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12 Best Business VoIP Providers in 2019

Editorial
Best VoIP Providers

As cloud computing has taken over the business technology landscape, Unified Communications as a Service has been added to the solutions business leaders seek out. With the right software in place, businesses of all sizes can access the features they need to collaborate as teams and communicate with clients over their internet connection. Today’s telecommunications solutions go well beyond the audio-based phones of the past. They incorporate many of the features that once required installing multiple pieces of software on each computer in your organization.

But to truly save money and power your business to the fullest, you need to find the right hosted VoIP solutions provider. That means first identifying your own needs, while also taking some time to understand the many options out there. We’re here to make that a little easier by walking you through the best features found on today’s phones, as well as what they can do for you. Here are a few ways UCaaS can benefit your business.

What Is UCaaS?

Before we can go into detail about the best UCaaS solutions for your own business, it’s important to stop to answer the often-asked question, “What is UCaaS?” First, any time you see the words “as a service,” it simply means that a cloud services provider offers that particular item as a service. Software as a Service refers to the practice of selling access to the software as a service, usually paid at a monthly rate.

Unified Communications is the term used to pull various communications tools into one place. The voice, video, chat, instant messaging, text, and email solutions a business uses to keep in touch are all part of Unified Communications. Instead of operating separate communication channels through various types of software, Unified Communications allows businesses to bring everything together in one place.

As with other solutions offered as a service, UCaaS providers generally charge a small monthly per-user rate for services, rather than requiring a large installation fee followed by a hefty monthly utility bill. For small and midsized businesses, this can bring substantial savings, since they’ll only be charged for the workers they currently have. But even for large enterprises, UCaaS services can usually help make a switch that saves serious money, especially if they can transition a company from traditional business phone service to the much less expensive Voice over IP phone solutions that include UCaaS.

Benefits of VoIP

Let’s say you’re running an old-fashioned phone service through the telephone company. They came out and ran the lines when you started your business and now they charge you a hefty monthly fee. Or perhaps you’re an entrepreneur thinking about launching your own startup from your home office. By making the move to VoIP, you’ll save money right out of the gate, since there usually won’t be an installation fee or expensive hardware to purchase. You’ll have a business phone system that you can simply plug in and use, with software that allows you to manage everything from your computer or smartphone.

Here are a few of the other benefits you’ll enjoy by opting for VoIP:

Here are some of the top VoIP providers to help you find the right one for you.

When it comes to business VoIP phone systems, Nextiva has cornered the market, offering a full suite of features designed for today’s global workforces. They even offer both toll-free and local VoIP phone numbers, so whether you’re a small startup or large organization Nextiva has a custom solution that fits your needs.

On the basic plan, customers get unlimited calling and virtual faxing, but for just a slight upcharge, you can also add conferencing and the Nextiva mobile app.

With the app, you can make and receive calls for your business using your cell phone, with full access to in-office features like chat rooms, desktop sharing, and call management. One of the best things about the mobile app is that you can easily hop back and forth from your cell phone to a laptop or desk phone, all without the person on the other end realizing you’re switching devices. The software powering it all resides on a highly-redundant network that keeps businesses up and running 24/7/365. Take a look at some Nextiva reviews just to see how good they really are.

With MegaPath, you can choose between VoIP phone service alone or a voice and data bundle that includes UCaaS. With the full bundle, you get voice and video conferences, group IMs, and the ability to use your cell phone as your business line thanks to the MegaPath app. You’ll also get click-to-dial capabilities and automatic call logging, along with advanced analytics.

If you need call center capabilities, you can choose MegaPath’s call center package that gives you intelligent call routing to handle the heaviest call volume. There’s also a fax pro package for businesses that still deal with a high volume of incoming and outgoing faxes. One issue with MegaPath is that everything is sold in bundles, so you could find that the same features you get on a lower-priced plan with other providers cost much more here.

Simple Phone Co promises to be “packed” with features, starting with a drag-and-drop call flow manager to help you route incoming calls the way you want them to go. Other features include find me/follow me, ring groups, multilevel menus, auto-attendants, voicemail to email, and customizable conference call bridges. Every plan includes free calling to the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico.

You’ll also be able to connect your CRM and easily add click-to-call within your web browser. Most of the features are included in their basic plan, but one negative is that you’ll need to pay extra to add on features like virtual fax, a dedicated conference line, and the previously-mentioned CRM integrations.

Blueface offers phone systems for both enterprise and small and midsized businesses. Features include mobile softphone, conferencing, call recording, call routing solutions, and call reporting. You can also get a local number in more than 40 different countries to make it easier to take your business international.

It’s important to note, though, that your Blueface plan will come with only one geographic-specific number and one non-geographic number. To add other phone numbers, you’ll have to pay, and pricing is based on which country you choose. For enterprises, Blueface offers predictable billing to keep your monthly phone bills at the same rate each month for easier budgeting.

Affordable plans and all the most popular features make VoIPLy a top business VoIP service. Features include auto-attendants, visual voicemail, email to fax, voicemail to email, and a dial-by-name directory. You build the system that works for your business, adding the features that are important to you.

This starts with choosing a phone number and the type of desktop phones you want to purchase. Then you’ll add your features and get a price. The most basic plan includes unlimited calling within the U.S. and Canada, auto-attendants, HD voice, hold music, and voicemail to email. You will need to pay for first and last month’s service during signup, as well as any equipment you want to order.

PanTerra comes with plenty of features built into its basic plan, including business analytics, unlimited calls and meetings, and intelligent call routing. With PanTerra’s cloud collaboration suite, called Streams, you’ll have video conferencing, team messaging, web meeting, and digital fax, all built into the phone system you use every day.

You can also use the provided administrator panel to create hunt/ring groups, multilevel auto-attendants, and other advanced functionality. You’ll also have an unlimited number of team rooms to allow your employees to collaborate on their various projects.

Small businesses are MightyCall’s focus, with features like visual call flow configuration, call forwarding to any device, music on hold, conference calls for up to five people, and call recording. You can operate MightyCall off the mobile devices and computers you already have, which means you’ll never have to buy any hardware. You can also port your existing phone number at no cost.

The solution integrates with Facebook and Twitter, helping you easily communicate with your customers on the sites they use every day. As emails come in, you can set the system up to automatically turn them into a task in the activity queue to make sure nothing will fall through the cracks.

One of the biggest benefits of OnSIP is that pricing is not based per line, but on the apps your business uses. So, you can save money if you have more than a few lines but have a limited need for features. But you’ll get plenty of features with the free plan, which includes up to 100 users, voice and video conferencing, business hour rules, and web phones. You’ll also get integrations with Slack and Zendesk, as well as a Chrome extension. The free plan includes internet calling only, though, or calls through OnSIP’s specialized OnSIP phone software.

When looking for the best VoIP for small business, one common feature you’ll find is the ability to easily add and remove users as your needs change. AirCall is one of the VoIP providers advertising that scalability, along with advanced call analytics that helps you see how well your team is doing. AirCall also has a large number of integrations, including popular applications like Zoho, Salesforce, Zendesk, and Pipedrive. You’ll also get a virtual call center, international numbers, and an interactive voice response system so you can make sure your calls go where they need to go.

You’ll have to buy one of the higher-priced plans to get access to Salesforce integration and live call monitoring, so it may become pricier than competitors if you need those features.

With awards from a variety of sources, 8×8 is a top choice of many brands. Solutions are customized to industry, business size, and product types, each with its own pricing and features set. For a small business, 8×8 offers phone, fax, collaboration, and content center services, all combined in one platform.

Collaboration tools include teleconferencing, web meetings, video conferencing, and mobile apps. For enterprise customers, 8×8 provides Virtual Office editions that include unlimited calling zones to at least 14 countries, fax, analytics, instant messaging, and audio and video conferencing with meetings. 8×8 also integrates with Salesforce, Zendesk, and Netsuite CRM to make collaboration even easier.

Like some of the other top small business VoIP providers, RingCentral allows you to use its services on your existing devices, including your personal cell phone. You’ll be assigned a business number, as well as features like high definition video conferencing, messing, and file sharing. You’ll need an iOS or Android device in order to download the app to your devices and access all of the calling and collaboration features.

Once downloaded, you can manage your setup directly from the app. Basic plans allow only a few people per video or audio meeting but include unlimited phone calls, unlimited SMS, and access to RingCentral’s collaboration app, Glip. There are also phone rental options that include desk and conference phones to allow you to have a dedicated handset for each worker.

Jive’s online portal is one of its most notable features, with a visual dial plan editor that makes it easy to set up your system. You can create schedules that route calls a certain way throughout the day, as well as generate custom greetings to give your business the appearance of being a large corporation. You can even create the entire year’s schedule in just seconds.

Reviews

One of the best ways to choose a technology solution is to learn what others are saying about it. Fortunately, VoIP and UCaaS have both been around long enough to have gathered plenty of reviews. With so many people having tried out all of these services, you don’t have to guess. You can go through various online review sites and read for yourself.

Although many providers don’t have reviews on every site, we’ve searched some of the most popular online review services to give you the lowdown. Sites like the Better Business Bureau, Yelp, and Ripoff Report serve as virtual logs of the history of customer interactions for various companies. Below are a few of the highlights we’ve found on the review sites of some of the above-mentioned providers.

Better Business Bureau

Since 1912, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) has collected reviews on companies to protect consumers. The agency issues each business a grade, similar to what you see on school report cards. Although you may associate the BBB with a service you check before hiring an exterminator or buying an appliance, they also do a great job of applying that same rating system to on online companies and cloud service providers. Below are the reviews for above-listed services that have BBB profiles.

Yelp

Although Yelp has become known as a way to rate local restaurants and attractions, businesses looking for services can also browse reviews. Many of the above-mentioned services don’t have a presence on the review site, so we’ve only included the ones that do.


GetVoIP

GetVoIP offers reviews specific to VoIP services, with many of the above-mentioned services included.

Software Advice

Software Advice displays customer reviews of various types of software, including VoIP and UCaaS platforms.

Measuring Uptime

As noted in the reviews above, uptime should be a vital part of any service VoIP you choose. Your service’s reliability not only means you’ll be able to make calls when you need to, but it also affects the quality of the voice and video business communications you have throughout the day. Below, we take a look at the uptime statistics we found when we checked the above services using the most popular uptime detection sites.

 

Is VoIP the Right Solution for Your Business?

At one time, businesses had to carefully weigh business VoIP against the features offered by their local phone company. The switch might have been expensive and intrusive, for instance, since they already had so much invested in cabling and handsets. However, as workplaces have gotten increasingly mobile, traditional landlines have had a tough time keeping up, especially while also remaining competitive in price.

Even if your entire team works onsite, you can benefit from VoIP features that allow you to take business calls either on your desktop or cell phone. This is the biggest reason to consider VoIP. Many solutions are built with mobile in mind, rather than offering the feature as an add-on to a traditional desk set.

When it comes to deciding whether VoIP is the right solution, often it’s just a matter of finding the best business VoIP provider for your own unique circumstances. There are now more VoIP options than landline ones, thanks in large part to the fact that landline providers often focus on local markets, rather than a national customer base. This means you can shop numerous VoIP providers and choose the pricing and features that are best for your needs, which makes it highly likely you’ll find a much better offer on VoIP versus landline options. However, you can still price a landline-based service as part of your research just to make sure. Doing this will also give you the satisfaction of knowing just how much money you’re saving each month.

Your search for the best business VoIP provider doesn’t have to be an extensive one, as long as you know what your needs are. If you can narrow down your list to the best in the field, you can study those features and find a solution at a price that meets your own needs. Many of these solutions will offer free demos to interested customers, so you can easily get a look at how a phone system works before you sign up.

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