Looking for the best cloud phone system for remote teams?
Cloud-based phone systems are a great option when your team members work remotely sometimes or work from home. Choosing the best cloud phone system is a very important decision because it can affect your business and your customers.
In this article, we will compare the best cloud telephony systems for remote computers with their features, advantages and disadvantages.
What is a cloud phone system?
A cloud phone system is a Business VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephone system that allows you to make and receive business phone calls through your Internet connection.
Because your phone calls are managed in the cloud over the Internet, you and your employees can receive calls from anywhere. You do not need to be physically connected through a landline phone, as you would in a traditional phone system.
The cloud phone system is perfect for remote teams. Instead of employees providing their personal cell phone number for business calls, they can receive business phone calls using the virtual business phone number app on your cell phone.
With that said, here are the best cloud phone systems for remote teams.
1. Nextiva
Nextiva offers a great easy-to-use cloud phone system that is ideal for remote teams. It comes with all the features and functionality you need for your business communications, such as unlimited free domestic calls, advanced call routing, voicemail to email and text, SMS messages, automated attendant, and online faxing.
The web-based admin panel is easy to use and manage. You get a free venue or toll free number, free number transfer, and all the call handling features you'd expect. These include Caller ID, Call Forwarding, Personalized Greetings, Auto Attendant, Advanced IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system, and more.
Within the US and Canada, you have unlimited VoIP calls with Nextiva. For international calls, they have very affordable rates.
The Nextiva communication platform offers powerful additional features that integrate with your phone system. These include a full-featured CRM and live chat, making Nextiva a unified communications system, also called a full cloud platform.
Nextiva also offers online surveys and call analysis. Voice analysis software gives you real-time information on phone activity throughout your organization. This allows you to monitor call volume and detect potential problems.
Larger companies, contact centers, and call centers often use Nextiva to transition from their existing private branch exchange (PBX) system to a powerful cloud phone system.
You can use your existing desk phones with Nextiva, or you can purchase IP phones for your remote team to use. Netiva also offers computer applications that work like a 'softphone', so your team can make voice calls through your computer.
Nextiva also has a business phone app that works on iPhones (iOS) and Android smartphones.
Most importantly, Nextiva provides you with excellent call quality and connectivity through its incredibly reliable data centers. They have not had any power outages in the last two years.
If you ever need help with your business phone service, their customer service team is always helpful and responsive.
Price: Nextiva starts from $ 19.95 / user / month. The price per user varies depending on the number of users you have.
Editorial note: We use Nextiva for our team at WPBeginner and Awesome motif. We have been huge fans of your platform and we highly recommend you.
2. RingCentral
RingCentral is another popular cloud phone system for remote computers. Its feature-rich system includes all the standard options you would expect, such as unlimited calling, call forwarding, caller ID, call waiting, text messages, online faxing, automatic call recording, and more.
You also get videoconference screen sharing, plus integration with Google workspace (formerly G Suite), Dropbox, Microsoft Office365, Salesforce and other services. This can allow RingCentral to serve as the heart of your communications platform.
Like Nextiva, RingCentral will not charge you for calls in the US and Canada, no matter how many calls you make. Your team members can take calls through the RingCentral desktop or mobile app, giving them a lot of flexibility.
RingCentral also functions as a cloud PBX or virtual PBX system, which means that incoming calls can be easily routed to the appropriate department or extension. You can also add additional virtual phone lines as needed.
You can also use RingCentral to buy custom phone numbers such as 1-800-GoFedEX.
Price: RingCentral costs from $ 19.99 / user / month, billed annually. There is also a 15-day free trial available. This gives you a maximum of 5 users and 50 minutes of talk time per user.
3. Ooma
Ooma is a popular business VoIP provider that is an excellent cloud communications solution for remote teams. It provides you with many useful features like a virtual receptionist, extension dialing, music on hold, a mobile app, a desktop app, and more.
You can add a toll free number (1-800 number) toll free. There are also free calling plans, so you get more free incoming call minutes per month.
It's easy to set up your VoIP business phone system in the cloud with Ooma. You have the option of keeping your existing business phone number or getting a new one from Ooma.
Ooma also works as a cloud PBX or a hosted PBX system. This means that it is easy to transfer calls and allow team collaboration between remote employees.
You can set up team members with your own phone, purchased from Ooma or from a third party. Alternatively, you can reduce upfront costs by creating a new line that leads to the employee's existing Android or iOS device.
Keep in mind that with any phone system, your team members will need a reasonable amount of bandwidth (upload speed) to make high-quality calls.
Price: Ooma costs from $ 19.95 / user / month.
4. Grasshopper
Grasshopper is a great cloud phone system for small businesses. It gives you a virtual phone number that can forward calls to any phone number or mobile device.
You get all the features you expect, including call forwarding, routing, music hold, voicemail to email, and more. There's a mobile app plus a desktop app, making it easy for your team to use while working remotely.
With Grasshopper, you can get a local or toll-free number from the US or Canada. You can also add custom greetings and extensions. All Grasshopper plans also include unlimited minutes.
One downside to Grasshopper is that you can't use it to make outgoing calls. You still need your regular phone number for that. Additionally, Grasshopper is only available in the US and Canada.
Price: Grasshopper costs from $ 26 / month, billed annually. This is for a phone number, but you can add extensions.
5. Phone.com
Phone.com offers a simple web interface and mobile application to manage your office phone system in the cloud. Like the other phone system providers we've covered, they offer all the standard features you'd expect. These include call forwarding, call routing, caller ID, text messages, voicemail to email, and more.
Phone.com includes Canada and some European countries in its local calling minutes. This makes calling those countries much cheaper.
With Phone.com, you can also pay for additional features, including call recording and more phone numbers.
The cheapest plan limits you to 300 minutes per month and 2,000 text messages. This may be enough for your business needs if your small business doesn't make a lot of calls.
There's also 24/7 live customer support in case you need help setting it up.
Price: Phone.com costs from $ 12.99 / user / month.
6. Google Voice
google voice is a Google cloud phone system. It offers all the features you need, like free calls to US and Canadian numbers, call forwarding, voicemail transcription, text messaging, call screening, and more.
With Google Voice, you also get integration with Google Calendar, Google Fi, and Google Meet.
A Google Voice number can be used via cell phones or via the desktop app with a dial pad, allowing your employees to work on the go. They can configure their voice number to forward it to their mobile phone or other devices.
Price: Google Voice is free for personal use. The price of the business plans is $ 10 / user / month.
7. eVoice
eVoice is another popular VoIP service provider. Offers unlimited calling, call routing, personalized greeting, call forwarding, conference calling, texting, voicemail to text, and more.
It's a good choice if your remote team is international or based in the UK, as eVoice offers coverage in the UK, EU, and Canada, as well as the US.
Note: eVoice is branded eReceptionist in the UK.
Price: From $ 16.67 / user / month (billed annually).
What's the best cloud phone system for your team?
We believe that Nextiva it is the best cloud phone system for remote computers. It has many advanced features and excellent support. You can easily add remote team members and configure call transfer rules.
Nextiva's desktop and mobile apps are easy to use. This makes it a great option for remote teams, when hands-on training is difficult.
Additionally, Nextiva's unified communication platform comes with built-in CRM and live chat capabilities.
That is why we use Nextiva at WPBeginner and believe it to be the best cloud phone system on the market.
If you want an alternative to Nextiva, RingCentral is another excellent option. It has similar characteristics and ranks second on our list.
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