voip service for small business

December 25, 2023

5 Best Cheap VoIP Phone Services Compared (2023)

Are you looking for the best and cheapest VoIP phone services?

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone services are helpful for team and customer communication. Sometimes, these services add an extra cost to your budget, and looking for a cheaper option is the way to go.

However, when considering a cheap VoIP phone platform, you may wonder if the quality and features are up to par. And you might be concerned if you’ll be paying for a service that will actually add value to your business workflow.

In this article, we will share some of the best cheap VoIP services that you can use for your small business.

What Is VoIP?

Making business phone calls without a landline connection is the technology commonly known as VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol.

It’s common among many small and big businesses to use VoIP phone services for their professional communication. You can have a live voice call or send a scheduled message to your teammates, clients, or any of your connections with an internet facility.

But again, what is VoIP, and how does VoIP work?

VoIP is a technology that uses an internet connection to allow you to make phone calls. These are like regular phone calls, but you will not be using a phone connection.

You can also connect using video calls and group calls. Moreover, you can send voice messages and video messages based on the VoIP service you are using for communication.

Choosing a VoIP phone service provider is easy as there are several options available. However, finding a cheap yet reliable VoIP phone service to set up your business communication can be tricky.

Without further delay, let’s look at our expert pick for the best cheap VoIP phone services.

1. Nextiva

Nextiva is one of the best VoIP phone services on the market. They offer unlimited voice calls and internet fax facilities.

You can access the business phone from your desktop or mobile, making you available to your clients from anywhere.

Moreover, Nextiva provides local and toll-free numbers that can give your business a professional look from the start.

And in case you want help setting Nextiva up, there’s a team of customer support professionals available 24/7, even with the basic VoIP phone services plan.

Additionally, Nextiva integrates with popular email marketing, CRM, and other software. The service also tracks your calls in real-time, giving you the data and reports you need to improve your communication.

Pros of Nextiva VoIP Phone Service

Cloud-based phone service
Privacy fence with encryption
Built-in app for desktops and smartphones
Scalable as your business grows
Virtual assistant, auto attendant, and voicemail options

Cons of Nextiva VoIP Phone Service

Requires a powerful internet connection
The mobile app doesn’t include major management features

Why do we recommend Nextiva?

Nextiva is our top recommended VoIP phone service. They offer a complete and reliable phone system for any business size and niche. Nextiva provides HD call quality at an affordable price, making them a top choice for small businesses.

Price: Starts at $17.95 per user/month.

2. Ooma Office Phone

Ooma Office Phone is an affordable VoIP phone service for small businesses. Their service is built for online communication between team members and customers.

The phone service has dozens of features to improve your workflow. Ooma has solutions for different business niches, including dental, real estate, hospitality, insurance, and more.

Some of their most notable features include a virtual receptionist that makes your business look professional on every incoming call. They also let users select an extension to connect with your different teams automatically.

The setup and installation are easy for beginners. If you need help, then Ooma has tons of resources like their business blog, podcast, webinars, FAQs, and more.

Ooma has a call-blocking service to prevent unwanted calls. Moreover, the call recording feature allows you to build an archive of your conversations for learning and other purposes.

Pros of Ooma VoIP Service

Unlimited calling in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico
Free number transfer
Voicemail transcription, call transfer, and call forwarding
Complete call logs
Mobile app for both iOS and Android

Cons of Ooma VoIP Service

Call quality issues
Fewer integrations with other services

Why Do We Recommend Ooma?

We recommend Ooma because they have been consistent in their service as a cheap VoIP phone solution for small businesses. Among other phone solutions, Ooma has no hidden charges and offers multiple plans that let you scale when your business grows.

Price: Starts at $19.95 per month/user.

3. Phone.com

Phone.com is another cheap VoIP phone service for small businesses. They offer voice calls, video calls, text messaging, fax, and conference call features.

The phone service comes with speed test software to ensure the high quality of your calls. It checks for upload and download speeds, jitters, and pings.

Phone.com also includes a premium AI-powered Answer Bot service. This saves you time by checking for spam calls and routing your calls to the right team member every time.

Phone.com can offer local numbers, vanity numbers, and international numbers. You can use the service from anywhere using the desktop or mobile app with a good internet connection.

Pros of Phone.com VoIP Service

Video conferencing with up to 100 users
Free conference calls are included in all plans
Mobile and desktop app
Virtual background templates for video calls
Call blocking, call forwarding, and call logs

Cons of Phone.com VoIP Service

The basic plan doesn’t include unlimited call time
Some common features like call analytics and call recording are only available for their Pro plan users

Why Do We Recommend Phone.com?

We recommend Phone.com because their service comes with a built-in speed test that helps improve your communication. Moreover, the VoIP phone service is more affordable when you pay them upfront for the full year.

Price: Starts at $14.99 per user/month.

4. RingCentral

RingCentral is a popular VoIP phone service for small to large-scale businesses. They offer several communication tools that let you make voice calls, video calls, and conference calls. You are also able to send text messages and faxes.

Their AI tools make your communication more powerful with personalized bot responses. These AI tools can handle routine tasks, route calls, and even provide basic information to callers.

And you can always use the analytics and call logs to monitor the performance of your communication with customers.

RingCentral also comes with team messaging and collaboration tools. They have an inside platform where your team can communicate in real time, share files, and collaborate on projects.

Pros of RingCentral VoIP Service:

Voice, video, messaging, and collaboration tools
Excellent customer support
Local, toll-free, and international numbers
Personalized outgoing calls with a customizable caller ID
Robust security measures

Cons of RingCentral VoIP Service:

Higher costs when you compare it with top VoIP services like Nextiva
The learning curve for beginners to set up the phone service

Why Do We Recommend RingCentral?

We recommend RingCentral for their powerful AI tools that can boost your sales and revenue. The service is designed for businesses looking for a powerful VoIP solution with communication and collaboration tools.

Price: Starts at $30 per user/month.

5. Grasshopper

Grasshopper is a cheap VoIP phone service built for small businesses. They provide all the basic features like voice calls and text messaging for your communication with your team and clients.

The service comes with call management features on their desktop and mobile app. You can block spam calls, route calls to team members, and check your call logs.

Grasshopper is made with simplicity and flexibility in mind. They are not bloated with features yet give you the right tools to communicate easily.

Pros of Grasshopper VoIP Service:

Quick and intuitive setup
Virtual phone receptionist
Mobile and desktop apps
Call tracking, call forwarding, and other management tools
Dedicated business numbers, local numbers, and toll-free numbers

Cons of Grasshopper VoIP Service:

Not available globally (limited to the US and Canada)
You need to get the Pro plan for common features like call analytics

Why Do We Recommend Grasshopper?

We recommend Grasshopper for their simplicity and budget-friendly pricing, making them a good choice for small businesses. Though the basic plan has limited features, it’s affordable for your initial days. You can also select the annual payment plan and get more discounts on the VoIP service.

Price: Starts at $17 per month/user.

Which Is the Best Cheap VoIP Phone Service?

Nextiva is the best cheap VoIP service. They give you all the necessary features and are affordable for small businesses to set up a communication system.

Ooma and Phone.com are also budget-friendly VoIP services for business communication.

Ooma comes with a virtual receptionist to answer your calls and route calls to the right extensions. They can make your small business presentable to all your callers.

Phone.com has an AI Answer Bot service that checks for spam calls and saves your time by transferring real clients to your team.

We hope this article has helped you find the best cheap VoIP service for small businesses. You may also want to check out our other WordPress guides that can help improve your communication.

Best WordPress Guides to Improve Business Communication

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 5 Best Cheap VoIP Phone Services Compared (2023) first appeared on WPBeginner.

February 3, 2023

7 Best Business Voicemail Transcription Services (Text and Email)

Are you looking for a service to transcribe your voicemails?

Voicemail transcription helps convert your voicemails to text, so you can read them later on your phone or computer. It saves time, as you don’t have to listen to recordings and quickly view the message in text form.

In this article, we’ll show you the best business voicemail transcription services.

Why Use a Business Voicemail Transcription Service?

Voicemail transcription means converting your audio messages into text format. However, manually transcribing each voicemail is a time-consuming task. Instead, you can use a business voicemail transcription service.

There are a lot of software available that will automatically convert voicemail speech to text. The transcriptions can be sent to you by email or text.

This is more convenient especially when you can’t listen to voicemails. You can quickly read the message anywhere instead of listening to the voice recording.

It also helps streamline your customer support process. Your support staff can search for voicemails from a user and look at previous messages, so they can provide a better customer experience. You can also keep records of your voicemails and connect them to customer relationship management (CRM) software.

That being said, let’s look at the best business voicemail transcription services.

1. Nextiva

The Nextiva coupon code has been automatically applied

Nextiva is the best virtual phone service in the market that offers powerful features, including voicemail transcriptions. The cloud phone system is easy to use and set up.

It brings multiple communication channels under one roof. For example, you can make HD video calls, send text messages, live chat, voicemails, phone calls, and more from a single place.

Nextiva offers a voicemail to email and text option, where you can receive voicemails inside your inbox. This allows you to respond to customers quickly, even when calls are missed. Once this feature is active, it will automatically transcribe the voicemail.

Besides that, you also get other features like call recording, unlimited calls and texts in North America, toll-free numbers, team chat, auto attendant, call transfer and forwarding, and more.

They also business phone apps for iOS and Android smartphones, so it lets you stay connected with customers anywhere in the world.

At WPBeginner, we use Nextiva for all our business phone needs. We’re huge fans of their platform and the features it offers.

Pricing: You will need the Nextiva Enterprise plan to use the voicemail transcription features, which will cost you $32.95 per user per month.

2. RingCentral

RingCentral is another top business voicemail transcription service. Their business VoIP phone service offers lots of powerful features and is a perfect solution for remote teams.

With its Voicemail for Business feature, you get to choose how to receive voicemails. For instance, you can access voice messages from the RingCentral online account, desktop app, mobile device, email, and desk phone.

RingCentral offers an option to send voicemails to your email address. You’ll receive an audio attachment and transcription, so you can quickly scan through the message without listening to the voicemail.

Other than that, RingCentral offers features like video conference calls, unlimited calling in the US and Canada, voice-to-text features, toll-free numbers, and other call-handling features.

Pricing: The voicemail-to-text feature is available in the Essentials plan and will cost you $19.99 per user per month.

3. Ooma

Ooma is a popular VoIP phone service for businesses of all sizes. It is loaded with features, including voicemail transcription and voicemail-to-email options.

You can configure your voicemails to be automatically sent to an email address when they’re left in your Ooma Office app. You will get an audio recording as an attachment and transcribed text in the body of the email.

Ooma is also easy to use and works out of the box. You get more features like a virtual receptionist, hold music, extension dialing, video conferencing, 1-800 phone numbers, a call center, and more. There are also desktop and mobile apps, so you can call and receive voicemails from anywhere in the world.

Pricing: Ooma prices start from $19.95 per month per user. However, the voicemail transcription feature is available in the Ooma Office Pro and Pro Plus pricing plans.

4. FreshDesk Contact Center

FreshDesk Contact Center is the next business voicemail transcription service on our list. It was previously known as Freshcaller and is a user-friendly virtual business phone provider.

FreshDesk Contact Center offers an AI-power voicemail transcription feature. Its artificial intelligence engine, called Freddy AI, automatically transcribes voicemails.

You can easily access the transcriptions from the FreshDesk phone system and view key metrics like queue time and IVR time. It also lets you enable voicemail transcription for selected phone numbers and set up voicemail greetings.

Other features offered by FreshDesk Contact Center include a call waiting option, vanity numbers, mobile apps, shared lines, route calls to voicemail, block spam calls, call recording, and more.

Pricing: You will need the Growth plan or higher to use the voicemail transcription feature in FreshDesk Contact Center. This will cost you $15 per agent per month (billed annually). There is also a free version of the software you use to get started, but it doesn’t include voicemail transcriptions.

5. Grasshopper

Grasshopper is one of the best business phone services, and it is perfect for small businesses and startups. The service offers a voicemail transcription feature and allows you to receive the transcriptions in your email inbox.

It is very easy to set up, and you can add email addresses where you’d like the forwarded messages to go. Then using the Grasshopper desktop app or mobile apps, you can read the voicemail messages.

Aside from voicemail transcription, Grasshopper is filled with robust features. For instance, you get simultaneous call handling, call forwarding, extensions, call transfers, VoIP calling, virtual fax, reporting, and more.

Pricing: Grasshopper pricing plans start from $28 per month (billed annually), and all plans include the voicemail feature. Do note that it is only available in the US and Canada.

6. Google Voice

Google Voice is another business voicemail transcription service you can use for your WordPress website. It is part of Google Workspace and easily integrates with other tools like Google Meet and Calendar.

The service uses Google’s AI to turn voicemails into text automatically. The AI is powerful and converts complex words into easy-to-read text.

Besides that, it is very easy to use and offers free calling to US and Canada, spam call blocking, unlimited text messaging in the US, call forwarding, mobile apps, and more.

Pricing: Google Voice prices start from $10 per user per month and includes a voicemail transcription feature.

7. Phone.com

Phone.com is a popular cloud-based virtual phone service offering a voicemail feature. You can listen to audio messages from your online account and set up a voicemail-to-email feature.

Phone.com will automatically transcribe your voicemails and send them to you as email or text messages. This way, you can read the message instead of listening to the voice note or forward the transcription to other team members.

With Phone.com, you also enjoy other powerful features. It is a complete virtual phone solution and offers call forwarding, call transfer, analytics, number porting, audio conferences, fax from phone, text messaging, and more.

Pricing: The voicemail transcription feature is included in the Plus users or higher plan, and its prices start from $15.99 per user per month.

Which is the Best Business Voicemail Transcription Service?

In our expert opinion, the best business voicemail transcription service is Nextiva, and after careful research we chose to use it for our own business.

Nextiva is user-friendly and offers lots of features to help you connect with your customers and team members from anywhere. You can easily receive voicemail transcriptions in your email, handle calls, conduct virtual meetings, create workflows, and more.

Plus, Nextiva has desktop and mobile apps, so you are always connected on the go. It also easily integrates multiple communication channels into a single platform.

If you’re looking for other solutions, then we recommend RingCentral and Ooma as alternatives to Nextiva for voicemail transcriptions.

We hope this article helped you pick the best business voicemail transcription service. You may also want to see our comparison of the best email marketing services and best live chat software for small business.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 7 Best Business Voicemail Transcription Services (Text and Email) first appeared on WPBeginner.

June 17, 2022

7 Best Call Center Software For 2022 (Expert Pick)

Are you looking for call center software for your business?

Many customers like to reach out to businesses by phone to get information or help. Having a call center service for your business can streamline your customer support and provide a better user experience.

In this article, we’ll share the top call center software so that you can select the best option for your business.

How to Find the Best Call Center Software

Offering customer support through phone calls is a great way of helping your users. However, it can be hard for small businesses that are quickly growing to handle a large volume of phone calls.

With the help of a call center software, you can respond to multiple phone calls at once, answer customers questions more quickly, help your sales team reach a larger audience, improve the overall support process, and increase customer satisfaction.

There are a few features you should look for when selecting a call center software for your business, such as:

Interactive Voice Responses (IRV) – You should choose a software solution that offers automated responses through IRVs, greets a customer when they call, and helps to direct them to the right department.
Cloud Contact Center – A cloud-based call center allows your remote team to attend to customers from anywhere in the world without having to be on-premises.
Multichannel Support – Also called omnichannel routing, this lets your support staff respond to customers from social, live chat, email, phone calls, and other channels, all using the same software.
Call Routing & Voicemail Option – You should look for software that allows voicemail and call routing features, so customers can share their queries even when the call center agents aren’t available.
CRM Integrations – By integrating customer relationship management (CRM) software, you can make the best use of your customer information and get a complete picture of how often they call, their support tickets, and more. Some tools also offer CTI (computer telephony integration) to identify customers through phone numbers.
Reporting and Analytics Tools – Your call center software should provide additional reporting and analytics tools to see how well your customer support is performing.
Call Recording – You can perform quality management checks and training by listening to recent call recordings.

That said, let’s take a look at some of the best call center software you can choose for your business.

1. Nextiva

Nextiva is the best virtual business phone number service in the market. It’s the perfect solution for remote teams, since Nextiva is completely cloud-based.

Your support agents can simply log in to the Nextiva desktop or mobile app to handle all incoming calls. Plus, it includes complete help desk software as well. It lets you talk with customers across multiple communication channels, be it phone, voice, SMS, live chat, video, or social media.

With the Nextiva contact center solution, you also get screen popups that can be tailored according to your brand. There’s also a speech-enabled IVR feature that helps customers when they contact you.

You can take IVR a step further and automate routine tasks. This way, you can reduce the cost of hiring more agents and efficiently handle high call volumes. It also allows support agents to focus on attending important calls while IVR solves repetitive problems.

Besides that, Nextiva offers affordable cell phone plans and more features like a toll-free number, voicemail to email option, call recording, HD video conferencing, auto-attendant, and more.

You can also easily integrate it with different CRMs and communication tools like Salesforce, Oracle Sales Cloud, Microsoft, and more. It even offers APIs and SDKs for specific uses and allows you to set up workflow automation.

Note: At WPBeginner, we use Nextiva for all our business phone needs because the software offers robust features and affordable pricing plans. As a small business, it helps our team attend to incoming customer calls from anywhere in the world without having to share their personal cell phone numbers.

Besides that, Nextiva also allows us to send text messages and connect with customers through its video conferencing features.

Expert Review: In our experience, Nextiva helps provide exceptional customer experience and offers a complete cloud-based business phone service, which makes it the best call center software.

2. RingCentral

RingCentral is a popular business VoIP service provider and lets you set up a cloud call center solution for your business. You can quickly provide customer support from anywhere in the world and at any time.

It offers an omnichannel solution where you can define rules to route calls based on capacity, availability, and more. This way, you can speed up your customer support and easily have customer interactions on multiple channels at once.

With RingCentral, you can also boost your support agent’s productivity. The software offers gamification options that can be used to provide incentives to agents. Besides that, it’s a complete workforce management software that makes it super easy to handle your team’s schedule and plan inbound calls based on traffic volumes.

Another advantage of using RingCentral is that it provides detailed analytics about your customer support performance. You can monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) in real-time, track agent performance, set up call monitoring, self-service resources, and more.

Plus, there are data visualization and root cause analysis tools that help you build custom stats dashboards for reporting. Other than that, you get an automated IVR system, seamless integrations, a predictive dialer, and more with RingCentral.

Expert Review: RingCentral offers tailored solutions based on your audience or industry. Whether you’re in the financial, healthcare, education, government, or have an eCommerce store, RingCentral is a great call center software to have.

3. Ooma

Ooma is an all-in-one virtual phone solution for businesses of all sizes. Whether you have a startup, small business, or running an enterprise, Ooma offers lots of features to keep your remote teams and customers connected.

Ooma makes it very easy for you to set up a cloud call center and provide exceptional customer support. It provides intelligent call routing functionality and lowers long call queues by helping customers find the right agent without going through repetitive or redundant steps.

You can also create customized call flows for your support team. The service offers a drag and drop call flow designer that helps you build a call sequence in a few minutes.

Other than that, Ooma also offers features like multi-level IVR and automatic call distribution based on caller data, business hours, and agent skills. You can even match callers to the right agent with intelligent reconnect, where the customer is automatically connected with the person they were speaking to before the call dropped.

Ooma also lets you monitor your customer support performance. However, it doesn’t match the 45 different reporting features and reports that Nextiva has to offer for measuring your VoIP call center efficiency.

Expert Review: Ooma is a great solution for small to medium-sized businesses looking to add a call center solution.

4. FreshDesk

FreshDesk is a famous software that offers a complete contact center solution for businesses. Over 50,000 companies use FreshDesk to provide customer support.

FreshDesk Contact Center software, previously known as Freshcaller, is easy to use and helps you set up the software in just a few clicks. It also offers many features like setting up automated voice responses using artificial intelligence.

With FreshDesk, there’s an option to create a global contact center. You can use bring your own phone (BYOC) or purchase phone numbers from over 90 countries. Plus, it offers affordable pricing plans that you can scale as your business grows.

Other than that, it’s a complete omnichannel solution for your customer support. You can convert a call to a ticket and offer support to users from multiple channels in a single place while lowering wait time.

More features offered by FreshDesk include call recordings, call transcripts, call lifecycle information, voice bots, speech-enabled IVR, reporting tools to monitor agent performance and improve customer support, and more.

Expert Review: FreshDesk is a beginner-friendly call center solution. However, if you’re looking for more powerful features, then we recommend checking out Nextiva.

5. LiveAgent

LiveAgent is the next call center software on our list, and it offers a lot of features like other services we’ve covered. However, what makes this service different is that you get a 14-day free trial to try the software before committing to a premium plan.

With LiveAgent, you get a cloud-based call center solution. The VoIP phone system helps your support agents to connect with customers from anywhere.

Plus, you get features like IVR, call back requests, call transfers, unlimited call recording, smart call routing, video conference calling functionality, in-app push notifications, chatbot, and automatic call distribution (ACD).

The software also integrates with popular CRMs like Salesforce and HubSpot. It also works seamlessly with email marketing tools like AWeber and Mailchimp. You can even integrate it with your WordPress website and add a live chat button.

Expert Review: If you’re looking for affordable pricing plans along with a free trial to test the software, then LiveAgent is the perfect tool for you.

6. 8×8

8×8 is a cloud communication platform that offers a secure call center solution. The service is loaded with features and offers 99.99% uptime across UCaaS and CCaaS.

What this means is that the service is reliable and guarantees faster performance without any delays or downtime. Besides, it has 35 data centers located globally to provide great quality of service.

It has a simple user interface and offers a detailed knowledge base, expert connect, and a complete communication hub to help you get started.

8×8 call center also provides features to handle inbound and outbound calls. For instance, you get easy call routing, call recording, speed and text analytics, omnichannel support, IVR, agent workspace management, click to call option, and more. However, you’ll find more features in other software we’ve covered, like Nextiva and RingCentral.

The service also easily integrates with CRMs such as Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Azure, and Zendesk. You can also improve your customer support through contact center analytics and even conduct surveys to get customer feedback.

8×8 call center pricing plans are on the expensive side, as they start from $85 per user per month. If you want a more affordable solution, then you’ll get more value for money using Nextiva.

Expert Review: 8×8 is a powerful virtual phone platform that offers a robust call center solution. It is great for SaaS enterprises and large organizations.

7. CloudTal k

CloudTalk is the last call center solution on our list. It’s a popular virtual call center platform and powers over 2,500 call centers, including companies like DHL, Mercedes Benz, Fujitsu, and GoStudent.

The service offers 140 national phone numbers that you can use for your business or select a toll-free number. CloudTalk has also partnered with multiple telcos across the globe to provide a strong network and ensure crystal clear calls and reliable performance.

Other features offered by CloudTalk include call queuing, call recording, voicemail, adding extensions, fax to email, business hours, conference calls, call masking, 3-way calling, smart outbound auto dialer, and more.

You also get intelligent routing features like a complete call flow designer to create automated workflows, IVR, ACD, skill-based call routing, set a preferred agent for clients, call forwarding, VIP queues, auto-answer functionality, and more.

Expert Review: CloudTalk is a dedicated call center software. You can use it to provide inbound support, outbound sales, and easily collaborate with remote teams.

Which is the Best Call Center Software?

If you’re looking for a complete cloud-based call center, then we highly recommend Nextiva. The software ticks all the boxes for what you should look for in a call center solution.

It offers powerful features that go beyond simply creating a call center. Nextiva is a complete virtual phone solution for businesses that want to take their customer support to the next level.

You get IVR, call recording, video conferencing, mobile and desktop apps, detailed reports and metrics to track performance, and so much more with Nextiva. Plus, it easily integrates different CRMs and marketing tools.

We hope this article helped you find the best call center software. You may also want to see our guide on how to choose the best blogging platform and the best WordPress plugins.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 7 Best Call Center Software For 2022 (Expert Pick) first appeared on WPBeginner.

July 3, 2019

How to Choose the Best Business VoIP Provider in 2019 (Compared)

Are you looking to choose a business VoIP provider but not sure which one is right for your needs?

VoIP is a term used for business phone service which allows you to use advanced call management features on your computer or mobile device.

Unlike the old school bulky phone setup, business VOIP is a perfect phone solution for small businesses. You can cut down phone costs while enjoying all the powerful tools to grow your business.

In this article, we will explain what is business VoIP, and how to choose the best business VoIP provider for your company. Since we had to choose a VoIP provider for our own business, we will also share our best VoIP phone providers for small and growing businesses.

What is VoIP?

VoIP or Voice over IP is a term used to describe internet phone service. Unlike a traditional phone service which uses the landline, VoIP services use the internet to receive and make calls.

Benefits of using VoIP

Following are just some of the benefits of using a business VoIP phone system:

You can receive calls using computers, VoIP phonesets, and even cell phone.
You can share one number with several employees.
You can easily track call duration, hold times, wait times, and overall usage.
Most business VoIP services come with call forwarding, caller ID, call waiting, call routing, and more.
You can use the same number anywhere you want.
It gives you a business phone number, so you don’t have to share your personal cellphone number with clients.
Business VoIP offers cheaper local and international calls.

The business VoIP technology offers a lot of flexibility and freedom, and it has made it easy for businesses of all sizes to have a business phone number. Whether you’re a small 1 person company, a growing 10 people team, or established business with over 100+ people, you can use business VoIP.

However if you don’t choose the best business VoIP provider, then you can run into some serious challenges.

For example, the voice quality on VoIP calls varies depending on the internet connection and the service provider you’re using. Unlike landlines, you’ll loose VoIP connection during a power outage or internet disruption, but this shouldn’t impact most small businesses if you’re well prepared.

Having said that, let’s discuss when is the right time to start thinking about a business VoIP solution.

Does Your Business Need VoIP Business Phone Solution?

In any business, giving people a way to contact you is helpful in building trust and boost your sales.

When starting a website, most business owners add a contact form, which makes it easy for users to contact you via email.

However depending on the industry, sometimes customers may prefer more instant communication.

This is why many businesses offer live chat or phone number on their websites. Giving users more than one way to communicate with your business can improve customer support and result in more sales.

Whether you run an online store to sell products or a business website to sell services, a VoIP based business phone service can help you grow your business without the high costs.

Your website visitors can easily call you to request a quote, ask a pre-sale question, or even request support.

In short, business VoIP phone enables you to better manage and track your calls, collect customer information, and build stronger relationships with your customers.

How to Choose The Best VoIP Service Your Business

There are a lot of large companies offering business VoIP services, and it’s a very competitive space. The abundance of choices and highly competitive nature of advertising makes it difficult for business owners to choose the best VoIP provider for their business.

If you are just starting out, then you may be looking for the cheapest VoIP business phone service. However, you need to be careful when going down this route because they may lack certain features, which you’d later discover to be essential for your business.

Then there are some business VoIP services that are not easy to implement, transfer, or simply too expensive.

When comparing business VoIP providers for our business, we looked for a balance of features and reasonable cost. Here’s a quick checklist that we used:

Cost of local vs international calls. Most business VoIP services offer different plans for international calls. You need to choose a provider based on the geographic location of your customers.
Features available in the VoIP plans. Many companies offer different features while some sell them as separate add-ons which would increase your costs.
Mobile apps and features that you can share among multiple users.
Third-party integrations that you can use to connect your VoIP service to other tools like your CRM software, email marketing service, and more.

That being said, let’s take a look at our pick of the best business VoIP providers.

1. Nextiva

Nextiva is the best business VoIP service on the market. We can say this confidently because while researching for a VoIP service for our own business, we ended up choosing Nextiva.

Their business VoIP service offers all the essential features needed by a growing business including call routing, free domestic calling, voicemail to email and text, online fax, and more.

Other standard features include free number porting, caller ID, call forwarding, custom greetings, hold music, and more.

They also offer a free local or toll-free number with their plans.

We were able to quickly setup professional sounding welcome message with directory and phone routing which helps make our small business compete with the big guys.

What we really liked about Nextiva was their support team was extremely helpful from pre-sales all the way to onboarding and setup.

Even though we didn’t need any fancy desk phone sets, they gave us a full demo and showed us how we can easily use Nextiva with traditional desk phones or conference phones as our business grows.

The best part was they went above and beyond even though we’re a relatively small customer for them considering they help large businesses like Taco Bell, Ashleys Furniture, Conan, and others.

Pricing: Starts from $20 / per user / per month. Unlike other business VoIP providers, they don’t require annual contracts. However you can get discounts on buying pre-paid packages, and you can also get lower rates when you add more users to your plan.

2. RingCentral

RingCentral is another excellent business VoIP provider. With RingCentral, you get all the standard feature you would expect from a reliable business VoIP provider like call forwarding, advanced routing, call waiting, caller ID, hold music, and more.

They offer easy integrations with third-party services like Dropbox, G Suite, Salesforce, and more.

Other notable features include online meetings, video calls, screen sharing, conferencing, and an easy to use web-based administration panel.

We first discovered RingCentral organically because they are very well known and a fairly large company in the business VoIP space. While their feature offering is great, their pricing is a bit on the higher end unless you sign the annual contract.

Pricing: Starting from $34.99 / per user every month for the first user. Their monthly pricing drops significantly when you add the second user to $24.99 per user every month. You can also save 40% by switching to the annual plan.

3. GrassHopper

GrassHopper is a popular business VoIP service suitable for startups and growing businesses.

They offer virtual phone numbers over VoIP platform, allowing call forwarding to any numbers or devices. The downside is that you’ll need a landline for outgoing calls.

They offer all the features you will expect like call waiting, forwarding, hold music, advanced routing, voicemail to email, and more. You can manage it from a computer using your web browser or mobile phone apps.

It works with local, toll-free, vanity numbers, and you can choose from the US, Canada, or UK based numbers.

Pricing: Starting from $29 per month with 1 number and up to 3 extensions. They offer a 10% discount if you sign an annual contract.

4. Phone.com

Phone.com is another popular choice among small business VoIP service providers. They include many European countries and Canada in their local call minutes. If you are operating in those locations, then it could be a cheap business VoIP service for your needs.

Their service includes call forwarding, routing, waiting, custom greetings and music, conferencing, and more. You can also integrate your VoIP plan to popular CRM software like Salesforce or Zoho.

Pricing: Starting from $12.99 per month with 300 monthly minutes. Their unlimited plan starts at $29.99 per month per user extension.

5. Vonage

Vonage is famous for offering residential VoIP however they also offer business VoIP services for small to medium-sized businesses as well as enterprise clients. They offer a wide range of business communication tools including VoIP.

It includes all the usual features such as call forwarding and routing, caller ID, waiting, and more. Apart from that, they also offer team messaging and chat, conference calling, CRM integration, automatic call attendant, call recording, and more.

They offer different plans each with different features and limitations.

Pricing: Their base plan starts from $19.99 per month per line.

Which is the Business VoIP Provider for You?

Above we have shared the best business VoIP providers in the market today. Each of them offer a slightly different product and service at different prices.

When looking for a business VoIP solution for our company, we did extensive research to compare each of these companies, their ratings on top user review websites, and even what their employees were saying about them.

At the end, we ended up choosing Nextiva for our business.

We recommend using Nextiva as the best business VoIP provider. Their plans are suitable for businesses of all sizes with an impressive set of features and great customer service.

They offer fair pricing, do not require annual contracts, and their customer service is top-notch.

RingCentral came as a close second. They offered a lot of the same features, but at the end it came down to pricing where Nextiva clearly won.

We hope this article helped you find the best business VoIP provider for your business. You may also want to see our list of most useful tools to manage and grow your website.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Choose the Best Business VoIP Provider in 2019 (Compared) appeared first on WPBeginner.