Comparison

EPB Hosted UC vs Bark

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

EPB Hosted UC

This communication tool integrates voice calls and instant messaging with your business phone number. It allows you to see contact availability and message individuals or groups directly from your mobile device.

Highlights
  • Presence indicators
  • Instant messaging
  • Voice calls via business number
  • Contact availability status
  • Group messaging
Features
Read full description

EPB Hosted UC is a softphone add-on to the EPB Hosted Solution platform of products. It integrates voice telephony with other communications technologies into an intuitive user interface. Features include: • Presence and IM: Shows which contacts are available, offline, or idle. Users can message individual users, multiple users or departments. • Voice Calls: Make phone calls directly from your mobile device using your EPB Hosted Phone business number. IMPORTANT NOTE: Users are required to have a Hosted Phone Solution VoIP account with EPB Fiber Optics to make calls.

About

Bark

This service helps families manage their children's digital lives by monitoring online content, managing screen time, and filtering websites. It alerts parents to potential issues like cyberbullying or adult content, offering peace of mind.

Highlights
  • Content monitoring for texts, email, YouTube, and social media
  • Alerts for cyberbullying, adult content, and threats
  • Screen time limits and scheduling
  • Website filtering by category or specific sites
  • Monitors 30+ apps and social media platforms
Features
Read full description

Bark provides families with all the tools they need to raise kids in the digital age. Our comprehensive service lets you monitor content, manage screen time, and filter websites so you can get peace of mind while your child is online. CONTENT MONITORING Bark monitors your child’s texts, email, YouTube, and 30+ apps and social media platforms for issues like cyberbullying, adult content, sexual predators, profanity, suicidal ideation, threats of violence, and more. Parents receive alerts only when something potentially problematic occurs online. You won’t have full access to everything on your child’s phone — just the things you might need to know about. SCREEN TIME MANAGEMENT Families can set healthy time limits and create schedules for when their children’s devices can connect to the internet (through both cell service and Wi-Fi). WEB FILTERING Our web filter lets you select which websites your child can access on their devices. You can allow or block specific sites — or even whole categories like streaming services, online gaming, sexual content, and more. BARK TESTIMONIALS • "My wife and I LOVE Bark. We've had some tough but productive conversations with our 13-year-old son. It's proving to be extremely valuable." — Josh L. • “It’s just another set of protections we as parents give our kids for the digital environment (or as my 10-year-old calls it, a “cell phone seat belt”). My oldest is a 9th grader, and while I trust her, I’ve come to realize through the alerts that some of her friends aren’t truly her friends. It’s led to some amazing conversations about choosing friends wisely and recognizing toxic people. While she wasn’t for Bark at first, she’s since said she’s grateful that I saw those messages because it reaffirmed what she was feeling but didn’t know how to verbalize without sounding sensitive.” — Bark Parent • "Bark notified me that my young daughter had unknowingly revealed her phone number to strangers on Twitter. The fact that Bark notified me was impressive and led to an informative discussion with her the same day." — Jon B. • “Since Bark alerted us to the suicidal language used in the Google doc that was being used in a chat document with a friend, we have seen both a pediatrician and a licensed counselor. We are hopeful for a positive outcome. Thanks to Bark for letting us peek into our child’s mind!” — Bark Parent • “This app is a lifesaver! It has allowed us to catch so many “red flags” in the content my kids have accessed on their devices and in their interactions with friends and other people online that I wouldn’t have ever known about otherwise. The big difference between Bark and other “Parental Control” software is that Bark allows your kids to have so much more privacy. It doesn’t show you everything they do, but sends an instant alert regarding any activity that might be concerning. Highly recommended!” — Bark Parent With Bark, you can help keep your kids safe both online and in real life. Try it out for seven days absolutely free! Our Family Online Safety Specialists are standing by to help answer any questions you may have. Email help@bark.us or visit help.bark.us to get answers and advice from the Bark Team. Terms of Use https://www.bark.us/terms

Screenshots

EPB Hosted UC3 screens
Bark3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: EPB Hosted UC at none against Bark's 4. EPB Hosted UC also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.3). Bark's advantage is ratings volume (36K vs 96) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 5 months). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Bark sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. EPB Hosted UC asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

EPB Hosted UC holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bark has 36K ratings behind it against 96, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 0% of EPB Hosted UC's written reviews are positive against 13% of Bark's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

EPB Hosted UC ships an update every 5 months, Bark every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
EPB Hosted UC versus Bark: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEPB Hosted UCBark
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (96 ratings) — better4.3 (36K ratings)
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews12.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings9636K — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#69 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size100 MB53 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperElectric Power BoardBark Technologies, Inc.

Customer experience

EPB Hosted UC

All ratings94 ratings
Positive83.0%
Neutral7.4%
Negative9.6%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bark

All ratings36,182 ratings
Positive80.8%
Neutral3.3%
Negative15.9%
Written reviews599 reviews
Positive12.5%
Neutral7.5%
Negative80.0%

Bugs and requests

EPB Hosted UC

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Bark

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Frequent disconnections and reconnections required
  • Inability to monitor certain popular apps like TikTok and Snapchat
  • Delayed alerts and notifications
  • Unexpected phone performance issues like slower speeds and battery drain

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improve compatibility with iOS devices
  • Provide cloud-based backups instead of manual device backups
  • Add password protection to prevent app uninstallation
  • Improve sensitivity settings and notification management

In-app purchases

None

EPB Hosted UC

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Bark

Subscriptions4
  • Bark Jr Monthly7 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Bark Monthly7 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • Bark Jr Annual7 Days trial$49.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Bark Annual7 Days trial$99.991 Year

Questions

Is EPB Hosted UC free?
EPB Hosted UC is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Bark free?
Bark is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, EPB Hosted UC or Bark?
EPB Hosted UC is rated higher. EPB Hosted UC averages 4.5 out of 5 from 96 ratings, while Bark averages 4.3 from 36K ratings.
Do EPB Hosted UC or Bark have ads?
Neither EPB Hosted UC nor Bark shows ads.
Which is updated more often, EPB Hosted UC or Bark?
EPB Hosted UC ships an update every 5 months, and Bark every 2 months. Most recently, EPB Hosted UC was updated on November 1, 2026 and Bark on November 6, 2026.

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