The Best Phone Systems for Small Businesses

Staying connected with customers and clients is of vital importance for all businesses. Without reliable communication channels, getting work done can become increasingly challenging. Today’s business phone systems are less phone-related and more unified communications platforms that ensure you can communicate with your customers and employees via whatever channel (phone, video, text) you prefer. The best business phone systems offer a streamlined platform that not only gives you access to each communication channel, but weaves them together in a way that makes conversations simple to follow, regardless of whether they are happening over the phone or via text message. We have spent dozens of hours researching all of the top options to figure out where each excels and where some drop the ball. Below are the systems we find most valuable for businesses like yours.

Today’s business phone systems give users the ability to make and receive calls directly from their computers. Source: RingCentral

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone systems are becoming a necessary tool in modern business settings, serving as central hubs that unify communications across voice, chat and video. These cloud-based phone systems have largely replaced traditional landlines in business settings thanks to their advanced features, accessibility and cost. Most business phone providers include essential features like a phone number, voicemail, call routing, and unlimited voice calls to the United States and Canada. However, services vary widely, with some boasting advanced features that use artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically prepare and send meeting summaries with action items after each call.

Whether you’re a small business that speaks to a few clients a week or a large business with a sales team that spends most of the day on the phone, there’s a system geared toward your needs. Our best small business phone system reviews below will help you determine which solution is most effective for your needs and suitable for your budget.

What Is a Business Phone System?

A business phone system is a communications platform for businesses, typically including unlimited calling, automated menus, ring groups to call multiple employees simultaneously, voicemail-to-email functionality and call recording. Types of business phone systems include voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP), private branch exchange (PBX) and key system unit (KSU). The best phone systems for small businesses use VoIP technology, which allows you to use your business internet connection for the whole system. Business phone systems are continuously evolving to become entire communications platforms involving text, voice and video communications as well as collaboration between hybrid and remote team members.

A business phone system typically costs between $15 and $50 per user, per month, depending on the features and level of service you select. Many providers offer plans that start at around $20 per monthly user. In many cases, advertised prices are listed with the assumption of an annual payment plan for a significant number of users. The per-user price generally reduces by as much as 25 percent for larger businesses that purchase many accounts and commit to an annual contract. Small businesses with fewer than 10 employees should pay special attention to advertised pricing on websites that often preselect a plan with more than 20 users and annual payment pricing as this may not reflect the prices available to them. You’ll also want to take note of any minimum seat requirements when comparing prices for small teams.

Some providers, such as Zoom, offer pay-as-you-go metered pricing for calling and messaging but this arrangement is rare. For most service providers, unlimited calling to the U.S. and Canada is included, with additional per-minute fees for international calls that vary by provider and region. Some vendors also charge a one-time activation fee for new customers.

Many companies will lower their monthly prices by replacing standard features with piecemeal add-ons. For a lot of businesses, this is an excellent way to reduce costs—you can skip features, such as call recording, that may not be used by everyone. You can also utilize add-ons to design a custom solution for your long-term communication goals. While some service providers allow businesses to mix and match plans to support different employees effectively, many providers don’t offer this level of flexibility.

Most business phone vendors sell and rent preconfigured IP desk phones and other telephone hardware that range in price from $60 to $400. However, desk phones are never required to use a cloud-based phone system.

Today’s business phone systems offer a plethora of valuable features for small businesses. This is perhaps the greatest benefit of cloud-hosted systems: They have opened the door for small businesses to access a multitude of advanced features without having to spend a ton of money. Previously, only larger businesses could afford feature-rich systems because of the capital required to install the necessary equipment. Fortunately, that’s no longer the case. Below are some of the functions to look for in a new business phone system.

Stick to these five simple steps to identify the best business phone system and make a purchase decision with confidence.

1. Determine what’s available

Business phone systems are hardly an exciting category, which means it’s probably been a few years since you’ve taken the time to explore the companies driving innovation and offering the best features or value.

Read a few online guides (like this one) written by experienced reviewers who can compare and contrast different options objectively. To see how other customers have felt, check out some recent user reviews and customer comments on platforms like the Better Business Bureau’s website.

2. Define what you need

With such a wide variety in price between entry-level and enterprise systems, it’s important to determine the features and integrations that matter most. Once you understand the ideal set of tools across your organization, take a headcount and determine if everyone needs the same calling features.

In some cases, you may be able to mix and match plans, providing high-level features to those who need them while saving on your monthly bill for employees with fewer phone requirements.

3. Take advantage of live demos

Most service providers are willing to invest the time it takes to lock you into a long-term phone plan. Usually, this includes the offer of a live demo with a sales representative who can walk you through their phone system and address any specific questions you may have.

4. Compare costs

At this point, you should have narrowed a long list of potential phone providers to a few good choices. Rest assured that all of the platforms we’ve reviewed—and all of the major providers in this category—offer reliable service with a similar mix of features. If you’re struggling to make a final decision, the total annual expense is an excellent determining factor.

5. Start with a monthly term

While there are significant discounts available for annual subscribers, you may want to wait one month to ensure you’re satisfied with your new phone system. Typically, implementation is a fast and easy process, which makes switching services a relatively light lift.

Meanwhile, most long-term contracts have unattractive early termination fees that often require payment for the entirety of the contract. If you’re satisfied after one month, you can upgrade to a longer term and enjoy a lower monthly cost.

Modern business phone systems offer all the advantages with practically none of the disadvantages of older landline systems, which require expensive on-premises hardware to purchase and maintain. With a lower monthly cost, no hardware to manage and an impressive list of call management tools, a cloud-based business phone system is a very compelling option for many business owners and managers. Below are some of the benefits of using today’s business phone systems.

Go beyond making calls.

Cloud-based business phone systems do far more than make calls. They also support video conferencing, team messaging, SMS and online faxing. On top of that, they offer integrations with popular business software and highly rated CRM platforms to manage customer data and communications properly across an entire business.

Most of today’s top business phone systems include built-in video conferencing software, which ensures you can hold online meetings and make calls all from the same platform. Source: Ooma 

Enjoy communications flexibility.

Flexibility is another area where business phone systems have evolved, allowing employees to take calls on any internet-connected device, including computers, laptops, tablets, mobile phones and IP phones, that has the same functionality as a traditional-looking desk phone. Businesses can send inbound calls to all devices at one time or set up ring groups that dial specific teams or employees with a simultaneous or sequential ring setting to ensure all inbound calls are routed and received properly.

Get quality assurance.

While some traditional landline users may fear poor quality due to a bad internet connection, the reality is that cloud-based phones are on par with landline systems in terms of audio quality and reliability. The majority of business phone system providers offer uptimes of 99.999 percent and higher with SLAs. As part of their analytics tools, many vendors also include quality-of-service reporting, which details the level of quality for every call that’s made.

Vonage

While many platforms come with some degree of customization through a handful of add-ons and APIs, Vonage stands apart for the sheer number of available customizations and unique plan structure. Most cloud-based business phone providers place advanced communications features and tools in their top-tier plans, forcing you to adopt a high-priced plan when you may only want one or two of those features. Vonage takes more of a piecemeal approach, featuring 18 paid add-ons such as on-demand call recording, IP phone paging and an AI virtual assistant with conversational AI. Learn more in our review of Vonage.

Grasshopper

For many small business owners and solopreneurs, adding a simple virtual business phone system to an existing cell phone makes the most sense. Grasshopper enables you to separate work and personal calls from the same device easily, providing a professional look and sound with local, toll-free and vanity phone numbers. You can even hire Grasshopper to record a professional voicemail greeting on your behalf. All plans provide the same core features including unlimited minutes, mobile and desktop apps, call forwarding, virtual faxing, voicemail, simultaneous call handling, business texting and 24/7 support. Plans are largely differentiated by the number of users, phone numbers and available extensions. Read our full Grasshopper Review

Aircall

Aircall’s business phone service has the right mix of contact center features and sales-focused tools, making it an ideal choice for companies that primarily work with customers over the phone. The integration-friendly platform offers over 100 integrations and API access, including 44 CRM and help desk applications. Sales teams gain improved visibility into performance with talk-to-listen ratios to review conversation engagement levels and a power dialer tool to initiate new calls in rapid succession and automatically add new numbers from web pages. Customer service teams offer better services with features like intelligent call routing to connect customers with the best agent available for a specific issue or problem.

Open Phone

OpenPhone’s virtual phone system bridges the gap for remote teams. Its unified inbox centralizes all customer interactions, from calls and texts to voicemails, keeping everyone informed and eliminating missed opportunities. Shared inboxes and business hours routing ensure calls are distributed evenly and handled promptly. Plus, complete conversation history with transcripts and internal chats empowers your team to provide personalized service. On top of that, OpenPhone offers affordable plans with time-saving features like auto-responses and snippets, making it a cost-effective solution for remote businesses.

800.com

800.com focuses on one key element: business phone numbers. Unlike some competitors offering full phone systems, 800.com helps you establish a professional presence with 1-800, vanity, or local numbers. This separates your personal calls and creates a dedicated line for customer inquiries. They offer three flexible plans, all including features like faxing, call recording, texting, analytics, voicemail transcripts, and various call forwarding options, so you can choose the functionality that best suits your needs.