NCH IVM Telephone Answering Attendant vs Wazo Platform
NCH IVM Telephone Answering Attendant
nch.com.au
Wazo Platform
wazo-platform.orgSide by side
| Figure | NCH IVM Telephone Answering Attendant | Wazo Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $2,999/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 6 | 1 |
| Spec score · Interactive Voice Response Software | 7.9 (#8) | 8.2 (#4) |
| Call routing | It can play menus to route incoming calls and redirect calls during or after office hours. | custom |
| Founded | 1993 | 2016 |
| 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 maker says APIs can integrate third-party services, including billing capabilities, speech-to-text, AI, and sentiment analysis. |
| Purpose | IVM is voicemail, call attendant, interactive voice response, and autodial telephone management software for small to medium businesses. | Wazo Platform is an open-source project for building carrier-grade programmable IP communication infrastructures. |
| 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. | Wazo Platform is community supported through Mattermost, its forum, and JIRA bug tracking. |
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.
Wazo Platform
Wazo Platform is a free, open-source stack of telecom microservices for building programmable voice, video, messaging, and presence services. Its capabilities include audio and video calls, chat, call centers, conferences, voicemail, custom call routing, and an auto attendant. Interfaces include WebRTC, REST APIs, WebSockets, and Webhooks, described as mobile- and web-friendly. The microservices are developed in Python, and APIs are described through OpenAPI specifications. Asterisk, RTPEngine, and Kamailio make up the telecom engine; RabbitMQ, NGINX, and PostgreSQL support the technical core. Wazo can be deployed on bare metal, virtual machines, or containers. The documented all-in-one installation uses Debian 12 Bookworm and Ansible; minimums for a small production installation of about 50 users are 2 CPUs, 4 GiB RAM, and 50 GiB storage. The GPL-3 license allows free use, including commercial use. APIs can integrate billing and services such as speech-to-text, AI, or sentiment analysis. Community support is available through Mattermost, a forum, and JIRA.