Best Business Phone Systems in 2024

Companies can utilize a business phone system to manage their communication needs. There are scores of quality solutions in this niche. So, how do you do informed comparisons to separate the best business phone systems from the average ones? To help you, we have prepared this guide which details the key factors and features that mark the best business phone systems.

A great way to start your search is to sign up for the free trial or demo of leading platforms. Top business phone systems providers offer this facility to help you check their software’s features and do a general comparison with other programs in the category. We recommend you test the following tools: RingCentral, Aircall, Vonage, Grasshopper, and Dialpad. These applications have received impressive ratings and rankings in our business phone systems tools reviews.  

Small, medium-sized and large enterprises can deploy business phone systems tools according to their needs and customer demands.

1. RingCentral: A leading cloud phone system that makes it simple to set up and manage business communications. It enables users to engage in voice communications, conduct online meetings, organize business conferences and more. Since it is cloud-based, you can save the costs of hardware, software, training, maintenance, operators, space etc. Thus, your company can save resources and time without compromising communication quality and capability.
2. Aircall: An ideal solution for enterprises with remote teams or overseas virtual offices. It offers phone numbers that you and your company employees can utilize on any device. Your calls follow you wherever you go. Plus, you can get closer to your customers wherever they are located by using local phone numbers in more than 30 countries.
3. Vonage: A cloud-based VoIP solution that can be used by enterprises in a range of industries. This innovative and affordable platform can be utilized by companies to run their phone communication operations over the internet. It offers robust features for virtual teams, contact centers, and branch offices. They can connect using their smartphones, tablets, and computers, participate in audio conference calls, collaborate via web conferencing, conduct online meetings and more.
4. Grasshopper: A virtual phone system designed for the requirements of entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized businesses. The platform is easy to use, affordable, and effective. It provides 800, vanity, and local numbers as well as voicemail transcription and an auto-attendant – all of which you can deploy with an existing phone line. Top features include call blocking, call transfer, call forwarding, and caller ID/screening.
5. Dialpad: A helpful web application that enables you to improvise and improve your business communications. It offers scalable features and useful integrations to make your business communications more effective and efficient. The best part is Dialpad is affordable with prices starting from $15/user/month on annual billing. Important features include visual voicemail, call monitoring, group messaging, IVR recognition and voice recognition.

There are five broad types of business phone tools you can choose from:

1. Dedicated phone lines. A conventional phone system that utilizes hardware-based central switchboards and copper wires.
2. Cloud-based VoIP. Eliminates the need for any hardware (except IP phones) on site and shifts the switchboard aspect to the vendor’s servers.
3. Self-hosted VoIP. The company pays for the required VoIP hardware and hosts the system on their own premises.
4. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). VoIP systems connect over the internet.
5. Virtual phone systems. Modernizes the traditional switchboard by utilizing software and creates a virtual phone system by using a mix of landlines and mobile phones.

1. Group directory. This feature helps you to search your company directory from your device and quickly find an internal contact. It has become common feature nowadays and it boosts efficiency. Top unified communications systems integrate a group directory into their internal messaging and presence feature, which enables users to easily convert an IM chat into a phone call.  
2. Video calling. Leading phone systems vendors provide integrated video calling to enable face-to-face communication between employees in any location via video-enabled computers and Android and iOS mobile devices.
3. Web-based administrator portal. This portal enables users to exercise administrative control in managing their communications platform. The admin can access the portal from anywhere and perform tasks such as resetting passwords, changing call routing and more. They do not have to submit a ticket to their vendor and wait for them to do the tasks.
4. Integrated Instant Messaging (IM&P). This is a unified communications feature that becomes more effective when integrated with your phone system and calendar. Doing this enables you to view your employees’ availability in real time.
5. Unified messaging. This feature delivers multiple kinds of messages including fax, email and voice mail to a sole email inbox. Users can receive voicemail on their device, get SMS notification alerts, and get a .WAV file of the message sent to their email. Road warriors can listen to their voicemails without needing to navigate through a complex voicemail system.
6. Integration with CRM and other software tools. CRM integration offers features such as a screen-pop when viewing caller ID info, enterprise phone presence, access to call settings, click-to-call and more.
7. Mobility features. These features include twinning which enables you to receive and make calls on your mobile device and seamlessly transfer calls with desk phones. Other mobility features such as on-phone corporate directory and click-to-dial call control help knowledge workers to function more efficiently from anywhere.

1. Scalability. Fast-growing businesses need a scalable phone system for their increasing needs. They can invest in a hosted VoIP system as it offers flexible scaling. You can effortlessly add lines via a web portal and you need only an IP phone for an extra line. Plus, you can scale down easily during lean season by canceling lines when they are not needed.
2. Enterprise-level features. A quality business phone system makes your company’s communications more professional.  You can deliver useful features such as interactive voice response, auto-attendants, conference calls, and top notch call quality to your customers and clients.
3. Unified communications for enhanced efficiency. You can integrate your phone system with other platforms like email. In addition, you can configure your phone system to enable your employees to place calls from an email client that has an address book, get their voicemails transcribed automatically, and make inexpensive calls from any location with broadband access.
4. Cost effectiveness and fast ROI. You can save money immediately with a hosted VoIP system. The vendor will provide IP phones for your office and configure everything via a web portal. Equipment for the VoIP system is much less costly compared to a PBX platform and you can avoid having annoying phone wires in your office. Plus, calls are less expensive as you can use the internet to make long distance and local calls at a much cheaper rate.  
5. Improved customer service. You can enhance the quality of your customer support with a modern phone system. The platform automatically pops up customer info to provide you their history when they call. On top of that, an advanced business phone system offers features that automatically route incoming calls to the right employee, log calls, enable effortless conferencing and collaboration, and follow remote workers to help them address customer needs efficiently.

Voice bots will become popular. In today’s business world, mobile and internet communication has become widely prevalent. Because of this, companies will start using voicebot technology to enable users to send audio and video messages. These voicebots are predicted to become the future of cloud telephony and will become essential for enterprises that have high volume operational processes.

Importance of hacker-proof security. Cyber criminals are on the lookout to exploit weaknesses in VoIP networks. VoIP sends calls via internet networks which makes it open to exploitation and attack. Therefore, foolproof security has become essential for companies using wireless and VoIP networks. Business phone system providers are ensuring this by providing advanced security features such as virtual private networking (VPN), web content filtering and monitoring, spyware and virus protection, spam filtering, managed firewall and more.

Internet service disruptions. Since cloud-based phone systems function over the internet, it is important to have a fast and stable broadband connection to get good call quality. If your internet service provider (ISP)’s operations are disrupted, your phone communication system will go down as well. Therefore, select a reliable ISP that provides consistent and stable service in your area.

Learning curve for small businesses. Older entrepreneurs and small business owners are used to utilizing a conventional phone system and may be hesitant to learn the features of a VoIP PBX system. These people should evaluate the benefits, costs, and pros of cons of both types of business phone systems. Then they can decide whether the advantages of modern cloud-based phone systems are beneficial enough for their company to make it worth their while to go through the hassle of learning to use their complex features.