Enterprise CommunicationsDialPad

Dialpad Wins Race to Zero

by Dave Michels

This week Dialpad, a UCaaS provider, launched a free service. Free may seem like old-hat, but it’s not.

Most free services do not include a PSTN capability – also known as a phone number. Of course, there’s lots of restrictions, but if you happen to be a small company with 5 or less employees that don’t make a lot of calls – this could be the perfect plan for you.

I love the term Race to the Bottom or Race to Zero. We also know that technology generally gets less expensive (cell phones excepted) over time. There’s an inherent advantage to be the first with the lower price, but with lower prices comes lower margins and profits. If you lose the race, it’s over – and unfortunately if you win it can be over too.

Consultant extraordinaire has taught me a lot about competitive pressures – the race to zero, and how only the paranoid survive. So, when I saw Dialpad’s news – I thought it was time to chat with Marty.

Release:

Dialpad Declares Victory over Death of Desk Phone,
Says It’s Now Time to Kill the Phone Bill

Leader in Pure-Cloud Communications Offers First
Free Small Business Phone System for Up to Five Workers

SAN FRANCISCO – DEC. 6, 2017 — Dialpad, the pure-cloud business communications provider, whose mission is to “Kill the Desk Phone,” has upped the ante and is now aiming to “Kill the Phone Bill” for small businesses as well. Today the San Francisco-based company announced their intention to disrupt the traditional small business telephone market with the release of Dialpad FreeTM. The new service eliminates the monthly phone bill for small office/home office workers and small businesses with up to five employees just in time for the holiday season.

“We started as three guys in a garage and didn’t have a phone service other than our cell phones. When we thought back to that experience, we realized there are many small businesses out there which operate that way and wanted to do something about it. We decided to kill the phone bill,” said Dialpad co-founder Craig Walker. “We’re truly diminishing the need for businesses to use existing phone lines or to be limited to mobile phones, land lines or the need to list multiple phone numbers on their websites and business cards. Dialpad is pure-cloud communication that is available on any device, anywhere. We’re thrilled to be offering this new service for Free – it’s really the first time businesses have had this opportunity.”

The introduction of Dialpad Free marks the first time in the history of telephony that a company is offering a Free business phone system, without the need to upgrade after an initial trial period. Dialpad Free subscribers receive one office phone number and up to five employees who can be dialed by name or as extensions. The service offers nearly everything basic telephone service does, except for E911.

 

The Dialpad Free service, which is a subset of the company’s award-winning business phone service, includes the following features:

  • 100 Outbound minutes per month

  • Unlimited Inbound minutes

  • 100 Inbound and Outbound SMS messages

  • Free UberConference™ accounts for all 5 employees

  • HD Calling

  • Voicemail

  • Call recording

  • Call logs and analytics

  • Internal call transfers

  • Professional IVR with extension calling

  • Video calling between Dialpad users

  • Free chat between their staff

  • Ability to connect an unlimited number of IP-enabled devices (desk phones, conference phones)

  • Call recording

  • Integration with LinkedIn

  • Single sign-on using G Suite and G Suite Integration

  • Two-way address book syncing with Google contacts

  • Text/SMS via the company’s main office number

  • FAQ/Help Center support

  • And more!