Best VoIP for Small Businesses

This guide helps you make that move by explaining which features you should look for in the VoIP system for your small business. You can not only read about the advantages of cloud telephony and info about our recommended VoIP service providers, but you can also learn how you can use your old devices with your new system, and how you can carry your phone system in your pocket while completely separating business calls/messages from private conversations.

Small business VoIP software and features

Regardless of your VoIP service you get tons of enterprise-grade features, such as:

Auto-attendant

This feature takes the role of a receptionist as its main function is to greet callers (with a greeting you can customize to your liking) and to direct calls to either an extension or voicemail.

Business texting

Similar to regular SMS texting and instant messaging apps, this typically extra feature allows a faster, almost unlimited way of communication between you and your co-workers.

Conference calling

With conference calling you can place audio(visual) calls with up to 100 participants without being disturbed by other incoming or outgoing calls.

Extensions

Since virtual phone systems are in the cloud, they are fully scalable, meaning you can add as many extensions to your system as you want, each with its unique specification.

Faxing

If this feature is supported by your phone system, you can receive your faxes online, get notified thereof via push notification or email and, in case of advanced systems, send fax messages too.

Mobile apps

With the mobile apps you can bring your phone system with you. You can place and receive calls like you were in the office, separating private calls and messages from business related ones.

Softphone

Softphone acts like a virtual phone, available from your system’s account or via the integration of third-party software. It replaces desk phones with a simple headset so you can place/receive calls using your computer.

Voicemails

You can listen to or (after transcription) read voicemail messages in any of the virtually endless voicemail boxes, either from your account or a mobile app.

Mobile office

One of the greatest advantages of a virtual phone system is that it can follow you wherever you are but only when you want it to. As the system only exists in the cloud, you can basically use your phones wherever there is an internet connection. If you have a VoIP-ready phone you just have to configure it to be recognized by the system while older phones can be used with adapters – which you can unplug and plug into any safe routers.

Furthermore, the phone system’s heart, the system manager, only requires a computer and an internet connection which, if it has a built-in or integrated softphone, can also be used as a separate extension of your system. Cloud phone systems are also capable of replacing your fax machine so you can send/receive faxes online.

But without doubt the greatest feature is the app coming with your subscription: it can partially or fully replace your desk phone so you can place/receive calls like you would normally do, from anywhere at any time. Furthermore, mobile VoIP apps help you separate business related calls/messaging from private ones, allowing you to be available when you want it.

Phone systems

If you are concerned about leaving your old phones behind, don’t worry as you have plenty of options.

The first option applies for old, non-VoIP phones: in this case your cloud phone service provider will send you a preconfigured analog telephone adapter (ATA) with which your old phones’ signals will be turned into data that can travel through the internet. Although this is a clever way to turn your phones VoIP-compatible, one ATA can only handle 2–4 phones at the same time; now you can imagine how many devices you need if your entire phone system is based on these old phones.

If you have VoIP-ready phones, however, you just have to reconfigure them to be recognized by the system and then you are ready to use them like before. The downside of this solution is that not all devices are perfectly supported by virtual phone systems. However, if you have Cisco, Polycom or Yealink desk or conference phones, hooking up to the new system should be smooth.

Despite common belief, Skype/Viber/WhatsApp usually cannot be integrated into virtual phone systems. Thankfully certain VoIP providers either have built-in softphones or they allow integration with third-party apps.

Recommended small business VoIPs

Furthermore, since your system exists in the cloud, it is extremely flexible. And it is mobile too: you can place and receive calls from both desk and mobile devices anytime from anywhere provided that said devices have internet connection with our without an adapter. In fact, sometimes you don’t need a physical device: VoIP providers support third-party softphones or they have one built into the system.

Small business VoIP providers

Although there is no bad choice when selecting one of the VoIP providers we’ve reviewed, let us present you three options worth considering for SMBs in particular: Nextiva, Grasshopper and RingCentral.