8 Best Small Business VoIP Services

RingCentral, the industry-leading small business VoIP service, offers one of the most comprehensive call management systems fit for efficient handling of inbound and outbound call traffic. Its base plan includes everything you need for effective call distribution, including multilevel IVR, shared lines, call queue, and call park—features that most competitors offer in higher subscription tiers.

Configure your phone systems across the company, regardless of device or location, and use the mobile app to set up admin and user settings. RingCentral also secured a position on our list of the best business cell phone plans because of its essential call features like answering rules, call transfer, and call forwarding.

If you like RingCentral’s feature-rich offering but find it a little overwhelming for your needs, consider a straightforward alternative like Ooma. This provider focuses on telephony capabilities and ease of use, making it ideal for businesses seeking simplicity.

• Multilevel IVR: Set up routing menus with a visual IVR editor and route calls to voicemail, extensions, and external phone numbers. Each account supports up to 250 voice menus and submenus.
• Multisite management: Support all your branch offices’ site assets based on their unique needs within a single account. Each site has its own outbound caller ID, call handling rules, user roles, and autoreceptionist.
• Analytics portal: Get real-time insights on adoption, usage, and quality of service with RingCentral’s analytics portal. Various call metrics let you set key performance indicators (KPIs), identify top performers, and track issues quickly.

Get real-time insights into your company’s phone system usage. (Source: RingCentral)

While Nextiva is often considered a small business VoIP phone system, it is primarily designed as a multichannel customer experience platform. It combines VoIP with other digital channels such as live chat, social media, and review management, providing a centralized platform to streamline interactions and un-silo customer information.

Nextiva is built around unified communications, which integrates voice calls, video meetings, and messages into one continuous conversation. With its powerful CRM integrations, users can send automatic surveys after every phone interaction and receive all the important customer details before picking up a call.

However, despite its feature-rich offerings, Nextiva has a relatively steep price point, which can put budget-conscious teams at a disadvantage. If you’re after affordability, check out Zoom Phone, one of our best cheap VoIP services, with monthly plans starting at $10 per user.

• Call Pop: This feature displays the caller’s details before you pick up the call. Customize it to show whatever customer information you need, like sentiment or account value.
• Automation tools: Enhance service efficiency with automation features like automated surveys, real-time suggestions, and automatic follow-ups.
• Call pulling: This feature transfers an ongoing call between devices without interruption. This feature works on desk phones, computers, and mobile phones.

View past conversations from different channels on one screen. (Source: Nextiva)

Ooma is a small business VoIP provider with a straightforward approach to call management, ideal for businesses finding RingCentral too overwhelming for their entry-level needs. It focuses on core functions, including call forwarding, voicemail, automated routing, hold music, and ring groups. While collaboration tools and integration options are limited, smaller teams can focus on handling call traffic without unnecessary functionalities.

This platform secured a spot on our list of the best VoIP services for home offices, thanks to its free home phone service. A one-time purchase of the Ooma Telo device for $79.99 provides unlimited access to its internet home phone plan with free US calling, HD voice, and online call logs.

Although Ooma has video conferencing and team chat, its collaboration capabilities are not as sophisticated as other full-fledged VoIP providers. We recommend RingCentral, the most comprehensive business communication software on the market.

• Multidevice ring: This call forwarding type lets you receive calls on any device and allows multiple devices to ring when an Ooma user is called.
• Extension monitoring: This feature allows a user or receptionist to monitor the status of other phone extensions and perform different actions like call transfer or three-way calling.
• Distinctive ringtones: Add a unique ringtone to a call queue or ring group to give team members a heads-up about the nature of the incoming call.

Stay on top of business communications wherever you are. (Source: Ooma)

Zoom Phone stands out as our best VoIP service for small business owners aiming to manage their spending on inbound and outbound calls. It offers great value, thanks to its cheap per-user fees, all-inclusive plans, and flexible subscription options. All plans include the same robust set of phone features, but each one has distinct calling options, letting you choose between metered or unlimited regional calling based on your specific needs.

As one of our best hotel phone systems, Zoom Phone offers affordable international calling plans. For only $20 per user monthly, you get unlimited regional calling in one of the 48 countries supported by Zoom. Another cheap deal is the unlimited international calling add-on for 15 countries, starting at $10 per month.

Unfortunately, Zoom Phone doesn’t offer vanity numbers for businesses looking to establish a memorable impression on their customers. A great alternative is Grasshopper, our best virtual phone number provider offering toll-free number bundles and vanity numbers at no additional cost.

• Call delegation: Assign a phone user to make and receive calls on another user’s behalf. Both users can view the status of the shared lines and access the delegator’s direct phone numbers.
• Shared line groups: Share a phone number and extension common area phones or a group of phone users. You can set routing rules and apply custom business hours.
• Call quality dashboards: View the overall quality of phone calls and filter voice data on a specific user. It includes usage reports that display phone usage data for a specific user or call queue.

Get a detailed analysis of your call activities. (Source: Zoom)

Phone.com is our best VoIP phone system for small business operations with low or seasonal call volumes throughout the year. Instead of paying unlimited minutes for all team members, you can mix metered and unlimited call packages to choose the best plan for each user.

Teams subscribed to the metered plan can share a single pool of minutes across multiple users. This approach ensures no minutes go to waste and accommodates team members with different call volumes. Advanced tiers have unlimited minutes, which is perfect for customer-facing teams handling large numbers of calls daily.

Phone.com has relatively few integrations, limiting its ability to connect with third-party apps. If you need a VoIP solution that readily integrates with your current app stack, check out RingCentral. It has a dedicated app gallery with over 300 business solutions for automation, CRM, and productivity.

• Call handling: Create rules to route incoming callers to the right destination. Options include forwarding, auto-attendant, dial-by-name directory, and scheduled routing.
• Voice tagging: This feature announces which menu option the caller selected before answering the call. It is helpful for businesses with multiple auto-attendant options that ring to the same number.
• Live receptionist: Add live answering services to your Phone.com account. With a monthly starting fee of $125, you get professional phone operators to answer your business calls.

Choose how incoming calls should be forwarded to specific extensions. (Source: Phone.com)

Grasshopper is the best VoIP for small business owners who need straightforward calling and text messaging capabilities without the added complexity of a cloud-based communication solution. While it doesn’t offer the extensive call management features found in some competing services, Grasshopper is tailored for freelancers and startups focused on maintaining client interactions through phone calls and SMS.

To further enhance a business’ professional image, Grasshopper offers toll-free vanity numbers for free, securing its position for our best free VoIP services. You can customize a number or have one generated for you. Most VoIP providers charge a one-time setup fee for vanity numbers on top of the monthly rate, but with Grasshopper, you can select a local or toll-free vanity number when you subscribe to a monthly plan.

As a virtual phone system, Grasshopper doesn’t come with video meetings and team chat. For businesses that need these tools for effective team collaboration, Nextiva is a better option because of its robust unified communications features.

• Virtual receptionist service: Adding Ruby to your Grasshopper account gives you a professional phone answering service that will handle calls on behalf of your business. All Grasshopper users have exclusive pricing starting at $155.40 per month.
• Call transfer: Grasshopper offers two ways of transferring calls—blind or supervised. Blind lets you automatically transfer calls to another user, while supervised lets you speak with the receiving party first.
• Custom greetings: You can record phone greetings or have a professional voice actor record your script in Grasshopper’s voice studio. Pricing starts at $75 per order.

Make calls and texts through the Grasshopper app. (Source: Grasshopper)

International calling is typically a premium VoIP feature offered by most providers on a pay-as-you-go basis or as a monthly add-on. With GoTo Connect, a monthly subscription includes unlimited free calls to up to 52 countries, allowing your business to expand its market reach cost-effectively.

Another unique feature of GoTo Connect is its toll-free and vanity phone number offering. While providers like Nextiva and Ooma only offer toll-free numbers on their base plans, GoTo Connect lets you pick the right virtual number that best suits your business. It also offers number porting services to help you save time and money when transferring an existing phone number.

While GoTo Connect offers an impressive unified communications system, it still cannot beat RingCentral in terms of integrations and call management capabilities. RingCentral stands out for its robust analytics functionality, popular integrations, and call handling features.

• Screen sharing: GoTo Connect enables meeting participants to share their screens from their desktop or mobile device. The drawing tools allow you to edit, modify, highlight, and markup documents in real time.
• Customized call flows: The drag-and-drop interface is an intuitive admin tool that lets you edit, update, and change call flows easily. It lets you set up multiple auto-attendants and monitor how calls are directed to extensions or departments.
• Custom auto-attendants: Record unlimited customized messages and voicemail greetings with the GoTo Connect desktop or web app. Use it to share important updates and keep callers engaged while they wait in a queue.

Map out call flows to efficiently route callers to their destination. (Source: GoTo Connect)

Small teams handling moderate call volumes and sharing call-answering responsibilities across team members will benefit from a call forwarding service like Talkroute. It offers various ways of forwarding incoming calls, including simultaneous ring, live call transfer, and multilevel auto-attendant. You can also customize the call forwarding schedule for specific devices.

With its multidigit extensions, you can assign three or four-digit codes for everyone on your team, making it easier for callers to reach their desired destination. You can configure extensions to route calls to an automated message, voicemail, a desktop user, or multiple phones.

Unfortunately, Talkroute may not be ideal for businesses looking to do business outside the US, as it doesn’t allow international outgoing calls. Companies wanting to do business overseas might want to consider a provider with unlimited international calling capabilities, like GoTo Connect.

• Voice studio: Hire a voice talent to impress callers with your professional-sounding prompts and greetings. Submit a script through a website form and wait for three business days to receive your voice over recording.
• Caller ID name: Customize your caller ID to make your outgoing calls appear more professional. If you have multiple phone numbers, Talkroute will display any of your business numbers when making outbound calls.
• Hours of operation: Set specific days and time ranges for when your business is available to take calls. You can play a closing time message or set an after-hours destination.

Specify the best time and day to accept incoming calls. (Source: Talkroute)