About Intermedia

Category: VoIP
Intermedia Unite combines telephone service, video conferencing, team chat, and file management. Innovative features include auto attendant, hunt groups, presence, as well as integrations with its contact center product and third-party productivity tools.

Company: Intermedia

Intermedia cloud communications is a company whose stated goal is to help businesses connect better through a whole series of services including voice, video conferencing, chat, contact centers, business email and productivity applications, file sharing and backup, security, archiving, and all from any connected location.  Intermedia wants to eliminate the need for multiple communication providers by becoming the one-stop shop for all business communication needs.  Founded in 1991 in Sunnyvale California, it has made a name for itself and a substantial legacy that spans over three decades.

About the Intermedia Unite service

Intermedia Unite is a business communication solution that combines telephone service, video conferencing, team chat, and file management all in a single cloud-based offering.  The service includes innovative and advanced features including auto attendant, hunt groups, presence, as well as integrations with its contact center product, as well as third-party business productivity applications.

Unite Pro
$27.99
/mo
30-day money-back guarantee
Unite Enterprise
$32.99
/mo
30-day money-back guarantee

In-Depth Analysis

0 Price
0 Ease Of Use
0 Features
0 Help And Support

Pros

  • Offers free desk phone, webcam, or headset with a new Unite subscription
  • Users report excellent quality and uptime that matches their 99.999% uptime SLA
  • Contact with staff on the phone and via email was pleasant and helpful
  • Overall quality of support was more than satisfactory

Cons

  • Somewhat costly compared with other similar services
  • Deliver a comparatively limited number of integrations with 3rd party applications
  • No way to get up and running within the day since contact with a sales rep is required
Plans & Pricing

Intermedia offers five products for voice and communications. These products include Intermedia Unite, Intermedia Contact Center, AnyMeeting Video Conferencing, AnyMeeting Webinars, and SIP Trunking.

Unite Pro
$27.99
/mo
30-day money-back guarantee
Get Started
Unite Enterprise
$32.99
/mo
30-day money-back guarantee
Get Started
Ease of Use

The free Intermedia Unite app on an Android mobile device is very simple to install, as well as to use. It is as intuitive as using a telephone. Similarly, the free desktop software application was also easy to set up. The telephony features were easy to use, and browsing the outgoing, incoming, and missed call lists was trivial. There is a very small learning curve to get up and running with the service.
The HostPilot administration dashboard that is used for all Intermedia implementations enables the administrator to easily handle all of the user configurations with little or no hassle. Other users have also reported this to be among the best features of the Unite platform.
The 30 days money-back option provides you with more than enough time to extensively test out all of the service’s options. That lets you determine if the product fits well with your business.

Customer Support

Intermedia has an online support center portal that combines all of its support options into a single platform. Technical support is delivered by phone, live chat, or via email 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is also an extensive knowledge base as well as a topic-specific resource center where you can easily zero in on the specific issues you’re looking for. There is also a separate support team dealing exclusively with billing issues either by phone or email. Billing support is available from Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 8 PM EST.

Personal experience with customer support

Initial subscription request

When we initially requested a subscription to the Intermedia Unite service, we were given the option of either completing a form so they can call us back, or we could call them on their toll-free number. It seems that they encourage the completion of the form since the phone number appears very small on the page. We chose to fill out the form.

It took three working days before they got back to me via email, which I found quite slow.  I was already losing several days before they even reached me, and this is especially disappointing since many other providers give you an online process of subscribing, paying, and getting up and running in a matter of minutes.

Using customer support channels

Once we got up and running, we tried contacting customer support with the various available options, with the following results:

24/7 support – Support is provided 24/7 for technical support via the telephone and via online chat.

Telephone – During off-peak hours, techs answer relatively quickly. In the middle of the day, there is a longer wait, but calls are still answered in a reasonable amount of time. If you already have a case number from a previous call, an account ID, or a billing telephone number to enter when prompted, you will receive faster service as agents will be automatically informed about your particular subscription and information about technical issues you may have faced in the past.

Live online chat – Chat services are made available via Intermedia’s centralized Host Pilot account portal from which you can configure your account. Chat support is relatively quick and can be useful for less complex problems, which are usually the majority of problems you may face. For more complex problems, phone support is preferable.

Email – As mentioned before, initial communication via email was relatively slow.  For technical issues, contact via email is not given as an option.  It is however given for asking about billing queries.

Video tutorials – A whole series of video tutorials are available on the support site.  These show you how to use the various applications and devices offered by intermedia, such as managing auto attendants, how to use the unite desktop, and how to use some of the IP phones provided with the service.

FAQs – Intermedia’s support site has many different FAQs that deal with issues such as porting, desktop contact syncing, Unite desktop app audio settings, and many more.  These deal with some of the most common questions that users face when using Intermedia’s services

24/7 Help & Support
24/7 Help & Support
Support is provided 24/7 for technical support.
Phone Support
Phone Support
During off-peak hours, techs answer relatively quickly.
Live Online Chat
Live Online Chat
Available via Intermedia’s centralized Host Pilot account portal.
Email
Email
Initial communication via email was relatively slow.
Video Tutorials
Video Tutorials
Video tutorials are available on the support site.
FAQ
FAQ
Intermedia’s support site has many different FAQs.
Blog
Blog
Intermedia maintains a blog that shares vital information.
Features & Functionality
General Features

Intermedia Unite delivers all of the basic and advanced telephony functionalities that you would come to expect from an advanced IP PBX such as call waiting, call transfer, caller ID, call hold, call pickup and others.  More advanced and specialized features include intercom, paging, music on hold, auto attendant, call recording and voicemail transcription.

However, what sets it apart are features such as file sharing and backup with 10 GB of cloud-based space, videoconferencing, audioconferencing, and screen sharing for up to 200 participants with unlimited recording time as well as meeting transcriptions and meeting insights delivering an evaluation of your online collaboration.

This makes Intermedia one of the few truly one-stop shops for business communications.

Specific features that stand out include:

  • Call Analytics – A system that allows you to easily visualize the performance of specific teams within your organization, such as sales and support agents.  Based on these analytics, specific actions can be taken to optimize employee efficiency and improve customer engagement.
  • Virtual Voicemail – Traditional voicemail is out the window.  Virtual voicemail delivers messages to you however you want including via email, SMS, or right on your mobile app.  Voicemails can be transcribed so you can receive them as text messages as well!
  • File backup and collaboration – This is just one more example of how Intermedia has been able to stand out among its peers.  File collaboration and backup is a service required by virtually all businesses, yet it is rarely bundled with voice and communication services.  Intermedia completes the communication applications offerings by including this vital service.

Integrations

Intermedia Unite delivers integration with some of the most popular business productivity applications on the market.  These include Sugar CRM, Zoho CRM, Zendesk, Salesforce, Service Now, NetSuite, and MS dynamics.

In addition, Intermedia Unite integrates seamlessly into the Intermedia Contact Center product, allowing individual extensions to act as contact center agents.  

Finally, Intermedia Unite delivers fully integrated options for adding our award-winning, cloud-based unified communications solutions to Microsoft Teams. Businesses can choose between integrating Unite within the Teams application and using a Teams-specific version of Unite to work side-by-side with your Teams implementation to enhance business communications.

Features
  • Salesforce integration
  • Google integration
  • Office365 integration
  • Zendesk integration
  • Online Backup and Storage
  • Virtual phone numbers
  • International Telephone
  • Android APP Support
  • IOS App Support
  • Operator Services
  • Internet fax
  • Worldwide Service
Devices
Features
  • Use via computer
  • Use via cellphones
  • Use via phones
  • Use via mobile app
Calling
Features
  • Call holding
  • Call forwarding
  • Call Logs
  • Call Transfer
  • Call waiting
  • 3-Way-Calling
  • Call Blocking
  • Call 911
  • Call Queuing (ACD)
  • Caller ID
Advanced Calling
Features
  • SMS Messaging
  • Music on hold
  • Voicemail to email transcriptions
  • Follow me
  • Call Conferencing
  • Dial-by-name directory
  • Do Not Disturb (DND)
  • Push to Talk
  • Multiple Devices on One Extension
  • Mobile app calling
  • Virtual Receptionist
  • Multi-Line Hunt Groups
Verdict

Whether you are at home or in the office, Intermedia’s all-in-one communication platform sets your business up for long-term success. You don’t need to take the assistance of multiple communications providers. Intermedia provides you with a seamlessly integrated portfolio of collaboration and communication solutions that are delivered through one highly secure and effective platform.
The company offers remarkable five features that include security, support, onboarding, reliability, and regulatory compliance.
Intermedia also offers its services to NEC, an industry leader in global market share for unified communications with more than 80 million installed business phone numbers across the globe. If you are looking for an affordable voice and unified communication system, Intermedia should be your first and best bet.

Visit Intermedia Site
Lazaros Agapidis
Author: Lazaros Agapidis
Lazaros is a Telecommunications and Networking Specialist with over twenty years of professional experience, primarily with Voice over IP networks implementing both small and large scale telephony solutions with multiple vendors. He has worked with multiple multi-site organizations in Europe and North America, in both the public and private sector.
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Intermedia User Reviews

M
Michaela W
11-50 employees
Used for: 1-2 years
18 Nov - 2021

Great VoIP provider

I love the ease of uploading presentations, as well as the functions are easy to use and intuitive. It's a wonderful online meeting platform. Additionally, it is very easy to manage the questions and answers, the live chat service is excellent, and I can share the browser screen very quickly, I can also quickly set up a webinar, I can also load slides and schedule the meeting in advance.

C
Carla D
11-50 employees
Used for: 6-12 months
18 Nov - 2021

Reasonable usage. Could be improved

I found it to be easy, free, and reasonably effective. No advanced features have been used beyond basic video conferencing.

Cons

The free version had poor quality and limited features.

All Intermedia User Reviews