Side by side
NCH IVM Telephone Answering Attendant vs Plum Fuse
Both stand on interactive voice response software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Choose IVM if your business needs on-premises telephone answering, voicemail, call routing, or outbound messaging, with plan options spanning basic answering to enterprise line capacity. Look elsewhere if you need a free plan, or if your phone setup cannot support the call-transfer features you require. Grant weblet administrator access only to someone trusted with PC administration.
Visit NCH IVM Telephone Answering Attendant
Plum Fuse combines a visual IVR builder with templates, conversational AI, and API connections to business systems. Readers should note its pricing is on request and its call-log and audio retention limits.
Visit Plum FuseThe facts
| NCH IVM Telephone Answering Attendant | Plum Fuse | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | A free trial | Not published |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | Linux, Windows | API, Web |
| Lowest paid plan | IVM Telephone Attendant Professional monthly plan: $2,999 a month | Free or on request |
| Plans published | 6 | 1 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | nch.com.au | plumvoice.com |
| On interactive voice response software | #10 of 23 | #18 of 23 |
NCH IVM Telephone Answering Attendant: what it does well
- Routes incoming calls with menus and office-hours redirects.
- Supports up to 64 telephone lines simultaneously.
- Saves incoming voicemail as WAV files.
- Offers voicemail email forwarding and remote access.
- Includes free plugins for ODBC/SQL and other services.
What to know first
- There is no free plan; purchase is paid.
- Call transfer depends on phone-company or PBX features.
- The Basic plan covers one line and one mailbox, without menus.
- A weblet administrator can access files or install programs.
Plum Fuse: what it does well
- Visual, low-code flow builder provides full VoiceXML 2.1 output.
- More than 37 production-ready templates are included.
- NLU-powered conversational AI is included.
- DTMF masking supports PCI-compliant payment capture.
- Recorded audio is deleted when calls end.
What to know first
- Pricing is available on request.
- Detailed call logs remain available for five days.
- SMS requires a Plum DEV account and eligible phone number.
- Fuse has no recorded-audio storage.
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