7 Best Virtual Phone Number Providers for Small Businesses

Most virtual phone number providers typically charge per user for their monthly subscriptions. However, Grasshopper takes a cost-saving approach by charging a fixed monthly fee regardless of the number of users, making it suitable for teams sharing phone numbers.

Team members may share four numbers and unlimited extensions on its highest-tier plan. This enables you to manage customer calls and text messages from a manageable set of phone numbers, simplifying the customer service workflow. You can add as many employees as you want to the account without incurring extra charges.

Although Grasshopper is ideal for sharing phone numbers, it lacks key phone capabilities like call recording. If call management is critical to your office communications, 800.com offers basic call features across plan tiers.

• Incoming call control: Customize call schedules and set up extensions based on your business hours. Prevent unwanted callers via call screening and call blocking.
• Mobile and desktop app: Use it for business calls and texts while keeping your personal calls and texts separate. You can also view voicemails and call history.
• Virtual fax: Use your business number to receive faxes on the Grasshopper app or in your email inbox. Only inbound faxing is currently supported; faxes are sent in PDF format.

Receive faxes without using fax machines. (Source: Grasshopper)

Ooma is the only virtual phone number service with unlimited calls beyond the US and Canada, extending to Mexico and Puerto Rico, perfect for businesses with customers in Latin American regions. On top of that, it has unlimited international calling plans under its free home phone service.

Ooma’s home phone service lets you port your existing residential number or port a new one. Then, you can subscribe to Ooma’s business phone plan to use its mobility features, enabling you to forward incoming calls to your home landline or mobile app. You can also avail of its international calling plan to make unlimited calls to landlines in over 70 countries and to mobile phones in 40-plus locations.

While Ooma has extensive coverage for regional calls, it doesn’t have global phone numbers. RingCentral is the most comprehensive solution for international communications, offering local numbers in over 100 locations.

• Overhead paging: Integrate your third-party paging system with your Ooma office phone. This is ideal for delivering announcements and emergency alerts.
• Virtual receptionist: Create a schedule that sends calls to the automated menu, extension, or voicemail. Use the text-to-speech feature to create custom messages.
• Simultaneous ring: Have multiple devices ring when an individual user receives a call. Supported devices include an analog phone, an IP phone, or a mobile phone.

Set up your virtual receptionist to professionally welcome callers. (Source: Ooma)

Talkroute works for small call center teams that prefer a low-cost virtual phone system over a full-fledged contact center platform. Higher subscription tiers like Plus, Pro, and Enterprise support three, 10, or over 20 users, respectively, so there’s no need to purchase a monthly subscription for each agent.

Unlike most business virtual phone number providers, Talkroute stands out for its complete call management capabilities, specifically for routing and forwarding incoming calls. It has unlimited inbound and outbound calls to the US and Canada (toll-free minutes included), allowing you to connect with local customers without worrying about overage charges.

Talkroute doesn’t support international calling and has no international number option. Companies in need of these services should consider RingCentral, which lets you enhance your local presence in various countries worldwide.

• Multidigit extensions: Set up three- or four-digit extensions to route calls to the right destination, play recorded messages, or send callers to voicemail.
• Call reporting and analytics: Detailed history reports provide critical call information, such as date, time, duration, caller ID, and status. Use filtering options to retrieve specific call data.
• Call stacking: Accommodate multiple calls simultaneously and prevent busy signals on the caller’s end. Talkroute puts callers in a queue and plays hold music while they wait for the next available agent.

Access comprehensive call records on Talkroute. (Source: Talkroute)

eVoice is the best virtual phone number for small businesses on a budget, thanks to its cheap, single-structure plan at $14, inclusive of three phone numbers. It works best for solopreneurs who don’t have plans of scaling soon and prefer a no-frills phone solution. It uses an a la carte approach, so you can add features depending on your specific requirements.

Regardless of your chosen plan, you can access the same voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) features like call routing, auto-attendant, and virtual fax. You can also avail of add-on services, such as live answering services and professional voiceover actors.

However, eVoice is significantly lacking in unified communication tools, such as team chat and video conferencing. A better alternative would be RingCentral, which offers a complete cloud communications solution for voice calls, video meetings, and team messaging.

• International forwarding: Forward your phone calls globally without purchasing an international phone number. This allows you to reach new foreign markets, even if your business is in the US or Canada.
• Sequential ring: Direct incoming calls to multiple departments or team members in any preferred order. The call will continue to ring multiple phone numbers until someone picks up.
• After-hours greetings: Play a prerecorded message to callers when they call your business after normal operating hours. Use it to create an away greeting, including alternative ways to contact you.

Activate after-hours greeting on eVoice to professionally greet callers at all times. (Source: eVoice)

RingCentral is the best provider of virtual phone numbers for businesses that regularly engage with overseas clients. It offers international calling with up to 1,000 minutes per user monthly. You can also take advantage of its public switched telephone network (PSTN) services in over 40 territories. The provider supports international SMS—businesses only need to submit a request to unlock this feature.

As the industry-leading VoIP phone system, RingCentral works as an all-in-one business communications solution for calls, video conferencing, and team chat. It also integrates with over 400 third-party software, allowing you to extend the platform’s functionality.

One major drawback of RingCentral is that its monthly fees exceed the average cost of other virtual number providers. A more budget-friendly alternative is eVoice, which charges just $14 per user and includes three phone numbers.

• Visual voicemail: This feature displays your voicemails in a list, including key information, such as the duration, contact name, and voicemail transcription. You can save the message, return the call, or select other responses.
• RingOut: Users with an unstable internet connection can make calls via landline or mobile phone using a RingCentral phone number while keeping their landline or mobile number hidden.
• Team huddle: Host impromptu audio and video meetings where participants can come and go as they please. Participants can hop in or out of the conversation at any time.

Access your voicemails in any format you like from any device. (Source: RingCentral)

Nextiva is a cloud-based phone system that allows users to manage team and customer conversations from a single screen. Its productivity work hub, NextivaONE, is designed to address siloed data, application overload, and complex integrations. Users can access all internal and external interactions within a centralized platform, including calls, emails, SMS, and video meetings.

Similarly, Nextiva has been included in this guide because, aside from virtual numbers and minute allowances, it has free number porting. In case you want to keep your existing number, Nextiva will help you with the transfer process without extra cost. To facilitate the process, submit all the necessary requirements, like a completed Letter of Agency (LOA) and a recent bill from the current provider.

However, Nextiva’s lack of vanity of numbers may be a concern for businesses seeking a custom phone line. If you need a memorable contact number to make a great first impression, Grasshopper is a better option, as it doesn’t charge extra for toll-free vanity numbers.

• Call flow builder: Nextiva provides a digital canvas for designing your automated phone menu. Configure your business hours, call routing, announcements, and extensions.
• Call presence: This feature displays the real-time phone status of employee extensions, so you can easily determine whether they are on a call. Status indicators include online, busy, and do not disturb.
• Team chat: Nextiva offers an integrated messaging app for group chats, video meetings, and virtual presentations. This enables users to collaborate over a scalable office phone system.

Chat with team members directly on Nextiva. (Source: Nextiva)

800.com provides a virtual telephone number for businesses wanting to monitor and evaluate the success of their marketing campaigns. With its call tracking service, you can assign numbers to different ad channels and determine the total number of answered calls, missed calls, and unique callers for each number. With these metrics readily available in your platform, you can make strategic decisions for improving your marketing campaigns.

The Vanity Marketplace is 800.com’s number search tool that allows users to determine vanity phone number availability without hassle. Simply enter your desired combination of letters and numbers and browse through available patterns.

Note that 800.com prohibits making bulk call-in lines, like customer support or sales call centers. RingCentral offers a full suite of call management features designed specifically for handling high call volumes.

• Whisper greeting: Add a whisper message to tracking numbers. Agents hear an audio recording about the ad source of the call, helping them prepare beforehand.
• Sequential forwarding: This feature allows an incoming call to ring a group of phone numbers in a designated order. You can assign schedules for every number based on the user’s availability or the team responsible for that line.
• Comprehensive inbox: Access your calls, texts, faxes, and voicemails from a single location. The list includes filterable categories to narrow your results.

Alert multiple phones in a specific order until an incoming call is answered. (Source: 800.com)