CallRail is a comprehensive call tracking and analytics platform designed to help businesses track and analyze phone interactions with their customers. Founded in 2011 by Andy Powell and Kevin Mann, CallRail was initially created to address the challenge of proving the effectiveness of an online directory of BMW repair shops. Today, CallRail has evolved into a robust tool used by over 200,000 companies to optimize their marketing strategies, improve customer interactions, and boost ROI. CallRail simplifies the process for businesses of all sizes to convert leads into customers. It offers business communication and marketing analytics solutions that deliver instant insights, allowing users to market confidently.
Initially acclaimed for its top-notch inbound call tracking software, CallRail has expanded its platform to include business communication tools, form tracking, and conversational intelligence. It integrates effortlessly with popular marketing and sales platforms like HubSpot, Facebook, Salesforce, Google Ads, and Google Analytics, fitting into existing workflows.
Their Partner Program presents various opportunities for agency partnerships, affiliations, and technology alliances, enabling companies to benefit from, grow with, and succeed alongside CallRail. This platform helps partners broaden their service offerings, attract customers with higher lifetime values, and participate in revenue-sharing programs for referral sales.
CallRail offers a comprehensive suite of solutions tailored for marketing agencies, data-driven marketers, multi-location businesses, small business owners, and anyone who relies on high-quality inbound calls for business growth.
2. Features of CallRail
CallRail offers a suite of features designed to provide detailed insights into phone call interactions and marketing performance:
| Free Trial | Industries and Businesses it Serves | Features for Call Tracking |
| Yes, 14-day Trial | Agencies, Home Services, Healthcare, Legal, Financial Services and Automotive | Form Tracking |
| Conversation Intelligence | ||
| Lead Center |
- Call Tracking: Assign unique phone numbers to different marketing campaigns and channels, allowing for precise attribution of inbound calls to specific efforts.
- Call Recording: Record and listen to phone calls for training, quality control, and gaining insights into customer interactions.
- Call Analytics: Access detailed analytics, including call duration, caller location, and call outcomes, to make data-driven decisions.
- Integrations: Seamlessly integrate with over 700 marketing tools and CRMs, including Google Analytics, Salesforce, and HubSpot, enhancing data management and analysis capabilities.
- Dynamic Number Insertion (DNI): Automatically swap tracking numbers on a website to ensure proper attribution of calls from different sources.
- Conversation Intelligence®: Utilize AI-powered features to create transcripts, highlight keywords, and automatically tag and qualify leads, saving time and enhancing marketing efforts.
3. Benefits of Using CallRail
CallRail provides several key benefits for businesses looking to optimize their marketing strategies and improve customer interactions:
- Enhanced Marketing ROI: By tracking the performance of different marketing channels, businesses can identify which campaigns are driving the most leads and allocate their budget more effectively.
- Improved Customer Experience: Personalized call routing and automation based on campaign sources ensure that customers receive a tailored experience, enhancing satisfaction and loyalty.
- Data-Driven Insights: Detailed call analytics and conversation intelligence provide valuable insights into customer interactions, enabling businesses to refine their marketing messages and strategies.
- Increased Efficiency: Automatic call tagging and lead qualification streamline workflows, allowing teams to focus on high-value activities and close more deals.
- Competitive Advantage: Real-time insights and call summaries help businesses stay ahead of the competition by quickly adapting to changing market trends and customer needs.
4. Real User Reviews of CallRail
- Customer Service Experience: One user faced initial issues with CallRail‘s software but praised their customer service, which eventually resolved the problem and provided a refund. This demonstrated good customer relationship management.
- Unexpected Policy Change: Another user shared a negative experience regarding CallRail‘s decision to ban call forwarding to mobile phones in the UK without prior communication. This led to significant client and revenue loss, suggesting alternative solutions could have been better.
- Ease of Use and Affordability: A different reviewer praised CallRail as an easy-to-use tool that effectively manages data leaks from online marketing. They highlighted its affordability for entry-level businesses and its importance for digital performance.
- Long-term Satisfaction and Support: A long-term customer commended CallRail‘s customer support and commitment to staying updated with technology. They appreciated the educational resources and updates provided.
- Technical Issues and Resolutions: Initially satisfied, one user encountered issues with outbound messages, impacting their ability to use the service effectively within their billing period. They awaited resolution to maintain their rating.
- Geographic Limitations: A user warned that CallRail does not function in Australia due to issues with generating local numbers, despite ongoing efforts by customer support to address the problem.
- Integration and Functionality: Another user found CallRail indispensable for tracking landing page results, praising its CallPool functionality and integration capabilities with Google Adwords and Analytics, despite occasional dashboard data overload.
- Declining Support Experience: While appreciating the company, a user noted a decline in technical support quality, with representatives showing reluctance to provide direct assistance beyond directing to support articles.
- Platform Issues and Alternatives: A dissatisfied customer criticized CallRail for issues with retrieving past recordings, slow search functionality, weak customer service, and bugs, leading them to switch to CallTrackingMetrics.
- Business Impact and Support Response: One user reported significant business losses due to a persistent issue with CallRail‘s lead center, despite multiple support tickets being opened without resolution.
- Feature Requests and Limitations: A reviewer appreciated CallRail‘s features like quick texts and seamless operation but desired additional functionalities like sending pictures and links, noting limitations such as text limits.
- Cost and Value Perception: CallRail was praised for effectively tracking phone calls from marketing campaigns and demonstrating ROI, despite its higher cost justified by its service level and features.
Pros and Cons Summary
Pros
- Comprehensive Call Tracking: Users appreciate the detailed call tracking capabilities, which make it easy to attribute leads and conversions to specific marketing efforts.
- Rich Analytics and Insights: The platform’s robust analytics and reporting features provide valuable insights into call data, helping businesses understand customer interactions and optimize their strategies.
- Keyword-Level Attribution: CallRail’s ability to track which specific keywords or search terms led to phone calls is highly valued, as it helps marketers refine their SEO and advertising efforts.
Cons
- Pricing: Some users find CallRail’s pricing structure to be on the higher side, particularly for small businesses or those with high call volumes.
- Customer Support: Several reviewers have noted issues with customer support, including slow response times and incorrect answers.
- Integration Challenges: Some users have experienced difficulties integrating CallRail with platforms like Zoho and Google Ads, encountering problems such as missing conversions and duplicate entries.
5. Pricing and Subscription Plans
| Call Tracking | Call Tracking +
Conversation Intelligence® |
Call Tracking +
Form Tracking |
Call Tracking
Complete |
| $45/mo | $90/mo | $90/mo | $135/mo |
| Measure, analyze, and prove the ROI of call-based marketing campaigns. | Transcribe and analyze calls for even greater marketing insights. | Attribute form submissions as well as calls back to marketing sources. | Track, analyze, and optimize calls and forms in one solution. |
CallRail offers several pricing plans to cater to different business needs, with the option to save up to 10% by choosing annual billing:
- Call Tracking: $45/month + usage
Includes 5 local numbers, 250 local minutes, call & text tracking, call recording, and routing.
- Call Tracking + Conversation Intelligence®: $90/month + usage
Everything in Call Tracking, plus call transcripts and keyword analysis.
- Call Tracking + Form Tracking: $90/month + usage
Everything in Call Tracking, plus form tracking and a custom form builder.
- Call Tracking Complete: $135/month + usage
Everything in Call Tracking, plus call transcripts, keyword analysis, form tracking, and a custom form builder.
- Free Trial and Billing
CallRail offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. After the trial, billing is monthly or annually, depending on the chosen plan. Usage beyond the included limits incurs additional charges.
6. Comparing CallRail to Competitors
While CallRail is a powerful tool, it is essential to consider alternatives that might better suit your needs:
Ringblaze vs CallRail
Although both Ringblaze and CallRail function as phone systems, they serve distinct purposes. CallRail is primarily a call-tracking solution designed to enhance marketing channels. In contrast, Ringblaze, while featuring tools that can aid marketing, mainly focuses on improving team connectivity with the brand's audience globally.
CallRail is marketed as an ideal solution for small and medium-sized businesses, but its pricing suggests it is more suited for large enterprises. The full suite of CallRail features costs around $175 per month, compared to Ringblaze's one-size-fits-all plan at $15 per user, which includes a comprehensive range of features.
Nextiva vs CallRail
Both CallRail and Nextiva offer features to enhance lead management, but their focus areas differ. CallRail emphasizes the quality of customer phone calls, while Nextiva provides robust in-house communication features, consolidating all communication in one place.
Nextiva offers a native solution for this, whereas CallRail achieves similar outcomes through integrations. In terms of pricing, both target small and medium-sized businesses but are more expensive, fitting large enterprises better. Nextiva’s Essential plan starts at $18.95 per user for teams of 20-99, potentially rising to $57.95 per user as features are added, excluding Contact Center options, which range from $50 to $150 per month.
Aircall vs CallRail
Aircall is a viable alternative to CallRail due to its extensive feature set and analytics, which can boost sales and customer service. Aircall is more affordable, making it suitable for small businesses, with plans starting at $30 per user and a professional plan at $50 per user per month, including call center features. Additionally, Aircall offers a free trial.
WhatConverts vs CallRail
CallRail is suitable for small business call tracking but lacks the depth needed by marketing agencies. Its Lead Center provides basic lead management, but detailed data and customization are limited. Although CallRail integrates with Google Ads, it lacks the customization necessary for agency-level optimization.
ResponseiQ vs CallRail
Both ResponseiQ and CallRail offer easy setup, caller geographical location tracking, and marketing analytics. However, ResponseiQ differentiates itself by encouraging web visitors to call through a pop-up widget, connecting prospects with sales agents in seconds. This proactive approach contrasts with CallRail‘s passive call tracking. ResponseiQ’s widget can be customized for timing, content, and triggering on specific pages, enhancing the customer journey. Additionally, ResponseiQ’s credit-based pricing starts at £49 per month, with unlimited call minutes, while CallRail charges £30 per month with limited minutes.
Ruler Analytics vs CallRail
Ruler Analytics and CallRail share several features, including Google Ads integration and call recording. However, Ruler Analytics offers more attribution touchpoints and integrates seamlessly with CRM systems, making it a better choice for businesses needing comprehensive lead tracking. Ruler's pricing starts at £99 per month, including up to 1,000 minutes, whereas CallRail starts at £30 per month with 500 minutes.
Response Tap vs CallRail
Response Tap and CallRail offer similar features, like easy setup, call recording, and Google Ads integration. Response Tap, based in the UK, provides more flexibility with local UK numbers and allows splitting call recordings to listen to either party separately. CallRail offers transcription capabilities, which Response Tap lacks. Response Tap provides unlimited call minutes, whereas CallRail‘s minutes are limited based on the chosen package. Overall, Response Tap is a strong choice for UK-based businesses needing flexible local numbers, while CallRail may offer more features but with more limitations and higher costs.
Conclusion and Recommendations
CallRail is a robust call tracking and analytics platform that offers a wealth of features to help businesses optimize their marketing strategies and improve customer interactions. Its comprehensive call-tracking capabilities, rich analytics, and AI-powered conversation intelligence make it a valuable tool for businesses of all sizes. However, its pricing and customer support may be areas of concern for some users.
For UK businesses primarily focused on monitoring calls and tracking marketing campaigns, both online and offline, the three CallRail alternatives offer valuable similarities and additional benefits. Each alternative, however, also has unique strengths depending on your specific needs.
However, if your priority is enhancing conversion rate optimization (CRO) from your website, ResponseiQ provides a robust solution by actively increasing call volume rather than merely monitoring calls. It can be seamlessly integrated with Ruler Analytics to encompass a broader array of marketing touchpoints.
On the other hand, if your primary goal is tracking calls from marketing campaigns and accurately determining the return on investment (ROI) for those campaigns, Response Tap excels. Although its services are more specialized than CallRail‘s, Response Tap's focus on clarifying ROI, supported by its straightforward CSV file upload feature, makes it a strong choice for businesses aiming to illuminate the ROI aspect of their marketing efforts.
For businesses looking to enhance their marketing ROI and gain deeper insights into customer interactions, CallRail is a strong contender. However, exploring alternatives like Nimbata, Convirza, and Infinity Call Tracking can help you find the best fit for your specific needs and budget.
FAQs
What makes CallRail stand out from other call-tracking services?
CallRail stands out due to its comprehensive call-tracking capabilities, AI-powered conversation intelligence, and seamless integrations with over 700 marketing tools. Its ability to provide detailed insights into customer interactions and marketing performance helps businesses make data-driven decisions and optimize their strategies.
How does CallRail help in improving marketing ROI?
CallRail helps improve marketing ROI by tracking the performance of different marketing channels and campaigns. This allows businesses to identify which efforts are driving the most leads and allocate their budget more effectively. Additionally, detailed call analytics and conversation intelligence provide valuable insights that enable businesses to refine their marketing messages and strategies.
Can small businesses benefit from using CallRail, and is it cost-effective?
Yes, small businesses can benefit from using CallRail, as it offers a wealth of features to optimize marketing strategies and improve customer interactions. However, the pricing structure may be a concern for some small businesses, especially those with high call volumes. Exploring alternatives with more affordable pricing options, like Nimbata, can help small businesses find a cost-effective solution that meets their needs.