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Last Updated: May 2024

The Best Internet Phone Providers of 2024
Award-winning services to boost your business

VoIP phone offers features like voicemail to email, a dedicated fax line, and video conferencing, all while saving you money.

Top 3 VoIP Services
Our Most Popular
RingEX
RingEX
exceptional
9.8
Pay annually and save up to 33%
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Vonage
Vonage
excellent
9.3
Plans as low as $13.99/month
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Zoom Phone
Zoom Phone
excellent
9.3
Optional Zoom Phone plan add-ons
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We find the 10 best options, so you can make informed decisions on tons of products and services.

*Promotional discount of 20% off the standard rate applies to monthly recurring voice extension charges for up to 99 lines. The $15.99 price applies to the Basic Mobile service for up to 4 lines. Offer available for new accounts only, and only for purchases completed online. Discount does not apply to add-ons, features, hardware, or one-time charges. Taxes and fees not included. Services and billing will continue until canceled. You may cancel at any time through the Vonage online portal or by calling customer care, but cancellation within contract term subject to Early Termination Fees up to the total price of your service contract. Choose a plan and the promo code 20PERCENTOFF will be applied automatically when you checkout online. Offer valid through 7/25/23.

What Is an IP Phone?

VoIP phones make and receive calls through an internet connection. Due to their low-cost nature, internet phones are cheap alternatives to traditional landline phones because they can work on any computer with a sound card. 

Function

IP phones are referred to as internet protocol phones because instead of using plain old telephone system (POTS) for receiving and placing calls, they connect to the internet using broadband. In comparison, VoIP phone service is considered more efficient compared to POTS.

Internet Phone Benefits

  • Unified Platform

The ability to converge technology platforms makes Internet phone service more beneficial than traditional phone systems. Your provider probably designs applications that can work with voice systems, Internet, and computer networks. For instance, you can save voice mail messages as data on email because VoIP systems makes it possible to mirror your office phones on computer desktops for use anywhere with an Internet connection. Integrated or unified communications is technology that coordinates mobile devices, office phones, and computers to work together. You can achieve much more with VoIP systems than you can with traditional phone systems. 

  • Cost Savings

Internet-based phone technology comes with more cost saving features than traditional systems thanks to the ability of your phone provider to deliver both phone and internet on the same cable, which reduces communication costs. Communicating over long distances using an Internet phone costs less than traditional phones because Internet phone billing is not based on the distance between the caller and the receiver. In addition, Internet phone systems make it possible for you to save on interoffice communication because the VoIP system remains part of the network regardless of location. 

Types of Internet Phones

Your Internet phone provider has two main types of VoIP systems: Software based and hardware based. Many ISPs provide a wide range of hardware for these services including adapters that allow regular phone systems in your house to be used as internet phones. In addition, VoIP software solutions allow phone calls through applications like Skype from computers with sound cards. 

Considerations

Despite their versatility, VoIP do not support 911 calls. Therefore, it is recommended to maintain both IP phones and traditional phone systems for emergencies. Hackers can also use spyware to access your VoIP phone system and eavesdrop on your conversations using “packet sniffers” or direct expensive phone calls through your internet connection. Your business internet phone system must, therefore, integrate firewall security with all networks to enhance security. 

Internet phones deliver voice communication and phone service through voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) technology. These phone systems have many advantages over traditional phone systems and have become increasingly popular in many homes and businesses. VoIP systems are affordable and have a wide range of applications. This service can be used for both voice and video communication provided there is an Internet connection. 

Our Top 3 Picks

  • 1
    RingEX

    RingEX

    • No. of usersUnlimited
    • PricingFrom $19.99/month per user
    • Best forInternal team collaboration and task management

    RingEX - Best VoIP provider overall

    RingEX is a teamwork-oriented UCaaS (Unified Communication as a Service) platform. It has built-in collaboration tools like VoIP calling, SMS messaging, team chat, and video conferencing. 

    The platform lets you invite users by email and build a custom phone system with voicemail transcription, call recording, and adaptive Interactive Voice Response (IVR) menus for self-service routing. You can also create dozens of team-chat channels where members can message each other, send images, share files, and assign tasks with due dates. 

    HD-video meetings host up to 200 participants and are supported by AI-based tools. These include auto-generated insights, background noise reduction, live transcription, and collaborative drawing whiteboards.

    According to Emma Grotluschen, Senior Manager of Customer Service at Swanson, RingEX Contact Center enables their entire team "to improve [their] customer service operation." She adds, "The reporting capabilities help us continually monitor and improve our performance, and [with] the automatic call recording, our supervisors tripled the calls they can review."

    Why we chose RingEX: RingEX offers VoIP plans with a collaborative, well-rounded UCaaS platform suitable for large and small businesses. All plans also enable unlimited calling in the US and Canada.

    Our experience: We liked how we were able to get set up in minutes. RingEX's app was also easy to use and let our team members instantly interact through various mediums. 

    Pros
    • Collaborative video features
    • File management capabilities
    • International VoIP numbers
    Cons
    • Essentials plan has a 20-user maximum
    • No unlimited international calling options
  • 2
    Vonage

    Vonage

    • No. of usersUnlimited
    • PricingFrom $13.99/user/month
    • Best forRemote companies seeking mobility

    Vonage - Best for reliability with 99.99% uptime

    Vonage is a UCaaS platform offering VoIP and SMS, live chat, and video functionality—these three features are becoming increasingly popular with young audiences. Its Business Communications platform has basic phone-system features and collaboration tools.

    The Vonage desktop, browser, and mobile apps come with standard calling features, including routing via auto attendant and call management tools like call holding, forwarding, and parking. Queues and multichannel business inboxes are also available as add-ons.

    This service's team messaging lets individuals and groups communicate easily. Video calls come with collaboration features like whiteboards with 20 participants, team chat, waiting rooms, and integration with calendar apps for scheduling.

    Kevin Peña, Strategic Partnerships Manager at Headsets.com, says, "Since moving to Vonage Business Communications, we have team members working in home stations, office stations, or both, and they are able to seamlessly log in from wherever they are that day. We can log in to our VBC accounts and make or receive calls from a cell phone just as easily as an office phone with a simple, user-friendly interface that keeps calls, voicemails, and messages all in one place."

    Why we chose Vonage: Vonage Business Communications offers straightforward VoIP features that are easy to use. It also includes Vonage Meetings, with voice, video, and messaging collaboration in every plan. 

    Our experience: We liked Vonage's video collaboration whiteboards and team messaging. Its desktop click-to-call feature was particularly convenient for spur-of-the-moment communication.

    Pros
    • Auto attendant functionality
    • No user limit on lower-tier plans
    • Can flip live calls between devices
    Cons
    • No analytics
    • Charges additional fees for features included in competitor plans
  • 3
    Zoom Phone

    Zoom Phone

    • No. of usersUnlimited
    • PricingFrom $10/month per user
    • Best forBusinesses looking for an advanced phone-only solution

    Zoom Phone - Best for unlimited domestic calls outside the US

    Zoom Phone is Zoom's VoIP phone system, not to be confused with its Meetings video-conferencing app or Zoom One collaboration platform. Zoom Phone includes team chat and bundles with Zoom One, to make collaboration more available and intuitive to remote workers. The Zoom app—available on desktop, browser, and mobile—unites all of the company's applications in a seamless interface, but also works with Zoom Phone alone.

    This phone system is perfect for companies that want an advanced phone-only solution without other communication channels. All three pricing plans have the same features, varying by unlimited calling area and call-pricing structure: a US- and Canada-based pay-per-minute plan, a US-Canada unlimited calling plan, and unlimited domestic calling plans in over 40 different countries. The two unlimited plans also come with an add-on allowing limitless calling to 19 other countries. Local and toll-free Direct Inward Dial (DID) numbers can be purchased in several countries worldwide.

    The Zoom Phone system provides access to an expansive library of advanced call center features. These include unlimited queues, ring groups (a cluster of phone extensions that share incoming calls), call distribution, voicemail transcription, call recording, routing via IVR, and flipping between devices. While Zoom Phone doesn't provide analytics, it does deliver call-center monitoring through supervisor surveillance, barge, and takeover. The chat and video functionality are also standard but can be greatly improved if you bundle Zoom One as a synchronous UCaaS platform.

    Why we chose Zoom Phone: Zoom Phone boasts a wide variety of advanced call center features, with unique global and domestic unlimited calling options.

    Our experience: We like that Zoom Phone offers affordable pricing plans and unlimited queueing, but wish it had queue analytics for greater visibility.

    Pros
    • Boundless domestic plans outside the US
    • Add-ons for unlimited calling in 19 countries
    • Infinite call queues
    Cons
    • Advanced chat collaboration requires a Zoom One subscription
    • No analytics

22,824

businesses clicked on a VoIP service this month

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RingEX
RingEX
RingEX
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Vonage
Vonage
Vonage
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Zoom Phone
Zoom Phone
Zoom Phone
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