6 Best Virtual Phone Number Providers for 2019

Virtual phone number systems allow you to add a business number to an existing personal landline or mobile phone. We evaluated a variety of virtual phone services and narrowed it to the six best. We then evaluated them based on price, features, and service to learn which one stood out as the best overall.

Top 6 Virtual Phone Number Providers for 2019

Which Virtual Phone Number Provider Is Right For You?

How We Evaluated Virtual Phone Service Providers

Virtual phone numbers keep business calls on your landline or mobile phone separate from personal calls by allowing you to use two phone numbers on a single device. Some virtual numbers also feature voicemail, multiline management, and call routing. The service should be affordable, easy to use, and backed by reliable customer support.

Therefore, we evaluated virtual number providers based on:

• Price: We compared the price and features of each virtual number provider.
• Ease of use: Each service was assessed for how easy its system is to set up and use.
• Call management: The types of call management features each provider offers were evaluated, including voicemail call screening, call forwarding, and call block capability.
• Multiline management: We assessed how easy it is to separate your business calls from personal calls on a landline or mobile phone.
• Extensions: Options for routing calls via phone number extensions were noted for each solution.
• Auto-attendant: We assessed whether the provider offers an automated attendant for greeting and routing callers.
• Call quality: Online customer reviews of each virtual number provider’s call sound and quality were evaluated.
• Customer support: We assessed the type of customer service support each provider offers, including hours of availability.

We recommend Grasshopper as the best provider of virtual phone numbers for its affordability, unlimited extensions, integrated faxing, and many customization capabilities. Here’s how the six providers we evaluated stack up when compared against each other for price, features, and customer support.

Best Overall Virtual Phone Number for Small Businesses: Grasshopper

Grasshopper is a virtual phone service that provides key business phone features without any equipment to install on your personal device. Prices start at just $29 per month for a solid set of features like unlimited calling, auto-attendant, and call forwarding. This is the best service for small business owners or remote employees who need a competitively priced business number with extra functionality for their mobile phone or landline.

Grasshopper Pricing

Grasshopper offers three competitively priced service plans: Solo for $29 per month, Partner for $49 per month and Small Business for $89 per month. All plans offer all of Grasshopper’s virtual phone system features, such as auto-attendant, unlimited minutes, voicemail-to-email and extensions for forwarding.

Each plan includes phone numbers and extensions:

• Solo Plan: One number and three extensions for $29 per month
• Partner Plan: Three numbers and six extensions for $49 per month
• Small Business Plan: Five numbers and unlimited extensions for $89 per month

Visit Grasshopper

Grasshopper Features

Grasshopper includes a number of features that give solopreneurs and remote employees the same tools that many traditional business phone systems provide, like call routing, voicemail, and fax. It also features a customizable auto-attendant, hold music, a dial-by-name directory, voicemail-to-email, and business texting.

Grasshopper’s features include the following:

Automated Attendant

Grasshopper’s automated attendant answers inbound calls, then forwards them to the employee or department the customer is trying to reach. Users can route calls to any phone number, including mobile phones, landlines, or another business phone. Auto-attendants are a common feature of other virtual phone number providers, including Nextiva and Phone.com, but Grasshopper’s is not as robust since it is not a multilevel solution.

Call Management

Grasshopper’s call management tools include call forwarding, call transfer, call block, and custom call control that can be scheduled around your business hours. Like Google Voice, the call screening feature allows you to hear the caller’s name or number before deciding whether to take the call, which is helpful if you take personal and business calls on the same phone.

Extensions & Call Routing

Extensions give customers control over how incoming calls are routed. Users create extensions, choose the numbers where calls should be routed, define the order in which those numbers should ring, and how many rings before switching to the next number. Extensions are a common feature of virtual number providers and are also offered by Nextiva and Phone.com.

Grasshopper Setup & Ease of Use

Grasshopper requires no equipment other than your phone and is very easy to use. The user interface is clean, with separate tabs for all configuration options. The setup process is intuitive and easily describes each step. You get a local or toll-free virtual number with virtual extensions to route calls, and the home page notifies you of any missed calls and voicemails.

What Grasshopper Is Missing

Grasshopper is a call forwarding service and its list of features isn’t as extensive as its competitors. It lacks options like call recording, a multilevel auto-attendant, video conferencing, and integrations with programs like Microsoft Office. Therefore, if your business needs physical phones or phone lines, Nextiva is a better option.

What Users Think About Grasshopper

Grasshopper customers who like the virtual number service say they love its pricing and reliability, and that the customer service team is helpful. Those unhappy with the service mostly had difficulties in managing and configuring the call forwarding service. For more reader reviews, visit our Grasshopper user reviews page.

Best Free Virtual Phone Number Provider: Google Voice

Google Voice is a free, no-frills virtual phone service to use on any mobile device or landline for business calls and voicemail. It includes call forwarding, call block, and text messaging from smartphone apps and computers. Consultants, freelancers, and startups wanting free virtual phone numbers with basic features should take a look at Google Voice.

Google Voice Pricing

Google Voice offers individuals, freelancers, consultants, or anyone wanting to separate business from personal calls a second phone number for incoming and outgoing calls with no monthly fee. Almost all calls to the U.S. and Canada are free; calls to select U.S. locations and international calls start at 1 cent per minute.

Google Voice Features

Google Voice is a virtual number service with a small set of features that include voicemail, call blocking, and screening. It allows for business call management but doesn’t have features like multiple numbers, extensions, or auto-attendant functionality, making it good for solopreneurs who need a basic virtual business phone number only.

Google Voice also offers the following benefits:

Automated Attendant

Unfortunately, unlike Grasshopper and Nextiva, Google Voice does not have a standard auto-attendant to greet and route callers to different extensions. However, it does have a screening feature that welcomes the callers and prompts them to say their name before the call rings through to your phone.

Call Management

Google uses information from your address book or contact list to tell you who is calling, offering a variety of options to manage inbound calls. Similar to Nextiva’s call-divert feature, you can choose to hear the person’s name and answer the call, send it to voicemail, send it to voicemail and listen in live, or have the call come directly to you.

Extensions & Call Routing

While extensions aren’t available with Google Voice, you can direct specific inbound calls to different phone numbers via the advanced settings. If you need extra extensions, virtual phone numbers, or call routing, Grasshopper or Phone.com may be a better solution for your needs.

Google Voice Setup & Ease of Use

Google Voice is perhaps one of the easiest virtual phone services to set up. With a Google account, you can easily add your mobile, home, or work phones. Once your phones are linked, you can receive calls, SMS messages, and reply to messages from either the phone or the web interface. Voicemails are automatically transcribed moments after each call, and you’ll receive notifications of missed calls and messages through email and SMS.

What Google Voice Is Missing

While it works as a great call forwarding solution, Google Voice lacks many of the features that are standard with business phone systems, such as an automated attendant and extensions for multiple users. For a more robust service that also offers business phone system features, check out Nextiva.

What Users Think About Google Voice

Google Voice customers who like the service are impressed with the routing features, screening, voicemail, and SMS functionality. Those disappointed with Google Voice are unhappy with the difficulties experienced in porting phone numbers from landlines, as well as the lack of individual customer support. For more reader reviews, visit our Google Voice user reviews page.

Best Virtual Phone Number With a Business Phone System: Nextiva

Nextiva, which ranks as our best small business voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) option, provides virtual phone numbers, more robust business phone features, and service plans starting at $20 per user, per month. Nextiva is a great choice for small companies and solopreneurs wanting an affordable virtual number to use with a complete and integrated business phone system.

Nextiva Pricing

Nextiva offers three service plans: Basic, Pro, and Enterprise. Prices range from $20 to $30 per user, per month for teams of 100 or more with a prepaid yearly agreement. Starting prices for service plans for solopreneurs and smaller teams range $35 to $55 per user, per month.

Nextiva Tiered Features

Basic

The Basic plan includes unlimited domestic calling, a free local and toll-free phone number, free number porting, and unlimited virtual fax. If you have one to four users, the plan costs $35 per user, per month, but can go as low as $20 per user, per month with 100 or more users on the network. Nextiva’s Basic pricing is a bit higher than the first tier pricing of virtual phone service providers like Phone.com.

This tier lacks the conference bridge, SMS messaging, mobile apps, and call recording features found in upper levels. With those limitations, this plan is best if you only need a virtual phone number with unlimited calling without any advanced features.

Pro

The Pro tier adds SMS messaging, the mobile app, and Team Presence to allow users to set their availability status within the Nextiva app. If you have one to four users, the plan costs $38 per user, per month and can be as low as $25 per user if your business has more than 100 users. This tier’s pricing is about the same as Freshcaller’s mid-level plan.

This tier is missing call recording and the Nextiva Anywhere app found in the provider’s highest package level. The Pro plan is best if you need conference calling abilities with your virtual phone number and the ability to manage your calls from a mobile app.

Enterprise

The Enterprise level includes three professionally recorded greetings as well as a set of analytics and reporting tools. If your business has one to four users, the plan costs $55 per user, per month and goes as low as $30 if you have more than 100 users. This plan level costs a bit more than Phone.com and other virtual phone number providers; however, unlimited calling and access to a full business phone system provide added value for the money.

Unlike the Basic or Pro plans, this tier also provides access to Nextiva’s full suite of CRM features, which include customer journey mapping and advanced call recording. If you need a complete phone system with a customer management system to track calls and activity with your customers, this plan is the best one for you.

Nextiva Setup & Ease of Use

Setting up Nextiva is straightforward and the system overall is fairly easy to use. However, the interface can be a bit confusing for those completely new to the concept of a virtual phone system. While it’s easy to manage call forwarding options, the process for configuring business hours and the customized greetings for your auto-attendant could use some improvement.

What Nextiva Is Missing

While Nextiva offers the best balance between price and features for a virtual number, the pricing on their website can be a bit misleading. The prices shown are for a three-year contract for businesses with 100 or more employees. Nextiva could take a page from providers like Grasshopper and offer more clarity in its pricing structure.

What Users Think About Nextiva

Customers are generally happy with the level of service received from the customer support team, how easy the service is to set up and use, and the reliability of the virtual number platform. However, some readers say they find the website portal cumbersome and unintuitive. For more user reviews, visit our Nextiva user reviews page.

Best Custom Virtual Phone Number Provider: Phone.com

Phone.com ranks as our best vanity phone number provider for numbers that are easy to remember, like 1-800-FLOWERS. It includes an auto-attendant, voicemail, and a choice of unlimited or pay-per-minute affordable calling plans that start at $12.99 per month. As a result, it is great for business owners, consultants, and freelancers wanting a customizable virtual phone number.

Phone.com Pricing

Phone.com’s pricing ranges from $29.99 to $59.99 per user extension for unlimited calling, depending on the number of users and plan chosen. One-time fees for custom phone numbers start at $100 and cost $4.99 per month.

Phone.com’s pricing plans include:

• Base: $12.99 per month for 300 calling minutes
• Plus: $19.99 per month for 500 calling minutes
• Pro: $39.99 per month for 1,000 calling minutes

Phone.com Features

Phone.com virtual phone number provider offers a customizable automated attendant, unlimited extensions, dial-by-name directory, voicemail-to-email, faxing, and texting. In addition to a custom virtual number, Phone.com offers solopreneurs and small business owners many of the same tools traditional business phone systems provide.

Phone.com features include:

Automated Attendant

Phone.com’s auto-attendant provides callers with an interactive voice response (IVR) menu with button-press choices for rapid call routing. Similar to Nextiva’s auto-attendant, this feature can be personalized with custom messages, music, voice greetings, and a dial-by-name directory that prompts callers to enter the name of the person they are trying to reach.

Call Management

Phone.com’s call management tools include call block, call transfer, and call forward. Like Google Voice, Phone.com also offers a call screening feature that announces key caller information on incoming calls to help users decide whether to take the call or route it to voicemail.

Extensions & Call Routing

Phone.com offers unlimited extensions with all plan levels. Unlimited extensions are only available with Grasshopper’s Small Business Plan, and Google Voice doesn’t offer extensions at all. Similar to other virtual phone number providers, all extensions come with individual voicemail boxes, call routing, call logs, and a conference bridge.

Phone.com Setup & Ease of Use

Phone.com provides a self-service platform so once your signup is complete, the virtual number system is ready to use. Most functions are performed with a few simple clicks, and as your business grows, you can purchase the additional adapters or phones directly from Phone.com.

What Phone.com Is Missing

While you can easily reach support agents through live chat, phone, and email, Phone.com does not provide 24/7 support. Also, though Phone.com offers call conferencing and customer relationship management (CRM) integration, there is an additional charge for each feature, while virtual phone number service providers like Nextiva and 8×8 include them at no additional cost.

What Users Think About Phone.com

Phone.com customers are pleased with the affordability of the service and like the flexibility of the calling plans that allow them to add features as needed. However, some users are disappointed with the quality of customer support, long wait times, and delayed responses. For more reader reviews, visit our Phone.com user reviews page.

Best Virtual Phone Number for International Calls: 8×8

8×8 is a virtual phone number provider that offers unlimited free calling to 47 countries. It also features unlimited domestic calling and call conferencing with plans from $28 per user, per month. 8×8 is a great option for businesses that have international clients or team members, and companies that expect to expand internationally.

8×8 Pricing

8×8 offers three plans that all include international calling. The X2 plan is $28 per user, per month with calling to 14 countries. The X5 plan is $38 per user, per month with a calling range of 32 countries. The X8 plan is $60 per user, per month with a calling zone to 47 countries.

8×8 Tiered Features

X2

8×8’s X2 plan features unlimited calling to 14 countries, audio and video conferencing for up to 100 participants, 1GB of media storage, voicemail, and an auto-attendant. It also features SMS messaging and unlimited fax for $28 per user, per month. 8×8 X2 is a good choice for sales teams, consultants, and business owners who want basic business voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) phone service with international calling for no additional charge.

This tier doesn’t include the operator switchboard offered with the mid-range package. It’s also missing a toll-free phone number and the voicemail-to-email transcription features of Nextiva’s first level Office Pro package. 8×8’s X2 plan isn’t the cheapest VoIP service entry-level package on our list, but the unlimited international calling to 14 countries may offset the price of less expensive providers that charge for global calls by the minute.

X5

8×8’s X5 package adds call recording, 5GB of media storage, and unlimited international calling to 32 countries for $38 per user, per month. With the addition of call recording, the extra cloud storage space for parking call recording is a welcome touch. This package lacks call quality reporting and the analytics feature available in the upper-level tier. This option is right for teams that want a larger global calling range and the option to record calls.

The X5 package is missing an app similar to Nextiva Anywhere, a feature that allows users to make and receive calls from any device and any location using a single phone number. This level is missing the premium tier’s interactive voice response (IVR) system and advanced analytics. X5 is on par with Grasshopper’s mid-range service plan, but Grasshopper doesn’t offer free international calling.

X8

8×8’s X8 package adds 10GB of media storage and unlimited international calling to 47 countries for $60 per user, per month. It also features call quality reporting and analytics so businesses can monitor calls and call center performance. 8×8’s X8 plan is best for larger businesses, sales, and call centers with a high volume of customer calls.

8×8’s upper tiers lack the affordability of some of its competitors. However, it’s still feature-rich and businesses that make a lot of international calls may prefer an unlimited global calling plan over the per-minute rates.

8×8 Setup & Ease of Use

Setting up an account with 8×8 is quick and easy. It requires no special equipment or hardware, and the entire system is controlled through an online portal accessible from any web browser. If you need help along the way, 8×8 customer support services include an extensive online knowledge base, 24/7 live chat, online ticketing, and phone support.

What 8×8 Is Missing

8×8 lacks 24/7 live chat and customer service as offered by other providers on our list. Businesses that want the security of knowing help is available around the clock should instead consider Nextiva.

What Users Think About 8×8

Businesses that use 8×8 report they are satisfied with the cost of the service and the customer support. However, users say they are unhappy with the reliability of the service. For a more in-depth summary of customer feedback, visit our 8X8 user reviews page.

Best Virtual Phone Number for Call Centers: Freshcaller

Freshcaller is a virtual phone number provider with a built-in call center system including call queue visibility, agent presence status, and customer interaction history. Service plans range from free to $40 per user, per month. Freshcaller is right for businesses and sales teams wanting a virtual phone number to use within a call center environment.

Freshcaller Pricing

Freshcaller offers three service plans. Sprout is free, Blossom costs $25 per user, per month, and Garden is $49 per user, per month. All plans include per-minute call rates that start at 16 cents. Local virtual phone numbers are $1 per month and toll-free numbers are $2 per month.

Freshcaller Tiered Features

Sprout

Freshcaller’s free Spout plan supports an unlimited number of users and includes basic call queues and custom greetings. It also features ringtone customization and call forwarding to mobile phones. With its limited number of features at this level, the Sprout plan is best for solopreneurs, freelancers, and consultants who want a budget-friendly virtual number with pay-as-you-go calling.

This level doesn’t include voicemail or call recording as offered by the next tier. It also lacks variety of call management tools offered with Google Voice’s free virtual phone number service. However, unlike Freshcaller’s Sprout plan, Google Voice doesn’t feature custom ringtones or call queues.

Blossom

Freshcaller’s Blossom plan adds advanced call queues, call routing during business hours, and voicemail. It also includes call recording for training and quality assurance purposes. The Blossom tier is great for workers who want to take calls wherever they are and for sales teams that need call recording for recordkeeping and training.

This tier doesn’t include conference calling or advanced call metrics that come with the upper-level plan. It also doesn’t feature a robust auto-attendant like Phone.com. However, The Blossom plan is on par with Phone.com’s entry-level price plan and also includes a call center system.

Garden

Freshcaller’s Garden plan adds non-business hours call routing and custom call center reports that include detailed data on queue time, hold time, talk time, and more. The Garden tier also features conference calling and call monitoring tools to increase agent productivity and manage calls remotely. This plan is the right choice for sales teams and mid-size businesses wanting a complete call center system.

This plan doesn’t feature advanced voicemail tools like voicemail-to-email or voicemail-to-text, like virtual phone number providers Grasshopper or Google Voice. That said, Grasshopper is more expensive than Freshcaller, and Google Voice’s free service doesn’t include as many features.

Freshcaller Setup & Ease of Use

Freshcaller is very easy to set up. In fact, the company says customers can have an account set up and running in two minutes. All that’s required to run the call center system is a stable internet connection and a web browser to access the user tools and admin dashboard.

What Freshcaller Is Missing

Freshcaller does not include virtual phone numbers in the cost of its service plans. Local phone numbers are $1 each per month and toll-free numbers are $2 per month. Businesses preferring a virtual number provider that includes a local or toll-free number should look at Nextiva or Grasshopper instead.

What Users Think About Freshcaller

Reviews of Freshcaller are favorable overall. Customers say the platform is intuitive and the call center system readily handles the needs of a busy call center environment. However, some users say the Freshcaller dashboard can be somewhat cluttered.

What Is a Virtual Phone Number?

Virtual phone numbers are phone numbers that aren’t associated with specific phones the way landline and mobile numbers are. Virtual number providers assign customers a number or allow them to select their own while setting up an account. Users then choose which of their existing landline or mobile devices should ring when the virtual number is dialed.

How a Virtual Phone Number Works

Virtual phone numbers work by associating a phone number supplied by a virtual number provider with an existing landline or mobile device. Calls made to that number are then discreetly routed directly to that phone without going through the landline or mobile device’s carrier. Outbound calls are also routed through the virtual phone number provider, allowing users to have a business and personal phone number on a single phone.

Why Get a Virtual Phone Number?

Virtual phone numbers service multiple purposes. They allow freelancers, solopreneurs, and consultants to give out a business phone number that’s discreetly forwarded to their personal phone. They also allow workers to make and receive calls on their personal phones without revealing their private number. And, finally, since business owners can choose their own area code, companies can give the appearance of being local no matter where they’re located.

Bottom Line

Virtual phone numbers are great for separating your business calls and texts from your personal calls and texts. They come with standard features like faxing, voicemail, and auto-attendants that help solopreneurs, small company proprietors, and business owners look and sound professional on the phone.

Businesses wanting an affordable virtual phone number provider with a solid set of features that are easy to use should check out Grasshopper. The company offers a seven-day free trial with no credit card required. Visit Grasshopper’s website for details.

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