Ditch the landline and get yourself a VoIP already

Hello? It's the internet calling.
By Jennifer Allen  on 
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Overview

Best Residential Voip

RingCentral

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Best Voip For Small Business

Intermedia Unite

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Best Voip For Enterprise Businesses

8x8

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Best Easy-to-use Voip

Vonage Business

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Best Budget Voip

Ooma

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Best Voip For Video Conferencing

Lifesize

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We have evolved past the need for landlines. Welcome to the era of VoIP. At its simplest, a VoIP (also known as Voice over Internet Protocol) is a way of making phone calls through the internet rather than having to rely on a regular landline or your cell phone. Think of it kind of like FaceTime or Skype but typically far more advanced and specialized than those services.

While many VoIP services involve a subscription fee, don’t let the dollar signs fool you: they often end up saving you money and can prove to be cheaper than using a standard phone line. That's particularly the case when dealing with long-distance calls or business conferences. Such services are also typically far more reliable, which is crucial for certain scenarios. And as more of the world moves online and businesses shift to more remote work, being able to stay connected and in contact anywhere is increasingly important.

Keep on reading and we'll explain all when it comes to the wonders of VoIP and take a look at the best VoIPs, no matter what your situation is.

Why are VoIPs important?

VoIPs are important for many different people. For businesses, it can be hugely beneficial to have crisp and clear calls, no matter where you're calling from. Most companies can’t settle for static and spotty signals when it comes to important conference calls and daily communications. VoIPs provide a steady connection and crystal clear call quality as long as you have an internet connection.

For those people with relatives around the world, they can enjoy cheap phone calls that remain high in quality and aren't dependent on anything other than a regular landline for the relative. That's particularly useful when dealing with friends or family who aren't tech-savvy. You’ll save on those international charges that can add up in a hurry and spend more time talking about what is important to you rather than doing tech support for those on the other end of the line.

In all cases, the big benefit is the reduced costs. Regular calls and international calls cost a lot over time. Businesses have the additional expense of needing to pay for features like toll-free numbers or automatic call recording. These can all come as standard with certain VoIP services.

How do VoIPs work, exactly?

VoIP systems are much simpler than you might imagine. Put simply, they are a way to make calls over your internet connection instead of your landline or mobile network.

To get a little more technical, VoIP systems let you connect to a server that allows you to place calls to other telephone networks across your internet connection. It converts your analog voice signal — the kind that is used when placing a standard phone call — into a digital signal by your VoIP service provider and transmitted over your internet connection.

The result is an experience identical to placing a call over a landline or mobile network, except the call quality is better and the cost is typically cheaper.

What to look for when buying a VoIP service

There are dozens of different VoIP services out there, so it's important to know what you are looking for and what will best serve your needs.

Think about why you are considering a VoIP service in the first place. If you're looking to call relatives at a lower price, then you don't need to worry about business features like toll-free numbers, fax, or automatic call recording. However, you do want to make sure the calls are crisp and high-quality, and voicemail features could be useful.

If you're a small business, you don't have to worry about conference call support for dozens of users, but you could probably do with some flexibility to expand the plan as your business grows. You also want to check that you can port your old number across if customers are used to that number from before.

And if you’re a larger business, you’re going to want to take a look at the full suite of features. Conference calling might become essential, especially if your workforce is becoming more remote-friendly. Fax services, as well as toll-friendly numbers and answering machine features are also likely to need some consideration.

In all cases, it's vital to know what your budget is so you can keep to it accordingly.

Is a residential VoIP or a business VoIP better?

Most VoIP services offer features that benefit both residential homes and businesses. Neither is particularly better — it all depends on what you're looking for.

Want unified communication among your family and friends and a way to share messages, calls, and files easily? You'll want to go with a residential VoIP. Need a virtual receptionist to answer and screen calls for you? A business VoIP will likely offer more options for you. Do you just want cheap calls with high quality? Or are you looking for more extravagant features like automatic call recording and voicemail? A business VoIP will generally provide more features, but don't write off a residential VoIP until you're clear on what you need.

Read on to discover our picks for the best VoIPs.

RingCentral is among the best-known names in the VoIP game, and for good reason. This service offers a simple, straightforward interface that makes it approachable for anyone, whether you're looking to make calls with friends and family or setting up a line for your business.

A dedicated app allows you to quickly make voice calls, send text messages, or even fire off faxes. Residential users should be pleased to find making either audio or video calls to be a breeze. Setting up conference calls is also just a tap away, which is great when you're trying to organize a call with someone who is not great with technology.

The Essentials plan, which starts at $30 per month, offers enough basic features that even small businesses should be able to make due. Unlimited calls and texts within the US and Canada, along with unlimited text messaging and features like team messaging and document sharing make it easy to communicate with a small team spread across the country. You'll also get 100 toll-free minutes, as well as your own toll-free or local number, and voicemail features. Voice-to-text transcription is sure to be useful for convenience, as well as a great feature for those with accessibility needs.

RingCentral isn't necessarily the cheapest option out there, but it is as solid a service as you'll find.

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man sitting at desk talking on phone

Intermedia Unite

Best Voip For Small Business

It may be short on the brand recognition that RingCentral or Vonage provides, but what Intermedia Unite lacks in awareness, it more than makes up for in features.

Intermedia Unite definitely skews toward the business-focused, offering video conferencing plans along with cloud storage for file sharing and automatic cloud backup for individual users — an extra bit of peace of mind to go along with the standard calling features. It also offers integration with basically every major business software suite out there. That includes GSuite, Outlook, Office 365, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoho, and other CRM software. That makes it easy to integrate into whatever ecosystem you are already using.

Of course, then there are the call features. You'll get unlimited talk and text with anyone in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The Unite plan offers video conferencing for up to four people at time, while premium expands that to up to 30. You'll also get automatic call recording, spam protection, and the ability to keep your existing number. It's everything a small business could want when upgrading their VoIP services.

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man with glasses talking on cell phone looking away from camera

8x8

Best Voip For Enterprise Businesses

If you're looking for lots of features, particularly the kind that serve a growing business, 8x8 likely has the answer for you. Even its most basic plans offer a dense list of capabilities. For as little as $24 per month, you'll get unlimited calls and texts to 14 countries, full-featured voicemail and call handling services, plus call recording and team messaging for up to 99 people. Add to that GSuite and Office 365 integration and you'll be able to keep your business running smoothly without skipping a beat.

If you need even more, don't worry. 8x8 has tons of packages with high-end features that growing businesses and existing enterprise operations need. Get into the x6 package or higher and you'll get an operator switchboard, call quality reporting, and useful customer service tools like post call surveys and analytics. Things certainly get much more expensive here, but it's reassuring to know that you can adjust your 8x8 plan accordingly as your business develops. 

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Odds are, you've heard of Vonage — or at least heard their very catchy ads and the annoyingly upbeat music that accompanies them. That’s because Vonage has been around for a long time, and they’ve mastered what is required to be a top VoIP provider. 

While some cloud-based VoIP services can be a little overwhelming for anyone less tech-savvy, Vonage has the consumer at the forefront of its plans. Its web-based console is incredibly easy to use with intuitive options — meaning it takes you hardly any time to learn how to use it. That's further compounded by similarly simple apps for all major platforms.

The basic package is well priced with unlimited calls and SMS messages, along with team messaging. This makes it a solid option for residential services or small businesses. However, most businesses should expect to need to upgrade to gain useful features like video conferencing, an auto-attendant, and just about any form of CRM integration. Even call recording or visual voicemail is an added extra. That's where Vonage can end up more expensive than its rivals.

Despite the fact that many features cost more, you just might decide that it is worth it. Vonage is incredibly easy to use and approachable for just about anyone, which is worth the price when you consider the time you'll save on teaching our team or family how to use the service.

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woman sitting on couch using phone and laptop

Ooma

Best Budget Voip

Aimed at small businesses, Ooma keeps things low in price while still offering plenty of features. For $20 per month per user with no limits on user numbers, you still get unlimited calling in the US and Canada, the ability to keep your own number, a virtual receptionist, extension dealing, conference calls, and hold music. It's the kind of feature set that often costs more elsewhere.

The downside? Ooma strongly encourages the use of its own phones, although you can use a dedicated app too. That can be pricey at first, but it is worth it in the long term, and it'll work with other compatible phones too. There's also more limited integration with CRM packages and other software, so if you want a full range of options, you might be disappointed here. Still, it's very cheap.

Upgrade to the Office Pro or Pro Plus plan for about $5 or $10 more per month and the features just keep coming. Pro users get call recording, video conferencing, call blocking, voicemail transcription, and more. Pro Plus users also get call queuing, Salesforce integration, and hot desking.

The trick here is that video conferencing, an essential feature for many offices, is only available to Pro subscribers. But don't let that discourage you. Ooma is still an affordable option for small businesses, even at a slightly higher price point.

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man leaning against wall using phone

Lifesize

Best Voip For Video Conferencing

In March 2020, Lifesize really stepped up to help individuals and businesses with their transitions to remote work by offering freemium subscriptions during the global pandemic. The no-cost freemium account option made it easier and more affordable for businesses, government agencies, healthcare workers, and even schools to communicate virtually.

Unfortunately, in 2022, that freemium subscription has been discontinued. But there is good news: Lifesize scales up in features pretty fast. Even at the standard plan, which costs $12.50 per month, you can host meetings with up to 100 people with no limit on talk time. You'll also get a centralized management console for organizing and arranging your calls.

At the Plus plan, things start to get a little pricier — but it just might be worth it for your business. At $14.95 per month, you'll get calls for up to 300 participants, Microsoft Teams and Outlook integration, real-time meeting insights, and cloud-based storage for call recording.

If you're primarily looking for a video-based service, Lifesize is very well priced for what it offers. The fact that you can effectively try it for free for 30 days makes it a great way of seeing if it works for you.

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