Business VoIP Best Buys: 2022's Top Providers

What Is Business VoIP Phone Service?

A business phone system powered by VoIP can replace your traditional phone services entirely. Instead of relying on the local telephone company to run physical lines into your office, you use Voice over Internet Protocol, also known as Voice over IP or VoIP, to transmit real-time voice data through your internet connection. Plus, you can get a bunch of features that your phone company simply can’t offer.

Even the most complex phone systems can be switched over to VoIP. Do you use a private branch exchange to let people dial into your office using extensions? Some VoIP solutions have a hosted PBX or cloud PBX that does the exact same thing for VoIP phones! Cloud-based VoIP phone service providers can even use call recording on your phone calls for quality control.

Whether you’re a small business or a massive corporation, there’s a VoIP provider for you. Most VoIP phone services can be scaled up quite easily, so you can expand your phone service as your business grows. It all depends on your needs and your budget, so let’s see how to choose the right provider for you.

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 an 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.

Choosing the Best VoIP Provider

Before you rush to call a service provider and sign up, make sure you take a moment to consider your needs and your capacity for VoIP services. There are some basic features every VoIP system should have, and you also need to have some basic infrastructure in your facilities.

1. Check Your Internet Connection

VoIP only works when you have a high-speed internet connection, although any kind of connection will work, including Wi-Fi, Ethernet connections, and mobile internet on your cell phone. Lower speeds will cause lag and create delays in your calls, which is definitely going to kill the conversation quickly.

Consider how many people in your office will need to use your VoIP phone system. If you switch everyone over, you may need to get additional bandwidth on your connection. Remember, your workers already use plenty of bandwidth to do their jobs (and probably play games online while on the clock).

2. Set Your Per User Per Month Budget

VoIP plans almost always charge you a monthly fee for each user that you sign up. You can typically get a discount by paying for the whole year upfront. Each user will get their own phone number which they can use on any device, including mobile devices through a mobile app, something every top VoIP company offers.

There are also different plans for different levels of service. These levels will add features to your plan, including some pretty nifty advanced features. But how do you know what features are must-haves for your business communications?

3. Determine What Features You Need

There are some features that you just have to have. For starters, mobile and desktop apps are essential to staying in touch. You want to be able to make and receive calls on any of your devices, so there has to be an app for that. That app should also give you a communications platform that lets you send messages to team members and manage user accounts.

Unlimited calling is likewise a must. The whole point of VoIP is to save money and avoid excess fees, so verify that this is in your plan. The best VoIP providers offer unlimited calls to some international destinations too or can give you international phone numbers at a reasonable cost.

If you absolutely need to use a desk phone, then you’ll want to look for VoIP services that have a hosted VoIP PBX and are compatible with an IP phone or internet phone. These phones connect to your internet network and even include touchscreens and Bluetooth connectivity!

Features to Look For in VoIP Service Providers

Call Features

Call forwarding and toll-free numbers are important basic phone system features you should have. You can route calls to the right place by configuring it in the settings menu. Hold music is another useful item on the list, after all, how else are you going to show off your mixtape?

Customer Service Features

VoIP Providers may offer some extra customer support options. Set up the auto attendant to help new callers find the right department or reach a specific person. Make your business more efficient with the call center features. If nobody can pick up the phone, use voicemail to email so you can avoid playing phone tag.

Unified Communications

A good business phone service should do more than just let you call clients. You can use it to handle your internal communications with a unified communications platform. All of your employees can communicate together through the same application using team messaging. The best VoIP providers will also offer video conferencing so you can actually see each other on a conference call.

Your boring old phone system can’t do any of that. That’s why more people are switching to VoIP every day.

Artificial Intelligence

The most advanced VoIP companies have designed artificial intelligence solutions for your phone system. With cloud-based computing, they can listen to your phone calls and detect cues for mood and emotion. Others can listen for keywords and give you analytics reports that tell you what your customers are talking about when they call you!

Just make sure to say nice things about our future robot overlords: you wouldn’t want to get on their bad side.

Benefits of Switching to VoIP

Besides getting all these fantastic options and new ways of communicating, VoIP gives your business several benefits.

Flexibility

Call from anywhere on any device! That’s the biggest advantage. Normally, you can’t take a call to your office number unless you’re actually in the office. Isn’t that quaint?

VoIP providers also let you scale your service up quickly. Adding users is as easy as a couple of clicks. Good luck doing that with your phone company.

Save Money

Your business phone service probably costs much more than your VoIP plan will. And since there are no long-distance charges or hidden fees, you’ll be able to call more and get more done. Not only does the service save you money, but it makes your business more efficient in other ways.

Supercharge Your Small Business

Perhaps the biggest benefit is just how professional your business will appear when it uses VoIP. Whether you just want to pretend you’re a huge company with 30 phone numbers and only 3 employees with 10 fake names each, or you want to give your clients the sensation of calling a major company with your menu system, VoIP makes it possible.

Best of all, VoIP brings your business closer together, even when you’re far apart. That’s what you need now in these unprecedented times. So switch to VoIP.