Zoom Review

Why Zoom Is Best for Video Conferencing

Zoom’s flexible pricing model and video capabilities are why it’s our top pick as the best business phone system for video conferencing. While testing voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) systems with video features, we found Zoom’s solution had the highest-quality video with crisp sound and no lag. It uses echo cancellation and noise suppression to improve audio and we could adjust these settings by creating an audio profile for further enhancements.

We had no trouble switching from phone calls to meetings, which is an important factor when choosing a video conferencing service with VoIP.  Even basic meetings with Zoom Phone offer customizable backgrounds, built-in whiteboards and automated captions. Unlike GoTo Connect and Dialpad, which rely on third-party whiteboard tools, Zoom has an integrated whiteboarding feature. We loved using premade and custom templates like Kanban and pros and cons boards for jumpstarting project collab sessions. 

With artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled whiteboard sessions, teams can organize ideas faster. Source: Zoom

Bundling Zoom Phone with Workplace Pro or Business boosts meeting length to 30 hours and unlocks the generative AI tool for video conferencing. While RingEX and Dialpad include AI-assisted video on base plans, Zoom’s bundled packages are competitively priced and its flexible pricing structure helps companies save money by only assigning pricier subscriptions to high-power users.

Usability

Zoom Phone merges seamlessly into daily operations thanks to easy-to-navigate desktop and mobile apps. For example, we love that most employees can start making and receiving calls or using hold and transfer functions without training. It shines when jumping from a team chat or phone call to a video session or switching between devices. 

We could invite our chat group to a video meeting or turn a one-on-one or three-way conference call into a face-to-face video session. Likewise, moving a call from mobile to desktop apps was easy. With zero-touch provisioning for many VoIP phone models, desk phones arrive ready and office staff can use familiar brands like Yealink, Poly and Cisco. 

On the administrative side, Zoom’s portal feels more like enterprise software than a small business system. It unfortunately lacks the simple interface we highlighted as a top feature for small companies in our review of Ooma. We also wish Zoom offered a visual call flow editor, like GoTo Connect. Considering these factors, we felt Zoom’s advanced admin features come with a learning curve.

Zoom Features

With Zoom services, you get everything from unlimited auto attendants and IVRs menus to team messaging and call recording. Here are the Zoom Phone features that stood out. 

Zoom Meetings

When evaluating business phone systems, it was rare to find low-priced, entry-tier plans with built-in whiteboards, breakout rooms and customizable virtual backgrounds. We love that Zoom Phone provides core video meeting features for improving presentations and engaging remote teams. The shared or private in-app notes helped us document key ideas, whereas we used whiteboard templates to kickstart collaboration sessions.   

Zoom’s whiteboards come with a wealth of helpful templates to save time and stay more organized. Source: Zoom

However, if your meetings run long, the 40-minute time limit on standalone Zoom Phone plans can be a drawback. These subscriptions don’t provide dial-in numbers either. Upgrading Zoom’s video license or bundling it with Zoom phone gave us comparative features at the same or lower price as competitors. We could stream to YouTube and post polls and quizzes with Pro and Business licenses, as well. 

AI Companion

AI-assisted phone features pop up frequently among Zoom’s top rivals and the AI Companion is an excellent addition to Zoom Phone. We love the latest updates with the assistant available to answer questions during live audio transcriptions. AI provides post-call summaries and extracts action items from voicemails. You can even prioritize topics, like “billing support” or “service request,” and Zoom’s AI sorts incoming voicemails accordingly. 

Yet, it’s missing features we mentioned as favorites in our Dialpad review, like company dictionaries and actionable recaps. Other AI-powered tools vary by license or add-on. For instance, the SMS summary option only comes with the Power Pack add-on. Adding Pro or Business video unlocks the AI Companion for video conferencing, including the digital assistant for whiteboarding.   

AI Companion can pull important tasks from your voicemail to save you time. Source: Zoom

Multichannel Communication 

Like many unified communications platforms, Zoom Phone centralizes messaging, SMS and content sharing in one app. For instance, Team Chat can function like Slack, with public and private channels offering a single view of group resources. We loved that members could send audio or video messages, screenshots or GIFs in addition to files.  

Notably, Zoom is introducing online faxing, which most rivals already offer. However, RingEX doesn’t provide virtual fax on base plans, whereas Zoom allows 50 faxes per paid user from a pooled company account.  

Share project or company updates in your Zoom Phone system. Source: Zoom

Call Management

Advanced phone features like call barge and whisper often have a higher price tag, as seen on systems like RingEX or Nextiva. Zoom Phone bucks the trend, standardizing call handling and management features across subscriptions. Whether paying $10 or $15 per Zoom Phone license, you can record, monitor and take over calls. These features can be valuable for training new customer service agents on phone etiquette and company standards.

We love that phone plans include unlimited auto receptionists that can route to call queues and IVR systems. All Zoom Phones support multi-locations, which wasn’t standard across other entry-tier packages we evaluated. 

Zoom Phone Power Pack

This monthly add-on feature is designed for call center supervisors and managers as well as receptionists, so depending on your business type and size, you might not need it yet. If you do, though, we found that this feature provides excellent call queue analytics and historical insights that managers can use to monitor their team’s level of service, with custom options to issue warnings and critical alerts at specific thresholds. Admins can look at active calls, waiting calls and calls held. You can also drill down into completed calls, abandoned calls, missed calls and calls forwarded to voicemail.

This real-time data dashboard updates automatically to include live caller data. Source: Zoom

The wallboard or web-based dashboard can be displayed on a large TV or shared with the leadership team to track the most important calling information. You can filter your boards by office location, department and call queue. With historical data, you can review call service levels with custom configurations across days and hours to identify trends and help optimize your workflow.

Zoom Phone Costs

With a flexible pricing model and low fees, Zoom’s cloud-based phone system could be worth it for value-minded companies. Zoom Phone’s monthly costs range from $10 to $20 per license, placing it firmly among the least expensive business phone systems we evaluated. It also offers more breadth and depth of features at this price point than other vendors. 

We love that companies don’t need higher-priced plans for call monitoring, recording or voice-enabled IVR systems. These capabilities come with all subscriptions. Most businesses will find the metered or unlimited calling plans sufficient, whereas Global Select simplifies billing for organizations with international branches. 

For companies with mixed teams, bundled VoIP plans with longer, AI-powered meetings cost $21.99 or $26.99 monthly and offer discounts for annual billing. These solutions also include cloud storage and extras that vary by plan. 

Other potential costs include several paid add-on features, like additional toll-free or VoIP phone numbers, international calling and video conferencing hardware. We liked the Team SMS and Power Pack license, which enhances analytics and automates messaging. Zoom offers phone hardware as a service with IP phones, handsets and conference phones from popular manufacturers such as Poly, Yealink and AudioCodes.  

Zoom Phone Setup

Like other VoIP phone systems, Zoom’s set-up process occurs online. The vendor offers administrator and new user guides explaining basic steps. Once you choose your main company number (or a temporary one if you’re porting your current telephone number to Zoom), you can specify your extensions and your location for emergency services. You can begin making and receiving calls or setting up your phone system management features, like the auto attendant and call queues.

While we felt most aspects were straightforward, configuration wasn’t as streamlined as onboarding with Ooma or Nextiva. For instance, our Nextiva review mentioned how its drag-and-drop call flow builder sped up this part of the process.

Zoom’s setup section provides easy-to-follow guidelines to direct calls during or outside normal business hours. Source: Zoom

End users will log in to their Zoom account and select the phone tab to begin personalizing it with their country, local area code and a secure PIN to access their voicemails. If you allow it, your employees can set their own business hours and call rules.

Zoom Phone Customer Service

Zoom Phone includes 24/7 live chat and phone support with standalone VoIP plans. However, options vary when adding different licenses to plans. Although we didn’t experience any issues reaching Zoom’s customer service channels, it’s worth noting that not all Zoom users reported smooth resolutions or short wait times.

Zoom’s learning center includes several free self-paced education modules that can teach you everything from product and administrator basics to engaging your audience effectively during video meetings. We found these training tools similar to those we evaluated when comparing RingEX vs. 8×8. While you’ll need to log in to a Zoom account to access these tools, they’re available with a free basic account.

Zoom Phone Drawbacks

Zoom Phone’s versatile phone and video conferencing platform may not be suitable for all companies. The phone system doesn’t connect to many customer relationship management (CRM) apps, except for Salesforce CRM, HubSpot and a few others. Direct competitors offer must-have CRM integrations with dozens, if not hundreds, of options. 

Likewise, Zoom Phone falls behind cloud phone providers in terms of customer experience features. Nextiva and GoTo Connect unify social media and messaging channels, helping small businesses communicate consistently and promptly. As a bonus, our GoTo Connect review noted that this vendor supports unlimited international calling and is an excellent option for remote teams.  

Methodology

In searching for the top business phone systems, we investigated more than a dozen platforms. We researched and analyzed each offering, participated in demos whenever possible and tried free and paid plans. We evaluated each solution based on its tools and features, pricing, limitations, ease of use, setup process and customer service options. We selected Zoom Phone as the best business phone system for video conferencing thanks to its enterprise-grade video output, support for up to 100 participants and ease of use across any device with an internet connection.

Overall value

We recommend Zoom Phone for …

• Teams that host and join video meetings from mobile phones, desktops and browsers.
• Professionals who want to track billable phone hours and automate meeting reminders.
• Any business that rarely makes outbound calls and needs an affordable phone system.

We don’t recommend Zoom Phone for …

• Small businesses setting up complex routing and IVR systems for the first time. 
• Sales or service teams that want real-time, AI-driven voice intelligence. 
• Companies looking for subscriptions with unlimited international calling. 

Jeff Hale contributed to this article.