now is worthwhile for companies that have complex compliance and scheduling needs for a more distributed workforce.

Visit ADP

Recruiting and onboarding

Gusto and ADP cover all basic recruiting and onboarding functionality, but ADP goes beyond to include more enhanced features in both areas, especially recruitment.

Gusto offers native recruiting and onboarding functionality along with the option to integrate with third-party recruiting software.

ADP partners with ZipRecruiter for recruiting functionality, which is housed within its Talent Management module. Its onboarding tools are rolled into the HR Management module and can perform some advanced functions that Gusto can’t. As a bonus, all onboarding tools are included in every package.

Gusto

Gusto offers a variety of recruiting and onboarding features across all of its plans. More advanced recruiting features are limited to Gusto’s upper tiers, but onboarding capabilities are more widely available across Gusto’s packages. The fact that Gusto has in-house recruiting and onboarding means HR has more comprehensive analytics and insights about how to improve the hiring process.

Recruiting

Companies can use Gusto’s built-in recruiting tools to create job listings and track candidates, but it doesn’t syndicate job posts, so recruiters are responsible for sharing the post link manually. Gusto users can follow and guide candidates through the hiring funnel in Gusto’s own applicant tracking system.

Alternatively, customers can integrate with a third-party ATS. This approach comes with its own set of technical challenges and budgetary considerations, but it may be more effective for ambitious hiring goals. It’s also worth noting that job posting and applicant tracking capabilities are available only in Gusto’s Plus or Premium plans.

When assessing candidates, hiring teams can collaborate by sharing feedback on candidate scorecards. For candidates that advance to the offer phase, Gusto provides customizable offer letter templates to extend an offer as soon as possible.

Onboarding

Hiring teams can transition candidates who have accepted offers into Gusto’s built-in, self-onboarding process to ensure the new hire experience is as smooth as possible.

Gusto’s base plan features a starter onboarding checklist that includes suggestions of typical stages in the onboarding process, but starting with the Gusto Plus package, HR professionals can add steps that are tailored to their company’s particular needs. For example, tasks on the onboarding checklist may include attending orientation training or signing a W-4 form.

Gusto facilitates organized document management for all recruiting and onboarding documents. Its built-in e-signature capability expedites the onboarding process. Once all necessary documents are signed and submitted, they’re securely stored in the platform.

ADP

Companies have the option of adding recruitment functionality to its suite of talent management tools. Recruiting in ADP Workforce Now works via ZipRecruiter and integrates with ADP’s own onboarding tool.

Recruiting

Recruiters and hiring managers using ADP Workforce Now can take advantage of the ZipRecruiter integration to:

• Create branded career sites.
• Post syndicated job ads to social media platforms and more than 25,000 job boards.
• Identify the most qualified candidates

When posting a job to a social media network, users get a pre-populated template to save time and facilitate wider job vacancy sharing to their professional contacts. ZipRecruiter automatically identifies the best candidates and invites them to apply to a company’s job posting.

ADP users can keep in touch with candidates through text messages or video. The system also facilitates interview scheduling for candidates who advance to the interview stage.

ADP has an advantage over Gusto in its recruiting-specific reporting. It tracks key metrics like cost to hire and time to hire to enable recruiting teams to get better over time.

Onboarding

Candidates who receive and accept an offer letter are routed to ADP Workforce Now’s own onboarding tool, which is available in all ADP Workforce Now packages. Via Adobe Sign integration, ADP Workforce Now enables new employees to sign necessary documents from within the platform. ADP’s onboarding is also self-service and mobile-enabled, so new hires can view and take care of onboarding tasks from anywhere.

Onboarding in ADP is set up to trigger a survey for new hires to complete after 90 days on the job in order to gauge their experience with the company so far. This information connects with ADP’s Voice of the Employee sentiment analysis and engagement tool.

Which to choose for recruiting and onboarding?

ADP Workforce Now. Here’s why: ADP leverages its partnership with ZipRecruiter to perform more functions than Gusto can, including syndicated job posting and social recruiting. This gives ADP customers greater reach and visibility in their recruiting efforts.

ADP also boasts a set of advanced onboarding capabilities any ADP customer can access regardless of the plan they pick. ADP’s onboarding supports companies that want to focus on employee experience early on in an employee’s tenure.

In short, ADP Workforce Now supports businesses prioritizing hiring and retention. It offers better functionality and greater accessibility when it comes to recruiting and onboarding.

Gusto works well for companies with lower hiring volumes. It fulfills basic recruiting and onboarding needs for companies filling non-specialized, easier-to-fill roles.

Visit ADP

Gusto vs. ADP: Ready to choose?

Gusto and ADP Workforce Now are two of the most popular HR software solutions on the market. They both offer a range of functionalities at a more competitive cost than larger platforms like SAP SuccessFactors and UKG. Each vendor offers unique advantages for different types of buyers, but the right choice will support your company’s HR goals now and in the future.

Gusto is a better choice for small businesses that have relatively basic needs beyond payroll but want the flexibility to add on incrementally to areas like benefits administration, recruiting, and onboarding.

ADP Workforce Now is more suitable for midsize businesses poised for growth and retention. It includes a larger breadth of core HR features available across the board but without much depth or flexibility for some areas like payroll and benefits administration. It shines in recruiting, onboarding, and employee engagement, all of which are available to customers in any plan.

If neither software meets your company’s unique needs, explore other solutions on the market through our Payroll Software Guide or HR Software Guide​​.

About the author

Lauren Hansen is a former staff writer for TechnologyAdvice who specializes in HR technology and trends. When she’s not writing about technology trends, she’s working out or spending time with family.

The post Gusto vs ADP appeared first on TechnologyAdvice.

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What are the best HRIS systems?

*Please see the BambooHR pricing section below for an explanation of discounts.

Watch our video overview of our favorite HRIS systems:

Gusto Simple: Best HRIS overall

Gusto’s Simple plan includes a lot of features that incur additional fees with other vendors, so it offers the best value if you want to start with the basics and add capabilities as your business grows. However, it’s worth noting that you may outgrow Gusto’s top tier eventually if you have large-scale growth goals in the near future.

In terms of payroll, Gusto and ADP RUN offer similar solutions. However, the main difference is that ADP RUN’s base plan supports payroll in multiple states, while Gusto’s base plan only supports single-state payroll. So, if payroll is one of your must-have HRIS system features, the geographic distribution of employees will be a deciding factor in choosing between Gusto and ADP.

Learn more about Gusto →

Learn more about Gusto:

Gusto is also one of our favorite payroll vendors. Check out who else made the list in our Payroll Software Guide.

TriNet Zenefits Essentials: Best for benefits administration

TriNet Zenefits’ HR software is for companies that prioritize benefits administration. It provides flexibility to use Zenefits’ brokered benefits at no additional cost or bring-your-own-broker for an extra $5 per month, per employee.

TriNets Zenefits is best for companies that are a bit more mature or have in-house HR experts and therefore don’t need much HR support from their HR software vendor. Zenefits’ base plan does not include as much HR support as ADP, but expert HR support is available as an add-on for customers that need it.

Although Zenefits can accommodate employers with fewer than five employees, it does have a five-employee minimum requirement. This means customers pay at least $40 monthly, even if they only have one or two employees.

Nevertheless, Zenefits is relatively affordable, considering the number of features in its base plan, especially compared to GoCo.

Learn more about Zenefits →

Learn more about Zenefits:

ADP RUN Essential: Best for extensibility

Designed for small businesses, ADP RUN is a lightweight HRIS platform that allows companies to bolt on ADP tools as needed or integrate with third-party software. The software is available in four different price tiers, but the Essential plan offers new businesses access to bare-bones payroll and HR features like simple background check services and onboarding.

Besides access to ADP’s massive array of products and services, ADP RUN Essential is a top HRIS contender because it offers a level of customer support that other HRIS starter packages do not. For instance, in addition to payroll tax compliance and new hire reporting, businesses can access customer support 24/7.

Moreover, for small businesses without a dedicated HR department, ADP offers human resources outsourcing (HRO) or PEO services. These services can take over most of the administrative and support functions of payroll and HR so that companies can focus on the money-making aspects of their businesses.

Learn more about ADP RUN →

Learn more about ADP RUN:

BambooHR Essentials: Best for HR workflow automation

BambooHR Essentials is one of the best HR software solutions for small businesses that want to eliminate spreadsheets and automate HR tasks in a centralized database. It streamlines core HR processes, particularly approval workflows, which frees HR staff to undertake more meaningful work aligning with the company’s broader goals. 

However, as a business grows, it will need to integrate more third-party HR solutions, opt for more add-ons, upgrade to the Advantage plan, or upgrade to another system entirely, such as a human resource management system (HRMS) with more advanced features.

BambooHR’s add-ons for payroll, benefits administration, performance management, and time tracking compete with ADP and GoCo for modularity. However, ADP and Gusto include payroll as a foundational product to build out from. BambooHR is, therefore, better suited for companies that already have a payroll and benefits administration solution that they can integrate with BambooHR. However, they can only do so with the Advantage plan.

Learn more about BambooHR →

Key features

Built-in workflows

Bamboo’s Essential plan features pre-built workflows like employee information updates, promotions, compensation increases, and time-off approvals. These standard workflows help HR teams, managers, or whoever else is involved make time-sensitive decisions more quickly.

Time-off management

BambooHR’s employee vacation tracking software automatically calculates an employee’s accrued time off, so there’s no need for guesswork or asking the HR department about time-off availability. It also allows you to customize your time-off policies. For example, you can create unlimited PTO or different time-off policies by department, team, or employee.

Pricing

Implementation

BambooHR includes a one-time implementation fee with a project manager. Companies with 20 or fewer employees can opt for the Quickstart Training for $299.

Essential

• For up to 20 employees: $108/mo. flat rate.
• For 21+ employees: $5.40/employee/mo.
• Volume discount applies for 25 or more employees.

Advantage

• For up to 20 employees: $180 per month flat rate.
• For 21+ employees: $9 per employee, per month.
• Volume discount applies after 30 or more employees.

Add-ons

Payroll (US only)

• One-time implementation fee
• For up to 20 employees: $150/mo. flat rate
• For 21+ employees: $7.25/employee/mo.
• Volume discount applies after 21 or more employees.

Note: Additional factors, like the number of FEINs or the number of states you need payroll for, can affect this price. Please contact BambooHR for specific pricing quotes.  

Benefits administration (US only)

• $5.25/employee/mo.
• Volume discount applies after 30 or more employees.

Time tracking

• $3.00/employee/mo.
• Volume discount applies after 30 or more employees.

Performance management

• $5.25/employee/mo.
• Volume discount applies after 30 or more employees.

Alternatives

Zoho People Essential HR: Zoho People is a popular HR software as it includes a forever free plan for businesses that only need an employee database and time off features similar to BambooHR Essential. It also has AI-powered HR features and customizable automations to reduce manual tasks and prevent double data entry.

Visit Zoho

Homebase Essentials: Like BambooHR Essential, you must purchase payroll as an add-on with Homebase Essentials. However, its free plan and time tracking and scheduling features make it a great alternative if you employ mainly hourly workers.

Visit Homebase

Explore other BambooHR alternatives →

Why we chose BambooHR Essentials

BambooHR targets small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) by balancing a user-friendly interface with out-of-the-box automations for simple setup. Like ADP, it also integrates with several third-party applications, making it a great first HRIS for small businesses needing a single system of record and easy-to-understand workflows for first-time users.

Learn more about BambooHR:

BambooHR is one of our favorite small business HR software solutions, but it’s not for everyone. Browse other options in our list of the Best HR Software for SMBs.

GoCo: Best for onboarding

GoCo is an all-in-one HRIS that follows a modular pricing model. All users start with access to its onboarding, employee self-service, and document management modules. However, similar to TriNet Zenefits and BambooHR, they must pay extra for embedded payroll, benefits administration, HR workflows, time tracking, and HR advisory support.

Despite this, GoCo’s onboarding features come standard — unlike BambooHR Essentials — and are particularly advanced. Companies can send onboarding paperwork to new employees to complete before their first day so that managers can focus more on training than administrative work their first week.

GoCo’s onboarding module also includes customizable offer letters, I-9 and W-4 compliance checks, and task lists. For more granular control, companies can add GoCo’s workflow automation to craft preboarding workflows for new hires based on roles, departments, or needed equipment. This allows for collaboration from multiple stakeholders, such as the IT department or executive management.

Employees can even self-enroll in benefits during onboarding if companies add on GoCo’s benefits module. And, unlike other HRIS on this list, GoCo offers workflows to accommodate I-9 Section 2 verification, even for out-of-state remote employees, in accordance with USCIS regulations. Thus, GoCo is suited for employers with distributed teams, reducing onboarding compliance risks.

Learn more about GoCo →

Key features

Compliance tools

GoCo ensures you comply with I-9 and W-4 processes during onboarding. With the benefits module add-on, GoCo also monitors employee ACA and COBRA eligibility, removing these administrative functions from you. This is especially useful if you do not have a dedicated HR department to track or follow up with labor law compliance.

Customizable documents

You can move away from paper processes by uploading your unique forms into GoCo’s MagicDocs. There, you can transform these documents into fillable forms and even collect legal e-signatures. As a result, GoCo makes it easier to switch to electronic document management for more efficient data-tracking and audit processes.

Pricing

Pricing starts at $5/employee/mo. and includes the following modules:

• Hiring and onboarding.
• Employee self-service.
• MagicDocs.

GoCo also includes the following modules, but you must contact GoCo directly for a custom quote.

• Benefits.
• Automated workflows.
• Payroll.
• Time tracking.
• Compliance.
• Remote I-9.
• Performance management.
• Messages.
• HR reports and insights.
• HR support on demand.
• Vaccine tracking.
• COVID-19 paid leave.

Alternatives

ClearCompany: ClearCompany is another great HR software with well-rounded onboarding features. If you prioritize creating a welcoming company culture, ClearCompany allows you to add messages and videos from executives, team members, and managers in your new hire onboarding packets.

Visit ClearCompany

Sage HR: Sage HR starts at $5.50 per employee, per month with similar e-signature documents and onboarding features in its starter module to GoCo. Sage HR’s Core HR + Leave Management also includes “recipes” to build your own HR workflows without paying extra for a separate module.

Visit Sage HR

Why we chose GoCo

GoCo is highly flexible, with modular pricing, so you can add the features you need when you need them. In particular, GoCo stands out for its onboarding processes that allow you to collect, maintain, and store documents and collaborate with multiple stakeholders.

Even without payroll, time tracking, or benefits administration, GoCo’s document management module can help you move toward 100% electronic recordkeeping. Digitizing your physical employee records can speed up information search processes and free up physical office space that formally housed filing cabinets.

Learn more about GoCo:

How to choose the best HRIS systems

Several HRIS solutions are available today, making it tough to decide which one is the right fit. But our favorites below may offer you a starting point:

Not ready to buy yet? Check out our comprehensive HR Software Guide to compare more HRIS solutions.

Human resources information system FAQs

About the author

Jessica Dennis, a lead writer at TechnologyAdvice.com, specializes in HR software solutions for midsize businesses. With a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Michigan and over six years of HR compliance experience, she’s dedicated to researching and writing about software that balances employee satisfaction and engagement with the bottom line. In her free time, you can find her obsessing over her labrador retriever or jumping into the nearest body of water.

The post The Best HRIS Systems of 2024 appeared first on TechnologyAdvice.

When it comes to choosing human resources software, there are a plethora of options that each offer a distinct set of features. Two names that frequently come up in an HR software search are intelliHr vs Workday. intelliHR describes itself as “The Intelligent People Management Software,” while Workday positions itself as a “​​new class of enterprise management cloud.”

In this guide, we compare intelliHR and Workday on five key features, then explain which type of business is a better fit for each kind of software.

Check out our video overview below!

People Analytics

Analytics is a core feature of both intelliHR and Workday, but each company goes about it in a slightly different way.

Because it is a focused HR software solution, intelliHR hones in on people analytics. It offers an interactive analytics dashboard that will show you insights into employee satisfaction, wellness, and more — thanks to AI-powered sentiment tools.

intelliHR also offers some financial and compliance analytics, which allow you to better understand headcount, recruitment, risk, safety, and other related variables.

Analytics is a core feature of both intelliHR and Workday, but each company goes about it in a slightly different way.

Comparatively, Workday counts human capital data as one of its core reporting functions (financial management data is the other one), but its capabilities don’t end there. The software company takes a more comprehensive approach to analytics, bringing everything from financial transactions to workforce schedules to third-party application data under one roof.

Workday also uses augmented analytics helped along by machine learning to make it easier to shift through large amounts of data to identify trends and opportunities.

Read more on TechRepublic: HR Analytics Can Help Predict Who Might Be Looking for Another Job

Team and Talent Management

While similar in function, intelliHR has “team management,” while Workday has “talent management.” When describing the software on their respective websites, intelliHR breaks out performance separately from team management, while Workday combines it under talent management.

intelliHR enables managers to empower their teams with continuous performance management and transparent two-way communication. Automated check-ins help guide managers to become better coaches and take the burden of constant reminders off HR personnel.

While similar in function, intelliHR has ‘team management,’ while Workday has ‘talent management.’

intelliHR also offers the ability to gather feedback from employees and identify cultural issues. Do note that intelliHR’s team management function is mostly focused on employees that are already part of the company; the software doesn’t really offer talent acquisition support.

Meanwhile, Workday does include talent management functionality, such as helping your company to remove bias from the hiring process in order to create a more diverse workforce. Once your employees are onboarded, Workday’s machine learning identifies skill gaps in your workforce and delivers personal learning opportunities.

Employee Engagement and Retention

Employee management goes far beyond simple performance reviews, which is why both intelliHR and Workday support employee engagement and retention.

intelliHR seeks to make employee engagement an ongoing conversation through continual feedback and employee net promoter score (eNPS) surveys and analytics. The software also offers the option to perform employee well-being check-ins to keep tabs on burnout.

Workday’s Peakon Employee Voice function also enables ongoing active listening and offers recommendations based on trends in the data. It also compares your company against more than 200 million data points to see how it stacks up in your industry and around the world.

Workday also provides the ability to track employee sentiment around diversity, equity, and inclusivity initiatives to see if your campaigns are having the intended effect.

Read more: Best Employee Engagement Tools & Platforms

Payroll Management

Payroll management is a huge differentiator between these HR software options. As of the time of this writing, intelliHR does not offer payroll management features, but Workday does.

If you already have another system that you use to track employee time and manage payroll, you may be able to integrate it with intelliHR, but if you are looking for an all-in-one HR platform, Workday is the better bet.

Payroll management is a huge differentiator between these HR software options.

Workday offers an entire Pay Cycle Command Center that lets you manage payroll in one place directly without the software. The software gives you control over your payroll process and allows you to make changes to it at any time.

With continuous payroll processing and real-time visibility, you can always know what’s going on with your payroll and avoid unnecessary delays. Workday also has an entire list of Global Payroll Partners it integrates with to make payroll even more seamless.

Automated Workflows

Both intelliHR and Workday offer the ability to automate certain workflows. Through intelliHR, you can automatically provide policies for sign-off, obtain certificates and licenses for compliance, gather personal information, and customize workflows for different roles and teams.

Workday has an entire professional services automation (PSA) tool dedicated to automating everything from managing budgets to time tracking. In keeping with the more robust nature of the software, it offers more automation capabilities spread across the many different components of its software.

Read more: 10 of the Best Options for Workflow Automation Software

intelliHR vs Workday: Which Should You Choose?

Both intelliHR and Workday offer certain overlapping capabilities, but at the end of the day they are very distinct software solutions.

intelliHR is a great choice for small to midsize businesses that are specifically looking for HR management software and don’t need an enterprise-level feature set. This is also a good option for companies on smaller budgets, with plans starting as low as $3.25 per user per month.

Workday is a good choice for larger companies — especially those spread out over multiple locations or countries — who want to manage many different business tasks, not only HR functions, through a single piece of software.

intelliHR is exclusively HR software, while Workday is more of an ERP solution with HR capabilities.

Workday does have more robust functionality, but that comes with a higher learning curve and more complex interface. While Workday does not publicly disclose their prices, user reports indicate that it is much higher than that of intelliHR.

Basically, intelliHR is exclusively HR software, while Workday is more of an ERP (enterprise resource planning) solution with HR capabilities.

Not sure if either of these HR software options will fit the needs of your business? Reach out to us today to schedule a meeting with one of our unbiased technology consultants to get matched with the right software for your company.

About the author

Kara Sherrer is a writer and marketer who has worked with both B2C and B2B clients across many different industries, including technology. She is passionate about helping clients to create and promote informative content according to SEO best practices. Discover more of her work at karasherrer.com.

The post intelliHR vs Workday appeared first on TechnologyAdvice.

Also read: HRIS vs HRMS vs HCM: What Is the Difference?

Rippling vs Gusto: Which is better?

The better overall pick is Rippling. Rippling’s more extensive product portfolio enables companies to do more over a longer period of time. So, unless your business is in an industry where it will reach maturity at mid-size, it’s worth investing in Rippling to scale alongside your team.

Also read: Top HRIS Systems

Prefer a video overview instead? Check it out below!

Rippling: Better for flexibility

Rippling offers a modular workforce management platform, called Rippling Unity, for all HR, finance, and IT data and processes. In addition to improving overall efficiency, the scalable, modular system simplifies your tech stack and eliminates the risk of data loss that comes with using disparate apps.

Depending on your team’s current needs and future goals, you can add individual features such as global payroll, learning management, and headcount planning as the business evolves. Similarly, IT and finance functions like app provisioning and expense management can be added as needed. The pricing for each module isn’t transparent, though, so you’ll have to conduct thorough cost comparisons to evaluate Rippling’s value compared to other solutions that offer what you need.

Also read: Top Rippling Alternatives and Competitors

Gusto: Better for affordability

Gusto started out as a payroll SaaS company, and it’s clear that payroll is its specialty. However, the software has since expanded to include a range of capabilities.

Its intuitive user interface, market-leading support, and affordable price point make it a popular HR software solution for many SMBs. Specifically, companies with fewer than 25 employees or those with complex payroll requirements are ideal Gusto customers.

Also read: Top Gusto Alternatives and Competitors

Rippling vs. Gusto: A detailed comparison

We took an in-depth look at Rippling and Gusto in the areas that will impact your purchasing decision:

Benefits administration

	Rippling’s Add-on	Gusto Simple
EDI	Yes	No
Mobile app	No	No
Compliance	Yes	Yes
Bring-your-own-broker	Yes	Yes

Rippling

Rippling’s benefits administration add-on automates tasks like benefits selection, deduction updates, and COBRA administration. The variety of ways you can set up benefits administration through Rippling’s add-on makes it more flexible than Gusto’s base benefits administration offering, but it comes at an extra cost.

Benefits options

You can choose from more than 4,000 Rippling-supported benefits plans from leading carriers like Aetna, Humana, and Blue Cross Blue Shield. You can also bring your own broker to Rippling and migrate your entire existing benefits packages to Rippling.

That way, employees don’t need to re-enroll or update any of their benefits information as a result of the migration. For new employees, Rippling prompts them during onboarding to select their benefits without intervention from an HR person.

Regulatory compliance

Rippling’s benefits administration includes automated ACA and COBRA compliance. For example, it disseminates ACA as well as COBRA notices and collects premium payments from former employees who elect to continue coverage. However, it doesn’t support HIPAA or ERISA compliance like Gusto does.

Try Rippling

Gusto

Gusto includes benefits administration in its base plan but charges an additional fee to use an external broker. If using a Gusto-brokered benefits provider is not an issue, the simplicity of the benefits selection and administration process makes Gusto a compelling choice.

Benefits selection

Gusto also offers a variety of no-cost (included), low-cost, and premium financial and health benefit options. While these à la carte benefits allow you to customize your benefits package, the costs may add up quickly.

For example, customers of any Gusto plan can add the following benefits:

• Workers’ compensation.
• HSAs and FSAs.
• Commuter benefits.

Rippling includes all three of these benefits, which puts it at an advantage over Gusto Simple.

Regulatory compliance

Gusto helps companies remain compliant and file the right paperwork with the right government agencies. Like Rippling, Gusto offers assistance with ACA and COBRA compliance. However, Gusto Simple also helps maintain compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Gusto’s benefits administration features are included with every plan, and its lowest tier offers more breadth in compliance coverage than Rippling’s add-on. Gusto’s licensed advisors assist companies with benefits selection to put together competitive benefits packages for the right price.

Try Gusto

Which to choose for benefits administration?

It’s a tie. Here’s why:

In terms of managing and administering benefits, Rippling is the better choice. Though you have to opt for the add-on, Rippling’s benefits administration offers more flexibility. It accommodates a range of business situations by allowing you to use its brokered plans, bring your own broker, or migrate existing plans without increasing the total cost or interrupting employees’ coverage. 

Gusto wins for compliance in benefits administration. Gusto Simple includes compliance assistance for ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, and ERISA. In contrast, Rippling’s benefits administration add-on is more limited, covering ACA and COBRA only. Rippling customers have to add the Compliance 360 module to get more comprehensive compliance coverage. 

Try Rippling Try Gusto

Also read: 7 Questions to Consider Before Choosing a Benefits Administration System

Payroll

	Rippling’s Add-on	Gusto Simple
International full-time employee payroll	Yes	No
Mobile app	Yes	Yes
Compliance	Yes	Yes
Financial wellness	No	Yes

To see how Rippling and Gusto stack up against other payroll software tools, check out our Payroll Software Guide.

Rippling

Rippling offers full-service, automated payroll and tax filing for local, state, and federal agencies in the United States. Additionally, Rippling’s presence as a global employer of record (EOR) means you can expand your business internationally without setting up a local entity.

The global payroll function also localizes payroll for international teams, so employees can get paid in the appropriate currency without wasting time waiting for conversions and transfers. Plus, customers with access to this add-on can take advantage of Rippling’s in-country compliance experts to assist with complex laws or sensitive employment issues.

Also read: Top Global Payroll Solutions

Try Rippling

Gusto

One of Gusto’s biggest payroll features is AutoPilot, which automatically calculates and files payroll taxes based on up-to-date tax laws. Plus, employees can take advantage of early direct deposit, budgeting tools, and other financial wellness benefits via the Gusto Wallet app.

With respect to payroll compliance, Gusto helps employers send W-2s and 1099s to employees in a timely manner during tax season. For an additional fee, you can select the state tax registration add-on to let Gusto handle state and local paperwork.

However, Gusto Simple lacks the payroll compliance features that Rippling’s payroll add-on includes. To get the same functionality, Gusto Simple customers must upgrade to Plus.

Gusto also offers optional international payroll for contractors located in 95 countries and has launched a beta partnership with Remote to support part-time or full-time employees located abroad. Global payroll support has historically been one of Rippling’s main advantages over Gusto, so the launch of Gusto Global shifts the balance a bit.

Try Gusto

Which to choose for payroll?

Rippling. Here’s why:

Unless you only have employees in one state, it’s worth choosing Rippling’s payroll add-on. It offers many of the same automation and compliance features as Gusto and then some. You can also sync the benefits and time-tracking modules or integrate third-party software.

Furthermore, Rippling’s global payroll functionality is worth the investment to manage employee data, payroll, compliance, and more wherever your company operates.

Try Rippling

Also read: How to Choose the Right Small Business Payroll Software

Onboarding

	Rippling Unity	Gusto Simple
Native onboarding	Yes	Yes
Document management	Yes	Yes
Self-onboarding	Yes	Yes
Mobile onboarding	Yes	No
Customizable onboarding workflow	Yes	No

Rippling

Rippling Unity doesn’t include recruiting, so customers will need to either integrate with third-party recruiting software—provided they have the Enterprise tier—or add the Talent Management module. However, Rippling’s Unity tiers do include native, automated onboarding capabilities that require little intervention from HR staff.

Global onboarding

When a new employee is hired, an admin selects the new employee’s country and employment type — contractor, full-time, part-time, etc. — the start date, and whether the employee is eligible for benefits. From there, Rippling deploys the rest of the onboarding flow specifically for that country and employment type. Country-specific information is built into Rippling from the start, so HR staff only need to be concerned with correctly classifying each employee.

Rippling also reflects cultural differences in terminology for working conditions, so every field is tailored to the new employee’s work location. Localization of employee data saves HR staff time because they don’t have to research each country’s unique employee data identifiers or maintain duplicate versions of the same onboarding forms for each country.

A new employee in India, for instance, won’t be prompted to enter a Social Security number since those are for U.S.-based employees only. Instead, their form will ask for their Universal Account Number, and instead of salary, the offer letter and compensation section of the employee profile will display the cost to company.

Provisioning

Rippling Unity’s differentiating feature from Gusto’s onboarding is that it automatically provisions the new employee’s access to apps and tools they need to do their job. The native onboarding function can automatically add new employees to certain Slack channels, for example. As a bonus, new employees can complete onboarding from Rippling’s mobile app.

Try Rippling

Gusto

Gusto’s Simple plan offers native, albeit limited, onboarding functionality along with the option to integrate with third-party recruiting software. So, similar to Rippling, Gusto customers have to upgrade to unlock access to Gusto’s native recruiting tools like job postings and the applicant tracking system (ATS).

Onboarding checklist

Gusto’s onboarding features support customized offer letters, but the Simple plan is not customizable and is designed for a primarily U.S.-based workforce. Gusto’s onboarding checklist includes suggestions of typical stages in the onboarding process which should suffice if you have basic onboarding procedures. If you want more control over what to include in your onboarding workflow, though, you’ll need to upgrade to Plus or Premium.

Provisioning

Gusto Simple helps set up a new employee’s email account via Microsoft 365 or Gmail, but it stops short of full-service app or device provisioning. Gusto also requires new employees to complete onboarding tasks on a desktop device, as Gusto doesn’t provide mobile access to onboarding.

Try Gusto

Which to choose for onboarding?

Rippling. Here’s why:

Comparing Rippling and Gusto’s native onboarding features available in their respective basic tiers, Rippling’s Unity platform includes more robust automated functionality. With Gusto, you have to upgrade to get access to the same kind of functionality. Rippling’s mobile experience also makes it easier for employees to finish onboarding from any device.

Try Rippling

Rippling vs. Gusto: Which software is right for you?

The primary differentiator between Rippling and Gusto is geographic focus: Rippling targets companies hiring internationally, while Gusto focuses on companies that operate in the United States. Moreover, Rippling’s modular structure offers enough flexibility to support a business at each stage of growth.

Small, established companies that want budget-friendly flexibility should go with Gusto. Conversely, startups and mid-sized companies poised for rapid growth will likely save money in the long run by opting for Rippling.

If neither software meets your company’s unique needs, explore other solutions on the market through our HR Software Guide​​.

About the author

Lauren Hansen is a former staff writer for TechnologyAdvice who specializes in HR technology and trends. When she’s not writing about technology trends, she’s working out or spending time with family.

The post Rippling vs Gusto appeared first on TechnologyAdvice.

What is the employee disciplinary action process?

The employee disciplinary action process is a series of corrective actions companies take following an employee’s unwanted behavior or violation of company policies or procedures. The goal is to correct issues before they worsen, not to punish, humiliate, degrade, or demotivate employees.

Although uncomfortable for human resources (HR) teams and people managers, having an employee disciplinary action process is necessary for all companies. With the right one in place, you can improve your compliance with labor laws, ensure employee productivity, and maintain safe working environments.

When to use disciplinary action

While certainly not exhaustive, the list below includes some of the most common examples that warrant the employee disciplinary action process.

*Note: some of these examples may warrant immediate termination depending on their severity.

When not to use disciplinary action

The disciplinary action process is not always the answer for every incident that occurs in the company. For example, it may not be the best approach to fix behavioral issues related to someone’s personality, like being too direct or forthcoming in meetings.

Similarly, performance issues, like failing to meet key performance indicators (KPIs) or objectives and key results (OKRs), don’t always qualify for disciplinary action. Unless you can prove it’s intentional, addressing poor performance through focused manager-employee one-on-ones, further training, or performance improvement plans (PIPs) can be more effective. You may even learn their poor performance results from work practices that contribute to burnout or employee unhappiness.

Gross misconduct or illegal acts may also warrant immediate termination instead of the disciplinary action plan process. For example, intentional destruction of property or purposefully injuring another may warrant immediate termination or legal repercussions instead of your typical corrective steps.

Approaches and types

Most employee disciplinary action plans take one of three approaches: positive, progressive, or a combination of both.

There are also various types of employee corrective actions. Below are some of the most common.*

*Note: Be careful if you have an employment contract with the employee or a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). You may be unable to take particular disciplinary action under these contracts.

Employee disciplinary process steps

The best disciplinary action plan for your business requires collaboration between managers, HR teams, and executives and a commitment to equitable and consistent processes among employees in similar situations. Use the steps below as a guideline for building out your disciplinary action process.

1. Review the laws

Most states, except for Montana, are at-will. At-will means you can fire an employee with or without reason, as long as it is not illegal. Disciplinary action is the same unless you have a CBA or employment contract that prevents you from taking specific steps.

However, you should be familiar with the laws of the states where your employees work. For example, most states prevent you from disciplining or firing employees for refusing to violate state law. Some examples include disciplining an employee for filing for workers’ compensation or refusing to come to work because of jury duty obligations.

2. Create a disciplinary action policy

You will need to align with all relevant stakeholders when creating your disciplinary action policy. Because it affects employees’ tenure with the company, your executive teams must agree on the policy’s approach, scope, and list of progressive discipline steps.

At a minimum, your disciplinary action policy should include the following elements.

If you find drafting your employee disciplinary action policy daunting, you can leverage services like professional employer organizations (PEOs), employers of record (EORs), or employment law attorneys for help. Alternatively, software platforms like SixFifty walk you through creating company policies unique to you while remaining compliant with federal and state laws.

Learn more about SixFifty in the video overview below:

3. Conduct a workplace investigation

A workplace investigation is a process to help understand the who, what, when, where, why, and how of an employee incident or offense. You may need to conduct a workplace investigation to determine whether an employee violated company policies before taking disciplinary action. Situations where it’s unclear who is at fault or complaints of employee wrongdoing are examples of when you should conduct a workplace investigation.

If the incident or allegations are serious, such as sexual harassment, you may need to place the accused on a temporary suspension or leave of absence to look further. The length of time should be reasonable and follow what you outlined in your policy.

During this time, learn as much about the incident as you can. Interview anyone involved and gather written witness statements. You should also collect other evidence like videos, emails, or texts from relevant company sources. Consulting with employment law attorneys is also helpful for more complicated or sensitive situations.

With evidence in hand, you will need to decide where to start in your disciplinary action process. If the investigation reveals that the employee’s behavior was a minor infraction, you might start from step one in your disciplinary action plan. On the other hand, gross misconduct may mean you skip your usual steps and go straight for termination.

4. Have a one-on-one meeting

The first step of most disciplinary action plans is a one-on-one meeting between the employee and their manager. Sometimes referred to as counseling sessions, managers use these informal meetings to notify employees of minor infractions. The goal is to inform employees of the unwanted behavior and quickly course-correct. It is also an opportunity to explain the negative effects of their behavior on the company, other employees, or the workplace.

These meetings should be an open dialogue between you and the employee and follow constructive feedback best practices. They should also occur as soon as reasonably possible after the offense so that the employee can associate their actions with your feedback.

Use this time to ask the employee questions and understand the reasoning for their actions — you might even realize your implicit biases are clouding your judgment. 

For example, during your conversation with an employee on their excessive tardiness, you might realize their lateness resulted from taking multiple kids to school on time in the morning. This challenges your prior belief that all tardy employees are “lazy.” With this knowledge, you can work with the employee to help them get to work on time, such as highlighting your commuter benefits or adjusting their start and end times.

Although these initial conversations are more informal, you should still document them, such as a quick note in the employee’s personnel file. Most HR software lets you upload documentation directly into employees’ electronic profiles. Other platforms, like Bob, let you schedule impromptu or regular meetings and create agendas, which help streamline and document disciplinary conversations for reference later.

5. Issue a formal warning

The next step is issuing a formal warning if the employee’s unwanted behavior escalates after two to three informal conversations. Formal warnings are official records of the employee’s infraction placed in their personnel file.

Formal warnings consist of both a meeting with the employee plus written documentation. Because this is the first official record of disciplinary action, it’s a good idea to include a reliable witness in the meeting with the manager and employee. Usually, that’s someone from the HR department, but it can also be another manager or administrator willing to bear witness.

The conversation should also cover the following:

Documentation of the warning should also include these same elements, plus an area for the manager, witness, and employee to sign and date.

You should also add a refusal acknowledgment section of the form should employees disagree with the warning. Employees can sign here to acknowledge they received the warning but disagree with it. You can also offer space for employees to explain why they disagree.

Remember to provide ample time for the employee to dispute or explain their side of the issue as you would during regular manager-employee conversations. Actively listen to their concerns and outline your appeal process every step of the way. Although some employees may offer excuses, others may have a legitimate need for accommodation, requiring follow-up conversations with HR or the legal team to resolve.

Most disciplinary action plans require two to three formal warnings before progressing to the next step. Some companies also distinguish between verbal and written warnings, with verbal warnings a less severe first step.

Despite the name, verbal warnings should follow the same process as written warnings, including thorough documentation. Besides helping you in the event of a lawsuit, employees can reference it to understand their expectations going forward.

6. Take last-chance actions

A last-chance action is the step in your disciplinary policy before termination. It occurs if the employee continues exhibiting behavior or performance issues after prior conversations and formal warnings.

Depending on your disciplinary action policy, what you decide to take as your last-chance action can differ. Some of the most common include:

Like formal warnings, document whatever last-chance action you take, including what led to the decision. Hold a conversation with the employee along with a reliable witness. Stress to the employee that this is their last chance to improve and that further infractions could lead to termination.

7. Recommend for termination

Termination is the last step in your disciplinary process. It occurs if the employee continues the same offenses after you’ve followed all prior disciplinary steps and provided ample resources and support to help the employee improve.

Because termination comes with several legal consequences, it’s always wise to consult with your HR department or employment law attorney before you have the termination conversation with the employee. If you have employment practices liability insurance (EPLI), check if you have access to an employer hotline to review the facts of your case and ensure termination is warranted.

Although unfortunate, remember that termination may be the best option if you followed the steps in your disciplinary action policy and did everything in your power to help the employee improve. Termination allows you to find a more effective team player and may even improve team morale.

8. Record your decisions and maintain consistency

Every disciplinary action or termination decision you make sets a precedent. Following your policy allows you to remain consistent with all employees in the same or similar situations. Record any deviations from policy and your reasoning for future reference.

Beyond that, a standardized disciplinary procedure you follow demonstrates your commitment to treating all employees fairly and consistently according to their circumstances.

Employee disciplinary action template download

Employee disciplinary action FAQs

Managing the employee disciplinary action process

Managing the employee disciplinary action policy can be stressful. It becomes even more so as your company grows and segments into different departments, divisions, and locations. Despite this, you must maintain and follow the same disciplinary procedures for all your employees.

Investing in effective HR software can simplify disciplinary management as you expand. Most platforms include a centralized human resources information system (HRIS) for tracking and storing personnel data and monitoring employment changes. Other features include policy templates, automated workflows, and e-signature capabilities for efficient document retention.

Training your managers and developing your HR department are also great strategies. Learning management systems (LMSs), like Coassemble, allow you to create courses for teaching leaders about the disciplinary process, including how to complete the necessary documentation. As a result, you can prepare your managers to handle situations, improve policy consistency, and foster more effective and constructive conversations with direct reports.

Interested in digitizing your disciplinary action process? Explore our HR Software Guide for platforms that fit your unique needs.

About the author

Jessica Dennis, a lead writer at TechnologyAdvice.com, specializes in HR software solutions for midsize businesses. With a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Michigan and over six years of HR compliance experience, she’s dedicated to researching and writing about software that balances employee satisfaction and engagement with the bottom line. In her free time, you can find her obsessing over her labrador retriever or jumping into the nearest body of water.

The post Employee Disciplinary Action Guide + Form Template appeared first on TechnologyAdvice.

POS is an acronym that stands for Point-of-Sale system. In short, a POS is a device/software/terminal configuration that facilitates the acceptance and processing of sales transactions, multiple forms of payment (credit cards, debit cards, digital payments, etc), and the calculation and collection of applicable sales taxes. 

Today’s POS system is not your grandfather’s cash register; modern POS systems have evolved into something entirely different. Your POS system is your business’s heart and pumps every enterprise’s cash flow. 

Read more: Best Restaurant POS Systems

What are the different types of POS systems?

Whether it’s a self-service kiosk, online POS system, terminal POS system, tablet-based POS system, mobile POS system, multi-channel, or open-source POS system, there are a multitude of POS systems to choose from that can be tailored to your unique needs, budget, and customer base. In short, the right POS system type and approach will best suit your individualized needs and demands. 

Following are some of the most common POS types found in retail businesses today.

Self-service POS kiosks 

These point-of-sale systems are designed to provide convenience and speed for the customer, reduce labor costs, and free employees to perform other functions. These are most popular and used at many fast-food or casual dining restaurants and other self-service businesses–gas stations, bank ATMS, hotels, hospital check-ins, retailers, etc. 

The obvious pros of using self-service kiosks are reductions in labor, expediting of the transaction and ordering process, preventing bottlenecks in placing orders or making purchases, reducing labor overhead and other associated costs (health insurance, worker’s comp costs), 24-7 operation, increased customer satisfaction, a reduction in order or communication errors, a reduction in paper receipts and ink costs, and the elimination of duplicate methods of order taking (orders are sent digitally to kitchen, counter, or waitstaff). It’s also an opportunity to market and upsell a customer quickly and non-intrusively.

The cons are few, but some customers still prefer someone to wait on them and enjoy human interactions or are intimidated by ordering via  machines.

This option is growing in popularity and is used by numerous enterprises, but it is still one of seven different POS systems that may be the best fit for your business.

Mobile Point of Sales systems

As the name implies, these POS systems work via smartphones. Typically, the POS provider provides the merchant with a simple small scanner that plugs into the merchant’s smartphone or tablet, and the software to run the POS solution is typically free. The POS solution provider also normally charges a percentage of each solution.

The pros to these systems are they typically don’t require contracts, hardware (just a tiny card reader), or tethered terminals. While these POS providers take a small percentage of sales, they don’t have any recurring fees or long-term agreements. 

Read more: Five Small Retail POS Systems with CRM Features

Tablet POS systems

Like mobile point of sales solutions and tablet POS systems that work with iPads (IOS) and Android-type tablets, like mobile POS solutions, they are portable or can also be used at a fixed retail location but allow more flexibility and mobility. Some POS types of systems charge a monthly or recurring fee, and others provide free software but charge a processing fee.

This may be an excellent solution for retailers, merchants, food and beverage vendors, small restaurants, coffee houses, cafes, juice bars, and other small retailers, hair salons, or commercial retailers.

Pros of the tablet POS option include mobility and the ability to add more hardware or peripherals, including barcode scanners, receipt printers, cash drawers, and static table stands. You can also perform inventory control and timecard tracking tasks.

Online POS sale solutions

This is an easy-to-use and low-cost POS solution or option because you can use existing hardware, tablets, laptops, or desktop computers to process your transactions, including high-ticket transactions. This may be the perfect solution for any merchant that doesn’t do high-volume, high-frequency sales; plus, just like mobile and tablet POS solutions, you can log in anywhere where you can access the internet or Wi-Fi.

This may be a great option if you’re a small retailer, salon, art gallery, consignment store, antique store, etc.

Multichannel POS systems

A multichannel POS system is a scalable point-of-sales system that integrates and manages sales across multiple sales channels within an enterprise. The most significant advantage of this POS type is the ability to consolidate all transactions, inventory management (reflecting real-time updates to stock levels), order management, and unified enterprises with an omnichannel sales approach—retail mortar sales, pickup, delivery, e-commerce, etc.

Open-source POS systems

First, let’s establish what the term open source means; this term refers to software or projects that use a source code that’s widely and freely available to everyone and for viewing, enhancement, modification, and even distribution. This kind of POS option allows individuals, communities, and organizations to easily collaborate, improve, modify, and build upon the original framework. 

What are the potential drawbacks of Open-source POS systems?

• Because the software is open source, there’s typically little support. You must rely on the “community” and others to trouble shoot issues.
• It requires technical expertise and skills to configure, maintain, and troubleshoot. If you run into issues, there’s no conventional customer support, and you may need to outsource this task or hire your own team or individual. This can add to labor costs and overhead, plus make you dependent on “experts.”
• Integration challenges. It will not seamlessly integrate with other proprietary solutions.
• Security concerns. As with proprietary (paid) software, open-source POS software can also face vulnerabilities. You must actively monitor security breaches and updates and apply patches promptly.
• Lack of built-in features. You will have to develop everything that you need, thus incurring potential additional costs and labor needs.

If you have the technical knowledge and experts on staff and demand the most open-source POS option, this might be the perfect solution for your business, but there will be better fits for most companies.

Terminal POS systems

A Terminal POS is a traditional type of POS for retailers. This is still a popular and relatively prevalent configuration or POS solution that has a hardware device (typically fixed) and is the physical “interface” for transactions between a merchant and a customer. Terminal POS systems integrate well with other business software, including accounting, inventory, CRM, and data management. These types of POS systems generate printed receipts, including sale details. 

Most Terminal POS systems use hardware/terminal (touchscreen), keypads, software, card readers, inventory management, receipt generation, and other peripherals or hardware.

This is a great POS system for retailers and larger enterprises that are typically more “tethered” to a physical location with checkout lanes, etc. 

Read more: Best POS for Customer Rewards

The future of POS solutions

We don’t claim to have a crystal ball, especially when it comes to predicting the future of POS, but a few trends or indicators are clear:

The adoption of Tablet and Mobile POS systems will accelerate due to increased market penetration, consumer demands and behavior, reductions in price, more flexibility, and the anywhere-anytime qualities of these two solutions.

How do you select the right POS for your business?

If you’ve read this far, thank you. As you may already be able to see, there are many options out there, and there are a lot of considerations to make when selecting a POS system solution for your business or enterprise.

We hope our quick analyses and brief overviews point you in the right direction, eliminate specific unsuitable POS systems or approaches, and find the perfect POS solution that meets all your demands, future needs, and budget. 

Check out our Retail Point-of-Sale Buyer’s Guide to help you along your journey.

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Whenever a voice call to a phone number is transmitted over the internet, you’re using what’s known as Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP. 

That’s it, that’s the whole answer. You’re done reading the article now, and you can return to scrolling LinkedIn, or Reddit. 

Unless, of course, you want to know things like, “Do I need to use VoIP?”, “How do I get started with VoIP?” or, “What should I look for in a VoIP provider?”

If questions like those are still burning, we recommend you keep reading, as you’ll find answers to the same in the sections below.

What is a VoIP phone system?

As mentioned above, VoIP calls are just like phone calls. The key difference here is the communication lines that carry the signal. Old school phones used phone lines, while VoIP transmits over a broadband connection. That’s the long and short of it.

In practical terms, though, there are a number of functional differences between the two approaches. Phone lines are comparatively limited in what they can transmit. VoIP, meanwhile, offers more than just dial tones and answering machines—more on that below. With the right setup, you can even call from, or to, a computer instead of just a landline.

Other advantages of VoIP include advanced, app-enabled functions like call forwarding, call recording, remote access, click-to-dial, and a host of others.

But hold up: How did we get from rotary phones to desktop-powered long-distance calls, anyway?

VoIP history crash course

Once upon a time, nearly every home in the United States had a fixed, permanent phone, referred to as a landline. If it seems odd that we’re explaining that bit, it’s because you’re among the crowd old enough to remember “the before times”, in contrast to those who have never heard the phrase “touch tone phone.” 

Those landlines were, at one point, the only way to contact the outside world without leaving the building. Even once faxes and computers started facilitating more complex long-distance communication, it happened over phone lines. We old timers can still likely recall the siren song of the dial-up connection. 

At some point, though, the dynamic began to reverse itself, and these days, it’s often the phone calls that are carried over internet connections, rather than the other way around. Initially, VoIP systems were more or less identical to landline systems, albeit with some additional equipment to make the proper encoding possible. However, they didn’t stay equivalent options for long.

Major changes were less obvious to those using personal phones. With most individuals and families cutting cords over the years and replacing landlines with a house full of mobile phones, these use cases migrated from phone lines to cell towers, rather than to broadband connections. For businesses, though, VoIP was a huge step forward.

Perhaps you recall the kinds of internal phone networks at schools, call centers, and other sizeable organizations, where you had to do things like “dial 9 to call an external number.” The setup and infrastructure required to make all of that work properly, so calls could be put on hold, or forwarded, or connected to multiple parties, was complex, costly, and finicky. 

Combine that with all of the installations required to enable internet access to team members across the building, and what you had was a logistical nightmare for IT staff. What VoIP did was allow teams to use that internet infrastructure for both. With the right encoders and software, all a team member needed was a phone that could plug into their computer, and they could make calls right from their workstation. No additional phone line required. 

And it only got better from there.

Benefits of using a VoIP system

Ok, internet stuff is cool and all, but what makes it better than a standard phone line, other than needing less setup?

Put simply, VoIP offers quite a few upgrades over what landlines can provide. Even where phone lines can be set up to facilitate similar features, it’s less convenient, more complex, and usually comes at higher cost.

Think of it like the difference between recording a TV show on a VHS or DVR, and streaming it online. Both essentially do the same thing. But one is a lot more handy than the other in nearly every way. 

We’ll dig into some of the specifics down below, but most of the advantages can be boiled down to three primary aspects: lower costs, better features, and enhanced UX.

VoIP achieves lower service costs because:

• You don’t have to pay for a separate phone line for every staff member
• You’re not paying separately for phone and internet service connections
• You’re not paying for distinct phone system hardware, as any VoIP hardware can be integrated into the existing computer infrastructure
• You’re not shelling out extra for long-distance or international calls in most cases

VoIP also offers better features:

• Call forwarding (that’s much easier to use)
• Caller ID and voicemail (of course), plus blocking, call scheduling, call recording, and more
• Remote access (so you can use VoIP systems from anywhere), remote management, and user access management
• Voice recognition, voice analysis, and advanced data intelligence

Finally, VoIP provides a better user experience:

• Easier to set up, easier to use
• Less maintenance, shorter onboarding time
• Better self-service education and troubleshooting
• Remote access, remote troubleshooting, remote maintenance, remote management

Does VoIP have any drawbacks?

Despite these benefits, there are a few potential issues that leveraging internet connections this way introduces to the equation. 

First and foremost, VoIP requires an active internet connection and enough bandwidth to support the throughput. While you don’t need a dedicated line for each user, your usage can exceed your provided access speeds. And you’re susceptible to internet outages and power outages, either of which render the solution non-functional. 

Even when you have a connection, limited bandwidth or unstable connections can lead to poor call quality, dropped calls, high latency, and other interference. Any user connected via a wireless connection is particularly vulnerable to these issues, just as a mobile phone is when driving through tunnels or in dead zones. 

Information security can also be a concern as VoIP is vulnerable to cyber threats the same way any digital data is. A landline has to be “tapped,” or physically monitored via direct access, to be compromised. A network breach can happen from anywhere and at any time.

Finally, there are a few critical phone-related functions that don’t always work as intended when a VoIP is in play. The biggest of these is emergency services. Because calls are routed through servers and networks that could be anywhere in the world, a local 911 dispatch can’t see the origin address when a VoIP call comes in, slowing response times in the event of a crisis.

Ultimately, which solution is right is entirely contextual to you, your team, and your current circumstances. 

How to choose a VoIP provider

Knowing how to find a technology provider that won’t be a wasted investment is best practice for any business. To make sure you’re making the best decision, evaluate providers based on how well they match your needs for customer service, pricing, integrations, support and setup, and so forth.

When comparing VoIP providers, there are only a few aspects that are unique to this particular vertical, with the biggest concerns being:

• Required call volume—you’ll need a provider that can facilitate all of the simultaneous calls you be making
• Geographical boundaries—while “long-distance” doesn’t mean much anymore to most phone users, it can still apply to businesses, even those using VoIP, with international calls carrying the greatest potential costs
• Uptime—as mentioned above, VoIP doesn’t function without internet, but it also doesn’t function without the vendor’s system being online, so the reliability of both are major factors
• Security—not all calls traffic sensitive information, strictly speaking, but some do, and not all vendors offer the same level of security and privacy safeguards

Beginning your search

Even with a clear set of requirements in mind, sifting through all of the available providers can be daunting. Here are a few of our picks for leading VoIP providers, and the demographics who might find them the most useful.

RingCentral

RingCentral boasts, among other features, industry-leading HD video conferencing. For teams and organizations that are looking to get as close to “in-person” as possible via remote connections, RingCentral is one to look at.

Nextiva

Nextiva is a VoIP provider that prioritizes support for decentralized collaboration. With virtual workspaces, video conferencing, mobile connectivity, customer intelligence, and a whole lot more, Nextiva can help alleviate the pain points of “anywhere operations.”

Grasshopper

One of the biggest selling points of VoIP is how it can put enterprise-style tools in the hands of much smaller teams. With automated answering systems, live secretary services, and a variety of other features, Grasshopper helps growing teams easily supplement their current staff and tools, earning the same level of consideration as much larger brands.

Is a VoIP solution right for my business?

Not every organization necessarily needs a VoIP system or provider, just like not every business needs a landline. In some cases, a single landline or even several can meet the requirements of the use case. 

That being said, as most organizations scale, they inevitably run into the issues of complexity and cost that come with landline-based phone infrastructure. This is especially true for larger teams where every staff member needs a dedicated line (e.g. call centers, sales teams, customer support, etc.).

Since VoIP consolidates all communication to a single medium, organizations can avoid spending additional resources on a separate telecom service. And, since most VoIP software consolidates voice calls with functions like messaging, video calls, file libraries, and more, it can remove productivity roadblocks.

With the rise of generative language learning models, AI-powered analytics, and other significant advances in computer technologies, it’s hard to imagine landlines genuinely competing with VoIP for much longer. There may be a few fringe use cases that are better served by landline phone systems, but for just about everyone else, VoIP will likely be their telecom solution of choice sooner or later.

FAQs

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Hosted Private Branch Exchange (PBX) systems are growing in popularity because they are easy to use and do not require some of the bulky traditional phone equipment that can be expensive. Hosted PBX systems do not require hook switches that connect and disconnect traditional phone calls, copper wires, landline phones, or Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTNs) to operate.

What is a hosted PBX?

A hosted PBX is a cloud-based phone system that replaces the landline or traditional phones installed in business offices or residential homes. A cloud-based hosted PBX solution uses Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and the Internet to make and receive phone calls. A PBX service provider manages all equipment in a cloud-based data center, delivering secure and reliable phone services through an internet connection.

What is the difference between a hosted PBX and a non-hosted PBX system?

Cloud-based hosted PBX systems are maintained by the service provider. The service provider supports all the hardware at a data center for hosted PBX systems, including the data and software. The hosted PBX customer only requires VoIP phones, mobile phones, and a signaling device that behaves like a switch, allowing calls to be distributed to different telephones in an office setting. A hosted PBX system can also communicate with traditional phones over the PSTN.

A non-hosted PBX will have all its equipment on-premises, which the using organization maintains. A non-hosted PBX system can customize its features more than a hosted PBX system, allowing a business to customize its features to meet any unique business requirements. Non-hosted PBX systems connect to an internal device through an extension number, and non-hosted PBX systems need a SIP trunk to communicate over the PSTN. Non-hosted PBX systems allow more flexibility and scalability for growing organizations.

What is the technology behind a hosted PBX system?

Hosted PBX systems need a service provider, a VoIP phone, routers, category five cabling, and an Internet connection. Additionally, hosted PBX phone systems offer useful features, applications, and services, allowing management to configure options for each employee by using an application similar to RingCentral Admin Portal with a web browser.

What are the benefits of using a hosted PBX?

Significant cost savings are generated when a business does not have to purchase any physical infrastructure, eliminates maintenance costs, and requires no upgraded hardware purchases every 3-5 years. Besides cost savings, here are some other tangible benefits when using a hosted PBX phone system:

Flexibility

Hosted PBX solutions provide businesses with flexibility in multiple ways. Employees can connect to the cloud-hosted PBX from anywhere. Users can easily swap office calls from desk phones to softphones or mobile devices and answer calls in transit. The flexibility built into a hosted VoIP system allows you to reach out to customers virtually or with a toll-free number remotely or in the office.

Plug-and-play hosted telephone system

The plug-and-play hosted PBX can have a business up and running quickly with a miniscule impact on operations. The training involved in learning how to use the hosted VoIP system is easy to absorb due to the intuitive interface.

Cloud hosted PBX systems enhance customer support

The call routing feature accepts inbound and outbound calls, including sending emails and performing web and chat sessions from anywhere using the cloud contact center module, improving customer service responsiveness. The contact center module improves call resolution times and provides training that helps new call agents learn how to use the PBX system quickly.

Increase redundancy and disaster recovery

Hosted PBX phone system service providers have dedicated resources and servers in different cities worldwide with multiple transit providers. The software-based failover mechanism is automatic, meaning an event or natural disaster that occurs can initiate the failover servers and redundant routes to be operational in seconds.

Advanced features

Cloud-hosted PBX provides access to advanced features at no extra cost including call control, call recording, queues, and wallboards, and a visual display of data showing real-time information related to provided PBX services available.

Real-time monitoring and analysis

A hosted VoIP PBX system provides real-time statistics and monitoring of all missed or ongoing calls. The real-time monitoring can evaluate each call agent’s performance that can be collated into a report for further analysis using statistical tools to generate the average time per call and the median of all calls. 

Hosted VoIP PBX systems are secure and reliable 

Cloud-based PBX systems encrypt and store data off-site, making it more difficult for attackers to access. The service provider manages and executes the software upgrades, firewalls, and security patches using their skilled IT professionals to ensure the VoIP system is secure and functioning correctly around the clock.

Collaboration improves when using a hosted PBX system

A hosted PBX solution enhances communication with its availability of different communication options, including video conference calls, chat or web sessions, and audio calls available anytime and anywhere. Users can create workspaces for chat sessions or video conference calls to discuss an unplanned emerging issue if required.

What are the key features of a hosted PBX?

Hosted PBX systems provide many advanced features that would cost money if you were using a traditional PSTN phone, and some of these features are not available on traditional phones. Cloud PBX systems include in their solution auto-attendants that route calls without human intervention, call-forwarding, voicemail-to-email, conference calls, chat sessions, and other useful features, such as:

Case studies of successful PBX implementation

PerryGolf

PerryGolf is a company that specializes in high-end golf trips around the world, and it was founded in 1984 by two brothers. Before PerryGolf selected VirtualPBX as their service provider, they constantly faced communication challenges due to a lack of integration with offices in different continents. 

After PerryGolf selected the new service provider, VirtualPBX, Gordon Dalgleish, the co-founder of Perry Golf, said, “At the end of the day, our business has grown because of a high service level. We deal with type A personalities that have high service expectations. We sell a premium service. We’ve got a premium brand. At the same time, we’ve got to deliver the service.” 

Using VirtualPBX, a premium VoIP solution provider, has successfully met PerryGolf’s expectations for eighteen years by removing the disconnect between the United States and United Kingdom business offices. 

1^st Classic Transportation

Another one of VirtualPBX’s customers raved about their 7/24 customer support and the features and affordability of the VirtualPBX solution. Christopher Fagbolu, the president and CEO of 1^st Classic Transportation, provides limousine transportation services from the airport to specific locations for executives and leisure customers. 

Texting and other communication options, like the softphone on mobile devices, helped Mr. Fagbolu’s company overcome the lockdown challenges during the COVID pandemic. 

Mr. Fagbolu stated, “VirtualPBX is more affordable with more features in comparison with other phone system providers, and we intend to use it more vigorously to communicate with customers.”

How does a hosted PBX work?

A hosted PBX solution requires businesses to have a reliable internet connection, a proven host PBX service provider, and the VoIP phones provided by the service provider. VoIP phone calls work similar to when an email is sent. When you use your VoIP phone to call a traditional telephone, the call will traverse to your hosted PBX service provider. 

Since this call is going to a residential phone number in this example, it will be transferred to the PSTN by the hosted PBX data center equipment that converts the digital signal to an analog signal before it reaches the PSTN. Inside the PSTN, the call continues to move through gateways until it reaches the nearest central office where the recipient lives, and the person receiving the call is notified by ringing their phone. The process works in reverse, using gateways to convert analog calls to a digital format when a traditional phone user calls a VoIP number.

VoIP calls to a mobile device will be converted to a digital signal and transmitted over the Internet. The signal will be converted to analog before reaching its destination so the caller and the person called can communicate. VoIP calls to another VoIP device use the Internet. See Figure 1.

What are some reputable cloud-based providers?

With any service you purchase, you want to be sure it meets your business needs. One of the best ways to start looking for the best hosted PBX service providers is to use a reputable source that has already evaluated the best PBX service providers. The evaluation includes pricing, key features, and a 5-point rating evaluation. This type of homework is already done for you. Use the link here as a starting point for evaluating the selected cloud-based PBX service providers: Best cloud-hosted PBX service providers for business in 2023

How to choose the right hosted PBX provider

There are a lot of factors to consider when trying to select the best hosted PBX provider for your organization. Your potential growth rate is one of the first considerations for picking a PBX service provider if your business grows. As a growing organization, you want the same service provider to meet your future needs. So, a service provider that caters to small to mid-size businesses is not a good match, even if the cost is cheaper than that of other providers. So, scalability is an important factor. Does the payment plan and cost meet your needs today, and will they in five years when you add inflation into today’s prices?

What are your essential features needed? Does the service provider offer those features, and how do the features compare operationally to another vendor? Whatever you have read needs to be evaluated and tested to be sure the most crucial feature you need works as advertised. Customer support is another important consideration. So, will your company need 24/7 support, or does your organization only need twelve hours daily for weekday support? If you can evaluate your company with these considerations, you will likely be happy with your selected PBX service provider. 

VoIP and PBX

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is an essential component of a PBX service provider, including customer service and call center software. A good question to ask a PBX service provider is what customer service software and call center software solutions are integrated with your PBX solution to provide the best customer support to your customers. Here are additional software products to evaluate that can be featured partners of a PBX vendor solution:

• Call Center Software
• Customer Service Software 
• Best VoIP Software and PBX Providers

You may or may not select any of the products reviewed, but reviewing the links provided should give you a baseline that helps clarify the exact products you want in an integrated hosted PBX service provider solution that includes vital customer support requirements to meet the full complement of your business needs.

FAQs

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