Choosing the right VoIP for your small business is no small take. A voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) system is a software solution that enables businesses to make voice calls online. Compared to traditional landline systems, it’s more scalable and affordable, eliminating the high costs and disruptive downtimes when a business expands its communication operations. Different businesses benefit from VoIP systems, including telecommunications companies providing customer assistance and healthcare organizations offering telemedicine services.
The best VoIP for small businesses features tools for supporting different call volumes, integrates with a wide range of third-party solutions, and offers high uptime guarantees. In this article, we listed the top software solutions to help you decide which one is best for your communication needs:
- RingCentral: Best for scalability
- Nextiva: Best for toll-free calling
- Google Voice: Best for solopreneur communications
- Acefone: Best for call center operations
- Ooma: Best for brick-and-mortar communications
- Phone.com: Best for fluctuating call volumes
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Our top VoIP picks for small businesses
Expert score
Best for
Key Features
RingCentral
4.37
Best for scalability
- Call monitoring
- Advanced call queue rules and routing
- Up to 8-digit extensions
Nextiva
4.36
Best for toll-free calling
- Toll-free minutes
- Call group
- Unlimited internet fax
Google Voice
3.93
Best for solopreneur communications
- Ring groups
- eDiscovery for calls, voicemails, and text messages
- Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) link
Acefone
3.9
Best for call center operations
- Automatic call distribution (ACD)
- Sticky agent
- Scheduled callbacks
Ooma
3.87
Best for brick-and-mortar communications
- Intercom
- Overhead paging support
- IP phone paging
Phone.com
3.82
Best for fluctuating call volumes
- Pooled and unlimited calling minutes
- International calling
- Live receptionist
RingCentral: Best for scalability
Pros
Cons
Our Rating: 4.37/5
- Interactive voice response (IVR): Create up to 250 IVR menus for different company departments or representatives.
- Call delegation: Assign up to 10 assistants to an executive and up to 10 executives to an assistant to efficiently manage phone calls.
- Conference call: Set up a call for multiple individuals, whether it be internal or external stakeholders. RingCentral accommodates up to 1,000 conference call participants.
- Hot desking: Access your own extension, user profile, and voicemails in any phone registered in the system.
- Vanity numbers: Customize your phone numbers to make them memorable and increase brand recognition.
The pricing below is for one to five users on a monthly billing arrangement. Save up to 33% by paying annually.
Core plan: $30/user/month
Includes:
- Unlimited domestic calling
- Toll-free numbers
- 100 toll-free minutes
- 25 business texts
- Basic call queues
- Unlimited audio conferencing
- Video conferencing for up to 100 participants
Advanced: $35/user/month
Includes:
- 1,000 toll-free minutes
- 100 business texts
- Advanced call queue rules and routing
- Automatic and on-demand call recording
- Advanced call monitoring, namely whisper, barge, and monitor
- Hot desking
- Video conferencing for up to 100 participants
Ultra: $45/user/month
Includes:
- 10,000 toll-free minutes
- 200 business texts
- Unlimited file storage for files, messaging, and recordings
- Device analytics and alerts
RingCentral is the best VoIP services for small businesses wanting to grow operations quickly without the high expansion costs. Its feature-rich tiered subscription plans provide options suitable for different stages of scaling communications. Since it’s a hosted private branch exchange (PBX) system, you can add users to your account as the team grows and not worry about the hefty installation and maintenance expenses.
Compared to vendors mentioned here, RingCentral has the most third-party integrations, further supporting scaling operations. It works with over 300 apps. Companies that see spikes in inbound calls will benefit from connecting customer relationship management (CRM) tools to the platform, allowing agents to see customer profiles, understand the context of concerns, and resolve queries faster. RingCentral integrates with popular CRM solutions like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Microsoft Dynamics.
Aside from CRM, the platform features analytics, collaboration, customer support, marketing automation, and productivity apps in its integration catalog. Moreover, it offers access to APIs, allowing you to add communication capabilities to your business platforms.
RingCentral is a unified communications platform that allows users to make phone calls, chat with colleagues, send and receive text and fax messages, and facilitate video meetings. It supports local public switched telephone networks (PSTN) in 46 countries and offers international virtual numbers in 100 locations, enabling businesses to easily expand overseas.
Aside from the robust VoIP system, the company has a contact center platform powered by artificial intelligence (AI). It automatically records interaction summaries, notes, and follow-ups in a customer relationship management (CRM) tool, tracks keywords and phrases, like competitor names and product features, and generates call scoring.
For its robust small business VoIP phone system, RingCentral was recognized as a Leader in Gartner’s 2023 Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) Worldwide report.
Nextiva: Best for toll-free calling
Pros
Cons
Our Rating: 4.36/5
- Call analytics: Track call center metrics to gauge how productive and efficient your team is. Nextiva displays the total number of inbound, outbound, answered, and missed calls for a specific period. You may also refer to the inbound and outbound talk times and the average talk time.
- Call park: Place an active call in a communal parking spot and enable other team members to retrieve a call. This allows more qualified agents to handle the call and resolve a customer’s concern.
- Call notify: Receive an email notification about an important call. Configure the conditions for call notification.
- Priority alerts: Set the phone system to ring differently when specific callers come through the system. Nextiva allows users to list up to 12 phone numbers for each priority alert entry.
- Conversational AI: Let callers discuss their concerns when interacting with the interactive voice response (IVR), as they would discuss with a live human agent. The powerful artificial intelligence (AI) tool can understand human language and enable the IVR to direct the customer to the appropriate team or agent handling their concern.
The pricing below is for 1–4 users on a monthly billing arrangement.
Core: $35/user/month
Includes:
- Unlimited calling within the U.S. and Canada
- Free local and toll-free number
- Up to 1,500 toll-free minutes
- Voicemail-to-email notifications
- Unlimited internet fax
- Video calling and video meeting for up to 45 minutes
Engage: $50/user/month
Includes:
- Multi-level auto-attendant
- Conference call for up to 40 participants
- Up to 3,000 toll-free minutes
- Up to 1,000 messages sent and received per user
- Voicemail-to-SMS notifications
- Advanced integrations with CRM tools
Power Suite: $75/user/month
Includes:
- Call recording
- Conference call for unlimited participants
- Up to 12,500 toll-free minutes
- Up to 2,000 messages sent and received per user
- Voicemail transcription
- Enterprise integrations with CRM tools
- Single sign-on
Nextiva is the best VoIP for small businesses with a country-wide clientele, offering a generous toll-free minute allowance. When you subscribe to the highest-tier plan, you can use up to 12,500 toll-free minutes, translating to communication cost savings in the long run. Compared to other vendors on this list, Nextiva is the one that has the biggest offering for toll-free minutes.
By providing toll-free calling, companies allow clients to easily connect and get assistance for their concerns without any cost on their end. On top of the toll-free minute allowance, Nextiva’s unified communication system helps businesses serve customers more efficiently. Team members consult each other via chat conveniently and can jump into a video meeting to discuss matters in depth.
Since 2006, Nextiva has offered various communications solutions packed with excellent sales and customer service tools. When subscribed to its small business phone system, VoIP features like unlimited domestic calling, conference calls, free number porting and enterprise integrations are accessible. The platform features call pop, a native CRM system, and customizable sales pipelines, which allow agents to streamline lead generation and nurturing processes.
Meanwhile, the provider’s contact center provides access to robust proactive outreach features, such as the auto-dialer and dynamic scripting. It supports various communication channels, including voice, SMS, chat, email, social, and web forms. In 2023, Nextiva was recognized as a Customers’ Choice in the Gartner Peer Insights “Voice of the Customer” report for UCaaS.
Google Voice: Best for solopreneur communications
Pros
Cons
Our Rating: 3.93/5
- Multi-level auto-attendant: Welcome callers with customized, professional greetings and messages from the auto-attendant system. Let customers choose among phone directory options to be connected to the right team or agent.
- Ring groups: Alert multiple devices and users in your phone system to ensure you don’t miss any important calls. Assign specific users as ring group managers who configure ring duration settings and call routing rules.
- eDiscovery: If you need to revisit conversation details, Google Voice allows you to search for specific voice calls, voicemails, transcripts, and text messages easily. The search results only show the call and messaging participants’ phone numbers, not their names or email addresses.
- Call recording: Record phone calls to accurately document customer conversations. Use the recordings for training agents and ensuring compliance with quality standards.
- Integration with Google products: Google Voice connects with Google Meet and Calendar. This offers a convenient platform for moving to a video meeting to discuss issues at length.
Starter: $10/user/month
Includes:
- Unlimited calling to the U.S. and Canada
- Unlimited calling to most European countries from within Europe
- Unlimited text messaging
- Call forwarding
- Voicemail transcription
- Integration with Google Calendar and Meet
- Usage and activity reporting
Standard: $20/user/month
Includes:
- Multi-level auto-attendant
- Ring groups
- Ad-hoc user call recording
- SIP link
- eDiscovery for calls, voicemails, and text messages
Premier: $30/user/month
Includes:
- Unlimited international locations
- Advanced reporting
- Automatic call recording
Among the providers listed in this article, Google Voice is the ideal small business VoIP system for solopreneurs, as it’s the only one offering a free plan for one user. At no cost, you can use unlimited domestic calling and text messaging. Voicemail transcription is likewise included, enabling you to read voicemails and avoid the hassle of repeatedly playing audio files to get the message details.
While the free VoIP phone service is ideal for solopreneurs, the paid packages still suit solopreneurs’ budgets as they are more affordable than other VoIP providers. The entry-level plan only costs $10 per user per month. Its most expensive plan is $30 per user monthly, offering valuable call management tools such as multi-level auto-attendant, automatic call recording, and advanced reporting.
Google Voice is a VoIP phone service launched in 2009 after tech giant Google acquired the phone service GrandCentral. It allows users to forward calls to a phone number linked to the account. Those subscribed to the paid plan can secure phone numbers in over 10 countries and regions.
Aside from the U.S. and Canada, the platform is available in various international locations, including Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom. In 2023, the small business phone system VoIP introduced spam warning functionality for texts, labeling suspicious texts as “suspected spam.”
Acefone: Best for call center operations
Pros
Cons
Our Rating: 3.9/5
- Warm transfer: Before moving a live call to another service representative, speak to the agent first and tell them about the customer’s concern. The customer will be put on hold while you’re on a call with the agent.
- Call twinning: Ring multiple devices when an incoming call comes through. Simply link the devices to the same agent account.
- Call detail reports: Managers can check call reports to see customer interaction details. This helps create strategies for improving first call resolution and shortening average handling time.
- Text-to-speech: Record welcome greetings and announcements without the hassle. Select the accent and voice you want from the text-to-speech tool.
- View contact profile: See a comprehensive profile of the customer you’re talking to. Acefone’s contact profile displays purchase and query history.
The pricing below is for teams with a minimum of 3 users on a monthly billing arrangement.*
Basic: £4.99($6.31)/user/month
Includes:
- Unlimited inbound minutes
- Call Detail Record analysis
- Support for Android, iOS, Desktop, and Chrome
- Call conferencing
- HD voice calls
- 24/7 customer support
Business: £9.99($12.63)/user/month
Includes:
- 1000 outbound minutes
- Multi-level auto-attendant
- Call queue
- Real-time call monitoring
- Analytics and reporting
- Ring groups
Premium: £14.99($18.95)/user/month
Includes:
- Unlimited outbound minutes
- Unlimited ring groups
- Call recording
- IP desk phone compatibility
- Integration with premium apps like Salesforce
- Custom integrations, APIs, and webhooks
*Currency conversion rates subject to change without notice.
Acefone is a small business VoIP platform ideal for companies running call centers. It features advanced call management capabilities that support large volumes of calls. The automatic call distribution (ACD) automatically receives and assigns phone calls to available service representatives. Scheduled callbacks help shorten long queues and prevent customer frustration.
Compared to other providers in this list, Acefone is the only one offering the sticky agent tool, allowing you to assign certain agents to callers. This enables representatives to build rapport with clients and become more familiar with specific concerns. The phone system is equipped with call monitoring tools, including whisper and barge. These features let managers observe live conversations, evaluate the agent’s performance, and help resolve customer queries.
Founded in 2019, U.K.-based company Acefone offers various cloud-based communication platforms, including VoIP systems and inbound and outbound contact centers. It provides 99.99% uptime, translating to only four minutes of monthly downtime. Its round-the-clock support helps businesses troubleshoot issues quickly, enabling uninterrupted customer service.
Aside from VoIP for small businesses, Acefone has a broad catalog of toll-free and vanity numbers. Through custom digits, companies can reflect brand identity in their contact information. Acefone earned Capterra’s “Best Ease of Use” badge in 2022 for its highly intuitive interface.
Ooma: Best for brick & mortar communications
Pros
Cons
Our Rating: 3.87/5
- Digital call deflection: Customers can switch from a voice call to an SMS to reduce wait times and shorten the long call queues.
- Enhanced call blocking: Prevent scammers and telemarketers from reaching your phone line. Ooma automatically blocks these calls or sends them to voicemail.
- Analytics user leaderboard: See specific user’s calling trends and refer to call center metrics to measure your team’s performance.
- Video conferencing: Host up to 100 participants in a video meeting. Use the in-meeting chat to share ideas with colleagues.
- Call flip: Switch between devices while in an ongoing call. This removes the need to hang up and resume the call on a different device, as the phone system seamlessly moves the call from one device to another.
Essentials: $19.95/user/month
Includes:
- Unlimited calling within the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico
- Virtual receptionist
- Call park
- Call logs
- Intercom
- Overhead paging
- IP phone paging
Pro: $24.95/user/month
Includes:
- Call recording
- Dynamic caller ID
- Enhanced call blocking
- Voicemail transcription
- Text messaging
- Video conferencing for up to 25 participants
Pro Plus: $29.95/user/month
Includes:
- Call queues
- Hot desking
- Digital call deflection
- Find me, follow me
- Integration with customer relationship management (CRM) tools
- Team chat
- Video conferencing for up to 100 participants
Ooma is the best VoIP for small businesses for companies needing efficient communications within their offices or stores since it’s the only provider in this list that supports intercom calling and overhead paging. Intercom calling lets you discuss important matters with people working in different locations.
Meanwhile, the overhead and IP phone paging makes announcements in key office areas easier. For instance, in the reception room, the system allows the front desk staff to call individuals waiting to be attended to. Ooma allows linking 10 compatible IP phones in a single paging group. In addition, the phone solution features hot desking, letting employees log into any phone in the system and access their calls, messages, and unique profile settings.
Phone service vendor Ooma provides home and office plans, catering to households, homepreneurs, and small and large companies. Ooma Residential features the analog telephone adapter Ooma Telo, which offers a VoIP phone service without a monthly charge, only a one-time fee for the device.
Meanwhile, Ooma Office caters to small teams regularly receiving customer service calls. Ooma Enterprise is for large organizations, providing access to a call center platform with intelligent routing capabilities and open APIs.
Phone.com: Best for fluctuating call volumes
Pros
Cons
Our Rating: 3.82/5
- Click-to-call: Launch a phone call with a single click. When agents select the click-to-call button, the phone system automatically dials the phone number and connects the agent to the call recipient.
- Follow me: Route calls to different devices according to a predetermined schedule or sequence.
- International calling: Connect to contacts overseas and pay per minute. Take advantage of U.S. local rates when calling landline numbers in Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Puerto Rico, and the U.K.
- Dial-by-name directory: Allow callers to search for the name of the agent they’re looking for on their keypad. This improves customer experience, as they are sent directly to the person they want to speak to.
- Breakout rooms: Put meeting participants in smaller discussion groups so they can interact and listen actively to insights discussed.
The pricing below is for a maximum of four users on a monthly billing arrangement. Save more as you add more users and choose the annual billing option.
Basic: $14.99/user/month
Includes:
- One phone number per account
- 500 calling minutes
- Auto-attendant
- Scheduled greetings
- Dial-by-name directory
- Call logs
- Video conferencing for up to 10 participants
Plus: $21.99/user/month
Includes:
- One phone number per user
- Unlimited calling minutes
- IP desk phone compatibility
- Voicemail transcription
- Video conferencing for up to 25 participants
- Video meeting recording
- Whiteboard
Pro: $31.99/user/month
Includes:
- Call analytics
- Call recording
- Video conferencing for up to 100 participants
- Live video streaming
- Breakout rooms
- Integrations with third-party solutions
Phone.com is the best VoIP small businesses as it offers the flexibility of metered and unlimited call plans. Choose the entry-level subscription package with 500 pooled minutes when you have low call volumes. Switch to the higher-tier plans that provide unlimited minutes when the number of calls increases.
Among the vendors on this list, Phone.com is the only one that allows mixing and matching of users, so you only get the features you need for current call volume demands for a specific period. The best part about Phone.com is that you can access almost all the standard VoIP features, whichever subscription plan you choose. Access tools like call forwarding, call transfer, caller ID, call waiting, greetings, and call screening.
Phone.com, a communications software company founded in 2007, offers a business phone system with more than 50 standard VoIP features, including auto-attendant, hold music, call handling rules, and call logs. It features an artificial intelligence (AI)- powered intelligent answer bot that automatically connects callers to the right service representatives and screens spam calls. To help clients handle calls more efficiently, Phone.com offers live receptionist services.
Aside from call management, the provider supports other types of communications, such as video conferencing, accommodating a maximum of 100 participants. Attendees can use collaboration tools, like chat and whiteboards, while in the session. On top of that, Phone.com enables users to send and receive text and fax messages.
Key components of VoIP systems
VoIP for small businesses facilitates efficient communications with customers and among team members thanks to its various capabilities. These are the features included in cloud-based phone systems:
- Unlimited calling: VoIP solutions offer unlimited domestic calling within the U.S. and Canada, with some extending the coverage to overseas territories, like Mexico. Others offer unlimited international calling, benefiting companies with clients abroad. When you compare VoIP and cellular services, the former offers more significant money savings since it doesn’t come with roaming charges that apply to the latter.
- Call management: These tools include call forwarding, call transfer, hold music, call waiting, and call queues, which enable teams to handle incoming calls in an orderly manner.
- Mobility: A softphone app compatible with iOS and Android systems helps users place and accept calls outside the office. Voicemail transcription makes referring to message details easier, especially when traveling. Virtual fax lets you send and receive fax messages wherever you are.
- Phone numbers: Most VoIP systems offer local phone numbers, while others offer toll-free and vanity numbers. Still, some provide local numbers in overseas locations.
- Analytics: A customizable analytics dashboard shows various performance metrics in real-time. Some VoIP solutions feature robust historical reporting tools, wherein you can generate custom reports based on the performance areas you want to track and evaluate.
Benefits of using VoIP systems
Businesses will find VoIP platforms valuable in streamlining communications. The advanced call management features — designed to direct customers to the right agents and create a pleasant call experience — contribute to customer loyalty in the long run. Aside from customer communications, VoIP systems improve team collaboration as they offer access to instant messaging and video conferencing.
Similarly, VoIP systems help lower communication costs. You won’t have to spend on installing and maintaining phone lines and hardware equipment, as in landline systems. The money savings are greater in the long run, especially when you add more users to the phone system since there’s no need to install extra physical phone lines.
When you choose a hosted VoIP solution, you only pay a fixed monthly fee per user. The maintenance of the infrastructure is already included in your subscription.
Considering all the ways this service can be leveraged, it’s important to find the right VoIP providers for your small business. After all, not all businesses have the same exact needs.
Choosing the best VoIP system for your small business
VoIP platforms help small businesses boost customer satisfaction, facilitate team collaboration, and reduce communication costs. As you consider adopting cloud-based phone systems, consider your communication needs to find the best VoIP providers for small business that match your requirements.
If your company plans to grow its operations soon, choose RingCentral as its robust third-party integrations support scalability. Go for Nextiva and maximize its generous toll-free minute allowance if you serve a national clientele. Google Voice is the ideal solution for solopreneurs since it offers a free plan and basic calling features.
Acefone is an excellent VoIP choice for companies running call center operations, as it’s packed with advanced call management tools. For brick-and-mortar communications, choose Ooma, the phone system that supports intercom calling and overhead paging. Finally, Phone.com should be your top option for fluctuating call volumes since you can choose between metered and unlimited calling plans.
Check out our VoIP software guide to browse other solutions if you have other communication requirements.
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