NCH IVM Telephone Answering Attendant vs Plum DEV
NCH IVM Telephone Answering Attendant
nch.com.auPlum DEV
plumvoice.comSide by side
| Figure | NCH IVM Telephone Answering Attendant | Plum DEV |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $2,999/mo | — |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 6 | 0 |
| Spec score · Interactive Voice Response Software | 7.9 (#8) | 7.1 (#15) |
| Founded | 1993 | 2000 |
| Integrations | NCH says IVM can auto-detect its Axon IP PBX on the same server and offers free plugins for ODBC/SQL, internet access, fax-back services, and hardware control. | The documentation says DEV uses APIs to integrate with CRM, ERP, VoC, telephony systems, and other databases, and works with Plum Fuse. |
| Purpose | IVM is voicemail, call attendant, interactive voice response, and autodial telephone management software for small to medium businesses. | Plum DEV is a programmable VoiceXML platform for developers to build interactive voice response systems and automate customer interactions by phone. |
| Support | NCH lists email support and offers paid priority phone support for 12 months or email-only support for one month on the purchase page. | Plum's product documentation says the platform is backed by SLAs and offers documentation and a developer community forum for additional support. |
Plans
NCH IVM Telephone Answering Attendant
- IVM Telephone Attendant Professional monthly plan$2,999 a month
- IVM Telephone Attendant Basic Answering Machine$6,995, paid once
- IVM Telephone Attendant Small Business$9,900, paid once
- IVM Telephone Attendant Small Interactive System$25,900, paid once
- IVM Telephone Attendant Professional$38,500, paid once
- IVM Telephone Attendant Enterprise$89,900, paid once
In their own words
NCH IVM Telephone Answering Attendant
NCH IVM Telephone Answering Attendant is telephone management software for small to medium businesses, combining voicemail, call attendant, interactive voice response, and autodial functions. Incoming call menus can route or redirect callers during or after office hours. The product lists support for up to 64 simultaneous telephone lines, along with caller ID logging, keypad menus, call transfer subject to phone-company or PBX features, and remote telephone access. Incoming messages can be saved as WAV files. Voicemail boxes can forward messages by email or provide internet or remote access, and the software also supports automated outbound calls and messages. IVM connects through a professional telephony board, TAPI-compliant voice modem, VoIP SIP service, or PBX such as Axon. NCH says it can detect its Axon IP PBX on the same server and offers plugins for ODBC/SQL, internet access, fax-back, and hardware control. It is listed for Linux and Windows, though its system requirements specify Windows XP through 10 and 64-bit Windows support. A free trial download is available, but there is no free plan. Listed purchase options include $6,995 as a one-time purchase for Basic Answering Machine and $89,900, paid once for Enterprise; the Professional monthly plan is $2,999 a month.
Plum DEV
Plum DEV is a cloud developer platform for automating processes through voice and building interactive customer self-service applications. Its VoiceXML foundation lets developers control customer interactions, including inbound IVR and inbound or outbound SMS. SMS requires an SMS-ready phone number. APIs connect DEV with CRM, ERP, voice-of-customer, telephony and other database systems, and it also works with Plum Fuse. Developers can customize branding, call flows and backend database integrations. Multiple text-to-speech and automatic speech-recognition engines are supported, including Amazon Polly, with dozens of languages and dialects. Integrated VoiceTrends tracks usage and performance, supports script A/B testing and provides granular reports. Plum says DEV runs on custom telephony data centers and AWS, with on-demand scalability and a 99.9% uptime SLA. It describes the platform as PCI-DSS Level 1 and HIPAA compliant, while customers remain responsible for configuring applications for applicable requirements. Pricing is available on request. Demo accounts have limited access and no call logging.