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
- High up-front cost for on-premise hardware
- Implementation is expensive and complicated
- Contracts are compulsory and have early termination fees
- Additional fees for every service and hardware upgrade
- Additional fees for technical support
- Maintenance calls for specially-trained personnel
- Implementation of service change requests takes time
VoIP phone service
- No hardware needed
- Implementation is quick and free of charge
- There are no monthly contracts
- New features are implemented at no extra cost
- Free round-the-clock customer assistance
- Changes can be made using your own account
- Adding or repurposing phone numbers can be done as needed
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.
RingCentral MVP™* plans for your small business
PAY ANNUALLY AND SAVE UP TO 33%.
- No limit on number of users
- Business phone numbers in over 100 countries
- Unlimited internet fax
- Unlimited audio conferencing
- Video meetings with up to 100 participants
- Up to 24-hour meeting duration
- Quality-of-service reports
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Popular integrations including
Office 365, Google Workspace, Slack,
and more - 24/7 support
- Device status reports
- Device status alerts
- Unlimited storage***
Compare plans
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Not available
Essentials
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Standard
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Premium
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Ultimate
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Pricing
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Annually: $19.99/user/mo
Monthly: $29.99/user/mo |
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Annually: $34.99/user/mo
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Business phone or toll-free numbers
One phone number for calling, team messaging, and video
meetings access.
Each user gets a dedicated phone number at no additional cost. Essentials edition doesn't include video meetings.
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Toll-free minutes
Toll-free minutes are per account regardless of number of lines. Additional minutes are always available for automatic purchase, which bill at 3.9¢/min.
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Unlimited calls within the US/Canada**
Unlimited calling/phone calls within the US and CA. Plus, choose from affordable and convenient international calling plans that fit your business. Terms and conditions may apply.
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Unlimited Business SMS**
Use your business phone number to send unlimited one-to-one or group SMS/MMS.
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Voicemail-to-text
Automatically convert voicemail messages into text form so users can screen messages easily and respond to the most important call first.
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Visual voicemail and voicemail-to-email
Access voicemail messages from your desk and mobile phones, email, desktop app, and online account.
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Team messaging
Collaborate more effectively with colleagues, clients, and contractors with team messaging, task assignment, calendar sharing, and more. Also, utilize out-of-the-box integrations with Jira, Asana, Box, Google Drive, OneDrive, and more.
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Document sharing
Access documents and files stored on your computer or your Google Drive, Box, OneDrive, and Dropbox accounts and easily share them with your team members.
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Call management and phone system
administration Sophisticated call management, enabling you to configure your phone system across the entire company, regardless of location or device. Optimize communication with custom admin and user configurations online or using the mobile app.
Call management features include:
*Not available with Essentials.
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Mobile apps for iOS and Android
Whether you're an Apple or Android user, you can use your smartphones and tablets to make and receive calls, join and host meetings,
team message coworkers and partners, send and receive faxes and texts, set up and join conferences, and configure phone system settings, notifications, and voicemail.
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High-definition (HD) voice
To consistently deliver the highest HD quality possible, RingCentral utilizes the Opus Interactive codec for audio and video, as well as the G.722 codec for audio.
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Call log reports
Get a complete record of all your inbound and outbound calls and faxes. View the name of the caller, the number or extension dialed, as well as the time, date, and duration of the call.
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Phone rental options: desk and
conference phones Rent any desk phone or conference phone for a low monthly price.
Contact sales for details and pricing.
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Unlimited internet fax
Send and receive faxes from your computer, mobile device, Microsoft Outlook, cloud storage providers (such as Dropbox), and more.
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Unlimited audio conferencing
Host an unlimited number of audio conference calls, with up to 1,000 attendees per conference. Each user gets unique host and participant access codes.
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Video meetings and participants
Hold video meetings with screen sharing, in-meeting public and private chat capabilities—anytime, anywhere, on any device.
Maximum number of participants varies by the video platform:
Premium with RingCentral Video (up to 200) Standard with RingCentral Video (up to 100) |
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High-definition (HD) video
RingCentral delivers crystal-clear HD quality video and voice.
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Quality-of-service reports
Gain the ability to proactively review overall RingCentral system health and diagnose quality issues impacting users. A holistic overview of quality measured by location, endpoint, codec, ISP, and more enables
easier monitoring and faster troubleshooting.
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Popular integrations including Office 365,
Google Workspace, Slack, and more
RingCentral offers the largest ecosystem of integration apps in the communications and collaboration space to maximize productivity and efficiency. Get integrations for bots, AI, analytics, archiving, automation, productivity, and more.
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24/7 support
Unlimited chat and phone support.
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Multi-level auto attendant
Answer callers automatically with customized greetings, and ensure every call is directed to the right employee or department.
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Professional implementation
Get the most out of RingCentral with a portfolio of professional and personalized services, ranging from planning, designing, and implementation to project management, ongoing support, and consulting.
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Call recording
Automatic call recording: Set your RingCentral phone system to automatically record inbound and outbound calls for individual users or inbound calls for departments.
On-demand call recording: Allows Users to manually record phone calls anytime using an IP Phone provisioned with RingCentral, Forwarding Number, or RingCentral Phone for Mobile.
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On-demand
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Automatic
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Automatic
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Compatible with RingCentral Rooms™ (add-on)
Turn any space into a conference room.
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Single Sign-on
Users can log in to RingCentral automatically with their corporate credentials. Reduce the IT cost of assisting in password recovery and benefit from a central authentication point that securely accesses your RingCentral service from any device.
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Multi-site admin and management
Get the flexibility to manage and support your branch offices based on their unique operational needs.
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Up to 8-digit extensions with site codes
Simplified intra-site dialing for large multi-site customers.
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Hot desking
Allows users to log in to shared phones to access their own RingCentral extensions, voicemail and greetings, and other features.
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Advanced call handling including whisper, barge, and more
Advanced call management controls (monitor, whisper, barge, takeover) to allow authorized users to listen in on employee calls with clients to monitor the conversation, provide coaching, and facilitate discussion.
Other features include overflow call queues, user groups, and role-based access control with customized roles/permissions.
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Real-time analytics
Gain real-time insights into your RingCentral system and gather business-relevant data, alerts, and reporting metrics.
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Popular CRM integrations with Salesforce, Zendesk, and more
Bring the functions and features of RingCentral MVP into your business apps such as Salesforce, Zendesk, Microsoft Dynamics, ServiceNow, etc.
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Industry-specific integrations with Canvas, Smarsh, and more
Bring the functions and features of RingCentral MVP into your vertical's business apps such as Canvas, Smarsh, etc.
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Developer platform and custom integrations
RingCentral APIs let you create your own custom applications and seamlessly integrate business communications into your key business processes, so you can automate workflows, drive efficiency, and gain valuable
insight from communications data.
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Device status reports
Monitor hard phone registration status globally and gain visibility into your devices' history.
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Device status alerts
Set up automated monitoring rules and receive notifications when devices are offline.
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Unlimited storage***
Store an unlimited* amount of documents, spreadsheets, presentation files, contracts,
invoices, images, videos, and recordings.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About VoIP Providers
What is a VoIP Service Provider?
“Voice over IP service providers” refers to companies that offer IP-based telephony either for residential or business customers. While residential VoIP is pretty straightforward with IP phones replacing regular landlines, VoIP for businesses is no longer just about providing a means to make and receive calls over the internet. Modern VoIP phone system companies are also competing in terms of who can give businesses the best communications experience.
As the industry leader in unified communications, RingCentral provides businesses with a VoIP-based business phone system and a central hub for all communications and collaboration. With it, you can make calls, send fax, live chat, and even start video conferences without having to switch from app to app.
Do I need a VoIP provider?
If you own a company, whether it is a small growing business, a medium-sized business, or a big enterprise, you need a VoIP provider. This is just for the simple reason that you want to communicate with your employees and your customers as efficiently and as effectively as possible.
The modern hosted VoIP phone system can help your business do that. Make calls from anywhere, intelligently route calls to the right extension via cloud PBX, and send fax and text messages using your business phone number. RingCentral, with their unified communications as a service (UCaaS), provides your business with all the collaborative features you need under one platform.
Who is the best VoIP provider?
The best VoIP providers have a responsibility to provide their customer base a reliable, secure, flexible, and scalable VoIP solutions. If any of these qualities are not present, then these providers are far from being the best.
There are many providers that claim to be the best, but you can’t simply take their word for it. What RingCentral can offer your business is a reliable solution with 99.999% SLA that is supported by redundant architecture housed in bi-coastal data centers. RingCentral also employs a combination of different high-level security measures and best practices to keep the VoIP-based communications solution secure.
RingCentral is also an industry leader in unified communications as a service (UCaaS) where users are not only able to make and receive calls, but also fax, text, chat, and join video conferences from one platform The best part is that the solution itself adjusts to the needs of your business. Whether you need VoIP providers for small businesses or VoIP providers for enterprises with contact centers, RingCentral has flexible pricing and features that work for your company.
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®, Google Workspace, 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.