Top 10 Centralized Communication Tools for Small Businesses

In today’s fast-paced business world, communication is key to success. Many businesses rely on tools like Google and Slack to streamline communication and collaboration efforts. And while these tools offer benefits like real-time messaging and file sharing, depending on individual tools can lead to communication silos, confusion and a drop in productivity.

Business owners need communication systems to provide a seamless and integrated experience, and the truth is, most of them only provide one solution.

Maintain your sanity, reduce confusion and improve productivity using a centralized communication platform. Here are our top 10.

1. Thryv Command Center

If you feel like you’re fighting to keep up with customers or perhaps feel like you’ve lost customers due to poor communication, Thryv Command Center is the cure-all for communication struggles.

With this forever free* platform, you can take control of your incoming calls and more with a powerful all-in-one inbox that helps your team respond quickly and communicate effectively — whether they’re talking to customers or each other.

Get ready to change how you work forever.

Best suited for those small and medium businesses communicating on multiple platforms, like:

• Construction and home services
• Accounting and financial services
• Health and wellness businesses
• Automotive businesses
• Real estate companies
• Law firms
• Educational institutions

Thryv truly gives businesses all the tools they need in one place.

—Danny B.

Features:

• Inbox: It’s time to improve how you communicate. Stop playing tab roulette while checking emails and social media. Thryv’s Command Center inbox combines 12+ customer channels into one spot with a single, easy-to-use inbox. Access customer communication history with ease and reach your customers where they already are.
• Phone & video calls: When a situation calls for a live conversation or face-to-face, hop on a call in-app or connect via video with one click and get a clear view of the client’s concerns so you can correct them quickly. The best part is voice and video calls are held right alongside your inbox so you can stay on top of everything at a glance. You’ll also receive automatically generated voicemail transcripts that make it easy to quickly find and reference information.
• TeamChat: Stay connected with your team and find the information you need fast. Teamchat allows your business to send direct messages and set up group chats to keep your staff up to date. Share and markup photos to give your team a clear view of concerns and plans of action. Open TeamChat in a separate window to receive real-time notifications and messages without interrupting your workflow in Thryv.

*Terms and conditions apply. Free plans have limited functionality. Upgraded plans with more functionality are available for a fee. See https://corporate.thryv.com/terms/ for plan and pricing details.

2. Weave

Weave is an all-in-one communication platform with a phone system and a suite of communication tools.

Best suited for those working in healthcare seeking a patient management system or looking to expand locations, like:

• Primary care physicians
• Dental offices
• Home health aid agencies

Features:

• Unified platform: Because every customer communication is in one place, there’s no need for multiple communication platforms.
• Text messaging: Businesses can reach more patients directly on their phones with Weave’s Bulk Texting feature.
• Phones: With Call POP, businesses can see customers’ information when they call in, which helps provide a personalized experience.

 3. Nextiva

Nextiva is a cloud-based communication solution with various tools to aid in effective communication with clients.

Best suited for those working in technology and experiencing high call volumes like:

• FinTech firms
• IT businesses
• Solar power companies
• Telecommunications
• Loan lenders

Features:

• Phone: Nextiva uses CallPop to help businesses have better conversations and personalize services as customer calls come in. Information on the last interaction with the customer appears on the contact card to help small businesses adjust to fit their customers’ needs.
• Social Media: The social media managing feature allows businesses to monitor social channels, engage with customers and analyze platform performance all from one place.
• Contact Center: Businesses that experience high call volumes can see the number of calls in queue, number of abandoned calls average call time and more. This feature connects with their phone system.

 4. Podium

Podium is an all-in-one marketing and communication platform to grow, connect with customers and simplify operations.

Best suited for those businesses that rely on customer interaction and online reviews:

• Automotive businesses
• Retail companies
• Construction and homes services

Features:

• Text Messaging: Businesses can launch a text messaging campaign with personalization.
• Webchat: Chat with current and potential customers straight from your website with the Webchat feature.
• Inbox: View and respond to chats, reviews, texts, Facebook messages and phone calls in the inbox.

 5. RingCentral

RingCentral is a cloud-based business communications solution that include message, video, phone and contact center services.

Best suited for those small businesses wanting their personal number back, like:

• Real estate professionals
• Repair businesses
• Nail technicians

Features:

• Phone: Business phone numbers are provided to free up a personal line, add a vanity number or create a toll-free number. Video meetings are also available.
• Text: Use SMS to text and engage customers for things like appointment reminders, promotions and more
• Team messaging: Built-in messaging for chatting, sharing files and managing tasks with your team.

6. DialPad

Dialpad is a cloud-based phone, video conferencing and online meeting solution.

Best suited for those businesses with high call volumes like:

• Travel and hospitality agencies
• Insurance companies
• Telemarketing centers

Features:

• AI Meetings: Real-time transcription and call summaries help with clarifying discrepancies, catching up any staff that missed the meeting and seeking out ways your employees can improve what and how they’re communicating.
• AI Contact Center: Provides insights into customer behavior and preferences. Consider this machine learning tool as built-in additional training.
• Phone: Set up custom routing rules and easily forward calls to your smartphone or a specific team.

7. Front

Front is a customer operations platform for support, sales and account management teams.

Best suited for businesses with equally as high internal and external communications, like:

• Transportation companies
• Insurance firms
• Property management companies

Features:

• Shared Inbox: This feature allows businesses to manage their team’s emails and other communications in one place, making it easier to stay on top of messages. A key feature is the ability to assign messages to team members and track progress.
• Internal Discussion: Team members can create internal discussions around specific topics and projects. These discussions can be easily accessed by team members.

8. Trengo

Trengo is an omnichannel communication platform that unifies all messaging channels into one single view.

Best suited for businesses with high volumes of customer contact during peak seasons, like:

• Real estate companies
• Financial services
• Travel agencies

Features:

• Multichannel Inbox: With this feature, companies can communicate with customers on various channels such as email, social media, WhatsApp, chat and more.
• Automated Bots: While Chatbots handle all the frequently asked questions, your team can handle those more complex customer inquiries.

9. Missive

Missive is an application that manages shared inboxes and collaborates around emails.

Best suited for businesses that rely on collaboration and communication, like:

• Marketing
• Advertising
• Computer software

Features:

• Team Inbox: The shared inbox means teams can work together to address incoming emails, join forces to draft emails, assign messages and track them to completion.
• Chat: Missive’s built-in chat feature allows teams to communicate in real time, discuss projects and share files.

10. MessageBird

MessageBird is a cloud-based SMS marketing platform that brings multiple communication of channels into one place.

Best suited for those working in already overcomplicated industries working internationally:

• Computer software businesses
• IT companies
• Financial services

Features:

• Text: Deliver and receive messages around the world with more than 240 direct-to-carrier connections.
• Phone: Users can set up localized numbers in over 140 countries. And MessageBird’s ability to anonymize calls keeps both customer and employee information private and secure.
• AI-Powered Inbox: This AI addition also offers your teams quick-reply suggestions and corrections on drafts before they hit the send button.