Best Business Phone Systems for VoIP

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone systems have largely replaced traditional landlines in modern business settings. These systems are fast to implement, easy to manage and include dozens of advanced calling features to streamline business operations. We studied dozens of the industry’s most popular options to help business owners identify the best VoIP phone service provider for their exact needs. Our final selections are each scored based on their available features, pricing, ease of use, customer service and other areas we believe matter in a business phone system for VoIP.

Most cloud-based or VoIP business phone systems charge a monthly subscription fee that starts around $15 per user for a decently featured entry-level plan. You can expect unlimited inbound and outbound calling in your local country, with free calling in the U.S. and Canada included by most providers. With an entry-level plan, you’ll typically get dozens of standard business calling features like a virtual receptionist, music on hold, ring groups, mobile apps and extension dialing.

You can expect to spend anywhere from $20 to $30 per monthly user for any of the upper-tier service plans in this category. These plans are generally purchased by larger companies that want to integrate their advanced communications tools with other business applications, like customer relationship management (CRM) platforms and accounting software, for a seamless sales experience.

Other costs to consider are the international calling rates that can vary widely between providers. It’s especially important to understand your international call volume when comparing VoIP phone service providers if you’re frequently making or receiving calls from around the globe. Add-ons are fairly limited in this product category but typically include additional toll-free or local phone numbers, IP phone hardware leasing, and extended customer support services.

Zoom is an exception to the normal pricing structure with its pay-as-you-go, metered plan. With a metered option, you’ll pay $10 per month, with additional fees for any outbound mobile and landline calls billed in one-minute intervals.

You can typically purchase and rent phone hardware, including VoIP-compatible IP deskphones, conference phones and IP phone adapters, from your service provider. Your devices will arrive preconfigured for your account, so all you’ll need to do is plug it in and log in with your account credentials to begin making and receiving calls. The cost to purchase a VoIP-compatible phone ranges from about $100 for a simple device to more than $500 for a high-end device with a larger digital display designed to handle high call volume.

The majority of VoIP service providers offer similar telephone hardware from familiar brands like Cisco, Poly and Yealink, as well as less expensive in-house brands. If you’re shopping for a deal, many providers offer refurbished devices at a discount.

Aside from the way communications are delivered, it’s the calling features that separate traditional landlines from their modern cloud-based counterparts. All of the providers we’ve reviewed include dozens of standard calling features with every plan. However, many of the advanced features and international calling restrictions vary across providers. Before you make a purchase decision, it’s important to understand which features you value the most for your business operations.

Software Integrations

Software integrations are a critical component of a modern business phone system. While you may not need access to thousands of third-party software integrations, you’ll most likely want to be able to sync your phone system with your Gmail or Outlook calendar and your CRM software.

Most VoIP business phone system plans include software integration and custom API options. However, some platforms, like Zoom and Dialpad, offer far fewer integrations than you’ll find with other providers like Nextiva and RingCentral.

Analytics

Regardless of your industry, consistent growth and improvement are necessary for long-term success. Accessing reliable data from your company’s communications is one of the easiest ways to make the decisions required to improve your operations.

Most VoIP phone systems include basic analytics to make sure calls are being answered during business hours, but some platforms dive deeper. More advanced analytics options can gamify employee performance data, identify business trends by analyzing call logs and track sentiment in real time with custom dashboards and reporting options to keep everyone in the loop.

Multilevel Auto Attendant and IVR

While they’re not exactly the same technology, auto attendants and interactive voice response (IVR) menus are often used interchangeably when discussing phone menus. In both cases, they’re featured as a virtual receptionist who prompts your incoming callers to select from a menu list you provide.

In the case of an auto attendant, callers are asked to make their menu selection by pushing a corresponding number on the keypad. With IVR, callers may use their voice to say the command or reason they’re calling. In both cases, your virtual receptionist serves as the first point of contact for your callers, freeing your staff from responding to common questions regarding your hours of operations or address. These systems are also effective ways to route calls to specific departments, buildings or individuals at your company.

Mobile Communications

While you might not find a desktop application available at every subscription level, you can expect to find Android and iOS support from every VoIP phone provider. This imperative feature allows you to link your mobile devices and any internet-connected devices to your phone system. That means you can take and make business calls from any smartphone or tablet, flip calls between devices, and set up multi-device ring with nearly any internet-connected device to make sure you never miss an important call again.

Unlimited Calling

As a cloud-based technology that uses the internet to deliver communications, most VoIP phone providers offer free unlimited calling in the U.S. and Canada, with many extending that service to Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. For businesses with international offices, this usually means free calling in your local country plus the U.S. and Canada.

Follow these five steps to find the best phone system at the right price for your business.

1. Conduct market research.

Even if you’re an especially tech-savvy business owner, you’re probably not keeping up to date with office phone technology. Anyone who’s considering a new phone system should read a few online reviews, including the ones we’ve featured on our best picks page, to get acquainted with the latest communications tools, features and prices. Once you get a clear understanding of the numerous options available, you can start to see what’s going to be the most effective for your business.

2. Determine your exact needs.

Whether you’re setting up a satellite office in a new state or looking for a single phone line for a carpet cleaning business, it’s important to take an honest and detailed assessment of your communications needs. This should include the total number of lines you need, toll-free numbers, vanity numbers, IP phones, international calling requirements, third-party software integrations and any other important calling features you found when conducting market research.

3. Contact vendors for demos.

No business is too small for a product demo. We recommend contacting the VoIP phone providers on your shortlist and asking to schedule a demo that’s focused on the tools and features you’ll use the most. After your demo, take advantage of other free services, like a trial account, so you can put what you saw into practice. Your demo experience might show a lot about the service you’ll receive as a customer, but don’t forget that each demo is a sales opportunity and your experience as a paying customer could vary.

4. Compare the quotes.

Once you’ve done your research and participated in a demo or two, your list of potential VoIP phone providers should be small. Make a quick side-by-side list to compare what you like the most from each provider. When in doubt, let the total monthly cost serve as the final decision factor, knowing you’ve already narrowed your search effectively.

5. Begin with a short-term contract.

The majority of VoIP service providers offer month-to-month and discounted annual service terms. We think it’s a good idea to begin with month-to-month terms to make sure you’re completely satisfied with the service. Once you’ve ensured you won’t wind up with buyer’s remorse, you can extend your term commitment and enjoy a lower monthly rate. If you’re comfortable with a multiyear contract, you

VoIP business phone systems do a lot more than replace traditional phone lines. These easily scalable platforms offer clear and reliable high-definition communications through phone, messaging and video anywhere with a decent broadband connection. VoIP phone systems are especially valuable in business settings for their ability to integrate with other essential business tools. With easy integrations in place, you can automatically manage all of your communications and sales data through the CRM and POS system of your choice. While call quality is limited by your Internet connectivity, the ability to continue making calls through mobile devices as a backup ensures you won’t deal with any major outages or interruptions.

They are easy to manage.

With a cloud-based platform, it’s easy to make changes to your phone system anytime from your dashboard. You won’t need a dedicated IT professional on staff to assign new ring groups and business hours or add new users and features on the fly. Most service providers make it simple and fast to scale your plan and even switch between plans if your business needs change.

They integrate with your business software.

One of the best features of a VoIP phone system is its ability to integrate with thousands of popular business software applications and tools. Whether it’s a simple integration to sync your Outlook/Gmail calendar or pulling past sales interactions from your CRM, being able to manage your consumer data from one place can save a great deal of time and improve customer outcomes. RingCentral is a category leader, with over 2,000 integrations, which might include a few essential tools for some small businesses but offer little value to others. It ultimately depends on which integrations matter to you.

They help you do more with artificial intelligence assistance.

The push to do more with less is being felt in businesses across industries, and artificial intelligence assistance is one of the few tools at our disposal to help us accomplish it effectively. With the right voice intelligence tools in place, you can enjoy instantly transcribed calls and meetings with note-taking, action item-tracking and post-call summaries sent straight to your inbox. With all of your communications data and notes in one place, it’s easy to do a keyword search to find an important sales quote or deadline.

More advanced options include tools like real-time sentiment scoring and predictive insights to help improve customer outcomes and close more sales through better agent performance.

They cost less.

Once you consider the cost of infrastructure and maintenance, VoIP phone systems cost less to operate. The difference in cost between VoIP and a traditional landline grows fast once you begin adding features like voicemail, call waiting and caller ID, as well as many other features that come standard with any entry-level calling VoIP plan.