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Best VoIP Provider for Small Businesses in 2018
Choosing a telephone provider directly affects your day-to-day operations and ongoing costs, but we’ve done much of the research for you to help you navigate through the range of providers and make an informed decision. Newer VoIP-based technology has made many of the more advanced call management features that used to be reserved for larger businesses available to smaller businesses like yours while lowering costs.
We looked at the most popular providers and rising stars that covered the range of options for small businesses in terms of available features and price.
Best VoIP Provider Summary Table
Best VoIP Provider Summary Table
Best Overall VoIP Provider: Nextiva
Who Nextiva is Best For
We recommend Nextiva as the best overall VoIP provider for small businesses because they offer the best combination of standard features, industry-leading customer support, and price.
Nextiva Pricing
Nextiva’s pricing is based on the number of users and decreases per user as more are added.
- $34.95/month per user for 1-4 users
- $29.95/month per user for 5-19 users
- $24.95/month per user for 20-99 users
- $21.95/month per user for 100+ users
Above pricing is for a month-to-month agreement.
Nextiva Features
Nextiva includes most of the standard phone system features that your business should expect from their VoIP phone service provider, including:
- Web-based system administration
- Auto-attendant
- Hold music
- Call forwarding
- Conference bridge
- Caller ID
- Call blocking
- Call waiting
- Call transfer
- Ring groups
- Share one line on multiple phones or devices
- Voicemail to email (audio file)
- Voicemail transcription
But Nextiva’s primary differentiator is the high standard of customer support that they deliver. Nextiva demonstrates why their customer service team wins the awards they do as soon as you begin to setup your service. They assign a single point of contact to your business for each phase of the phone system, from setup and training to ongoing support. And in addition, their online knowledge base and user guides are comprehensive in their coverage.
As well, voicemail transcription automatically transcribes the contents of your voicemails to text and sends a copy of the text to your email. While this might seem like an unnecessary convenience, its real benefit comes from the ability to automatically integrate your voicemails with your CRM system if you have one. However, it should be noted that this feature comes at an additional cost of $2.95/month per user.
What’s Missing from Nextiva
Nextiva delivers the best balance between features and price, but it’s missing a few of the more advanced features that RingCentral offers, such as:
- Unlimited video meetings with screen sharing
- Integrations with Microsoft, Google Box, and Dropbox
- 1,000 toll-free minutes
Nextiva Customer Support
Nextiva’s award winning team pairs your business with a US-based representative to assist you with the setup and use of your service. This helps to ensure that you’re maximizing the features that can benefit your specific business.
Once your service is setup and in use, any issues are dealt with promptly. 95% of Nextiva’s incoming support calls are answered by the second ring and their goal is to resolve your issue during your first contact with them.
Nextiva’s multi-tiered support is available 24/7 with single point of contact by phone or online.
What Our Readers Say About Nextiva
Our readers have given Nextiva generally positive ratings with an average of four out of five stars. Customers were very happy with Nextiva’s customer service team, saying that Nextiva’s customer support representatives are helpful, friendly, and professional. However, users also said that Nextiva is difficult to install and use and they complained of frequent downtimes and malfunctions.
Best Full-Featured VoIP Provider: RingCentral
Who RingCentral is Best For
RingCentral is our recommendation for the best full-featured VoIP provider for small businesses. They are an industry leader in VoIP phone systems and offer a wide range of features, many of which are also available from Nextiva and 8×8, but at an added cost. However, by including these features as standard, RingCentral starts out at a significantly higher monthly cost than their competitors.
RingCentral Pricing
RingCentral’s pricing is based on the number of users and decreases per user as more are added.
- $49.99/month per user for 1 user
- $34.99/month per user for 2-19 users
- $31.99/month per user for 20-99 users
- $29.99/month per user for 100-999 users
Above pricing is for a month-to-month agreement.
RingCentral Features
As a full-featured VoIP phone service, RingCentral offers all of the same call management features as other VoIP phone service providers, such as:
- Web-based system administration
- Auto-attendant
- Hold music
- Call forwarding
- Conference bridge
- Caller ID
- Call blocking
- Call waiting
- Call transfer
- Ring groups
- Share one line on multiple phones or devices
- Voicemail to email (audio file)
And in addition, RingCentral offers a few more features that other providers don’t, including three key ones that significantly differentiates their phone system from the others.
- Unlimited video meetings with screen sharing
- Integrations with Microsoft, Google Box, and Dropbox
- 1,000 toll-free minutes
The video meetings and integrations with third-party services will help your business to collaborate with your customers and among your employees. This better incorporates your phone service into your larger business operations. And the included 1,000 toll-free minutes gives your small business more flexible options to better serve your customers.
What’s Missing from RingCentral
As the most fully-featured VoIP phone service that we reviewed, RingCentral isn’t missing any of the key features of its competitors. However, this comes at a higher cost. What RingCentral is lacking is affordability — it’s also the highest priced service that we reviewed.
RingCentral Customer Support
RingCentral offers an online knowledge base, phone support from 8am to 9pm EST, online chat 24/7, and ticket requests. RingCentral also offers weekly webinars on a range of topics for new users who are looking for more self-directed service options.
A significant downside to RingCentral’s service is that they dedicate more customer support resources to their larger accounts, which means that smaller businesses don’t receive the same level or care. RingCentral outsources their customer support and routes accounts with less than 20 users offshore. It’s only accounts with more than 20 users that receive US-based support.
What Our Readers Say About RingCentral
Our readers have given RingCentral generally positive ratings with an average of four out of five stars. Customers said they were pleased with RingCentral’s range of features. The system has all the features that a small business would need for their phone system, such as caller ID, call routing, call forwarding and callback. However, they were very disappointed with RingCentral’s customer service. According to several users, RingCentral had very long phone queues and their email support also had long response times.
Best VoIP Provider for International Calling: 8×8
Who 8×8 is Best For
For businesses that make and receive a lot of international calls, 8×8’s top two pricing packages may result in significant cost savings. That’s because their Unlimited and Global plans include unlimited calls to either 8×8’s top nine international destinations or 40, respectively.
8×8 Pricing
8×8’s pricing is based on the number of users and decreases per user as more are added, plus a $39.99 activation fee.
- $24.99/month per user for 250 outbound minutes to the US and Canada and $0.029/minute thereafter
- $39.99/month per user for unlimited minutes to 8×8’s top 8 calling countries
- $79.99/month per user for unlimited minutes to 8×8’s top 40 calling countries
On a 12-month agreement.
8×8 Features
8×8 includes most of the standard phone system features that your business should expect from their VoIP phone service provider, including:
- Web-based system administration
- Auto-attendant
- Hold music
- Call forwarding
- Conference bridge
- Caller ID
- Call blocking
- Call waiting
- Call transfer
- Ring groups
- Share one line on multiple phones or devices
- Voicemail to email (audio file)
However, 8×8’s best feature isn’t within the phone system itself, but in the monthly packages they offer. Their Unlimited and Global pricing plans include unlimited international calls to 8×8’s top nine and 40 calling destinations, respectively. And their per minute rates for other destinations start at $0.034, which is very competitive. For small business who will use their phone system to make a lot of international calls, these pricing plans may result in a significant cost savings over the long-term when compared to Nextiva and RingCentral.
Another unique benefit of 8×8 is that it’s also compliant with HIPAA, PCI, and FISMA regulations, making it suitable for industries where the collection and storage of sensitive data are required.
What’s Missing from 8×8
8×8 is missing some of the more advanced features of its competitors, but this is reflected in its lower monthly cost as well as the included long distance. Some of the notable advanced features that are missing include:
- Unlimited video meetings with screen sharing
- Integrations with Microsoft, Google Box, and Dropbox
- 1,000 toll-free minutes
- Voicemail transcription
8×8 Customer Support
8×8 offers a comprehensive online knowledge base, live chat, and phone-based support.
8×8 also offers one of the more unique support channels that we’ve seen from any small business phone system provider. 8×8 crowdsources part of their support team from among their most active power users, who then share their first-hand insights, experience, and knowledge of the service with other customers. By connecting customers with each other, 8×8 can often facilitate resolution to issues within minutes and the expert customers who help out can earn rewards in the process.
What Our Readers Say About 8×8
Our readers have given 8×8 a mixture of positive and negative ratings with an average of three out of five stars. Positive reviews of 8×8 were mainly about the service’s cost. According to many of its users, when compared with other VoIP systems, 8×8 does give more features for a lower price. Users who gave 8×8 a negative review said that the service in general was not reliable, from the phone quality to the customer support.
Best VoIP Provider for Business Collaboration: Vonage
Who Vonage is Best For
Vonage’s partnership with Amazon Chime integrates the online communication and collaboration tool with Vonage’s VoIP phone service. Chime’s online meetings, video conferencing, online chat, and file sharing capabilities help to enhance Vonage’s phone service to be a more complete end-to-end business solution.
Vonage Pricing
Vonage’s pricing is based on the number of users and decreases per user as more are added.
- $39.99/month per user for 1-5 users
- $29.99/month per user for 6-9 users
- $24.99/month per user for 10-20 users
- $19.99/month per user for 20+ users
Vonage Features
Vonage includes many of the same call management features as its competitors, such as:
- Web-based system administration
- Auto-attendant
- Hold music
- Call forwarding
- Conference bridge
- Caller ID
- Call blocking
- Call waiting
- Call transfer
- Ring groups
- Share one line on multiple phones or devices
- Voicemail to email (audio file)
In addition, Vonage’s partnership with Amazon Chime integrates the online communication and collaboration tool with Vonage’s VoIP phone service. Chime’s online meetings, video conferencing, online chat, and file sharing capabilities help to enhance Vonage’s phone service to be a more complete end-to-end business solution.
What’s Missing from Vonage
Vonage is missing a few of the more advanced features that Nextiva and RingCentral offer, such as:
- Unlimited video meetings with screen sharing
- Integrations with Microsoft, Google Box, and Dropbox
- 1,000 toll-free minutes
- Voicemail transcription
And while Vonage is more affordable than RingCentral, it’s more expensive than Nextiva and significantly more expensive than 8×8.
Vonage Customer Support
Vonage offers phone-based support available Monday-Friday from 8am to 11pm EST and 24/7 emergency on-call support. In addition, there is a business support website with an online knowledge base, getting started guides, technical troubleshooting, and a guide for many of their individual features.
Vonage offers specific onboarding and training programs for new business customers, which begins with a welcome kit and continues with live administrative portal training sessions offered 20 times per week. RingCentral offers weekly webinars, but not necessarily targeted to new business users and certainly not with the same frequency.
What Our Readers Say About Vonage
Our readers have given Vonage a mixture of positive and negative ratings with an average of two out of five stars. Positive reviewers said that with the correct setup, Vonage’s call quality and reliability is better than other VoIP systems out there. Users who gave Vonage a negative review said that if your setup is not done right and you experience problems with call quality, trying to get a solution from customer support may be more difficult than trying to do it on your own.
Best VoIP Virtual Phone Number for Domestic Calling: Grasshopper
Who Grasshopper is Best For
Grasshopper is a virtual phone service provider that strikes the right balance between a low-cost VoIP virtual phone number solution and the features and support that solo entrepreneurs and small businesses will need. It gives users the ability to present a main business line to their customers or to set up a phone number in a different area code from where they’re based.
Calls are then made and received on the customer’s personal mobile phone, although they appear to come from and to the virtual number. Inbound calls are sent directly to your designated personal phone and outbound calls can appear to originate from your business number by calling Grasshopper’s 800-number first then entering the phone number you’re calling.
Grasshopper Pricing
Grasshopper’s pricing is based on usage, with different pricing tiers paid monthly with no contract.
- $12/month plus $0.06/minute per user
- $24/month for 500 minutes per user
- $49/month for 2,000 minutes per user
- $199/month for 10,000 minutes per user
Grasshopper Features
In addition to the standard call management features that Grasshopper shares with other VoIP service providers, Grasshopper also offers:
- Web and app-based account management
- Call blocking
- Call forwarding
- Call screening
- Custom call greetings
- Conference calling
- Call routing
- Incoming faxes emailed to you as PDFs
- The ability to record a custom greeting
But the two most useful additional features that Grasshopper offers are the option to add 800-numbers so you can deliver toll-free service to your customers, as well as the ability to set up multiple extensions that route your incoming calls to different personal phone numbers depending on the option(s) that your customers select.
What’s Missing from Grasshopper
As a virtual phone service, Grasshopper is missing many of the more advanced calling features that full VoIP phone service providers can offer. This, of course, is reflected in Grasshopper’s significantly lower cost.
However, the most significant feature that’s missing is the phone service itself. Because Grasshopper is a virtual phone service, calls are made and received on the your personal mobile phone, although they appear to come from and to the virtual number. This means that you will also use your mobile phone plan’s minutes in addition to Grasshopper’s.
Grasshopper Customer Support
Grasshopper provides a comprehensive online knowledge base, which is organized by the service’s most common features, frequently asked questions, and includes a search field that customers can submit their question through.
If you require more personal assistance, Grasshopper also offers telephone support (although they don’t specify what hours it’s available between) and the option to open a ticketed case should your issue require escalation.
What Our Readers Say About Grasshopper
Our readers have given Grasshopper mixed ratings with an average of three out of five stars. From the reviews we read, most customers seemed satisfied with Grasshopper’s pricing, citing that the price is right for the service provided. They also seem to agree that it’s easy to get ahold of customer service, and that the support is fast and friendly. Negative reviewers had a difficult time setting up the phone system. Many complained that it was confusing to record voicemails and to get the call forwarding set up properly. A few also claimed that once they decided to cancel, it took days or even weeks for them to get their phone number back from Grasshopper.
Best VoIP Virtual Phone Number for International Calling: Phone.com
Who Phone.com is Best For
Phone.com is another VoIP phone service provider that offers more of an à la carte package where some of the features that come standard with Grasshopper incur an additional charge
Phone.com Pricing
Phone.com charges monthly by usage:
- $12.99/month for 300 minutes
- $19.99/month for 500 minutes
- $39.99/month for 1,000 minutes
Additional minutes, which are shared across all users, from,
- $19.50 for 500 minutes
- $35 for 1,000 minutes
- $80 for 2,500 minutes
- $155 for 5,000 minutes
- $23.99/user for unlimited minutes
Long distance calls to Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, and the UK are included.
Phone.com Features
Like Grasshopper, Phone.com offers the following call management features as standard:
- Web and app-based account management
- Call blocking
- Call forwarding
- Call screening
- Custom call greetings
- Conference calling
- Call routing
The most important additional feature that Phone.com offers is the option to integrate the service with third-party CRM apps, such as Insightly or Salesforce, for click-to-dial, call tracking, and screen-pops that will assist the user receiving the call.
Also, Phone.com is the only service to include the following countries in their monthly calling minutes:
- Canada
- France
- Germany
- Israel
- Italy
- The Netherlands
- Puerto Rico
- UK
So small businesses who make a lot of calls to these countries could quickly save a lot of money, making Phone.com a more economical solution.
We also liked that phone.com offers caller analytics and automated voicemail transcription, two features that would be of use to many small businesses, but were disappointed that they were an additional cost of $3.99/month and $1.50/month, respectively. Adding these options would quickly raise the cost of phone.com above Grasshopper more than it already is.
What’s Missing from Phone.com
Phone.com offers most of the call management features that you would expect from a VoIP phone service provider, many on an à la carte basis. This, along with their usage-based pricing, can help you save money if you limit your use; however, if your business is on the phone frequently, then the costs can quickly add up.
Phone.com Customer Support
Phone.com provides online getting started guides, troubleshooting guides, and frequently asked questions. They also offer personal support by telephone, online chat, and email 365 days a year.
We found Phone.com’s support to be very comprehensive and were pleased to see that they also offer assistance in Spanish from 8am to 6pm PST, Monday to Friday.
What Our Readers Say About Phone.com
Our readers have given Phone.com a mixture of positive and negative ratings with an average of three out of five stars. According to customers who gave Phone.com positive reviews, the service is very inexpensive. People also liked that the plans were flexible so they could add features as needed. Users who reviewed Phone.com negatively said the service was unreliable with frequent down times. Customer support was also a major concern, with users stating several problems like long wait times, unknowledgeable support staff and delayed responses.
About the Author
Gavin Graham
Gavin is an editor at Fit Small Business, focusing on a variety of small business topics. Gavin has been at the intersection of content management and creation in the digital marketing world for over ten years. As a project and production manager, he led cross-functional teams and owned client relationships in the automotive, fashion, hospitality, and media industries. While working at various entrepreneurial startups, he created content for clients, rethinking their web presence and developing strategies to reposition their brands online. When he’s not writing, Gavin is a marathon runner, proud parent of an Australian Shepherd, and craft beer geek. He lives in Toronto, Canada.
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