With business VoIP services, your business no longer has to be tied down to a limited number of physical phone lines. Instead, you can use your VoIP provider’s approach to access your VoIP number and place VoIP calls from your cell phone or desktop using your business phone number.

Best of all, your customers will see your business phone number on their caller ID. You can also accept incoming calls from customers—even if your device has a different, private phone number attached to it.

With at-home work becoming more common than ever before, VoIP phone systems are more vital than ever. With a VoIP small business phone system, your employees can easily place and receive business calls at home using your business phone number.

With that in mind, we searched the market to find the best VoIP services for small to medium businesses and we have provided them for your in this article.

• What is the best VoIP Service for Small Business?
• Is VoIP good for Small Business?
• What is VoIP Phone Service for Business?
• How can you Choose the Best Business VoIP Provider?
• How do I set up a VoIP Business?
• How much is VoIP Monthly?
• How do I Setup a VoIP Phone System for Small Business?

What is the best VoIP Service for Small Business?

We have narrowed your options down to these 8 business VoIP phone service providers so you can easily find what you need.

1. RingCentral

RingCental offers a well-rounded work-from-home solution that includes integrated messaging, unlimited videoconferencing, and cloud-hosted VoIP service right out of the box. The service includes a lot of features that other providers charge extra for (such as generous toll-free minutes).

Read Also: Small Business Call Center Software

And small businesses don’t have to worry about whether they’re getting raked over the coals for their cloud-hosted VoIP service because RingCentral offers price matching on plans with less than 50 lines.

Another thing we love about RingCentral is its reliability. RingCentral promises a 99.999% uptime, meaning both your in-house and at-home employees can rely on your VoIP system to work whenever they need it. Plus, RingCentral plans include unlimited internet faxing, phone conferencing, and videoconferencing for up to 100 participants. Video meetings can even last up to 24 hours—just in case.

Here are a few other features business owners are sure to love:

• Unlimited calls within the US and Canada
• A toll-free or local phone number
• Automatic call recording
• Inbound caller ID
• 2,500 toll-free monthly minutes
• Service in 100+ countries worldwide
• Voice menus in 10 different languages

And if you ever experience trouble with your VoIP system, RingCentral’s customer service team is available 24/7 via online chat or via phone during standard business hours. Keep in mind, though, that usually only larger enterprises get US-based support—small businesses usually get outsourced to overseas customer service representatives.

If that doesn’t work for you, though, RingCentral also offers ticket service, an extensive online knowledge base, and weekly webinars to answer common questions.

2. Ooma

With its affordable pricing and scalable solutions, Ooma is one of our favorite small-business phone services. But Ooma’s Office and Office Pro plan also stand out as some of the best VoIP phone service offerings for businesses with at-home employees.

Ooma phone systems are flexible, so you can use your office phone while working at a home, place and accept work calls on your cell phone, and even use the Ooma desktop app to place calls on your computer. And Ooma’s plans stay affordable even with an upper-tier plan.

Ooma’s remote features can help your business stay up and running no matter where your employees are. For starters, Ooma’s mobile and desktop apps allow remote employees to make and receive unlimited calls within North America using your business number.

We also like Ooma’s Ring Groups feature, which lets you group extensions together in your phone system so they all ring simultaneously. Then it transfers the call to whichever employee answers first. This allows your customers to get through to a representative as quickly as possible and provides a backup in case one of your employees has to step away to deal with childcare or move the laundry along.

Businesses working remotely should keep in mind, though, that Ooma offers video conferencing only on the Ooma Office Pro plan. Otherwise, you get a conference line that lets at-home employees collaborate over the phone. That puts Ooma a pace behind some of the other providers on our list, but with providers like Nextiva currently offering their video collaboration tool to businesses for free, it shouldn’t be a major issue.

3. Nextiva

c is great for midsize businesses on a budget because it delivers an impressive balance of pricing and features. Nextiva’s mobile app and desktop app allow your employees to ditch the clunky office phones of the past, and the service’s online management platform makes it easy to juggle multiple lines—even when your employees are all working from different locations.

Nextiva service also provides a number of helpful features for businesses working from home. For starters, there’s the Nextiva app, which lets you use your business phone number to make calls remotely from your desktop or mobile devices. Nextiva’s team collaboration tool, Cospace, also lets your team collaborate via video chat, so you can keep everyone one the same page.

Word to the wise, though: Nextiva’s pricing can be a little complex, so make sure you click around the website’s pricing page to find the accurate pricing for your business. The website lists the Essential plan at $19.95 per month, for example.

But if you click the tiny question mark next to the price, you find out that price is only for prepaid 36-month contracts on plans with 100 or more users. If you’re a small business on a month-to-month plan, you’ll actually wind up paying $34.95 per month.

That being said, we think it’s impressive that none of Nextiva’s plans cost more than $45 per month—especially considering all the VoIP service features you get. And for businesses with at-home employees, features like unlimited video conferencing (with a Professional plan or higher), screen sharing, and team messaging make it easier to get work done even when everyone’s physically distant.

4. Grasshopper

Now more than ever, businesses are discovering that they don’t need their employees to work in an office environment to be successful. But Grasshopper is an especially great VoIP software for mobile businesses like food trucks and pop-up stores.

Like many other VoIP phone services, Grasshopper offers iOS and Android apps that allow you to make and receive business calls on your cell phone. But unlike the competition, it allows you to customize call forwarding rules for each phone extension on your plan. That way, each of your employees or business locations can manage calls in whatever way works best for them.

Grasshopper is great for small businesses, so why didn’t we name it our top small-business phone service? To be honest, we think Grasshopper is a little expensive compared to other options on the table. Grasshopper plans start at $26 per month (assuming you sign up for annual billing), which is pretty pricey considering you get only one business phone number with up to three extensions.

Grasshopper also offers fewer unified communications features than other PBX solutions. You also have to provide your own devices. That’s not a big deal if your employees are all working from home and using their cell phones or desktop phones to place calls. But it may pose a problem if you need to upgrade your office’s old analog phones.

Oh, and Grasshopper only offers service to businesses in the US and Canada.

On the upside, though, Grasshopper offers the same features across all its plans. Unlike other business VoIP solutions, you don’t have to upgrade your plan just to get business texting (for example). That means your business can enjoy the same high-end VoIP phone system features as a large company, even if you have only a couple of lines.

5. 8×8

Given all the economic uncertainty faced by small businesses today, choosing a low-cost VoIP phone service makes a lot of sense. Fortunately, 8×8 offers three simple, feature-loaded plans that can help you keep your expenses low while also getting all the VoIP features you need.

8×8 even offers integrations with third-party business apps like Salesforce, Zendesk, Netsuite, and Microsoft Dynamics. That way, your business can build out a complete enterprise resource planning solution that allows your inventory, accounting, point-of-sale, and customer service to work together seamlessly—all without having to shell out big money for it.

All 8×8 plans include team messaging, HD videoconferencing, and screen sharing, you you can easily keep all your at-home team members engaged and collaborative. And contact centers that have transitioned to remote work can still enjoy features like omnichannel routing, which allows your employees to engage with customers via chat, social media, text, and phone—all in one platform.

And of course, you can’t ignore the fact that 8×8 offers full internet phone services that start at just $12 per month. The company’s introductory plan even offers an auto attendant to help transfer calls to the appropriate extension without you needing to pay a receptionist to answer the phone—a feature other internet and phone providers don’t offer except on upper-tier plans.

That being said, 8×8’s plan upgrades are not the cheapest on our list. But considering the number of features you get for the price, we think it’s a good value for most companies looking for a VoIP phone system that offers a lot of bang for your buck.

6. Vonage

As one of the earliest VoIP services on the market, Vonage is one of the most well-known PBX solutions currently available. And for good reason.

Vonage phone service can easily grow with your company, so you don’t have to worry about difficult transitions to new systems as your needs expand. Vonage integrates with everything from Salesforce to Slack, so you’re covered if your business ever outgrows its current customer relationship tools. And Vonage offers VoIP communications features that make the service easy to use even when you’re at home.

Vonage plans offer great features for at-home employees, including unlimited team messaging, unlimited calls, and unlimited business text messages on every plan. However, if videoconferencing is important to your business, you’ll need to upgrade to the Premium plan.

We also like that Vonage offers 20 third-party integrations through the Vonage App Center, which is available even on the Mobile plan. This feature allows you to sync your VoIP phone system with select accounting, inventory, and CRM software so you can build out a completely interconnected business.

Furthermore, all Vonage customers get 24/7 customer support and IT solutions. Between that and all the other features included on Vonage’s basic phone system plans, it’s a great solution for small businesses that want advanced features at a budget price. And Vonage can definitely keep up when it’s time to upgrade your devices or add more lines, so your business can easily grow within your existing VoIP system.

7. Verizon VOIP

Verizon’s mobile solutions and ultra-fast fiber-optic internet connections (named Fios) have made the company the current gold standard when it comes to reliable telecommunications. And frankly, Verizon doesn’t disappoint when it comes to its bring-your-own-device (BYOD) VoIP service.

Verizon’s appeal ultimately comes down to its reliability. The telecommunications giant offers both fiber-optic and DSL connections nationwide. And say what you want about Verizon’s customer service—the company is one of the few internet and phone providers with a reputation for maintaining a state-of-the-art network with few to no dropped calls on its internet phone.

Unfortunately, that reliability doesn’t exactly come cheap. Verizon’s Business Digital Voice VoIP plans start relatively high, and if you need more lines, you’ll need to call and get a quote to get exact pricing. It’s a sliding-scale illusion that would end up costing about the same no matter the number of people in your enterprise. But Verizon isn’t a budget choice for small businesses: it’s a reliability choice.

If you’re located in one of the 21 states that currently enjoy Verizon Fios service—which are mostly in the northeast—you’ll have access to one of the fastest internet connections available, which is perfect for VoIP.

If your at-home employees don’t have Verizon Fios internet or your business is in a DSL-only country, the speed will be slower, but uptime is still guaranteed at 99.95%. Either internet option will support steady VoIP service, and if your business is more medium-sized than small, Verizon could add up to a better value in the long run (especially if you’re in Fios territory).

Since Verizon is a massive company, customer service ratings are in line with what you’d usually read in the comments section—meaning, people are far more motivated to complain than praise. Navigating Verizon’s bundling plans for businesses may be like a choose-your-own-adventure odyssey, but its support lines are segregated well, with separate contacts for small, medium, and larger businesses.

Verizon also offers competitive SLAs (service level agreements) for quality and service and 24/7 VoIP phone services support via phone, email, and tickets.

Verizon Business Digital Voice isn’t necessarily budget-friendly for a smaller business, but the upper-tier plans should be attractive to medium and larger outfits that demand reliable uptime or at least prefer an all-in-one telecom provider.

8. GoToConnect

GoToConnect has nearly as many glowing critical reviews as the Radiohead discography, minus the pretentious lyricism. GoToConnect has established a positive industry reputation since its launch as Jive in 2006, thanks mostly to its interface simplicity, focus on small businesses, and large array of telephone features that are available to all pricing tiers.

All these tiers deliver top-notch phone service features, which include the following perks:

• Call routing
• Caller ID
• Do Not Disturb
• Custom hold music
• International calling
• Advanced ring strategies
• Unlimited call queues

In addition, GoToConnect plans deliver unlimited videoconferencing for up to 250 participants. That makes company-wide meetings a lot easier while your employees are based from home. Plus, GoToConnect offers virtual international numbers in more than 25 countries—though you’ll have to pay a $19.99 setup fee, plus an additional monthly fee of anywhere from $5.99 to $23.99 a month (depending on the country where the number is located).

We also like that GoToConnect’s phone systems are easy to set up and come with US-based 24/7 phone, live chat, and email support (with specific help for small businesses, large businesses, government agencies, and education clients). Overall, it’s a simple and feature-loaded VoIP phone system that works for all kinds of businesses.

Is VoIP good for Small Business?

Determining if a VoIP phone system makes sense for a small business all depends on the quality of its network and its needs, said Chris Sherwood, an Oregon-based phone system consultant.

“Most importantly, you want to ensure they have enough upload bandwidth for the amount of phone calls they expect to have running concurrently,” Sherwood said, commenting on what he looks at when deciding if VoIP is a good option.

In addition, businesses also have to factor in whether they have enough bandwidth to handle the other traffic on the network, and whether or not their firewall and router can prioritize VoIP traffic over regular Internet traffic, Sherwood said.

If the network can support it, than VoIP is likely a good option for many businesses.

“For businesses where VoIP does makes sense, there are many benefits, including reduction in costs in terms of both maintenance and monthly recurring usage, ease of use and enhanced features that you would previously only find in an enterprise-level PBX,” Sherwood said.

Voicemail, virtual receptionists, call forwarding, call recording, on-hold music, voicemail-to-email, conference calling, video conferring, instant messaging, call screening, missed alerts and call logs are among the many features offered by most VoIP providers.

Ease of use

Lisa Chu, owner of the children’s formal clothing company BlackNBianco, said that she likes that her VoIP system has eliminated all of the complicated tech support that her landline required.

“When the landline goes down, diagnosing and fixing the issues are never easy or quick, leaving me and my employees extremely frustrated,” Chu said. “VoIP is very user-friendly, and having the proper network, we have yet to encounter any significant issues that hinder our ability to communicate with our customers.”

Using a cloud-based solution also makes it simple to add phone lines when new employees are hired, said Tyler Yost, director of strategy at the marketing company Blue Corona. He said his company has grown numerous times over the past five years, and each time, it was a simple process to add phone lines.

“We click two buttons on the interface online, the phone arrives a few days later, we plug it into an Ethernet port and we’re off and running,” Yost said.

One of the biggest advantages of VoIP, especially for businesses with employees who work remotely or in multiple locations, is that it allows employees to bring their business phone line with them anywhere they go. Most VoIP providers have a mobile app that can be set up to ring when a customer or client calls an employee’s business line. Additionally, these apps allow employees to use their business line to make outgoing calls from their mobile phones.

Elizabeth Becker, a client partner for the Florida-based IT staffing firm Protech, said she likes that their VoIP system allows for employees to be location-independent.

“VoIP systems allow for business as usual, no matter where your employees may be physically sitting,” Becker said. “By having a VoIP system, it’s easier to give a little flexibility to employees while still staying connected.”

Cost considerations

Cost is another reason businesses are making the switch to VoIP. Most VoIP providers charge a monthly per-user fee, rather than a fee based on how many minutes everyone in the company spends on the phone. That, along with not having to spend exorbitant amounts of money on special equipment — as well as on an IT staff to keep it up and running — can be a significant cost savings for many small businesses.

Some cloud-based solutions are as cheap as $10 to $25 per user, per month.

“A major advantage of VoIP and Internet telephony is that it avoids the tolls charged by ordinary telephone service,” Liu said. “In addition, all of your business phone service, IM/Presence, mobility, videoconferencing service and calling charges including local, long-distance and toll-free can be consolidated with one VoIP provider.”

What is VoIP Phone Service for Business?

Business VoIP is the modern form of business phone service utilizing an internet connection instead of a PSTN landline connection. By sending your voice, video, and data communications through your internet network, your business can achieve a high quality VoIP phone system for a fraction of traditional legacy setups. Business VoIP solutions differ from landline services as feature rich alternatives for small to medium sized businesses.

Packed with advanced phone system features necessary to operate a small to medium businesses, such as hosted PBX capabilities, desk-to-desk calling, automated attendant systems, call routing and even music-on-hold, Business phone services powered by VoIP technology make it easy for any company to operate with the same level of professionalism customers expect from large scale enterprise systems.

Business VoIP systems also include overall Unified Communication solutions to empower the mobility and flexibility needed for any size businesses. With inexpensive, feature-filled phone solutions, your business can operate at a high level on par with large scale systems, without having to worry about the cost.

How can you Choose the Best Business VoIP Provider?

Depending on the number of lines/extensions needed, your monthly business phone service fees can start as low as $20 per line from an award-winning small business VoIP service like Vonage Business. Knowing exactly what you need will make the transition fast, easy, and cost-effective.

From small business VoIP providers to enterprise VoIP phone systems, every business phone service has a different list of feature sets and prices. Depending on the size of your company, you must take into account system features needed, and the amount of unanticipated usage.

• Step 1 – check your internet connection/bandwidth to make sure you have sufficient Internet speed (your phone provider or Internet provider can help determine this).
• Step 2 – with your budget, calling needs, and phone system feature in mind, narrow down particular small business VoIP offerings to see who can offer you the best service package for your budget.
• Step 3 – decide which equipment is best for your company’s current and foreseeable needs. You may purchase a phone from $50 up to $500 with all the bells and whistles. Consider phones made by leading manufacturers such as Polycom, Cisco, Panasonic, and Toshiba.
• Finally – compare companies, available features, and their reliability by reading reviews from small business VoIP users.

How do I set up a VoIP Business?

To become a VoIP Service provider, there are a few infrastructure requirements, apart from creating a sales/marketing infrastructure. Here is a brief guide into the requirements to start a mobile VoIP business:

Step 1: Set up a VoIP Infrastructure (Hardware and Software)

Softswitch with Billing– Softswitch is the heart of the VoIP business that controls all transactions, customer records, call routing and invoice billing, report generation in both prepaid and postpaid business models. Softswitch comes in various ratings, primarily based on the concurrent transactions it can handle; for example, a Softswitch that can handle 1000 concurrent calls or a Softswitch which can handle only 400 concurrent calls.

Apart from concurrent calls, there are other parameters like stability, security, scalability, ease of operations, call connectivity efficiency, call routing mechanisms and other features, which will dictate your choice of softswitch.

Generally, the softswitch comes with inbuilt billing; but if it does not, then you need to invest in separate billing software. However, you should opt for softswitch that has integrated billing functionality in order to ensure hassle-free business transactions.

Bandwidth Optimization & Tunneling Software – This software component is necessary for retail operations, where the internet quality at the customer end may not be consistent. And, it also helps service providers offer their services in geographical areas where VoIP calls are blocked by firewalls.

This software, installed on the server side ensures that customers have a smoother quality experience, even if the internet through their 3G/ Wi-Fi connection is not always adequate to support VoIP calls.

Servers & Hosting – The above software is generally installed on enterprise-class servers which are hosted in Internet Data Centers (IDC), powered with high-quality bandwidth and 24/7 power/air conditioning while ensuring your services never go down.

You can lease server/bandwidth from IDC’s around the world, the location of the IDC being dependent on your target market and/or quality of service of the IDC.

Step 2: Mobile VoIP Applications

If you opt for the retail VoIP services, then you will need to provide the applications which consumers will use to originate calls. For full-blown retail operations, service providers need to purchase the following software solutions:

Mobile Dialer – This is a mobile app, which your customers will download on their mobile phones, in order to make VoIP calls. There are multiple mobile VoIP clients available in the industry, but you should choose the one that offers branding facility, so that your brand will be present and visible to the customers.

Apart from this, the mobile application must be stable, have good voice quality, be able to support bandwidth optimization requirements, and have an easy user interface which allows  your clients to make calls even if they are not a technology geek.

Calling Card – You need to offer to call card facility to retail customers, who want to access VoIP services, but do not have internet available on their mobile phones.

In order to offer this option to customers, you will need to ensure that your softswitch supports calling cards and has a DID (Direct Inward Dial) or local telephone number configured with it.

Here, DID is a local telephone number that your customers will dial into – thereupon be greeted by an IVR voice system, which will ask them to enter their destination number and the call will be connected.

Call Shop– If you are planning to offer retail services, the call shop feature is a must-have for doing business in many countries, wherein customers go to call shops to make cheap long distance calls. This feature allows call shops to manage multiple customers calling infrastructures, from PC/ devices/ mobile phones.

And, can identify and bill the consumer accordingly and easily, while maintaining full control of their operations. REVE Systems’ Softswitch, iTel Switch offers a very advanced call shop feature, which is used by many retail service providers around the world.

Step 3: Own Website, with Credit Card Payment Gateway Support

If you are in the VoIP business, you will get potential customers from all around the world. In order to provide services efficiently to your customers from various geographies, you will need a fully functional website supported with payment options like Credit Cards, PayPal etc. So, customers can pay you seamlessly and use the services.

Step 4: Inter-Connecting with Terminating Carriers

In order to terminate the calls to your customers, both in retail and wholesale business, you will need to interconnect with multiple carriers across the globe who will offer you various termination destinations. It pays to connect with more carriers, so that you have enough choice of rates and destinations, both in terms of cost and quality.

For example, if you are terminating calls to USA, different carriers will offer different rates and quality of services – so you will need to choose these carriers based on their market reputation and quality achieved during your interconnect tests.

These carriers offer destination rates in USD/ min terms; for example, rate to USA could be 0.008 – which means for every 1 min of a single call terminated through their network, they will charge you 0.008 USD.

The termination cost is the single largest variable cost for VoIP operators and hence, you will need to be diligent in choosing carriers and maintaining your accounts with them.

Step 5: Find Customers

Like in other businesses, here you will also need to find customers after you are done establishing the infrastructure and other basic requirements. So, whether you are in the retail or wholesale VoIP services, you will have to find customers and offer competitive rates with good quality of services.

In terms of maintaining quality of services, two important parameters will be your infrastructure- quality and quality of terminating carriers. So, make sure that you choose the right ones.

Step 6: Customer Support

Once you have started acquiring customers and get customer transactions/ calls, you will have to ensure the customer support, so that you can address your customer problems.

If you are serving a global customer base, you will also have to ensure full 24/7 support, in order for your customers to reach you whenever they have any service disruption.

How much is VoIP Monthly?

VoIP costing is divided into two stages:

• Costs during installation
• Costs after installation

During the VoIP installation stage

There’s a kind of  stigma that comes with the word “installation.” For a lot of people, this is when you’d have to spend a lot of money for hardware and equipment or software with licenses—in many office-related systems, you’d have to spend for both

The old days of on-premise phone systems

There’s a reason why you’ll usually see only big companies and corporations using on-premise VoIP phone systems. We’re talking about multiple bulky servers, PBX boxes— and a lot of wires.

Then there are the people needed to actually install it. You can’t do it by yourself, so you’ve got to hire experts to do it for you. Which means spending even more money.

You haven’t used the phone system yet, and you’ve already spent thousands of dollars.

Moving to the cloud

The good news? That doesn’t have to be a thing anymore. The best VoIP phone systems are cloud-based, meaning the service is hosted in a secure data center by the provider, and can be delivered to your company via the internet.

You don’t have to buy any hardware or equipment—the VoIP provider takes care of all that. All you need is a stable internet connection.

Factors to consider during the installation stage of VoIP

The truth is that “installing” a hosted VoIP phone system is almost entirely free. Anything you might have to pay for isn’t really for installation. They’re for add-ons like phone numbers and VoIP phones.

To help you understand the potential costs, here are some of the things you need to consider when installing voice over IP technology.

Do I have to pay for phone numbers?

Most providers give you a free local or toll-free number when you sign up for their VoIP phone system. If you want more business phone numbers, you’ll have to buy them (which you can usually do anytime from your VoIP account). These are normally charged per month, and will be included on your monthly bill.

If you have an existing phone number, you can also port or transfer it to your new VoIP phone system—free of charge. You can ask your provider about their number porting process.

How much is the actual installation?

Well, it’s free because (again) there’s no actual “installation” that needs to happen. The entire process goes like this:

• Sign up
• The VoIP phone system is activated
• The end

Yep, you read that right. It’s that simple. 

Once your account is activated, all the features included in your VoIP plan are activated too. Now you can start configuring the system based on how you want it to work.

What you’ll mainly spend money on will be towards making sure you have an internet connection stable enough to handle the number of VoIP users in your company.

Building a robust company local area network (LAN) can really help you manage VoIP traffic better in your physical office. (But you should invest in that regardless of whether you’re getting VoIP or not.)

You may also want to invest in QoS (quality of service) routers, which are routers you can set to prioritize VoIP calls over other internet traffic like downloads and streaming. This is optional, though.

Do I need to hire someone to set up and configure the service?

You don’t need an expert to set up and configure your VoIP phone system (or at least, you shouldn’t). In fact, you don’t need any special IT skills. You can simply go to your online account’s dashboard to set it up. You can even grant administrator privileges to trusted employees so they can help you.

From your admin dashboard, you can do things like:

• Set up how your auto-attendant answers and directs calls
• Set company greetings
• Add, delete, and assign phone numbers and virtual extensions to people or departments
• Define the roles and permissions of each user

You can do even more from the dashboard, depending on your provider and account.

Top VoIP providers will go the extra mile—they’ll typically also help new customers set the system for no extra charge. So, if you need a walkthrough, contact your provider and they should be happy to help.

Do I need a special phone for VoIP?

Nope! VoIP phone systems will work on your laptop or mobile device. You just need to download the softphone app and install it on your computer or smartphone.

But if you’re looking for something a little fancier, there are devices that are specially designed to enhance the VoIP experience. The cost can range from as low as US$60 to as high as US$1,000, depending on the features. The most popular brands are Polycom, Cisco, and Yealink. 

There are different types that you can choose from like:

• Desk IP phones – They look like regular phones but are actually special computers that help you make VoIP calls. The best ones support HD call quality, and some even have LCD screens for special functions like caller ID. If you want the familiarity of regular landlines while getting the best VoIP experience, then you should look into getting desk IP phones.
• Conference phones – Also called starfish phones because of their shape, these are VoIP phones with a speaker and a mic with a large area of audio pick up. These phones are perfect for facilitating conference calls.
• Receptionist IP phones – These are desk IP phones with an attached module used for easy manual routing of calls.

As you can see, you’re basically getting your VoIP phone system installed for free—all you need to pay for are additional phone numbers, VoIP devices, and a stable internet connection

The VoIP post-installation stage

Once your VoIP phone system is installed and configured, it’s time to use it. Because VoIP servies are usually subscription-based, you’ll be charged a regular fee until you decide to cancel.

Depending on your provider and the plan you choose, you can be billed monthly, quarterly, bi-annually, or annually.

(Most subscribers choose a per-month bill for budget flexibility.)

How much is VoIP monthly?

One thing you should know is that most VoIP providers charge on a per-user per-month basis instead of charging you for the collective minutes spent by your whole business.

On average, the monthly per-user charge is around $25. This normally includes unlimited outbound calling (U.S. and Canada), toll-free minutes, and basic features like auto-attendant, call forwarding, call screening, and caller ID.

How much are long-distance call charges?

Most VoIP providers offer unlimited calling across the U.S. and Canada at no extra charge. For businesses that make a lot of outbound calls, this is pretty much a must-have. That’s especially important because traditional carriers automatically charge you long-distance fees when calling phone numbers with different area codes. Voice over IP nips that in the bud. 

But what if you’re calling outside those countries?

Like regular carriers, VoIP providers have international rates. However, VoIP international call rates are typically lower.

Basically, with VoIP:

• calls within the U.S. and Canada are considered local calls
• calls outside the U.S. and Canada are still considered international calls, but the rates are dramatically lower

What are toll-free minutes?

If you plan to build a national presence, a toll-free number is a must. 

Toll-free numbers are phone numbers with distinct three-digit prefixes (800, 888, 877, 866, 855, and 844) that anyone in the U.S. and Canada can dial without being charged for the call. This allows your business to be accessible to almost anyone for free (on the part of the caller, at least).

This is, of course, where toll-free minutes come in. You usually have an allotted number of toll-free minutes per month included on your VoIP plan. Toll-free calls are automatically deducted from these. When you exceed the allotted minutes, you’ll be charged accordingly.

What is the cost of getting technical support?

With traditional on-premise systems, repair and maintenance requires expensive expert help. You can either hire a full-time team or you can hire contractors, but either way, you’ll be spending thousands of dollars per year. That doesn’t even include the hardware (parts and replacements) and software (new upgrades and updates) needed by the system.

With VoIP, the management and maintenance of the system falls on the provider, not you. This includes all updates and upgrades, which will automatically be rolled out to all customers at the same time. In other words: no extra fees.

When you encounter a problem, just call your VoIP provider to get help from their expert technical support rep for free.

Basically, you can use the service without worrying about having to deal with technical issues— you can always get help from your provider.

How do I Setup a VoIP Phone System for Small Business?

With the new technology and call clarity advances of VoIP business phone systems in the last several years, it is a good time for businesses to make the switch from a traditional provider to a VoIP solution. In most cases, you can get similar or even more advanced features as a traditional phone system for much less cost. To make it easier for your business to switch, follow these seven steps:

1. Figure out how many users you will need

The first step to getting VoIP up and running in your office is to figure out how many employees or users you plan on having. Getting a solid idea of user numbers early on in the process makes certain decisions easier as you go along.

It will help you determine how many lines you need, whether or not your Internet connection can support your expected call volume, and which features matter most. With some providers, you can save money if some employees only need an extension and not their own number. Check with your potential providers to see what kind of deal they can give you.

2. Make sure your office Internet connection is fast enough

Once you know how many users you are going to have, then you are ready to test your office Internet connection to see if it can handle VoIP for that kind of user volume. This is important for two reasons:

• Checking out your connection prior to getting a VoIP system will save you the headaches and frustration that result from the crappy call quality and dropped calls that accompany an insufficient connection.
• It can potentially save you a lot of time and hassle. If you switch to a VoIP system only to find out your connection is insufficient, you either have to cancel your service and go back to what you had, or you have to upgrade the Internet connection in your office, either of which is a hassle.

You wouldn’t want to sign up for VoIP only to discover it won’t work with your existing Internet. Fortunately, it isn’t difficult to check if your Internet can handle VoIP.

3. Sit down and set a VoIP budget

VoIP offers a wide range of features, and it’s easy to get carried away when looking at the different add-ons and bonuses you can use. That’s why setting your budget early on in the process is important. It will help keep you grounded and make sure your eyes are not bigger than your budget when you start looking at what features and plans are a good fit for your business.

In general, the cost starts at around $30 per user to around $60 to $70 per user for premium plans. Whenever possible, pay annually and you will get significant monthly savings.

4. Determine which features are most important

There are lots of different features available, such as unique phone numbers for each employee, an autocall router, call rules, conference calling, mobile apps and more. You’ll want to figure out which specific features will be most useful for your business.

For example, perhaps you want a home-based VoIP system for your office, but your business actually keeps you on the road a lot. If so, you’ll want a solid mobile app. Or maybe you’re getting a system with more than 10 lines. In that case, in-depth call routing rules are a must.

Here’s what you should do to help narrow things down:

• Write down specifically why you are getting a business phone system, what you want it to accomplish, and what its primary uses will be (calling out, conference calling, calling while on the go, etc.).
• Do some research on what VoIP features most directly relate to your needs and uses.
• Make two lists: one with your must-have features and one with features that you would like but do not absolutely need to have.

When you actually get down to choosing your VoIP phone provider, the two feature lists you just created will make the selection process much quicker and more efficient.

5. Choose a VoIP phone service

Now it is time to actually choose your provider. Before you make the decision, make sure you have your number of users, budget and feature lists handy for reference. When making your decision, you want to compare providers and find the one that:

• Has the features you need: Prioritize your must-have list but also take the like list into account.
• Actually works for what you need it to: Check out user reviews. Having a mobile app is great, but if the app stinks and routinely drops calls, it is not going to be much of a help to you.
• Is within your budget: Take the monthly budget you set and divide it by your number of users. You may have to fudge a bit one way or the other as your finances change, but that should give you a per-user ballpark to start at.
• Is easy for you to use: Pretty self-explanatory on this one.
• Has good customer service: Good customer service is huge with VoIP, since systems are rarely professionally installed or serviced. You have to figure things out on your own, which makes prompt and professional customer service that much more important.

6. Order phones and other hardware

After settling on your service, it is time to order your hardware. Most VoIP services can be used without special VoIP phones. For example, you can often purchase an adapter that you can plug your analog phones into if you want to continue using those. Or, in many cases, you can use your computer, tablet or mobile phone.

Read Also: Best HR Software for Small Business

However, to fully use all the extra VoIP features, you may need to purchase a VoIP phone. The nice thing is that there is quite a wide variety of VoIP phones available, from basic and cheap to sophisticated and expensive.

7. Set up and configure your VoIP system

In most cases, you just plug your phone into your Ethernet system, configure your settings on your phone, and you are good to go. In some cases, if you have a firewall in place, you might have to go back and forth with your provider a bit to get things working properly. If you are tech-savvy, you should be able to handle most VoIP setups.

To make things easier, each provider offers in-depth tutorials. If you are technically challenged, you may want to go with a provider such as Nextiva, which will walk you through the setup process step-by-step over the phone.