Rainbow

Rainbow is a communications suite that combines persistent messaging, collaboration tools, calling and telephony connections. It fits organizations that need cloud, on-premises or hybrid deployment, particularly those extending an existing PBX or building communications into software. The main trade-off is that meeting and storage capacity depends sharply on the plan.

Overview

Rainbow brings one-to-one and group chat, presence, task management, voice and video calls, screen or app sharing, and file sharing into one service. Its telephony layer adds PBX control, phone presence, call logging, VoIP, caller identification, call forwarding and voicemail on eligible plans. That combination can reduce the need to join separate collaboration and business-phone systems, while teams focused mainly on large video conferences will find the limits restrictive.

Cloud, on-premises and hybrid deployments support small businesses through multinational organizations. Service availability spans more than 75 countries and 22 languages, with web, Windows, macOS, Android, iPhone, iPad and Android TV access.

Key features

Telephony and office connections

Hybrid telephony connects to OmniPCX Enterprise and OXO Connect, and supports third-party CTI and Media Bridge integrations for Cisco, NEC, Mitel and Asterisk. Chrome Click2Call, Rainbow Telephony for Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365 Exchange Online or Google Calendar, and an Outlook plug-in connect calling and scheduling with common office tools. Call recording and an auto attendant add capabilities expected in a business phone system.

Developer platform

The CPaaS platform exposes APIs for contact management, chat, voice, video, screen sharing, file storage, group collaboration and automation bots. Production use includes 2,000 administration API calls, 5,000 Bots and Resource API calls, 500 WebRTC minutes and 5 GB of storage per month before invoicing. That allowance is useful for prototypes and modest workloads, but communications-heavy applications will need to budget for overages.

Security and service assurance

AES-256 encryption covers data at rest and in transit, with region-based data residency and SAML or OIDC single sign-on across the plans. Compliance support includes ISO/IEC 27001, French HDS, GDPR, ANSSI CSPN, Spain ENS, Italy AgID, HIPAA, FERPA and UK NHS requirements. Business and Enterprise include 24/7 support, a 20-minute first-response target and a 99.9% guaranteed uptime SLA; Essential provides a digital Help Center instead.

Pricing

Rainbow uses a freemium model, with free access and trials or demonstrations for some offers, including Rainbow Hub and the Rainbow Telephony for Microsoft Teams connector.

Essential suits an individual administrator or very small team testing the service. Business keeps the same one-to-one sharing and storage limits but adds a service-level agreement, making it the practical low-cost choice when uptime commitments matter. Enterprise is the only listed tier that raises meeting groups above two participants and materially increases storage and bubble size, though its 10-user ceiling still falls short of large meetings. Teams needing larger sessions should not choose Rainbow for price alone.

Platforms

Rainbow runs on Android, iOS, macOS, Windows and the web, and offers an API. Its broader app availability includes iPhone, iPad and Android TV, supporting mixed-device workforces. Cloud, on-premises and hybrid deployment options are significant for organizations with infrastructure or data-residency requirements.

Who it's for

Rainbow is a strong fit for businesses that want team chat and calling alongside PBX control, telephony integrations or CPaaS development. Enterprise is aimed at larger deployments needing 100-user bubbles, 20 GB per-user storage and formal support commitments. Essential and Business suit smaller teams whose meetings remain one-to-one. It is a weaker choice for organizations centered on frequent meetings with more than 10 participants.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Broad communications scope: Chat, tasks, files, presence, calling and business telephony share one platform.
• Flexible deployment: Cloud, on-premises and hybrid options accommodate existing infrastructure.
• PBX and developer connectivity: Connectors for major phone systems and a CPaaS API support both migration and custom applications.
• Strong governance: Encryption, regional residency, single sign-on and extensive sector compliance support regulated organizations.

Cons

• Small meetings on lower tiers: Essential and Business provide one-to-one sharing, while Enterprise tops out at 10 users.
• Limited entry-tier storage: Essential and Business include only 1 GB.
• Support varies by plan: Essential lacks the 24/7 support and 99.9% SLA included with Business and Enterprise.

Alternatives

• Microsoft Teams is preferable when a free plan supporting 100 participants, 60-minute group meetings and 5 GB of cloud storage is the priority.
• 3CX suits organizations seeking a phone-focused free tier for 10 users and four simultaneous calls, with annual manual renewal.
• Hubgets is worth choosing for a cloud free plan supporting up to 20 users, 100 contacts per user and 1 GB per user.
• Webex App fits teams wanting free meetings for up to 100 attendees, capped at 40 minutes.
• Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Rainbow is another Rainbow-branded option with a free individual service and a CPaaS plan.
• eztalks is a web-based alternative with pay-as-you-go SMS and voice charges.
• Zoom Scheduler is the focused choice for booking pages and calendar connections rather than a full communications suite.
• Zoom Workplace offers a broader workplace package with a 100-participant, 40-minute basic meeting allowance.

Verdict

Choose Rainbow when PBX integration, deployment flexibility and an API matter as much as chat and calling, and when your meetings fit its plan limits. Look elsewhere if your primary requirement is large, frequent video meetings or generous free storage; even Enterprise allows only 10 participants for shared audio, video and screens.