Voice Over IP (VoIP) phone systems are great for businesses that need advanced call features like auto attendants, call queuing and call transfers. Because VoIP systems are managed online, it’s much easier and much less expensive to set them up compared to a traditional landline or PBX system.
Best VoIP Phone Service: Nextiva
If you’re looking to setup a business VoIP system, we recommend Nextiva. Based on this comprehensive review of the top VoIP providers by Fit Small Business, Nextiva as the best VoIP provider based on price, customer service, reliability and customer satisfaction.
Get a Free Nextiva VoIP Quote for Your Business Here
At around $45/month per user with unlimited nationwide calling, Nextiva is one of the best-priced business VoIP providers. There are some less expensive services out there, but Nextiva gives you the most features and the best customer support for the price.
They’re the only service that gives small businesses a dedicated account rep to help with setup, which can be a huge help when you’re trying to install phones or set up your auto attendant. They offer all the key features including call queues, call transfers, music on hold, call conferencing and more. One perk is they’ll even hire a professional to record your auto attendant or voicemail greeting for you.
Nextiva is also one of the larger VoIP services, recently adding several hundred employees. Other providers, like Phone.com, are smaller and not growing as rapidly. Given the huge benefit of scale in providing VoIP, it’s possible smaller providers will have to merge or go out of business. Thus, Nextiva is a good choice for those looking longer down the line.
Get a Free Nextiva VoIP Quote for Your Business Here
Phone.com is a more affordable business VoIP solution. The cost is about $30/month per user for unlimited nationwide calling, which is about $10 to $15 less than Nextiva. They also offer pay-per-minute plans, however, which can save you even more. You only have to pay $10/month, plus 3.9 cents per minute (100 minutes are included complimentary).
Each additional user is $5/month, but you can also forward their calls to a mobile phone or landline for free. So basically, if you need to setup a professional phone system with an auto attendant to greet callers and forward them, Phone.com lets you do this for as little as $10-$20 per month. (As long as you don’t use too many minutes.)
Like Phone.com, you get all the main business VoIP features, including call queues, transfers, conferencing, etc. Their support is not as good as Nextiva, however. There’s no dedicated account reps and the wait for phone support is a little bit longer. For businesses who aren’t as tech-savvy and would like some one-on-one help during setup, Nextiva is probably a better choice.
RingCentral.com is one of the best VoIP systems in terms of its features and ease of use, though priced quite a bit higher than the other providers ($60 to $72/month per user for unlimited nationwide calling). The “cadillac” of the VoIP world, RingCentral is for businesses who want to take advantage of a great user interface, mobile app and integration with other software.
For example, RingCentral integrates with Gmail, Outlook, Salesforce, Zendesk and Desk.com. This means you can use RingCentral WITHIN these other programs – i.e. make calls directly from your email inbox or from your CRM. Another perk is their mobile app, which converts your smartphone into a fully functional business deskset. You can make outgoing calls from your business number, place the caller on hold, transfer the call and more.
Despite the better features and higher price tag, RingCentral does not have as good of support as Nextiva. This is because they favor larger businesses. US-based support is only available to accounts with over 20 users.
The Bottom Line
If you are looking for the best combination of price, customer service, and ease of use, we recommend Nextiva as the best business VoIP provider for 2015.