2024’s Top Phone Systems for Small Businesses

A business phone system is a multi-line VoIP phone solution that offers sophisticated capabilities not found in standard phone systems, such as voicemail choices, call management, call recording, business messaging, and limitless calling. It reduces operating expenses, provides excellent dependability and security, and enhances internal and external connections with clients and staff. This post evaluates, analyzes, and suggests the best phone systems for 2024.

Small Business Phone Systems:

Cloud-based corporate phone systems use cloud computing and the Internet to make communication easier. It’s also frequently called an Internet-based phone system or VoIP platform.

The primary benefit of this type of setup is its cost since the supplier handles all aspects of hardware, installation, and maintenance, saving you a significant financial outlay. You have a workable and practical solution since cloud computing is inherently agile and low-cost. Plans are even free with specific providers. The top cloud-based phone systems for small businesses are discussed below.

• Nextiva 
• RingCentral
• Zoom Phone
• GoTo Connect
• 8×8
• Dialpad
• Vonage
• OpenPhone
• Ooma Office
• Grasshopper

Nextiva – Best Pricing and Client Service

Aside from the business phone, texting, team chat, routing, caller ID, customer experience tools, and many other business-friendly features, Nextiva offers a fantastic desktop client.

In contrast to other corporate phone service providers, Nextiva offers VoIP calling, video conferencing, team messaging, SMS texting, and an integrated calendaring and contact list management system. Users of Nextiva get access to services such as multi-level auto attendant, file sharing, conference rooms, thread chats, and unlimited calling within the United States and Canada.

Benefits:

• Comprehensive cloud phone system: We evaluated Nextiva’s usability and accessibility by logging into the portal using their desktop application. VoIP, group chat, conference calls, and messaging are all integrated into the incredibly user-friendly NextivaONE backend site. We effectively set up call routing between two sales and support staff members through the desktop admin portal. After roughly five minutes, our settings took effect and functioned as intended. It required a call to support to set up the extensions. The representative set this up for us over the phone in less than ten minutes.
• Easy-to-use application for managing calls on any device: IVR, ring groups, and voicemail are just a few of the crucial routing and collaboration capabilities that Nextiva’s desktop and mobile apps make simple, easy-to-use, and unburied in a maze of technical options. We could access several call-handling functions on the desktop more quickly than on the mobile app.
• User access and designated numbers: Each user receives a unique portal login and a dedicated local number and extension. We might assign user responsibilities as administrators so that each person could customize their settings, voicemails, and hours.
• Launched in February of this year, Message Pro is a new function. Message Pro enhances your texting possibilities by eliminating the constraints of conventional one-to-one walled messaging. An assigned department or a team member can receive incoming SMS when you use Message Pro.

Disadvantages:

• Insufficient integrations: Unlike several rivals, which provide up to 300 connectors, Nextiva only provides 19 third-party software connections.
• Alerts from the Nextiva mobile app: During our testing, we observed a latency in several of the notifications. Voicemail notifications were the primary source of this. There was a time when it took around ten minutes to get a voicemail alert. However, notifications for new conversations and SMS appeared to be working well. The alerts were erratic.
• Poor video meetings: Nextiva video meetings are limited to users and only allow screen sharing and chat. They also lack useful collaboration tools like breakout rooms and whiteboards.

Cost:

The monthly price range for Nextiva is $18.95 to $32.95 per line. Only users who sign up for a multi-year agreement are eligible for this rate. However, the supplier usually provides three premium plans that may be subscribed to monthly or annual, in addition to a 30-day free trial. Throughout our assessment, they provided us with a limited-time, risk-free, 90-day trial of their plans.

Equipment:

Numerous solutions for desk phone systems are available from Nextiva. They presented us with the following ones:

• Yealink T series (color display, Bluetooth, WiFi, anwifi16 lines)
• Series of Poly Edges (up to 66 lines)
• Poly CCX 500 (color touch screen, 24 lines)
• Poly VVX series (90 lines maximum)
• IP phones from Cisco (4–10 lines)
• The Nextiva X-815 ($130) has a color display, built-in WiFi, and airlines.
• Nextiva X-835 ($160), which has a multi-page approach, extra programmable keys, and 12 lines
• The Nextiva X-885 costs $190 and comes with 12 lines and 12 more customizable keys.

RingCentral – The best video, simplicity of use, and teamwork

RingEX is a cloud-based VoIP calling, messaging, video, and phone solution for businesses. The program, which is compatible with desktop and mobile platforms, offers IVR, call monitoring, call queues, and a range of business phone numbers from area codes throughout the globe.

RingCentral’s phone system is user-friendly—even for those unfamiliar with VoIP—and jam-packed with several team collaboration features like file sharing, task management, and chat.

Advantages:

• Team collaboration: RingCentral’s robust built-in collaboration capabilities, including one-click buttons for team video huddle you can share quickly internally and externally, are what enthused us most. We extensively used the task assignment features included in the chat, which allowed us to work with coworkers.
• Usability: We knew right away how to text, chat, and make calls when we initially signed onto the RingCentral desktop client. Notifications are displayed in the left-hand column of the UI, which is reminiscent of popular communication applications like Slack and helps us never miss a task. Clicking on a contact’s name initiates an outgoing call.
• Business analytics: We’ve found that RingCentral has some of the most potent and adjustable analytics tools available. For each user on the account, we developed thousands of personalized dashboards with data that track call volume, queue activity, and user activity. Filtered by date, user, or KPI, this data is available in many graphic forms.

Disadvantages:

• SMS caps: Depending on the plan, a user’s monthly text allotment from RingCentral is limited to 25, 100, or 200 messages. It didn’t take us long to reach our monthly SMS cap during the testing phase.
• Though we found RingCentral’s UI and essential calling functions user-friendly, the analytics and call monitoring capabilities are sophisticated. We were taken aback by the sheer number of possibilities when we entered the statistics page.
• Bad customer service: We’ve seen lengthy wait times—up to over ten minutes—when contacting RingCentral’s customer care.

Cost:

In addition to three options that range from $20 to $35 per user per month if billed yearly, RingCentral offers a free 14-day trial. The cost of month-to-month paying is higher and ranges from $30 to $45 for each user.

RingCentral Equipment:

RingCentral offers a vast selection of VoIP gear and gadgets. Among the available IP phones that are compatible are:

• CCX series polymer (1 line)
• Mitel 6940w (7-inch color display with 48 lines)
• Combine the CP series (lines 2–6)
• Cisco 8861: two USB ports and ten lines
• Poly Edge—up to sixty-six lines
• Yealink T series (color display, Bluetooth, WiFi, anwifi16 lines)
• Avaya J series (3.5″ color display, nine lines)

Zoom Phone – Best video, adaptability, teamwork, and cost

Zoom Phone is a full-featured VoIP phone system for businesses, offering call statistics, IVR, call queues, team chat, and call monitoring for every plan. File sharing and emoji replies are supported in team chat sessions, and both the desktop and mobile apps are user-friendly. In addition, the platform gives the unusual choice of paying per minute or having unlimited domestic calling available in a non-US nation. Because Zoom Phone uses the Opus codec, we thought their speech quality was better than average.

Zoom was formerly thought of as a platform mostly centered on videos, but after utilizing the program, we had second thoughts. Although Zoom Phone’s main strength remains video, its extensive feature set makes it a more complete solution.

Benefits:

• Coherence across channels: We were pleased with how well Zoom’s collaboration tools and channels worked together. Zoom Phone and Zoom Meetings work together to allow us to start whiteboard sessions or take notes on documents in chat and effortlessly carry them over into video conferences.
• Zoom is among the rare VoIP companies offering unlimited domestic calling capabilities outside the United States. Zoom offers unlimited domestic calling in 40 countries and an add-on for unlimited calling in 19 more. Most carriers only provide unlimited calling in North America.
• Easy to use: Zoom’s mobile app was relatively easy after we got used to the desktop layout. Managing conversations and phone logs across platforms was simple because the sidebar menu translated flawlessly between desktop and mobile.

Drawbacks:

• Absence of analytics: Zoom Phone has sophisticated capabilities like monitoring and call queues. However, Zoom’s real-time analytics dashboard is only available as an add-on called Power Pack. The reporting on the native platform does not track live call activity.
• Lack of feature flexibility: Zoom’s features are reasonably priced. However, due to the pricing structure, teams cannot select their preferred feature tier. The Zoom Phone comes with the same set of functions for all users.

Cost

The characteristics of Zoom Phone’s three plans are the same but differ based on the domestic calling area and call price type. Monthly fees for plans vary from $10 to $20. Furthermore, Zoom provides an add-on for unrestricted calling in up to 19 nations.

Zoom Hardware

For Zoom One and Zoom Phones owners, Zoom provides hardware as a service. With Zoom’s hardware as a service offering, customers may rent phones for cheap monthly, so there are no up-front expenses. Compared to other phone systems, Zoom does not provide as many alternatives. Zoom offers desk phones that include:

• Poly VVX, 4–12 lines, $5.99–$7.99/month
• AudioCodes: 2-8 lines, LCD sidecar display; $4.99–$14.99 each month
• Poly CCX series: tiny camera, 7-inch color touch screen, $40–$45 monthly

GoTo Connect – Ideal for making international calls

GoTo Connect is a cloud-based audio, video, and chat messaging platform. With GoTo’s dial plan editor’s user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, creating a complex routing system was a simple process for setting up call distribution. We integrated the software’s voicemail, announcements, ring groups, and queues across our phone system. You have the option to record bespoke audio in addition to using type-to-voice to construct the menu. If the first (or second) choice is unresponsive, intelligent call routing guarantees that every incoming call is connected to an available agent.

Small teams might benefit from GoTo Connect’s Basic subscription, which provides restricted access to the above routing tools. The Standard plan’s unrestricted use is beneficial for teams of all sizes.

What we like:

• High-volume international calling: GoTo Connect’s Standard package outperforms all its competitors with limitless VoIP calling to over 50 countries, which pleased us. Dial the UK, Australia, China, and several other well-known locations.
• Custom dial plans, ring groups, auto attendants, and call queues are among the essential call distribution capabilities available for unrestricted use with the Standard subscription. We were able to create a bespoke phone system that assisted callers in automatically reaching their desired location with the use of these resources.
• Dial plan builder: You may construct a customer self-service menu by mixing a variety of users and activities with GoTo Connect’s drag-and-drop IVR flow builder. Our team rapidly constructed a bespoke routing system because it doesn’t require any programming. IVR selections and client use are also included in the analytics.

What we don’t like:

• Limited Basic plan: GoTo Connect’s phone system can only handle one call queue, ring group, and auto attendant. We quickly hit this limit and thought it would significantly limit large teams.
• SMS credit: The maximum amount of messages a user may send each month is 40 or 80 SMS credits, depending on the package. A few of our consumers felt constrained after swiftly reaching the 40-SMS restriction.

Cost:

GoTo Connect has two plans, Basic and Standard, and several add-ons at a premium. The monthly cost of each user under the Basic plan is $27, whereas the monthly fee under the Standard plan is $32.

GoTo Connect Equipment:

GoTo Connect provides its clients with a variety of IP phone solutions. The most well-liked ones they offered are as follows:

• Cisco 8861 ($715, 5″ WVGA screen, ten lines)
• Polycom VVX 601 ($479, 16 lines, touchscreen, integrated Bluetooth)
• Yealink T57W (16 lines, integrated Bluetooth, $359)

8×8 – Best for international calling

In addition to limitless SMS, group chat, and video conferences, 8×8 provides local and international calling in 48 countries. For organizations looking to expand customer service, the provider’s UCaaS plans seamlessly integrate into their premium contact center services.

We discovered that 8×8 offers excellent supervisor assistance with their UCaaS products. Our administrators could monitor several team members simultaneously using a supervisor analytics dashboard and call monitoring with whisper and barge features.

Even with the entry-level X2 plan, the phone system has all the fundamental routing features a small business may want, including call queues, multi-level IVR, and voicemail transcription. The platform’s ability to host meetings with up to 500 participants in all plans amazed us.

Advantages:

• Support for receptionists: 8×8 Frontdesk is an app interface created specifically with front desk employees in mind. Receptionists can easily manage high call volumes with the help of the user interface (UI), which offers a readily accessible contact directory, a live display of queue activity, fast call transfers, and simple call controls.
• Supervisor support: Call monitoring with a whisper, barge, takeover, and listen-to features is included in the X4 plan. Despite our staff’s tiny size, administrators could monitor every user’s call behavior because of this functionality.
• Engaging or large-scale gatherings: Interactive elements for 8×8’s 500-person meetings include breakout rooms, rapid polling, and emoji replies. These tools added a humorous, contemporary, and engaging element to our remote meetings.

Disadvantages:

• Limitations on international calling: Although 8×8 offers extensive international calling coverage for both plans (14 and 48 countries, respectively), many regions do not accept mobile numbers, particularly for the X2 plan. We advise the X4 plan for limitless international calling, even if it is more expensive.
• Cost: Despite having more sophisticated contact center functionality than most competitors, 8×8’s UCaaS platform is more expensive. Only if you want to utilize the special features—call monitoring and international calling—do we advise getting it.

Cost

Two unified communications plans and three contact center options are available from 8×8. You must contact them to obtain pricing data, as they do not make their prices available to the general public.

8×8 Equipment

VoIP desk phone solutions from 8×8 are numerous. Customers can buy or rent phones; some IP phones may be part of packaged deals. Options for 8×8 phone systems are:

• AI-powered 14-line Poly Edge E400 ($204.36) noise block
• Yealink SIP T46U ($175.31, soft keys, ten lines, dual colored LEDs that light)
• Polycom VVX 350: $192.01, 3.5-inch color display, six lines

Dialpad:

Dialpad provides AI telephony and team collaboration. It comprises SMS texting, group chat, virtual faxing, and voice and video calling.

Among all UCaaS platforms, the desktop app’s dashboard is among the easiest to use. Including real-time statistics and live call transcription in all plans, which help agents and supervisors alike, pleased us. These capabilities are often only available on the most expensive phone plans, yet Dialpad charges $15 per month for them.

Dialpad also has all the essential phone system functions, such as global virtual phone numbers, multi-level IVR and call queues, ring groups, and file sharing inside team chat.

Features:

• Value: Dialpad’s Standard package is quite affordable at $15. Advanced features include real-time statistics, interactive video conferencing, and live call transcription. These are hard-to-surpass capabilities for small teams on a budget.
• AI and analytics: Dialpad’s analytics dashboard is simple to use and comprehend. We immediately read and understood a summary of our call volumes, messages exchanged, and video conference logs.
• User experience: Despite having many functionalities, the desktop application has a contemporary feel. The live transcribing tool worked surprisingly well with the active call controls, even though we had anticipated it to feel overpowering when on call.

Disadvantages:

• Small video capacity: We used the sophisticated capabilities offered by Dialpad Meetings, such as virtual backdrops and waiting areas, but the 10-user restriction prevented us from holding team meetings. This could work for some small enterprises, but those with more than 20 workers might require a greater capacity.
• Restricted integrations: Google Workspace integrations are the only ones Dialpad’s Standard plan supports. Select the Pro plan if you wish to integrate HubSpot or Salesforce as we did.

Cost:

You may try Dialpad for free for 14 days. The unified communications platform has monthly membership fees of $15 to $25 per user per year. Billing for each user varies from $23 to $35 per month.

Dialpad Equipment:

Only VoIP customers can purchase Polycom and Yealink desk phones from Dialpad; no offers or phone bundles are available.

Phone models sold by Dialpad include: 

• Polycom VVX 350: six lines, four soft buttons, and a 3.5-inch backlit color display
• Yealink SIP T33G, a 2.4-inch color backlit display with four lines
• Yealink SIP T54W (integrated Bluetooth, 16 lines)

Vonage – Top APIs, personalization, and texting

The business communications platform from Vonage includes team chat, SMS, video conferencing, VoIP calling, and a desktop and mobile app. Along with standard routing capabilities like call groups, analytics, and IVR, users may make unlimited calls and messages inside the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Vonage’s virtual number services, which offered a wide range of local and toll-free alternatives from across North America and several other countries, pleased us. But some of our best-loved Vonage features—like the inbox for collaborative messaging—are only available as add-ons.

What we like:

• Unlimited SMS: We often exceeded our monthly messaging allotment when utilizing substitutes. Vonage has never seen this because they allow unlimited messaging within the US and Canada.
• Setup, records, and usage of the meeting: The Vonage app makes organizing and accessing video meetings simple, even though it doesn’t have some interactive capabilities like breakout rooms and whiteboards. With just one click, hosts may effortlessly record meetings and access all the recordings in the meeting log.
• Availability of phone numbers: When we used Vonage to purchase virtual numbers, we discovered many DID numbers available in the US in the desired area codes and many options abroad.

What we don’t like:

• Lacks sophisticated features: Vonage Unified Communications only has voicemail and auto attendants as essential functions. We wish the app had more call management, call monitoring, and analytics tools while using it; call queues are an additional cost.
• Call recording as an add-on: Vonage charges $4.99 per month for call recording. However, many other options come with automaincluderecording as a built-in function.
• Important features cost too much: The only option that offers video meetings and multi-level auto attendants is the Premium plan, which costs $29.99 per user per month. Several rivals provide similar services in their base package for half of Vonage’s pricing.

Cost:

Three options are available from Vonage Business Communication. Prices for 1–20 monthly users vary from $19.99 to $34.99, with occasional seasonal breaks available.

Vonage Equipment:

Vonage Business customers have several alternatives regarding desk phone systems, but the company doesn’t run any promotions or include phones in service packages.

Phone models include: 

• Yealink SIP T48U, a 7-inch color backlit panel with 16 lines
• Yealink T57W (16 lines, 29 touch buttons, multipoint touch screen)
• Polycom VVX 250 (color LED screen, 2.8″ with four lines)
• Poly CCX 600 (noise reduction, 7-inch screen, integrated WiFi, anwifiuetooth, 54 lines)

OpenPhone – Maximum freedom with phone numbers

OpenPhone is a simple and adaptable messaging and calling service. OpenPhone lacks video, but its unique number-sharing features make it an easy-to-use platform for small teams to collaborate. Many people can use the same number once to send and receive SMS. Several team members shared a single number to maximize call routing and put up unique ring orders. Users can hold numerous numbers and switch between them with a single click in addition to sharing numbers.

Recently, OpenPhone has included AI functions that we found dependable and helpful, such as call summaries and recommended message answers.

What we like:

• Shared phone numbers: OpenPhone customers may share their phone numbers with up to twenty team members, and they can even send and receive messages simultaneously using the same number. This feature sets OpenPhone apart from some other competitors. For us, this was a huge productivity increase.
• AI: A few VoIP service providers have lately included AI, with OpenPhone leading the way. The technology provides call transcription and automated conversation summaries and uses AI to produce answers to text messages from customers. We discovered that these phone summaries effectively encapsulated the critical points of our talks.
• Collaboration: OpenPhone offered the most straightforward one-click switching between phone numbers among all the systems we evaluated. Users may access messages and phone inboxes within each phone number.

What we don’t like:

• Absence of analytics: The analytics menu is the primary feature we discovered was sent from OpenPhone. We could not obtain critical phone system data, such as the proportion of missed calls, inbound vs outgoing calls, and other crucial KPIs.
• Limited Google integrations: Although OpenPhone is compatible with Google CRM, email, and Contacts, we wish it was also compatible with Google Workspace, as some of its rivals are.
• Absent phones or hardware: Openphone is limited to using a softphone app on your PC or mobile device; it is not compatible with actual phone systems.

Cost

Three monthly options, ranging from $15 to over $23 per user, are available from OpenPhone. Voicemail transcripts, SMS, group messaging, and voice are all included in the entry-level Starter package. Custom ring orders, group calling with many users per call, and AI call summaries are added to the business plan.

Ooma Office:

Ooma Office is a phone system and UCaaS platform designed for small enterprises. It facilitates SMS texting, video conferences with up to 25 people, and VoIP calling throughout North America and Mexico. We liked that the platform provides 500 toll-free minutes and a free toll-free number with every account setup. In addition to lacking key practical phone features like call tracking and AI help tools, the UI has an air of antiquity. The video meetings also include basic functionalities like screen sharing and chat. Nevertheless, the statistics of the Pro Plus plan wowed us. Ring groups and call queues are two examples of call routing systems that are simple to use.

Benefits:

• Easy-to-use call controls: We discovered Ooma’s call parking, call hold, and call forwarding to be user-friendly when on the phone. The call may be transferred with only one click from the active call interface.
• Multichannel analytics: Ooma’s analytics platform records insights and trends across the phone system and messaging, whereas other rivals provide call analytics. Watching the patterns in messaging volume by day and hour of the week was entertaining.

Drawbacks:

• Lack of team chat: Although it’s not a necessary feature, we were disappointed to see it absent from Ooma. Team chat is a feature that many alternative phone systems come with, which is beneficial for communication.
• Typical video conferences: While Ooma offers screen sharing and meeting recording, it does not provide some of its competitor’s interactive features, including breakout rooms or whiteboards.

Cost

Three monthly options, ranging from $19.95 to $29.95 per user, are available from Ooma Office. A mobile-only phone system with IVR, ring groups, and unlimited calling within North America and Mexico is provided under the Essentials package. Call queuing and CRM connections are added to the Pro Plus package, while video conferencing and the desktop app are added to the Pro plan.

Ooma Equipment

In addition to being compatible with a few Yealink models, Ooma offers its range of IP phones. Ooma offers frequent promotions on Ooma brand phones, such as buy one get one free, but does not include desk phones in their corporate VoIP service plans.

Ooma phone options include:

• Ooma 2603 (3 lines, HD audio, $79.99)
• Ooma 2613: Six lines, twenty-four programmable keys, $99.99
• Ooma 2615W (10 lines, WiFi, Blwifioth, $179.99)
• Yealink T33G: $49.99, four lines, electronic hook switches, color display with backlight11

Grasshopper – Top basic mobile messaging and calling services

Grasshopper is an essential business phone that allows texting and calling. Grasshopper is a beautiful choice for small teams and solopreneurs who don’t require a fancy phone system because of its simple interface. Voicemail, call logs, conversation history in messaging, and standard call settings like hold and forwarding are all included in the desktop and mobile interfaces.

We liked how simple it was to use Grasshopper on a PC and that it allowed unlimited messaging throughout the United States.

Advantages:

• Grasshopper is among the most straightforward phone systems available. It’s simple for new customers to call and text because the desktop and mobile applications include the most basic functions, like voicemail and call logs.
• Distinctive price structure: Grasshopper’s rivals provide user-based pricing whereas account-based pricing. Using Grasshopper for small teams (5 to 20 employees) may be more economical if numerous users share phone extensions. In particular, for people who choose simplicity over frills.

Disadvantages:

• Pricing structure: Although it has benefits, some organizations may find it disadvantageous. Teams can look elsewhere for more reasonably priced choices if they want consumers to have a unique phone number.
• Absence of routing features: Queueing and IVR are crucial components of a VoIP phone system. Without these routing tools, we felt confined in our use of Grasshopper.
• No hardware or phones: Grasshopper is designed to operate solely with desktop and mobile applications; desk phones are incompatible.

Cost:

Grasshopper charges by the account and provides four price levels. Plans differ based on the amount of extensions, bundled phone numbers, and supported users. The same features are included in all plans: call controls, voicemail, rapid text response, PC and mobile applications, unlimited calling, and SMS in the US.

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