Top 9 Best Virtual Phone Services For Small Businesses

Senior Writer: Paras Kela

Published : November 7, 2022

The success of modern businesses is heavily dependent on effective communication. It is critical that businesses must be available to customers at the drop of a hat and be prepared at all times to help them with problems relating to their goods or services.

However, to establish such an engaged and effective level of communication with their customers, businesses will certainly need cutting-edge business communication solutions, like virtual phone service. 

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll examine the top 9 virtual business phone services for small businesses as well as the things to look at before selecting one.

Without further ado, let’s get started.

Expert Advice

"Large organizations can afford to go for conventional methods of reaching new customers and expanding their business. But that is not the case for small businesses. They have to look for advanced and cost-effective methods to achieve desired results. Virtual phone services are the best option for them as it offers connectivity in over 60 countries. So connecting with existing and potential customers gets easy and effective."

What Is A Virtual Phone Service?

Also note that when you choose the best virtual business phone services, such as CallHippo, you benefit from its multiple innovative features and functionalities. 

Some of the most common features of these best virtual business phone service providers are power dialers, call analytics, intelligent call forwarding, global connect, smart switching, IVR, voicemail greetings, and other call management features.

These features allow small businesses to do much more than just make phone calls. For example, they can:

1. Collect, organize, and analyze critical information.
2. Better understand the customers’ concerns and provide the best solution
3. Develop a professional image for the business.
4. Significantly lower communication costs and efforts.
5. Improve customer service by staying in constant touch with them.
6. Successfully implement strategies and make necessary changes as and when needed.

However, each virtual business phone system is unique in its own way and has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. For this reason, it is critical that you have fundamental knowledge and are familiar with each of these the best virtual phone number providers.

List of 9 Best Virtual Phone Services For Small Businesses

The following are the top 9 virtual phone systems for small businesses. Let’s look at their key features, unique selling points (USPs), pricing, supported platforms, and other technical and non-technical aspects.

1. CallHippo

Among the top virtual phone services available in the market, CallHippo is undoubtedly the best. This cloud-based business phone system is designed to address the various communication needs of startups, small and medium businesses, and enterprises.

As you might expect, CallHippo virtual phone system encompasses all of the basic and advanced features a business would require. The tool is simple to use, has a strong global presence in over 80 countries, supports over 100 third-party integrations, and provides 24/7 support.

CallHippo Key Features:

• CRM Integration
• IVR and dial groups
• Role-based access control
• Reports & analytics
• Gamification
• Interactive voice response (IVR)
• Voice broadcasting

CallHippo Pros:

1. Best-in-class support and live demos
2. 10-day free trial and a tiered pricing structure
3. Complimentary product training

CallHippo Cons:

1. The mobile app is missing a few advanced features.

CallHippo is Ideal for: Small, medium, and large enterprise

CallHippo Free Trial Period: 10 Days

CallHippo Pricing & Plans:

CallHippo provides three business phone system plans, as follows:

1. Bronze Plan: $16/User/Month (Ideal for startups)
2. Silver Plan: $24/User/Month (Ideal for small businesses)
3. Platinum Plan: $40/User/Month (Ideal for SMB sales & support marketing teams)
4. Enterprise Plan: $48/User/Month (Ideal for enterprises)

*Pricing as of 11-06-2024.

2. Dialpad

Dialpad is the next provider on our list of the best virtual phone services. Just like CallHippo, Dialpad is a comprehensive virtual phone system capable of meeting the diverse needs of businesses of all sizes and types.

Moreover, this AI-assisted virtual business phone system provides users with a range of features in addition to allowing them to manage all forms of communication, such as outbound and inbound calls, texts, and voicemails from any device. To summarize, Dialpad could be the best virtual phone system for small business owners as well as startups.

Dialpad Key Features:

• Virtual Receptionist
• Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
• Power Dialer
• Unlimited calls
• International phone number
• Contact Center
• Analytics

Dialpad Pros:

1. High degree of customization
2. Built-in artificial intelligence-powered functionalities

Dialpad Cons:

1. Sometimes the call quality is poor
2. Usability needs to be improved

Dialpad is Ideal for: Small & medium businesses

Dialpad Free Trial: 14 Days

Dialpad Pricing Plans:

Like most other best business phone services providers, Dialpad offers three monthly and annual subscription plans.

1. Standard Plan: $23/User/Month
2. Pro Plan: $35/User/Month
3. Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing

These are the monthly subscription charges. However, you will get a discount if you choose a yearly subscription.

3. RingCentral

No list of the best virtual phone services can be considered complete without mentioning RingCentral. RingCentral is a feature-rich, well-designed virtual phone system that ranks among the best on the market today. The platform is much more than a phone system. It also integrates messaging, video conferencing, and phone calls, making it simple for teams to analyze large amounts of data better.

Moreover, as one might expect, this virtual phone system is packed with powerful call management features and functionalities, as well as over 250 integrations and add-ons that you can use to strengthen your teams and processes.

RingCentral Key Features:

• Call monitoring & call routing
• Multi level IVR
• Audio & video conferencing
• Local, vanity, and toll free numbers
• 250+ extensions
• Call recording and call forwarding

RingCentral Pros:

1. Able to manage complex business scenario
2. Software support is available for multiple devices

RingCentral Cons:

1. The mobile version should be optimized
2. Prices are a bit higher for small businesses

RingCentral is Ideal for: Small, medium, and large enterprises

RingCentral Free Trial: 14 Days

RingCentral Pricing Plans:

The RingCentral business phone service provider offers three pricing plans, as listed below:

1. Essential Plan: $29.99/User/Month
2. Standard Plan: $37.99/User/Month
3. Premium Plan: $44.99/User/Month
4. Ultimate Plan: $59.99/User/Month

These prices are for monthly plans. However, if you purchase a yearly subscription, you will enjoy a 25-30% discount.

4. Grasshopper

Grasshopper is another popular and one of the best virtual phone systems for small businesses and startups. The system includes a slew of advanced features that greatly enhance business communication.

Besides that, it provides mobile and desktop applications that allow employees to stay connected throughout the day, no matter where they are. In addition, like most VoIP phone systems, Grasshopper is a fully customizable tool with various pricing plans to suit all types of users.

Grasshopper Key Features:

• Simultaneous call handling
• Business phone number
• Inbound call management
• Call Forwarding
• Mobile and desktop apps
• Voicemail Transcription

Grasshopper Pros:

1. Easy to get started– simple onboarding
2. Even the basic plan contains the majority of the features

Grasshopper Cons:

1. Cannot manage complex business scenario
2. Limited collaboration tools

Grasshopper Free Trial: 7 days

Grasshopper VoIP Phone System Is Ideal For: Small and Medium Enterprises

Grasshopper Pricing:

The company offers three pricing plans as listed below. The more premium the plan, the more features it includes.

1. Solo Plan: $29/User/Month (1 Number, 3 Extensions)
2. Partner Plan: $49/User/Month (3 Numbers, 6 Extensions)
3. Small Business: $89/User/Month (5 Numbers, Unlimited Extensions)

These are the costs when billed monthly. If you choose annual billing, the plans cost $26, $44and $80, respectively.

5. Ooma Office

Ooma Office offers two different types of business phone systems: Enterprise communication system and Small business virtual phone system, depending on the scale of the business. Small business phone systems, as the name implies, are designed for startups and smaller companies.

They include features that help these companies communicate effectively on a day-to-day basis. On top of that, this modern phone service system requires no additional hardware and can be configured in under 15 minutes without needing technical expertise.

Ooma Key Features:

• Virtual receptionist
• Ring groups
• Enhanced call blocking
• Voicemail transcription
• Google, Salesforce, and Office 365 integration
• Call analytics
• Find Me/Follow Me

Ooma Pros:

1. Ease of use– user-friendly
2. Impressive call quality

Ooma Cons:

1. The admin and user dashboards are difficult to navigate.
2. No music on hold included with Ooma business plans

Ooma is Ideal for: Small and medium businesses

Ooma Free Trial: 30 Days

Ooma Pricing Plans:

Ooma Office offers three pricing plans, each with more than 50 features.

1. Essentials Plan: $19.95/User/Month
2. Pro Plan: $24.95/User/Month
3. Pro Plus Plan: $29.95/User/Month

6. Nextiva

Nextiva is yet another popular virtual phone system designed for modern businesses. This modern business communication system will allow the organization or managers to improve workflow, capture every interaction across phone calls, emails, and text messages in a single platform, and establish a reliable communication channel with domestic or international customers.

Besides that, the tool’s design and complexity are kept as simple as possible so that even non-technical users can make the best use of it.

Nextiva Key Features of Nextiva:

• Corporate dial plan
• Call recording
• Unlimited web conferencing
• Free local phone number
• Advanced call management
• VoIP switchboard
• Three-way calling

Nextiva Pros:

1. Well-versed customer support representatives
2. User-friendly and easy-to-navigate interface

Nextiva Cons:

1. A lengthy onboarding process
2. Not an affordable option for small business owners

Nextiva is Ideal for: Small, medium, and large enterprises

Nextiva Free Trial: 30 Days

Nextiva Pricing & Plans:

Nextiva offers a variety of pricing packages based on the number of users, subscription period (monthly or yearly), and plan type.

1. Essential Plan: $23.95/user/month
2. Professional Plan: $27.95/user/month
3. Enterprise Plan: $37.95/user/month

All of these costs are for up to four users. However, as the number of users increases, the package cost decreases.

7. OpenPhone

OpenPhone is a reliable, efficient, and scalable modern business phone system that assists small and medium-sized businesses to fine-tune their day-to-day communication operations.

This virtual phone system consolidates all communication channels into a single window, giving you real-time visibility into what’s happening at the call center. Just like other top virtual phone service providers, OpenPhone is appropriate for all types of teams and industries, including sales, support, marketing, ecommerce, real estate, and others.

OpenPhone Key Features:

• Advanced IVR (Interactive Voice Response)
• Round-robin call distribution
• Voicemail transcriptions
• Local US, Canadian, and toll-free numbers
• Call recording & call forwarding
• Integration with 3000+ applications via Zapier

OpenPhone Pros:

1. Seamless integration with multiple tools
2. Cost-effective phone solution

OpenPhone Cons:

1. Sometimes the call quality is poor
2. Customer support needs to be improved

OpenPhone is Ideal for: Small & medium businesses

OpenPhone Free Trial: 7 Days

OpenPhone Pricing Plans:

OpenPhone has three monthly and annual subscription pricing plans.

1. Standard Plan: $13/User/Month
2. Premium Plan: $25/User/Month
3. Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing

These are the monthly subscription costs. However, if you choose a yearly subscription, you will get a small discount.

8. Phone.com

Phone.com is a novel and one of the best virtual phone services, offering a variety of powerful features as well as several affordable pricing plans. The platform primarily serves the needs of startups and small-to-medium-sized businesses in terms of business communication.

Also, it is worth noting that Phone.com is a scalable virtual phone system, and users can easily add needed modules at a minimal cost. What’s more, it boosts functional efficiency by enabling better team collaboration and real-time data sharing.

Phone.Com Features:

• CRM integration
• Do not disturb compliance
• Call screening 
• Call recording and call transfer
• Reports and analytics
• Account management

Phone.com Pros:

1. Simple and user-friendly interface (UI)
2. Affordable pricing plans

Phone.com Cons:

1. The mobile version lacks essential features
2. Not suitable for medium or large businesses

Phone.com VoIP System Is Ideal For: Small and Medium Enterprise

Phone.com Free Trial: 30 days

Phone.com Pricing:

Phone.com has three pricing plans to offer, as listed below. The more premium the plan, the more features it includes.

1. Basic Plan: $12.99 per user per month for 300 minutes, 1,000 text messages, and access to over 40 services.

2. Plus Plan: $19.99 per month per user for unlimited calling minutes and text messaging, video conferencing (up to 25 people), and voicemail transcription.

3. Pro Plan: $29.99 a month for unlimited minutes and text messages, up to 300-person video conferencing, call analytics, and CRM integrations.

9. eVoice

The last provider on our list of the best virtual phone services is eVoice. eVoice enables businesses to conduct business communication from anywhere, using any device. The system allows agents to communicate with other customers as well as other agents at all times via phone calls, text messages, or video conferencing. 

Besides that, the platform is built using the most stringent security and compliance protocols and mechanisms, which have been validated by third-party security and compliance certifications. This ensures that all your company’s and customers’ data remain secure at all times.

eVoice Key Features:

• Free business phone number
• Call forwarding
• Auto attendant
• Voicemail to text
• Custom greetings
• iOS and Android apps

eVoice Pros:

1. Easy customization of your business phone number
2. A low-cost virtual phone system for small businesses

eVoice Cons:

1. Not suitable for medium and large-sized businesses
2. Limited features compared to other virtual phone services

eVoice is Ideal for: Small businesses

eVoice Free Trial: 30 days

eVoice Pricing:

eVoice phone system is available in two different variants.

1. Elite monthly: $14/user/month
2. Elite yearly: $12/user/month

These are the 9 best virtual phone services or the best virtual phone number providers. As we have noticed, each has its own set of features, different pricing plans, and is tailored to a specific industry or business type.

5 Factors to Consider When Choosing the Best Virtual Phone Services

5 Factors to Consider When Choosing the Best Virtual Phone Services

1. Meets your business requirements
2. Provides unparalleled data security
3. Excellent reliability & performance
4. Pricing, charges, and call rates
5. Customer support

Although we have listed the 9 best virtual business phone services here, it is important that, as a user, you have a good understanding of what features and factors to look for when buying one because this will eventually help you make an informed decision. The five factors to consider when selecting the best virtual phone service are as follows:

1. Meets your business requirements

When looking for the best virtual phone services, the first thing you should consider is whether they can meet your business needs. It’s likely that the provider has a slew of features and specifications to offer. However, you must evaluate whether those features are compatible with your needs and business goals.

2. Provides unparalleled data security

Another critical factor to consider when selecting the best virtual phone services is data security. To choose the best virtual phone services provider with the best security features, you must first understand your security requirements, the security measures offered by each provider, and the mechanisms they use to protect your applications and data.

3. Excellent reliability & performance

(Source: Cloudplusit)

When you run a customer-centric business, providing 24×7 support to your customers is critical. For this reason, you must select a virtual phone services provider with a proven track record of success. Check their performance against SLAs over the last 6-12 months, look for downtime, and learn about the provider’s mechanism for dealing with downtime.

4. Pricing, charges, and call rates

Next, examine the pricing plans, call rates, and other charges. Assume you’ve found the best virtual phone service provider with all the necessary features and functionalities. But what if their prices and plans are incredibly high? We recommend you go with it if it is up to 20% higher than your estimated budget; otherwise, look for another virtual system provider.

5. Customer support

Suppose the virtual phone services provider you’ve picked has all the features you’re looking for, as well as fair pricing. However, it provides poor customer service. Should you go with that service provider? We don’t think so. On-time customer support will ensure that your work is not hampered for a long period of time, allowing businesses to improve customer lifetime value.

Along with these five key factors, you should also consider whether they support third-party integration and whether they provide training to your employees, among other things. In addition, before making a decision, visit leading software review websites such as SoftwareSuggest as well as the product’s official websites for a thorough analysis of the product.

FAQs

How much does a virtual phone service for small businesses cost?

The cost of virtual phone service is determined by various factors, including the features included, the type of customer support provided, the system’s reliability, subscription duration, the technology stack, and many others. However, the best virtual phone service provider, such as CallHippo, is available for as little as $16 per month. In other words, the cost of virtual business phone service for small businesses can range between $15 and $25 per month.

How do you set up a small business virtual phone system?

Setting up a small business virtual phone system is simple and requires little to no technical expertise. For example, to set up CallHippo virtual phone services, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Create an account with CallHippo and log in using your credentials

Step 2: On the dashboard, click the ‘Add Number’ tab and choose the country you want to target.

Step 3: Filter the virtual numbers as per your preferences and choose the best virtual number from the number pool.

Step 4: Select a package based on your requirements and make the payment.

Step 5: Configure the system according to your requirements, processes, and objectives.

When is the best time to invest in a virtual phone service for your business?

‘Right now’ is the best time to invest in a virtual phone service for your business! Given the highly competitive markets and informed customers, it is in your best interest to invest in a virtual phone service as soon as possible to greatly automate and optimize business communication.

Which types of businesses benefit the most from the best virtual phone services?

The advantages of virtual business phone systems are not limited to any business type. Virtual phone service will benefit all types of businesses, whether start-ups, small and medium-sized businesses, or enterprises. Business phone systems benefit various types of organizations and industries, such as call centers, finance, eCommerce, marketing, hospitality, customer service, tourism, healthcare, and many more.

Updated : October 30, 2024

Paras Kela

Paras Kela brings a wealth of IT knowledge to his writing, with a strong focus on technical content. In recent years, he has specialized in virtual telephony solutions, creating clear and insightful content. His passion for technology, experience in the IT field, and dedication to learning new trends make complex topics easy to understand.

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