Top 10 Best Small Business Virtual Phone System

Senior Writer: Hiba Ali

Date: December 5, 2023

There comes a time when switching to the entrepreneurs phone system is necessary, especially if you have a rapidly growing team.

Today, business settings are primarily dominated by VoIP, or cloud-based phone systems. Modern business phone service providers offer unified communications across cell phone, video, chat, text, and fax through key software integrations that help companies better use phone calls.

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It is still possible to take calls on a traditional IP desk phone, but most people prefer to use a headset with a desktop application or mobile device to take calls.

A virtual phone number can help you control your “phone presence” in an affordable, convenient way. This is why small businesses worldwide are turning to them for professional image maintenance and saving money.

What Does the Best small business virtual phone system Actually Do?

Virtual phone systems are easy to set up, flexible, and affordable for small businesses and entrepreneurs. They can be set up on the web or via a mobile app. They work with office phones, cell phones, computers, laptops, tablets, and landlines – allowing employees to work wherever they are.

The cloud-based virtual phone system eliminates the need to purchase and maintain expensive computer equipment. It is substantially cheaper than traditional business telephone systems and comes with features such as text messaging, auto-reply, call menus, and customer service software.

Small businesses need to invest in a virtual phone system. The best small business virtual phone system will allow your business to keep track of the telephone leads that come in from your various marketing channels, including your website, social media, digital ad campaigns, and even conventional ad campaigns.

By digital tracking of your telephone activity, you will be able to determine the response rate, telephone sales rate, and peak demand hour. Small businesses can also use most of these systems to automate reminders to get back to callers you have missed. These are just some of the features these business phone systems offer.

Expert Advice

"Start-ups and small businesses are always on a budget. As a result, small business virtual phone systems are the best for them as, most importantly, they are cost-effective. Other than that, it offers high scalability, so productivity can be elevated to a great extent, and determined goals and objectives can be achieved."

Benefits Of Adding Best Rated Phone Systems for Small Business:

Keep an eye on a small business’s presence economically and efficiently with virtual phone numbers. Consequently, most small-business owners opt for a business phone number, which helps them retain a professional and consistent image. Here are some advantages that best rated phone systems for small business offers.

Cost-Effective & Convenient

as calls within a company can be automatically routed to another number, virtual phone numbers are highly cost-effective, and incoming calls are charged equally between the parties involved.

With this business phone service, customers can be contacted from anywhere, anytime, on different devices. Also, small businesses can use virtual numbers on desktops, laptops, mobile phones, and smartphones today.

Establishing a local presence

Small businesses can establish and build a solid local presence using a virtual phone number, regardless of their physical location, since most existing and potential customers prefer to contact a local vendor for their business requirements.

Additionally, enterprises can incorporate customization by choosing a local virtual phone number. One of the essential advantages of using a virtual phone number is that callers are more likely to contact a local business than those located miles away because they will be more inclined to call a local company.

Significantly Improves Business Image

For any business, image and branding are undoubtedly of utmost importance. Small business owners strongly prefer virtual phone numbers due to their ability to significantly improve their business image without draining their wallets.

In addition, having a separate virtual number for each department or function significantly boosts a company’s image.

Consistent Branding for Your Business

For your business to be consistent in its branding, it is essential to maintain a professional image in business communication.

To let your callers know they have connected with your business, you can quickly provide a custom message with your mentioned branding once you have set up your customer service.

Enhanced Analysis

The primary reason why a large number of businesses are turning to virtual phone numbers is that they provide call analytics.

Business phone services combined with call analytics can reduce costs for enterprises. Furthermore, monitoring all incoming and outgoing calls with a call-monitoring dashboard helps the business keep track of all activities at its fingertips.

10 Best Small Business Virtual Phone Systems-

The following are the top 10 best small business virtual phone systems. First, let’s look at their key features and pricing:

1. CallHippo

CallHippo is the best business phone service in the market that is designed to cater to the communication needs of startups, small and medium businesses, and enterprises.

This virtual phone service offers two business phone systems with different features: an office phone system and a  call center solution. CallHippo’s call center solution is an affordable alternative built for bulk calling. In addition, this solution supports shared phone numbers and SMS.

With CallHippo’s office phone system, you can streamline your calls with IVR and ring groups, but call recording and other valuable features cost extra.

Features

• Free unlimited calls
• Auto-attendant (IVR) and Ring groups
• Business app integrations (includes Slack, Zapier, Zoho CRM, and more)
• Call analytics

Pros

• Very Easy-to-use, scalable and secure
• Seamless integration

Cons

• Some features are difficult to set up.

Pricing

• Bronze Plan: $16 per user per month
• Silver Plan: $24 per user per month
• Platinum Plan: $40 per user per month
• Enterprise Plan: $48 per user per month

2. Grasshopper

Grasshopper is a reliable online business phone system designed specifically for startups and solopreneurs. The best thing about this platform is that it includes 100% of its features, such as call forwarding and custom greetings, with every plan.

You can keep personal and business phone calls separate with Grasshopper, a reliable virtual phone system. The platform was designed for small businesses ready to move from personal to business numbers without purchasing additional hardware.

Features

• Unlimited calls and texts in Canada and the US for free (except Alaska and Hawaii)
• It offers toll-free numbers, vanity numbers, local numbers
• Custom greetings
• Call forwarding

Pros

• Easy to use
• The least expensive plan has unlimited minutes

Cons

•  Custom message recording is expensive
• No CRM integration

Pricing

• Solo: $26 per month
• Partner: $44 per month
• Small Business: $80 per month

3. RingCentral

RingCentral MVP, a leading cloud-based business virtual phone, is an industry leader in collaboration. It covers messaging, video calls, and phone (MVP) with crystal-clear reception, increased reliability, and an advertised uptime of 99.999%.

With features like those that turn any space into a virtual conference room, RingCentral is beneficial for hybrid teams and remote employees. For example, during unlimited audio conferencing, up to 1,000 participants can be a part of the call; video conferencing is limited to 200 participants.

Features

• Voicemail transcriptions
• Business app integrations (requires an upgrade)
• Video conferencing with up to 200 participants
• Unlimited audio conferencing

Pros

• Free and unlimited video meetings
• Ideal setup for remote work and communication

Cons

• Slow customer service response
• Calls can sometimes get dropped

Pricing

• Essential Plan: $29.99 per user per month
• Standard Plan: $37.99 per user per month
• Premium Plan: $44.99 per user per month
• Ultimate Plan: $59.99 per user per month

4. MightyCall

Small businesses can manage customer service calls and company communications with MightyCall’s cloud-based VoIP solution. MightyCall manages incoming calls, including toll-free, local, and vanity numbers.

In addition, the software offers features such as voicemail, on-hold music, conference calls, call forwarding, and recording of calls. Multichannel activity dashboards show text messages, calls, emails, callback requests, and social network interactions with expected response times and reps assigned to each.

Features

• Multi-level IVR
• Call Routing
• Music on hold
• Custom greetings

Pros

• Calling Name Presentation (CNAM) –  when you call, the company’s name appears on the customer’s phones
• 24/7 Auto Attendant

Cons

• IP phones are supported only in above the base plan

Pricing

• Small Team: $15 per month/user
• Business: $20 per month/user
• Enterprise: $200 per month

5. Nextiva

Nextiva is one of the best virtual phone services for enterprises, but it also offers excellent options for small businesses. It provides voice and video calls with every plan, although you’ll have to upgrade to receive basic SMS or MMS text messages.

Nextiva’s call encryption, 24/7 network monitoring, SOC 2, PCI, and HIPAA compliance are ideal if your business deals with a sensitive customer or patient data daily.

On the other hand, if you don’t upgrade to the Enterprise plan, you’ll miss out on crucial business phone features, such as voicemail transcriptions and call recording. Nextiva charges smaller teams more than any other business.

Features

• Free unlimited video & voice calls in the US and Canada
• Auto-attendant & Virtual fax
• 24/7 technical support through phone, email, and chat
• Business app integrations (Google Contacts and Outlook come standard)

Pros:

• Unlimited voice and video calling
• Strong team collaboration tools

Cons:

• Top-tier plans are so expensive
• CRM integrations are only in higher plans

Pricing

• Essential Plan: $23.95 per user per month
• Professional Plan: $27.95 per user per month
• Enterprise Plan: $37.95 per user per month

6. Ooma

Ooma, one of the best small business phone service providers, has more than 50 features included with every plan, including virtual receptionists, ring groups, virtual faxes, hold music, and call transfers. It is also one of the few virtual phone services offering free Mexico calls as a standard service.

Unfortunately, Ooma’s features are only significant with upgrading. With a basic plan, you can’t even access the desktop app, so everything has to be done from the mobile app. Call recording and voicemail transcription are also only available in more expensive plans.

Features

• 24/7 customer service & no long-term contracts
• It offers more than 35 features for calling
• Basic analytics and call logs
• Hold music and call recording

Pros

• Exceptional customer service
• Allows multiple extensions

Cons

• Less user friendly
• Logging into the app seems slow

Pricing

• Essentials Plan: $19.95 per user per month
• Pro Plan: $24.95 per user per month
• Pro Plus Plan: $29.95 per user per month

7. Google Voice

It’s no surprise that Google Voice for Google Workspace is often listed among the best virtual phone services for small businesses because many people and companies use the Google ecosystem daily.

With a business plan, you’ll have access to a clean VoIP platform with call forwarding, Google Meet and Calendar integrations, and voicemail transcriptions. However, there is no desktop app available.

For small and midsize businesses, the best thing about Google Voice is that employees can use it with their existing platforms, whether on Android, iOS, or a web browser.

Features

• Voicemail transcriptions
• Call forwarding
• Multi-level auto attendant & advanced reporting
• Unlimited SMS in the US

Pros

• Easy account setup
• User-friendly interface
• Unlimited calls and texts

Cons

• No toll-free numbers with google voice
• Advanced reporting is available only on the higher plan

Pricing

• Google Voice plans also demand a Google Workspace subscription. It starts at $6 a month per user.
• Starter: $10 per user per month
• Standard: $20 per user per month
• Premier: $30 per user per month

8. Vonage

Vonage’s unified communication system lets you access many standard features, including caller ID, hold music, and unlimited team messaging. With over 96 global phone numbers for local inbound calls, Vonage customers enjoy 99.999% uptime with mobile apps.

Despite that, Vonage won’t suit you if you’re looking to avoid fees and upgrades. For example, you’ll need a top-tier plan to access call recording on-demand. In addition, you’ll need to pay $49.99 a month for automatic call recording.

Features

• Free unlimited team messaging
• Call recording and Auto-attendant (upgrade required)
• CRM integration (upgrade required)
• Call park, call queues, and call waiting

Pros

• Unlimited team messaging
• 99.999% uptime guarantee

Cons

• Limited video conferencing features
• Small meeting capacity for audio and video conferences

Pricing

• Mobile: $14.99 per line per month
• Premium: $24.99 per line per month
• Advanced: $34.99 per line per month

9. Phone.com

Phone.com is a virtual phone service that is HIPAA-compliant and supports both voice and video calls. The Phone.com entrepreneur phone system lets you manage your phone greetings, menus, routing, extensions, voicemail, conferencing, faxing, SMS, MMS, and forwarding, among many other features.

Phone.com has the ultimate phone provider URL, but it isn’t suited to small businesses. You’ll need to upgrade to get some of the features they need, like unlimited minutes and voicemail transcription.

Despite upgrades, you won’t always be able to get what you need. You’ll have to pay an extra $5 per month for features such as call recording and shared phone numbers — so you might as well choose a VoIP provider that suits you better.

Features

• Call reporting/Analytics
• IVR / Voice Recognition
• Free video conferencing, up to 10 participants with the basic plan
• Call forwarding

Pros

• Customer service and live chat are amazing

Cons

• Poor user interface

Pricing

• Basic Plan: $12.99 per user per month
• Plus Plan: $19.99 per month per user
• Pro Plan: $29.99 a month

10. Dialpad

The Dialpad VoIP service comes with several AI-powered intelligent features. Among these features is Dialpad’s live speech coaching, which tells your team if you’re speaking too quickly, too much, or with too many filler words.

A post-call summary and voicemail transcription can also be automated using Dialpad’s AI system. However, while AI features are included with every plan, other essential features require upgrades. If you’re working solo, you’ll be unable to use Slack, and Zapier integrations or have more than one number with a basic plan.

Small businesses with high call volumes but lack the budget to hire additional agents can benefit from Dialpad’s online business phone system with excellent value.

Features

• Call recording and real-time transcription
• Automatic spam detection
• Unlimited US and Canada Calling
• Multi-level auto attendant

Pros

• AI-based voice intelligence on all plans
• Compliance with HIPAA, PCI, GDPR and CSA

Cons

• Not available worldwide
• No 24/7 support on Standard plan

Pricing

• Standard Plan: $23 per user per month
• Pro Plan: $35 per user per month
• Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing

Things To Consider When Selecting The Best Small Business Virtual Phone System

When selecting the best small business virtual phone system, you need to consider your business activities, call volume, goals, and budget. Similarly, here are some of the top elements to consider:

Cost

This factor influences many phone system-related decisions. Of course, reliability is of utmost importance, but if this is the top priority for your business, you can find affordable landline or VoIP bundles. The more innovative option is to go for a VoIP system if you still need to get one in place.

Reliability

Having reliable and accessible communication channels for your team, vendors, partners, and customers is essential to running a successful business. If you do this, reliable and accessible communication channels will protect your business continuity, and you will retain the confidence of people who rely on your operations and revenue you may have otherwise generated.

Security

You should fully secure your entrepreneur phone system to prevent fraud, malware, and phishing attacks by hostile entities. It’s important to note that security is not just about the phone service but also about your internal resources, so work only with service providers with a proven record of encryption, authentication, redundancy, and other security measures.

Features Included

A robust VoIP system will be your best bet to future-proof your communication systems with all the emerging features that will become imperative. Landline phones have practically stopped evolving and will likely become obsolete.

The entrepreneurs phone system allows you to integrate telephony with other business technologies, such as email, video conferencing, virtual faxing, employee training software, ERP, and CRM.

Flexibility

Compared to their peers, intelligent and successful companies usually have more mobility. For example, VoIP phone systems allow you to make and receive calls from anywhere, even while you are offsite.

As opposed to traditional phone systems, which require you to be in the office to use the phone, choose services that offer mobile and desktop apps so that your staff can stay connected to customers and teams at all times.

Scalability

Businesses need to maintain operational agility when expanding or downsizing. During these times, You should reorganize business resources to match the size of operations where they are being used.

To maintain a successful business, you always want excellent customer service. Therefore, choose service providers with a history of providing excellent customer service.

Get The Best Virtual Phone Service With CallHippo

Are you ready to experience the best business calling and texting experience? The first step is switching to a virtual phone service – and CallHippo is the best option for your business communications. CallHippo offers everything you need for your business communications – The entrepreneurs phone system, team chats, video conferencing, unlimited calling, and more.

Small businesses can get the help they need by leveraging CallHippo, a VoIP system that scales with their team. Additionally, it offers various automations and integrations that will streamline each inbound call and text and make it easier to support more clients as your team grows.

Start your free trial with CallHippo today!

FAQ 

How Much Does The Best Virtual Phone Service For Small Businesses Cost?

A virtual phone service’s cost depends on several factors, such as its features, how well it is supported, and how reliable it is. Despite this, the best virtual telephone service provider, such as CallHippo, can be found for as little as $16 per month. A business virtual phone typically ranges from $15 to $50 per monthly user.

How Do You Set Up A Small Business Phone System?

Today’s business phone systems have the advantage of being easy to set up. In addition, you can manage VoIP systems entirely online. Users can access this online portal with an internet connection from any computer to manage their business phone numbers, add and delete users, and turn features on or off.

What Are The Best Rated Phone Systems for Small Business?

According to our research, here are the top 5 virtual phone system for small businesses:

1. CallHippo
2. Grasshopper
3. RingCentral
4. MightyCall
5. Nextiva

Which Type Of Business Virtual Phone Is Best For You?

Consider what your actual needs are when choosing a virtual phone system for a small business. For example, someone who wants to talk to a few people casually may find that a cheaper option would be most cost-effective while supplying all the necessary tools.

However, if you plan to use a VoIP provider professionally or for business purposes, specifically regularly and with many people, you may want to look into the more advanced options.

When Is The Best Time To Invest In A Good Phone System For Small Businesses?

Today’s highly competitive market means there is never a wrong time to invest in a business phone system. As a result, many providers try to attract new customers by offering a discount or incentive for signing up. This could be a free service for a few months, a free phone, or a discounted rate for a few months.

Hiba Ali

Hiba is an accomplished specialist in writing for Software as a Service (SaaS) and has extensive experience crafting compelling and informative content. With over two years of experience, she has honed her skills in producing various forms of content, including articles, blog posts, and more, all centered around SaaS. Hiba is dedicated to sharing her insights to assist businesses in leveraging SaaS to achieve growth and success.

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