RingCentral vs Microsoft Teams: Head-to-Head Comparison

Choosing between RingCentral vs Microsoft Teams depends on whether your business needs a complete virtual phone system or a platform highlighting chat messaging and video conferencing.

Let’s compare RingCentral vs Microsoft Teams and review each platform’s features, pricing, pros, cons, and use cases.

• At a Glance
• What is RingCentral?
• What is Microsoft Teams?
• Pricing Overview
• Feature Comparison
• Pros and Cons
• Which to Choose?

RingCentral vs Microsoft Teams at a Glance

The main difference between RingCentral and Microsoft Teams is that RingCentral emphasizes a phone system, while Microsoft Teams emphasizes a business communications platform with chat and video.

RingCentral’s phone system bundles VoIP, team chat, and video conferencing–plus real-time analytics, call monitoring, and routing features like call queueing and IVR. Its video meetings include dynamic features like breakout rooms, automatic AI summaries, and live transcription, supporting up to 200 participants per meeting. It’s a complete UCaaS platform accessible on desktop and mobile.

Microsoft Teams offers a business communications platform that includes collaborative video and chat features but no built-in phone system. Teams users can purchase Microsoft Teams calling plans separately, or integrate a third-party phone software, but Microsoft Teams on its own does not include VoIP calling. Therefore, it’s more of a team collaboration app than a unified communications platform.

What is RingCentral?

RingCentral is a business phone system and unified communications solution offering team messaging, VoIP telephony, SMS text messaging, and video meetings for up to 200 participants. Available on desktop and mobile, the app also includes analytics, auto attendants, IVR, call queueing, call monitoring, team collaboration tools, and advanced voicemail features.

What is Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams is a cloud-based business communication platform for video meetings, team chat, and document collaboration. The Teams App is accessible via web browser as well as desktop and mobile devices. Top features include a built-in calendar for meeting scheduling, AI-enhanced video calling, and a wide variety of message-formatting options.

Teams Phone, a VoIP phone system with routing and queues, comes in separate pricing plans but integrates seamlessly with the rest of the Microsoft Teams app.

RingCentral vs Microsoft Teams: Pricing Overview

RingCentral offers four phone system pricing plans, which range from $20 to $35 monthly per user:

• Core ($20 monthly): Unlimited voice calling in the US and Canada, 25 monthly SMS per user, team chat, and video conferencing for 100 participants. Phone system has basic call queues and multi-level IVR and video meetings include collaborative tools like whiteboards, AI insights, and breakout rooms.
• Advanced ($25 monthly): Adds automatic call recording, call monitoring with whisper and barge, real-time analytics, 100 monthly SMS per user, and access to over 300 integrations
• Ultra ($35 monthly): Adds unlimited HD video and whiteboards, advanced and custom analytics, 200 monthly SMS per user, and unlimited file sharing

Microsoft Teams offers six total plans–three collaboration-app plans and three bundled phone plans. Plans range from $4 to $18 monthly per user.

• Microsoft Teams Essentials ($4 monthly): Team chat and 30-hour video meetings with up to 300 participants. 10 GB cloud storage per user, live meeting captions, whiteboards, file sharing, task assignment, and polling
• Microsoft 365 Business Basic ($6 monthly): Custom business email addresses, 1 TB cloud storage per user
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard ($12.50 monthly): Desktop versions of Microsoft Office apps like Word and PowerPoint, webinars with attendee management, video editing tools
• Teams Essentials with Phone ($8 monthly): Bring-your-own calling provider–includes queuing, auto attendant, call transcription, video, and team chat
• Teams Phone Pay-As-You-Go Bundle ($10 monthly): Pay-as-you-go calling plan with call queuing, auto attendant, call transcription
• Teams Phone Domestic Bundle ($16 monthly): Domestic calling plan with 3000 monthly minutes inside the US, UK, and Canada–or 1,200 monthly minutes elsewhere around the world

RingCentral vs Microsoft Teams: Feature Comparison

Below, we’ve compared key features for RingCentral vs Microsoft Teams:

• Phone system
• Team messaging
• Video conferencing
• Reporting and analytics

Phone System

Summary: RingCentral’s phone system offers more advanced features like call monitoring and real-time analytics, while Microsoft Teams offers business phone numbers from more countries.

RingCentral Phone System

RingCentral’s virtual phone system includes routing, queueing, and voicemail features. Get set up in minutes with local, toll-free, and vanity business phone numbers around the world, or port in pre-existing numbers. All RingCentral plans include unlimited HD voice calls within the US and Canada.

The RingCentral network provides full calling service in over 45 countries, with inbound call reception in over 105 countries.

Use the RingCentral app to make calls from any device, or flip between devices on call. Administrators can manage queue settings, customize call handling, and retain a live view of call center activity with real-time analytics.

RingCentral Phone System Features:

• Multi-level auto attendant: A self-service phone menu that routes customers to the correct user. Customize menu options and submenus, using typed announcements or recorded audio files.
• Visual voicemail: A searchable voicemail log with voicemail transcriptions. Users can automatically forward voicemail audio and transcriptions to email and SMS.
• Advanced call handling: Administrators can monitor calls, whisper privately to an agent, barge into the call, or take it over entirely.
• Unlimited conference calls: With up to 1000 attendees per conference
• Call management features: In addition to call flip, agents can utilize call forwarding, transfer, screening, and call park
• Call queues: Group agents together to share particular types of inbound calls. Queues can support up to 25 simultaneous customers on hold.
• Ring groups: Instead of placing customers on hold like a queue, ring groups allow you to customize ring order and ring time. Ring styles include round robin, simultaneous ring, or custom sequential order.
• Business phone numbers: RingCentral offers DID numbers from roughly 100 countries worldwide
• Call recording: Select on-demand or automatic call recording, storing recordings in the app
• Call monitoring: Supervisors can monitor calls by listening in quietly, joining the call, or taking it over entirely

Microsoft Teams Phone System

Microsoft Teams Phone is a cloud-based phone system with basic routing features, plus flexible provider and network options.

With Microsoft’s Operator Connect feature, integrate your own operator with the Teams Phone app. This option allows you to take advantage of Teams Phone routing and voicemail features, with VoIP and PSTN calling that utilizes your on-premise PBX system. Or, integrate the mobile provider you already use, adding mobile identities and phone numbers to Teams.

Alternatively, companies can use Microsoft as a VoIP provider, to purchase business numbers around the globe–including toll-free and vanity numbers. Customize a routing system and call nearly any number around the world. Teams Phone offers a pay-per-minute plan or a domestic plan with preset monthly minutes and unlimited inbound calls.

Microsoft Teams Phone Features:

• App interface: The Calls tab displays a dial pad, call log, contact list, and parked calls section
• Call management: Merge, hold, park, and transfer live calls with one click
• Device transfer: Flip calls between devices instantly
• Voicemail: Visual voicemail inbox with playback and transcription
• Call recording and transcription: Live transcription with playback options afterward
• Live call health: Agents can view call audio quality and performance in real-time, within the call window
• Call logs: Searchable records of call details including time of day, duration, caller, and recipient
• Business phone numbers: RingCentral offers business phone numbers in 196 countries globally–a larger offering than most other VoIP providers
• Auto attendants
• Call queues
• Ring groups

Team Messaging

Summary: RingCentral team messaging includes helpful task assignment and file storage features, while Microsoft Teams offers richer message-formatting options and video-messaging capabilities.

RingCentral Team Messaging

Use the RingCentral MVP app to chat, participate in group channels and threads, share files, manage tasks, create events, and collaborate on shared documents.

Create 1:1 chats, group chats, and add external members by email. Within a chat, start side threads, share gifs, react with emojis, and customize font. Connect hundreds of apps–including DocuSign, DropBox, and Google Workspace–to share dynamic files accessible directly from the chat thread.

Stay organized by bookmarking, pinning, or creating folders for files and messages. Use the search bar to filter conversation history by keyword, participant, or file.

Use one-click buttons to jump into an ad hoc team huddle, schedule a video meeting directly within chat, start an audio call, or share your screen. Create color-coded, interactive task lists to keep team members updated.

Microsoft Teams Messaging

Microsoft Teams chat offers rich text-formatting and sharing options.

Create 1:1 and group chats with one click, adding new users simply by typing their names. All conversations are organized on the left-hand menu.

Send files, emojis, gifs, stickers, calendar invites, and collaborate on tools like whiteboards. Translate, share, bookmark, and save messages with one click. Mute or pin conversations, customize notification settings, and manage read receipts.

Search a conversation’s shared files and save them to your personal OneDrive. In your OneDrive app, sort files into Shared with You and Shared by You.

Other Microsoft Teams Chat Features:

• Rich message formatting: Custom font and size, bolding, highlighters, and inserted links
• Visual planning tools: Within chat, create an interactive table, checklist, bulleted or numbered list, or task list
• Video clips: Quickly record, trim, and send video clips for a personal touch
• Chat with self: Ideal for notes and storing message drafts
• Schedule send: Schedule messages, calendar invites, and announcements
• Threads: Create message threads that don’t derail the larger conversation
• One-click escalation to video or audio call

File Sharing and Collaboration in Microsoft Teams Chat

Use Teams to store, share, and co-edit documents through channels, chat, or video meetings. With Microsoft SharePoint and OneNote embedded into Teams, share documents from Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Manage file access and co-author a document with dozens of teammates at once, while chatting or participating in a video meeting on the side. All documents remain organized in OneNote and your Files tab.

Video Conferencing

Summary: RingCentral and Microsoft Teams both offer interactive meetings with useful tools like breakout rooms, live transcriptions, and AI-based summaries. While RingCentral offers more insightful post-meeting summaries, Microsoft Teams offers more dynamic document co-editing.

RingCentral Video Conferencing

Create and host HD video meetings with up to 200 participants and no time limit. Join from any device or directly from a call or chat–no download required.

Create recurring meetings, set meeting details, invite participants, and schedule meetings in integrated calendar apps like Outlook or Google. Each new meeting generates a password and invite link. This ease of use and potential for customer collaboration is part of why video conferencing is expected to continue with a 12.5% annual growth rate over the next 8 years.

RingCentral Video Meetings Features:

• Advanced meeting insights: AI-generated meeting recaps including summaries, highlights, topics discussed, keywords, and transcripts. Insights are accessible in the Videos tab and relevant team chat channels.
• Live transcription: Captions include speaker identification to know who said what, even within large groups
• Integrated camera: The presenter can integrate their video within the presented content, choosing where they’d like to appear
• Auto-follow: The camera follows the presenter’s movements
• Breakout rooms: Split participants into smaller groups for brainstorming and collaboration
• AI-powered background noise reduction
• Participant emoji reactions
• Digital collaborative whiteboard

Microsoft Teams Video Conferencing

Schedule and join HD-video meetings within the Microsoft Teams desktop and mobile app interface. Meetings support up to 300 internal or external participants, and the Business Standard plan supports webinars with up to 1000 attendees. Meetings and virtual events have a 30-hour time limit. In-meeting chat, on-demand or automatic meeting recording, custom backgrounds, and virtual hand-raising are also available.

In the Teams Calendar tab, customize meeting details including title, date, schedule, and location. Share the meeting on any team channel and attach an agenda, notes, or task list. Users can join meetings directly from channels, chats, or shareable link.

Top Microsoft Teams Video Meetings Features:

• Together mode: An immersive digital background that displays all participants in a shared virtual setting and lets hosts assign attendee seats
• Live presentations: Each viewer’s device has its own interactive slide deck with multi-lingual live subtitles, “pinch to zoom,” and slide scrolling. One-click audience feedback and post-meeting surveys are also available.
• Meeting recap: Summaries are accessible in teams channels or the Videos tab and include the audio recording, transcript, and any collaborative in-meeting files like notes, whiteboards, documents, etc.
• Live captions: Including translation into 40 languages
• Speaker coach: Real-time AI speaker assistance and performance feedback, including speaker pacing, audience check-in reminders, etc.
• Live collaboration: Like in chat, video teams can co-author web-based documents in programs like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Screen sharing: Hosts can assign co-presenters to manage slide transitions. If enabled, audience members can scroll forward and backward through the slide deck.
• Collaborative annotation: Multiple team members can collaborate on screen-shared content or whiteboards with text, sticky notes, reactions, and digital ink

Reporting and Analytics

Summary: RingCentral offers advanced real-time business analytics that covers queue reports and agent performance, while Microsoft Teams offers more basic team usage reports and call logs.

RingCentral Reporting and Analytics

RingCentral real-time and historical analytics include KPIs monitoring agent performance, channel usage, and quality of service. Use pre-built report templates, design your own, automate reporting intervals, and instantly send reports to select users.

RingCentral Live and Historical Reports:

• Real-time queue dashboards: A bird’s-eye-view of call volume, active vs available agents, service level rating, number of customers on hold, abandoned vs answered calls, etc.

• Agent performance: Calls answered, calls missed, inbound and outbound call volume, average talk time, hold time, and handle time

• Performance summaries: A grid view comparing general call statistics for agents and locations

• Quality of service reports: Overall quality score of calls and meetings, quality scores of individual devices, and trends in quality vs volume

• Adoption trends: Total messages sent, video meetings hosted, inbound and outbound calls made, and company employees actively using each channel

Microsoft Teams Reporting and Analytics

Microsoft Teams offers historical reports and insights about channel usage and user activity.

Microsoft Teams Reports:

• Teams usage report: Measures the total number of active users, active users within each channel and team, the number of active channels, and the number of messages sent
• User activity report: Measures the total number of active internal users and the following for each user–number of messages sent, calls made, meetings participated, and last activity date
• Device usage report: Measures how many users access the Teams app from each type of device
• Live event report: For each event–total views, start time, organizer, presenter, and more

RingCentral and Teams Pros & Cons

Which Phone System Should You Choose?

The best phone system for your company depends on your size, budget, and communication goals.

If your team’s main priorities are phone services like VoIP calling and routing, but you still want additional communication tools like chat and video, RingCentral’s multichannel pricing plans make a good option. With collaborative and customer-facing communication features, it makes sense why the UCaaS industry is experiencing a 13.9% annual growth rate.

Alternatively, if you want a collaboration platform with only video and chat, Microsoft Teams beats all competitors. Teams already using multiple Microsoft 365 apps–like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel–will appreciate Microsoft’s web-based co-authoring with those tools. Those with low call volumes should look to Teams Phone for pay-as-you-go options. If based outside the US or Canada, Teams Phone domestic options will fit your needs.