Best Business Phone Systems for Restaurants

Clear, reliable and cost-effective communications are critical to the success of any business, and restaurants are no exception. Food businesses need open lines of communication with vendors, employees, repair technicians and customers to keep the kitchen running smoothly seven days a week. Popular food establishments need the right phone system and hardware to take reservations and to-go orders without interrupting the customer flow during peak times.

The best business phone systems for restaurants offer worry-free calling and communication features that can function perfectly in sit-down establishments, delivery services, catering and food truck settings. To help you identify the best business phone system for your restaurant, we studied dozens of the category’s most popular options. We scored our best picks based on their available features, pricing, ease of use, customer service and more.

Looking for other restaurant solutions?

• Best POS Systems for Restaurants
• Best Credit Card Processing Services for Restaurants
• Best Accounting Software for Restaurants

Your subscription rate or user fee typically makes up the biggest portion of your cloud-based phone expense, starting anywhere from $10 to $20 per month for a basic, entry-level plan. Most restaurant phone providers’ plans are priced by the number of user accounts, which you could think of as phone locations in a restaurant setting.

One exception to the pricing norm is Zoom’s pay-as-you-go metered plan, which costs $10 per month plus added fees for outbound mobile and landline calls billed in 60-second intervals. Higher-tier plans with robust calling features and thousands of toll-free minutes or SMS/MMS (text/multimedia) communications cost around $30 per user per month. You can expect to find a discount if you commit to an annual or multiyear contract or purchase a significant number of user accounts.

Add-on expenses are minimal in this category, covering vanity or toll-free numbers and associated minutes, additional local numbers and mobile SMS/MMS fees if you exceed your monthly allotment. Most providers do not charge one-time implementation fees or other hidden costs at checkout, and some, like RingCentral, offer a 30-day money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied with your service.

Custom onboarding and implementation services are available for larger restaurants and restaurant groups, but pricing for this service is usually provided only through a custom quote. In most instances, restaurant managers and owners will be able to implement a cloud-based phone system in one day without any outside assistance.

You’ll find that most business phone service providers rent and sell hardware, like IP desk phones, that arrive preconfigured for your system. All you’ll need to do is plug them in and log in to your account to begin making and receiving calls. Purchase prices for these phones range from around $100 for a simple handset to more than $500 for a larger IP desk phone designed to handle heavy call volume.

Most service providers carry similar telephone hardware from the major business phone manufacturers — including Cisco, Poly and Yealink — alongside their in-house brands. If you’re on a tight budget, you might be able to find refurbished models at a discount. If you have older phone hardware you want to use, you can usually purchase a VoIP adapter that will let you make cloud-based calls from a traditional handset.

In terms of the user experience, features separate a modern cloud-based system from older traditional landlines. While you’ll find that most service providers in this category offer the same or very comparable communications features, they tend to be spread and priced differently across plans. That’s why it’s important to understand which features matter the most to your restaurant before you make a purchase decision.

Analytics

It’s nearly impossible to make objective decisions without trustworthy data. If your restaurant takes lots of reservations and to-go orders over the phone, you need a crystal-clear understanding of your call volume to staff appropriately and ensure that your customers get the support they need without giving up due to long hold times.

Most cloud-based phone systems provide basic call analytics and real-time metrics that let managers know if calls are being answered promptly, but more advanced options are also available. These include AI-powered recaps with call summaries, action times and conversation highlights. These features can be especially helpful when you’re working through new contracts with suppliers or negotiating a lease for a second location, for example.

Multilevel Auto-Attendant and IVR

Auto-attendants and interactive voice response (IVR) menus are often used interchangeably, but they differ in the way a customer interacts with your phone menu. Both can be considered virtual receptionists, prompting callers to select options by listening to menu choices or by saying what they need.

An auto-attendant presents menu options to each caller, who selects what they want by pressing a number on a keypad, whereas IVR uses the caller’s voice comments. In either scenario, these menus are the consumer-facing portion of your restaurant phone system that can provide callers with answers to common questions, like your address or hours of operation. The system can also route callers to your host to take a reservation, place a take-out order or answer questions about your menu.

All cloud-based phone service providers include these types of phone system menus at each plan level. However, some providers’ virtual assistants are simpler to manage and adjust, thanks to drag-and-drop call flow builders and templates that make it easy for anyone to build a productive call flow that saves staff time and improves the customer experience.

Call Flip

The call-flip feature lets you seamlessly move conversations between devices without interrupting your call. Unlike a call transfer, a flip is intended to be picked up by the person who initiated the transfer. You can take a call from one of your suppliers on your back-office phone and flip the call to your mobile device so you can survey the walk-in or hunt down your head chef to confirm the week’s food orders.

Call flip is included as an entry-level feature with most business phone services. It lets you take and move calls between IP desk phones, mobile phones, computers, web browsers, tablets and many other internet-connected devices with a microphone and speaker or headphone jack.

Mobile Communications

Most restaurant owners are constantly running around town from supplier to supplier to get everything they need to keep the kitchen and the rest of the operation flowing smoothly. With a cloud-based phone system, it’s easy to make sure you’re available whenever someone needs you to request a last-minute change, schedule an important fumigation appointment or know if a supplier has run out of a key ingredient.

All cloud-based phone systems include Android and iOS apps that often mirror the user experience from the web browser or desktop application while letting you differentiate between personal and business calls. With a full-featured phone system at your fingertips, you’ll be able to take, make and flip calls between devices or make fast changes to your calling-menu options due to unforeseen circumstances.

Overhead Paging

Overhead paging is a cost-effective tool that lets diners know when their table is ready in many large restaurant settings. While some service providers refer to this feature as an intercom or group paging, many providers in this category, including Ooma, offer this service option with all plans.

In most cases, you’ll be able to integrate an existing overhead paging system with your new phone system by using a separately sold adapter, meaning you won’t need to install new paging hardware just because you switch phone service providers. Once you’ve connected through an adapter, you’ll be able to use your communications dashboard to make announcements about seating availability to the front of house and any outside waiting room, or communicate to the entire kitchen staff, depending on the locations of your intercom speakers.

Any phones intended to make overhead announcements will need a programmable button configured to a multicast paging function.

Software Integrations

One of the biggest reasons to move to a cloud-based phone system is the ability to integrate all of your communications across phone, chat and video with the rest of your technology, including your point-of-sale system and some of the best CRM software. All cloud-based phone systems include numerous integration and custom API options, but some platforms, like Nextiva, offer far more integrations than you’ll find with others, like Zoom.

While food trucks and restaurants with a single location may not see the value in software integrations, large restaurant groups should pay close attention to these tools when shopping for a new phone system. Many platforms, including Dialpad, offer integrations with Salesforce, letting restaurant supply companies automate call matching between the two systems with APIs and webhooks from Dialpad to grab account information faster.

Follow these five steps to select the right business phone system for your restaurant.

1. Conduct market research.

Even if you’re an experienced restaurant operations manager, you’re probably not staying up to date with phone technology annually. That’s why it’s a good idea for everyone who’s considering a new phone system to browse a handful of online reviews, including those featured on our best picks page, to see the latest tools and features available. Once you get a sense of the myriad options available, you can begin to determine what makes the most sense for your restaurant.

2. Determine your exact needs.

Whether you’re setting up a new restaurant location or looking for a single phone line for a food truck business, you’ll want to take a detailed assessment of your communications needs, including the total number of lines, toll-free numbers, vanity numbers, IP phones, international calling capabilities, software integrations and any other new features you identified when conducting market research.

3. Contact vendors for demos.

Reach out to each business phone provider you’re considering, and ask to schedule a guided demo covering the tools and features you’re most interested in using. Once you’re done with your live demo, ask for help setting up a free trial account so you can begin putting what you saw into practice. The demo experience can tell you a lot about the service you can expect as a customer — just don’t forget that each demo is a tailored sales activity, and your actual experience may vary.

4. Compare the quotes.

Once you’ve completed your demos and free trials, you should be left with a small number of providers to consider. Take the time to compare each offer side by side and let price break the tie if you’re struggling to decide between options with similar capabilities.

5. Begin with a short-term contract.

Most business phone plan providers offer monthly and lower-cost annual service terms. If you have any doubts, we recommend beginning with a month-to-month contract to ensure you’re totally satisfied with the product and service before committing your business to an annual contract. With a free trial period and month of service, you’ll be able to extend your term commitment at a lower monthly rate with confidence. In some cases, you can secure a multiyear contract with a significant monthly discount.

Cloud-based phone systems do a lot more than replace traditional phone lines. They provide clear and reliable digital communications through phone, text and video regardless of your location, whether that’s somewhere within your restaurant or a food truck on the road. Modern phone systems integrate with other essential business tools, including your CRM and POS systems, thus allowing you to collect valuable customer information and provide exceptional service with the help of multiple software applications. In terms of disadvantages, your call quality will be limited by your internet connectivity — but that’s about it.

Shortened Call Queues

With a cloud-based system, it’s easy to assign multiple devices to ring either simultaneously or in sequential order. With multiple devices in numerous hands, you can ensure someone is always ready to help with incoming questions and orders in a timely manner. For larger operations, AI-based routing can help manage customer interactions across all of your digital communication channels.

Valuable Customer Feedback

If you’re collecting your customers’ phone numbers, it’s easy to follow up via text once an order has been delivered and ensure everything has met or exceeded expectations. Some restaurant phone systems, like RingCentral, integrate with customer survey apps, providing deep insight into your restaurant’s people, processes and products. With the right data, you can make objective decisions quickly and improve your customers’ satisfaction.

Improved Take-Out Experience

Modern cloud-based phone systems make it easy to let your customers know when the kitchen has started on their order and provide an estimate for when it will be ready to pick up. Once your customer arrives, they can announce their arrival in a designated parking spot with a quick call or text reply.

24/7 Greeting and Information

Virtual assistants included with all cloud-based business phone systems make everything flow more smoothly during busy hours. When a host steps away to seat customers or becomes engaged with the waitstaff, your phone system can manage incoming calls through a menu with options to provide callers with hours and directions or route them to an office phone for reservations and take-out orders.