We feature the best business phone services, to make it simple and easy to set up, manage, and run a full business phone system using a full-feature software platform.
The best business phone service makes it simple and easy to set up, manage, and run a full business phone system using a full-feature software platform. Business phone services have changed radically over the past decade. VoIP services have now replaced the desk covered with a bank of phones. The result is that employees can use their mobile devices on the go, using nothing more than an app to join with the corporation’s network, whether for chat, conferencing, or even to manage online fax services. Set up is usually easy and very simple, as it requires little more than signing up to a digital service and then accessing it once paid for. While there may be some small configuration settings that need to be done, this can take only a few minutes. Once completed you now have a full service phone system that can scale up to as many employees as you need to cover. Different services tiers are commonly offered, with cheaper plans offering essential features, with more expensive plans offering additional features if required. Costs are usually based on a user basis rather than business turn-over, and though many phone service companies offer clear and flat-rate pricing, some providers will seek to provide a personalized quote instead which can often cost more while allowing for extra options not normally available. Here then are the best business phone services, with our main choices featured, with additional options to consider following. RingCentral Office promotes itself as an all-in-one solution for all business sizes, with a unified communications strategy that means plenty of integration options, from Google to Microsoft, Oracle to Amazon, and Zendesk to Salesforce. The most basic tier offers call management and phone system administration, as well as phone rental options for conference phones and even desks. However, it’s the pricing tiers above this where RingCentral Office really comes into its own with a comprehensive set of features that should be integral to any modern phone service. RingCentral also provides Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) as well as Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS), meaning that it can provide the enterprise experience for even small businesses. On top of this, RingCentral can also deliver a Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS), which means access to a developer network which allows you to use APIs to truly customize and integrate your phone system with other software you use. Overall, though, which the cheaper plan probably delivers enough to satisfy the smallest businesses, it will be mid-sized and larger that will probably get the most from the incredible wealth of features that RingCentral Office can provide. Ooma Office is a business phone service which aims to deliver a big business phone experience to small businesses. Ooma might not have all the features found with rival services, but it presents itself as a solution for smaller firms with tighter budgets, and is positioned very well in this respect. However, don’t get the idea that this is a barebones business phone service offering – in fact Ooma Office gives you all the core features you would expect, plus some more advanced functions like a virtual receptionist that allows for calls to be automatically directed to the right department. Subscribers also benefit from hold and transfer music, and Ooma provides mobile apps for iOS and Android, so you can set up capabilities such as call forwarding, enabling calls to be sent from your desk phone to your mobile when you’re out and about.
