VoIP Providers for Business
With business VoIP, you can reduce costs, streamline operations, and increase productivity.
What is VoIP?
Making calls over the internet. Voice over Internet Protocol refers to the technology that allows people to make voice calls over IP networks in real time. It is a set of telephony protocols that works through packet switching, which allows digital voice data to travel across different networks like the internet. With this technology, computer networks are able to function similar to the way traditional networks do and can be used like a regular landline.
Internet phone capabilities add power to business communications
It did not take long for VoIP to find its way from consumer use to business use. It soon became the preferred voice call technology of modern business phone systems, quickly replacing traditional telecoms. As a result, more organizations are able to recognize the multiple advantages of being able to place calls over the internet. Its positive effect on productivity and efficiency can only be matched by its quick return on investment. This also gave rise to different Voice over IP providers that are now competing against regular telecom carriers in the business telephony arena.
Why VoIP is good for business compared to conventional landlines
Traditional phones
VoIP phone service
Why RingCentral is the best VoIP provider for business
Specially designed for businesses
Get unlimited phone calling and conference calling, toll-free minutes, personalized caller IDs, and other call features in a single communications platform. If you need more functionality like texting, faxing, and online meetings, you don't have to switch systems.
Simplified service setup
Deployment is a cinch. In fact, your company can get up and running in less than 24 hours. If you have to configure your phone system in response to business fluctuations, you can do so using your online account.
Enhanced mobility and flexibility
All you need is your business number to call, text, and fax on any mobile device. As for incoming calls, they are automatically routed to your device of choice.
No hardware necessary
Installation is done over the internet, eliminating the need for cables, physical boxes, and other expensive hardware. With just a few clicks, you can add or delete extensions.
Unmatched customer support
Count on RingCentral to guide you every step of the way. You can reach out to us any time for industry-standard technical support, consultations, and recommendations.
Comprehensive phone service plans
Leverage the most advanced communications platform for a single price--no separate bills for different advanced features. You get a full disclosure of all costs with your itemized monthly bills. And because there are no maintenance upgrades to worry about, costs are kept to a minimum.
The RingCentral difference: What you’ll get from our VoIP software
With top Voice over Internet features, you get more than just a virtual phone service
More than just a provider of Voice over IP services, RingCentral is also a complete cloud-based business phone system that helps your organization manage incoming calls through an auto attendant that automatically answers all calls and routes them to the right department or extension. Moreover, you can customize your answering rules based on your business hours. That way, calls answered during work hours are handled differently from calls that come in after closing time.
A unified communications platform allows for more flexible communication
RingCentral is also the provider of an industry-leading unified communications solution that combines different communication channels in one platform. Aside from making internet calls, users can also:
- Send and receive online fax messages electronically without the need for a fax machine
- Send and receive business SMS or MMS using your business phone numbers
- Host or join online meetings—including video conferences and teleconferences—from anywhere, on any device
- Collaborate anywhere through real-time messaging, file sharing, task management, and more.
Leaning towards hosted VoIP? Enjoy a customizable user experience
Hosted VoIP phone service providers like RingCentral develop their communications system with the end user in mind and allows for personalization to help them optimize how they use the service. This includes:
- Call screening: Allows users to screen, block, or send calls directly to voicemail
- Call forwarding: Allows users to forward calls to several phone numbers at once or in a user-specified sequence
- Presence: Lets others know if you are busy or on a call
- Hold music: Play music or messages while the caller is on hold
International calling has never been more affordable and convenient
Enjoy lower international call rates compared to local carriers. Save on long-distance international calls through RingCentral. The company offers international call rates that are lower than what regular telecom carriers offer. Please note that you may have to call customer service to activate the international calling feature.
Go global with your business VoIP phone system
Free your business from traditional geographic borders. Build a presence from anywhere in the world while uniting your global workforce on the same secure communications platform. Activate international phone numbers instantly from over 80 countries and add more as you need them. No need to make long-distance international calls when you can make and receive calls like a local, even if you don’t have a physical office in that country.
Get virtual extensions with no boundaries
Even if your workforce and locations are scattered globally, all your staff are united under one business phone system. Each armed with their own virtual extension, they can be reached from anywhere in the world. The best part is that all internal calls between these extensions are free, which significantly reduces your international calling charges.
VoIP functionality and other premium features from within your computer
Access RingCentral through your PC or Mac®computer. Turn your PC or Mac into your own communications hub. By installing the RingCentral unified communications app, you turn your computer into your business phone, which you can use to make and receive calls via the internet. In addition, you can also send internet fax and business SMS or join and host a video conference call straight from your computer.
With hosted PBX (Private Branch Exchange), you can make VoIP calls from anywhere using your mobile device
Do not be confined to your office. Discover opportunities outside the traditional workplace by bringing your VoIP phone system with you anywhere you go. The technology makes sense whether you intend to build an in-house call center or a remote team. Download the RingCentral unified app for mobile and be able to do anything that you can do from your desk IP phone or desktop app through your Android™ or iOS® device.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About VoIP Providers
How to recognize a good VoIP provider for business
The adoption of Voice over Internet Protocol changed the way businesses communicate. No longer shackled by old and on-premises systems that are going obsolete, organizations are now able to achieve flexible and mobile communications without the high phone bill.
But with the rise of business VoIP comes the emergence of multiple business phone providers trying to get a piece of the growing revenue pie. As a result, it has become more difficult for businesses to recognize which VoIP companies are reputable and which ones will only give headaches and poor service.
To help you out, here are some things you should look out for to determine if a VoIP provider will be good for your business:
Quality of VoIP service
VoIP can only be a viable option for your business if it can provide similar or better voice quality compared to regular landlines. But how do you test it without signing up for the service?
Most of the best VoIP providers have a means of showing customers the type of call quality they will experience using their current broadband connection. For example, RingCentral has a QoS speed test page where you can simulate multiple VoIP calls to see how many your network can handle before the quality degrades.
It is a helpful feature that not only shows the quality of call you will be getting, but also the capacity of your current network.
Reliability of phone service
Another question about Voice over IP is its reliability compared to landlines. Find out what measures are taken by the provider to ensure that the phone service will have minimal to no downtime.
RingCentral, for example, hosts its system in multiple data centers across multiple locations. This ensures redundancy so that if a server or a whole data center encounters some issue, other servers or data centers can take over. This makes it so that there is no disruption of service. Keep in mind that the best VoIP system is the most reliable one in the market.
Security of VoIP and the whole phone system
Your voice and other important data will be traveling the public internet during a VoIP transmission. A good vendor will have tight security measures and policies in place to ensure it gives users access to VoIP technology while protecting their phone system from any security breach.
RingCentral employs several security measures and policies, which include high-level encryption that protects VoIP calls during transmission and when at rest. It also conducts regular data center audits and employs multi-factor authentication and Single Sign-on for additional account protection.
Trusted by customers
Truly good business VoIP service providers are beloved by their customer base, which makes this a true indicator of whether a VoIP company is reputable or not.
Check out reviews, but take some of them with a grain of salt because these can be manipulated either by the company itself or by its competitors. Keep it simple by looking at their number of subscribers.
As a case in point, RingCentral is trusted by more than 350,000 companies worldwide, including some of the most popular brands in the market.
Peer-recognized business VoIP provider
The best providers are recognized by its peers. RingCentral, for one, is recognized by several respected organizations including the following:
- RingCentral is a Leader in the 2019 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service, Worldwide.
- RingCentral has been ranked #1 in Omdia’s 2020 North American Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) Scorecard.
Accolades like these show that a provider is reputable and has a history of providing good service. RingCentral certainly fulfills each criterion.
Best VoIP - Choosing the best VoIP provider based on your business communications needs
Even if you have whittled your list down to the most reputable Voice over IP providers, choosing the right one for your business is still difficult.
Unlike consumer apps that you can just uninstall if you are not happy with them, business VoIP phone systems have to be implemented organization-wide before you can see if the service works for your needs or not.
Even then, it may take months (or even years) to decide whether you want to keep it or go for another provider.
That is why it is important that you make the right decision on the first try.
But how do you choose the right one from the many VoIP providers in the market today? Well, below are some steps you can take to help you make the decision:
Research your business communications needs.
Before looking at what each top VoIP provider offers, you should look within your company first and ask yourselves: What are your organization’s needs?
Here is a checklist of some of the most common business communications needs:
- HD-quality VoIP phone service
- IP desk phone and conference phone support
- Online fax service
- Online meetings software (video conferencing and teleconferencing)
- Business SMS/MMS
- Screen sharing
- Business phone numbers—toll-free, local, international
- Team messaging
- Call management system/hosted PBX
- Task management
- Auto attendant with advanced call routing
- File sharing
- Call queuing
- Analytics and reporting
- Virtual extensions
- Automatic call recording
- Call forwarding
- Call monitoring
- Call screening
- Messages/music-on-hold
- Voicemail
- Integrations with popular productivity apps
- Telepresence
- Softphone for laptops and desktops
- Open APIs (voice, SMS, messaging, data, etc.) for integration with in-house apps
- Gallery of current integrations with popular business apps (i.e. CRM integration with Salesforce, productivity app integration with Office 365 or G-Suite)
Can your potential business VoIP providers address them?
You can use this list as a starting point. Just cross out items that don’t apply to you and add what’s not mentioned.
Once you have a detailed list, you can move to the next step.
Check and compare each provider’s VoIP plans and pricing.
Check all the call plans and packages offered by each of the reputable providers you were able to gather.
Most of these plans have tiers, so make a side-by-side comparison of the prices and included features for each plan by tier.
This way, you can see the differences between the basic, mid-range, and premium VoIP plans and prices for each provider.
Match and compare your business communications needs to each provider’s VoIP product and features.
Finally, you can check your list against the call plans and packages of each provider.
In this step, you should have a clearer picture of which VoIP providers meet most, if not all, of the items on your checklist.
From there, it is a matter of choosing which one will best solve your communications needs.
Look for the leading VoIP provider in business communications
If you are truly looking for the best provider, however, then you should go with an industry leader. RingCentral is the leading provider of not only VoIP but also unified communications as a service (UCaaS),which addresses multiple communications problems in one platform.
RingCentral also adapts to how your business operates. It has integrations with some of the most popular business apps like Salesforce®, G Suite, and Microsoft Office 365™. It also has open APIs that give you the power to add a communications component to your in-house apps.
It is the most complete solution in the market right now.