Adding a phone service can help you efficiently manage calls with customers. However, it’s important to choose the right solution for your business.
At WPBeginner, we’ve tested and used numerous business phone services to keep our own team connected and our customers happy. Through this experience, we’ve gained valuable insights into the features and functionalities that truly matter for small businesses.
In this article, we’ve hand-picked some of the best business phone services that you can use along with your WordPress site based on our detailed research.
Want to see the answer quickly? Based on our detailed research, the best business phone services for small businesses are Nextiva and RingCentral.
Why and When You Need a Business Phone Service?
Normally, you can just add your landline or mobile phone number to your WordPress site and use that to receive calls from customers. However, your phone number won’t look professional, and you will also run into some communication and privacy challenges.
Adding a proper business phone service allows you to do the following:
- You can easily track call duration, hold times, wait times, and overall usage.
- Most business phone services come with call forwarding, caller ID, call waiting, inbound call routing, call recording, and more.
- You can share one business phone number among several of your team members simultaneously (auto attendant feature allows you to route a call to the first available representative)
- You can use a desk phone system, cordless phones, mobile cell phones, or a computer to receive and make calls.
- Easily add new employees without calling in an IT technician.
- Business phone systems transmit voice over internet (VoIP systems), which means you can take your local or toll-free number anywhere you want. All you will need is a high-speed internet connection.
If you’re running an online store or a small business website, then adding a professional business phone service can help you grow your business. You can use it to build a better customer experience with professional sales and support provided over the phone.
That being said, let’s take a look at the top business phone services that you can use with your WordPress site.
1. Nextiva
Nextiva is the best business phone service in terms of features and ease of use. They offer a large set of features, with quick setup and reasonable pricing. It comes with a simple web-based admin panel which makes it easy for small business owners to easily manage the unified communications platform like a pro.
Nextiva’s VoIP phone service for small businesses includes advanced call routing, unlimited free domestic calling, voicemail to email and text, online faxing, text messages, and more.
You also get a free local or toll-free number, free number porting, and all the standard call management features like caller ID, call forwarding, routing, custom greetings, advanced IVR (interactive voice response) system, and more. As a platform, Nextiva also offers other powerful features, including live chat, CRM, online surveys, call analytics, and other solutions that work very well with the business phone system.
Their phone call quality is excellent, their VoIP solution offers 99.999% uptime, and their customer service representatives are always helpful.
Pricing for Nextiva’s business phone service starts from $18.95 per user every month for the Essentials plan. Their pricing gets cheaper as you add more users. You can also create a pre-paid account to save more money.
Note: We use Nextiva on WPBeginner as our business phone service. In our experience, Nextiva is the best small business phone system in the market from both features and pricing points of view.
As a small business, our favorite feature is that Nextiva lets us add a business line for cell phones, so our team can receive incoming calls from our office or even when working remotely without having to share their personal cell phone numbers. The Nextiva app works on both iPhone (iOS) and Google (Android) smartphones.
They also give us text messaging and video conferencing, which makes it easier for our team to connect with our customers using their preferred business communication channel.
With that said, if your business needs an office phone system that works on existing handsets, then Nextiva offers that as well. Call centers and enterprise companies often use Nextiva to transition their Avaya private branch exchange (PBX system) into a powerful cloud phone system with SIP trunking.
Nextiva is the official phone provider for top universities such as Stanford, UCLA, University of Southern California, as well as top brands like Taco Bell, Conan O’ Brian, and more.
Expert Review: We believe Nextiva is the best overall business phone service for small businesses with affordable enterprise-level plans. Read full Nextiva review.
Bonus: WPBeginner users can use our Nextiva coupon code to unlock the best deal.
2. RingCentral
RingCentral is another popular business phone service for companies of all sizes. They offer one of the most feature-rich small business phone systems on the market.
Their business phone platform includes all the standard business call functionality you would need, including unlimited calling, call forwarding, caller ID, call waiting and transfer, sharing one line on multiple mobile devices and users, SMS messaging, visual voicemail, and more.
Apart from that, it also comes with video meetings with screen sharing, team messaging, 1000 toll-free minutes, and integrations with Google Workspace, Dropbox, Microsoft, and other services. It comes with an intuitive cloud-based administration that makes it super easy to set up and manage your calls.
Their Core plan starts at $20 per month for each user (billed annually). Other plans come at different pricing and advanced features like auto call recording, internet fax, unlimited video, whiteboards, messaging, and more. You can use our RingCentral coupon code to unlock special pricing.
You can also pay extra to get a vanity number for your business, which allows you to have a catchy and memorable business phone number.
RingCentral is a great phone solution for both physical offices that are looking to replace landline phones as well as those moving to a virtual office.
It can work with your telephone system when compatible, or you can use their virtual phone system through the RingCentral desktop app and mobile app, which works on all smartphones (iOS and Android).
Because RingCentral is one of the most popular business VoIP platforms, they have a large app integration directory.
This allows you to connect with other services for automatic transcription, real-time analytics, voice over call recording service, sales call insights from Chorus.ai, integrations with call center software, connection with support help desk software, and many more add-ons, so you can have an integrated customer contact center. They also offer APIs for developers.
Expert Review: We believe RingCentral is a great business VoIP solution for small-to-medium-sized businesses. Read full RingCentral review.
3. Zoom Phone
Zoom Phone is a modern and scalable small business phone service that offers flexible pricing without long-term contracts. You can use it to easily make phone calls from any device using the familiar Zoom interface.
This cloud VoIP phone system comes with all of the features you need, including call forwarding, call recording, voicemail transcription, automatic call attendance, SMS, desktop and mobile apps, desk phone support, and more.
Plus, with Zoom Phone, you get VoIP phone, video meetings, and team chat all together. With a simple click, you can seamlessly elevate a phone call into a video conference with Zoom Meetings or transfer a call to a Zoom Room.
This eliminates the need to juggle multiple platforms, saves time, and helps improve team and customer communication.
It also integrates with popular apps and services like Salesforce, Microsoft Outlook, Google Workspace, Slack, Twilio, Talkdesk, and more.
Their phone plans start at $10 per month per user for the pay-as-you-go plans. However, you need to upgrade your plan to access outbound unlimited calls, which starts at $20 per month per user.
Expert Review: We believe Zoom Phone is the best business phone service for small businesses that are looking for a cost-effective solution. They offer affordable monthly and annual plans with advanced features.
4. Grasshopper
Grasshopper offers virtual phone numbers through voice over internet protocol (VoIP), and it is great for solopreneurs and small businesses. A virtual phone number means it can forward calls to any phone number or mobile device. However, for outgoing calls, you will still need a regular phone line.
They offer intuitive web and mobile apps to manage your account and phone service. You can use multiple extensions for your number, and you can choose from local, toll-free, and vanity phone numbers. It offers US, Canada, and UK-based local and toll-free numbers.
Grasshopper comes with all standard features like call forwarding, routing, waiting, call hold music, voicemail to email transcripts, and more. It’s perfect for remote teams because you can add extensions that can be used from anywhere using mobile or desktop apps.
Their plans start from $14 per month with 1 local number and 1 extension. You can increase the number of users and add multiple local phone numbers on their higher plans.
Expert Review: We believe Grasshopper is the best business phone service for freelancers, solopreneurs, and anyone who is looking for a low-budget business phone setup.
5. Ooma
Ooma is a popular business VoIP phone provider that offers business phone numbers and 1-800 toll-free phone numbers at affordable prices. You can add a toll-free number to any Ooma office plan. By default, they will pre-select a toll-free phone number for you, but you also have the option to choose a new one.
Ooma office platform comes with all the powerful features that you would expect, such as virtual receptionist, extension dialing, music-on-hold, smart mobile phone apps, call logs, and more. Best of all, the setup is very easy, and you can do it within minutes.
You can use their control panel to easily manage calls, add new team members, configure settings, and more.
Their pricing plan starts at $19.95 per month per user with no contracts, and it comes with a free toll-free number and 50+ business phone features.
They also have an Ooma Enhanced plan, which costs $27.99 per month and includes additional features such as video conferencing, voicemail transcription, enhanced call blocking, call recording, a desktop app, and more.
The Call Center plan, which costs $49.99 per month, comes with more advanced features like unlimited call queues, Salesforce integration, meeting recording, hot desking, and more.
Expert Review: We believe Ooma is the best business phone service for businesses of all sizes. They’re great for both traditional office settings with desk phones as well as for remote teams who are looking to increase productivity and collaboration. Read full Ooma review.
6. Phone.com
Phone.com is another good option for small business phone service. They offer a simple web and app-based administration panel with standard phone service features like call forwarding, call routing, caller ID, conference calling, video conference calls, and more.
They include several European countries and Canada in their local call minutes, which makes calling those countries way cheaper. You can also integrate your business phone service into third-party CRM software like Salesforce and Zoho.
Their plans start from $12.74 per month for 500 calling minutes, one account phone number, video conferencing, and more.
Expert Review: We believe Phone.com is the best cheap business phone service for budget-conscious companies.
7. GoToConnect (formerly Jive)
GoToConnect, formerly known as Jive, is another great option for small business phone services. They offer an advanced cloud business phone system at an affordable price.
Their VoIP communication solution includes all the standard features like unlimited calls, unlimited extensions, call forwarding, number sharing, voicemail to audio email, automatic call attendance, mobile apps, chat, SMS, and more.
They also have hundreds of CRM integrations and other marketing integrations with popular services like Salesforce, Zoho, Microsoft Outlook, Google Workspace, Zendesk, Slack, and more.
GoToConnect offers a truly unified business communication platform that goes beyond just business phone services. They have HD video conferencing that makes it easy for you to collaborate with your customers and team members.
They have over 100+ cloud VoIP features, including several notable features like unlimited call queues, advanced dialpad editor, cloud branch exchange, advanced ring groups and wait time announcement for call centers, paging system, eFax, and more.
Since GoToConnect is part of the larger GoTo software family, it seamlessly integrates with their other meeting and webinar software like GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar, GoToTraining, and more.
Their pricing starts at $27 per month for the basic business phone service. Their premium plan comes with advanced features for larger call centers.
Expert Review: Because of our experience with VOIP services, we believe GoToConnect is the best business phone service for small businesses in the education and healthcare industries.
8. Freshcaller
Freshcaller, formerly Freshdesk Contact Center, is an easy-to-use, affordable contact center solution for businesses of all sizes. This cloud-based business phone service is designed for managing inbound customer support calls.
It comes with all of the call center features you’d expect such as voicemail, call recording, call monitoring, warm and cold transfers, routing automation, agent availability reports, and much more.
Freshcaller also makes it easy to scale your business. You can create a global contact center by bringing your own carrier or by purchasing numbers from 90+ countries.
They offer a pay-per minute plan that you can use to get started. Or, you can upgrade to the Growth plan, which includes up to 2,000 free incoming minutes, starting at $15 per month per agent.
Expert Review: After reviewing Freshcaller, we think that this phone service is best suited for businesses with dedicated customer support teams that handle a high volume of customer calls.
9. Dialpad
Dialpad is an AI-powered cloud communication platform that offers calling, video conferencing, messaging, and more, all in one user-friendly interface.
You can set up a Dialpad business phone in minutes, and it runs on the Google Cloud Platform and their worldwide data centers, so they guarantee 100% uptime.
You can automate tasks and improve communication using artificial intelligence features like automatic voicemail transcription, live speech-to-text, real-time call analytics, and more.
It even comes with AI live coaching that provides real-time recommendations during calls. This makes training new agents easier and can help your seasoned agents make more sales.
Plus, Dialpad seamlessly integrates with 70+ popular tools and apps, including Google Workspace, Slack, Salesforce, Microsoft Teams, and Zendesk, just to name a few.
Dialpad pricing starts at $15 per month per user. There’s also addons you can purchase separately, such as conference room lines, virtual fax, and additional local, international, or toll-free numbers.
Expert Review: Dialpad is a great phone service for businesses that want powerful voice intelligence features. It’s also a good fit if you’re already using cloud-based tools because it integrates with many popular services.
10. Vonage
Vonage is a popular VoIP phone service for small and large businesses. All you need is a high speed internet connection and you can start making online calls.
You can add local phone numbers, toll-free phone numbers, and international company numbers right from the admin dashboard. Plus, it comes with tons of advanced features like a virtual receptionist, call screening, click-to-dial, AI virtual assistant, and more.
They also offer contact center solutions if your business has high call traffic. It includes an integrated CRM, auto dial, auto-log calls, call recording, and AI routing.
Vonage’s pricing is based on minutes. Their internet calling starts at $0.0043 per minute.
Expert Review: We think Vonage is best if you’re interested in a phone service that has advanced features and APIs for developers.
11. 8×8
8×8 is another cloud-based communication platform designed specifically for businesses. Aside from phone calls, it offers a variety of features, including HD video and audio conferencing, SMS, and team chat.
It’s not as feature-rich as some of the other providers in this list, but it offers a 99.999% uptime SLA and 35+ public and private data centers so you can be sure your communication channels will always be available.
It’s also easy to scale as your business grows. You can start out with the basic plan, which includes unlimited calling to 14 countries, and easily upgrade to access more advanced features.
8×8 doesn’t advertise their pricing publicly, so you’ll have to contact the sales team to get a quote for their services.
Expert Review: We think that 8×8 is suitable for businesses that need a reliable phone service with basic calling features.
12. Verizon
Verizon is a well-known mobile network carrier that also offers business phone service solutions. It allows you to use traditional phone lines or VoIP plans.
With the Business Unlimited plans, you get unlimited talk, text, and data. Other features include mobile hotspot data, call filter, mobile security, and more.
Verizon is one of the more expensive business phone services that we’ve reviewed, with the Business Unlimited plans starting at $30 per month per line.
Expert Review: We think that Verizon is best suited for businesses that have a higher budget and are looking to utilize traditional phone lines.
Which Is the Best Business Phone Service for You?
After carefully researching all the top business phone service providers, we believe that Nextiva is the best business phone service provider on the market.
Their plans are affordable and scalable for businesses of all sizes, you get unlimited voice calls, and they offer a lot of powerful features along with top-notch customer support.
The best part is that while Nextiva business phone line works on your cell phone, tablets, and computer, they also often run free promotions for advanced business phone systems like Poly VVX150 or Nextiva X-885, which is used by many professionals for multi-line handling and more.
For all the reasons above, we decided to use Nextiva for our own business and rate it as the #1 best business phone system in the market.
In our research, RingCentral came as a very close second. Their VoIP phone system offers a lot of the same features as Nextiva, and in the end, for us, it came down to price and customer service.
You really can’t go wrong with either of these top two VoIP providers.
We also looked into many other business phone service providers that are not listed in this article, like Skype, Viasat, Avaya, and others. We decided it wasn’t best to list them all in this article because we don’t want to cause choice paralysis.
Instead, our ultimate goal is always to make it easy for you to choose the best provider for your needs.
Business Phone System FAQs
Having helped thousands of business owners find the best business phone system for their needs, we have answered quite a lot of questions. Below are some of the answers to the most frequently asked questions about VoIP business phone systems and service providers.
What is VoIP, and how does it work?
VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) is a phone technology that allows you to make and receive phone calls using the internet wi-fi instead of traditional phone lines.
We wrote a detailed guide on what is VoIP and how it works.
Here’s a quick visual VoIP infographic:
Is business VoIP phone service cheaper than a landline phone?
Yes, VoIP business phone systems are cheaper than on-premise landlines because they use your existing internet connection rather than requiring a separate system or hardware. A VoIP business phone service also lessens internal IT and support burdens by simplifying the overall workflow.
Typical landline phone providers charge extra for advanced call features like call queuing, call transfer / automatic call forwarding, music on hold, extension dialing, conference bridge, etc.
With business VoIP, all the advanced features are included in a flat monthly fee, and you can even save up to 90% on internal calling costs with top providers like Nextiva.
Another huge benefit is that you get international calling at far more affordable rates.
Can I switch from landline phone to business VoIP service?
Yes, you can easily convert your landline business phone system to an online business VoIP solution. All the top business phone system companies like Nextiva and RingCentral make it easy for you to keep the same business phone number when switching from landline to VoIP.
How much does a business phone service cost?
The cost of your virtual business phone service will depend on the provider you choose, but typically, a VoIP service would cost around $20 per month.
Can I use my cordless phone with business VoIP?
Yes, you can use your existing cordless phones, softphones, and desk phones with most business VoIP providers. All the top providers that we mentioned in our list also come with a mobile phone app that you can install on your personal cell phone as well.
If you’re currently using analog phones or have a PBX setup, then you can use a VoIP adapter to keep the same business phone system.
What are the disadvantages of VoIP business phone systems?
VoIP business phone services make phone calls over internet. The biggest disadvantage is that if you do not have a reliable internet connection, then your customer call quality will not be as good.
Also, if your business experiences a power outage, then it likely means that your internet router will also lose power. This can lead to call dropping. We always recommend using a battery backup with your internet router to avoid call quality issues.
These disadvantages can be easily mitigated, and the advantages of VoIP business phone systems simply outweigh any cons.
You get all the advanced call features like call routing, music on hold, conference calls, auto-attendant, interactive voice response (IVR), call queuing, extension dialing, voicemail forwarding, video calling, and a lot of flexibility without the high costs of landline phones.
Which is the best business phone system in your expert opinion?
Our top 3 choices for the best business phone services are:
No, this last question is not a joke. We seriously get this question even after referring people to this guide.
That’s why we even made a video comparison of the top business phone services:
We hope this article helped you find the best business phone service for your WordPress site or small business. You may also want to see our guide on how to create a free business email address and our expert picks of the best email marketing services for small business.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
Syed Balkhi says
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Dayo Olobayo says
Finding the right business phone service can definitely feel overwhelming. This article does a good job of breaking down the key features to consider. One thing I would add to the mix is security. Especially for businesses that handle sensitive information, it’s important to make sure your phone service provider has robust security measures in place.
Mrteesurez says
Incredible article.
I have been looking for a way not to use my own number for my business, I then dedicated one of my numbers for Business but I can see in this article how to have a virtual numbers for businesses, thanks for this list.
But you didn’t include any free one there that I can just try out.
I admire that Nextiva because btheyvalsi have an app for both iPhone (iOS) and Google (Android) smartphones, but I don’t know if they have a free plan to start with.
WPBeginner Support says
Due to the nature of these businesses they will not have a free version for now.
Admin
Fajri says
I haven’t use any of phone service listed above yet.
But as anyone who grow their business and brands on internet, we are gonna need it.
I hope someday I can grow my website more, and one of the thing is to open the call support.
I’m saving this useful information right now.
Moinuddin Waheed says
Having a good phone service is important for any business to grow.
Customer grievances redressal is of utmost importance when it comes to gain the customer confidence.
it is good to see that WordPress has this much option to add for a good business phone to the wordpress websites.
thank for the detailed list.
Adrienne says
Need to review OpenPhone. it’s the best digital phone around.
WPBeginner Support says
When we next update the article we will look into it
Admin
Konrad says
It’s not just about looking professional, but also about optimizing customer interactions. The convenience of features like call forwarding and call recording can greatly boost efficiency. Thanks for the recommendations.
WPBeginner Support says
You’re welcome, glad our recommendations were helpful!
Admin
Sharon says
Nice read! It’s always interesting to explore new options, right? While VoIP services can be handy for businesses, it’s essential to weigh the pros and cons. In my case, running a solo freelancing business I’ve found that focusing on email works well for my clients, and it keeps things simple and cost-effective. I already fight the relentless spam calls on my cell phone (fortunately, there’s an app for that)! I’d hate to see how many spammers would take advantage of the VoIP services. Maybe in the future, I will get brave and add this service. Thanks for the information! As always, the information is welcomed and quite informative!
WPBeginner Support says
Glad to hear our guide was helpful and email is most certainly a good way to go to get started
Admin
John says
Thanks for sharing .
WPBeginner Support says
You’re welcome
Admin
Sumaira anum says
One of the best website and amazing content i like it. thanks for sharing such a nice content………………….
Vighnesh Prabhu says
Informative article, thanks for sharing !
WPBeginner Support says
You’re welcome
Admin
Rao Shakil Amad says
Thanks for sharing this, very informative
WPBeginner Support says
Glad you found it helpful
Admin
Anna K says
The 8×8 price start at $12 per user per month with unlimited calling in US and Canada.
WPBeginner Support says
Thank you for the notification about their lower-tier plan
Admin
Oseni Rofiat says
Thanks for the input.
WPBeginner Support says
You’re welcome
Admin
telpree says
helooo
WPBeginner Support says
Hello
Admin
James Robert says
I use Nextiva, and love their service. Unbelievable product, and their customer service is amazing!
Braden Martin says
Informative article, thanks for sharing! I agree, every business should employ business phone services, as they offer better call quality at minimal costs and easy accessibility and mobility to users as well as flexibility and enhanced overall performance of the business.
Dave Meyers says
What about Google Voice & G-Suite’s Hangout’s integration? How does that stack up?
Susan Marshall VA says
I would like to mention an even more affordable option for those on a tighter budget. I personally use Skype with a local phone number. I pay about $30 a year for my local number and $2.99 a month for outgoing calls including long distance. I don’t have heavy phone usage and this has worked well for me for several years.
Anthony says
Thanks for the input, a great alternative.