If you’ve ever called a major business you’ve likely listened to a menu and selected options to talk to the right person. That’s a PBX phone system and it’s a great way to avoid putting customers on hold as they travel to the right person within your organization.
PBX stands for Private Branch Exchange and it is a private telephone network that companies use internally. A PBX allows you to have a wide range of extensions, greetings, and settings to direct customer calls appropriately. They have removed the need for a secretary to answer every call, allowing your front desk to greet those who come in to your store.
The virtual systems we’re looking at are VoIP platforms, also called IP PBX, that use Internet connections to run your phone. This means you typically don’t need a landline phone in your office since all of your calls are transmitted through your Internet connection. You’ll find that to be a great savings when you can add new phone numbers but don’t need to run new phone lines.
Picking the Right Virtual PBX Phone System For You
We’ve provided you with reviews for a series of Virtual PBX Phone Systems so that you can choose what’s right for you. Be sure to consider how many phone numbers you’ll need and employees you have, plus the services and support you’ll want. Many of these services can help you with the setup, so you don’t need to be an IT rock star to get your phones sounding just right.
1. Grasshopper
Grasshopper.com offers a single and extremely effective virtual PBX service. It gets big applause for working with home and office landlines as well as smartphones. It’s a very flexible package with features to meet all of your needs. It’s low cost and Web setup make the service useful for every small and mid-sized business. Grasshopper offers one of the easiest services around.
2. RingCentral
RingCentral offers an incredible array of options and pricing and you’ll likely be able to find a package that perfectly fits your needs. It works well for small businesses and larger businesses thanks to additional plans and features. The company has a very popular customer service department and its system rarely has any snags or downtime. If you’re an office of under 10, it is perhaps the easiest service to manage that offers integration with business software such as Salesforce.com.
3. Phone.com
Phone.com is a strong service for a wide range of user types, from small businesses with a storefront to road warriors who are always on the go. It has a long list of features and variety of price options that can meet just about any need. Baseline costs are low and mobile support is great, but you will need to pay for additional features. If you’re a mobile user, this could be the best option for you.
4. eVoice
eVoice is a budding platform for growing businesses and it has a lot of services that you can use. It’s best for someone who doesn’t rely solely on the phone for their business because customers report some service interruptions. The big win for eVoice comes from its extras, but those get pricey for larger groups.
5. VirtualPBX
VirtualPBX is one of the first companies to offer this type of virtual PBX platform and it has kept up with the times well. You get a lot of control over your features and call routing, with a good backup of customer service and packages. If you don’t have a high call volume, this mid-tier system is a great platform you and your business. If you’re comparing largely on cost but want to make sure you get a reliable service, your search may end here.
6. Nextiva
Nextiva offers a robust platform with lots of options for simple and complex business processes. It makes a good fit for mid-sized companies, especially those who handle a lot of calls and need to do a lot of training on the phone. If your sales teams rely on cold-calling, Nextiva’s plans with unlimited calling minutes will make a strong choice. Smaller businesses may not need the features or the all of the cost.
7. AX Voice
For new businesses and small companies, AX Voice offers one of the cheapest options on this list and provides a good set of features for the price. This is perfect for small companies who do a lot of work throughout the U.S. and Canada, or need cheap international calling. Customers love it, with the only major drawback being its customer service is e-mail only.
8. FreedomVoice
FreedomVoice provides a smart virtual PBX system for companies in the U.S. and Canada. It works well for small businesses and includes a lot of features that you can add on for a professional voice. The company performs well and has relatively little down time, but some of the extras like additional minutes will mount quickly. It’s well suited for a mobile workforce.
9. Vonage
Vonage Business Solutions is your combo PBX and VoIP platform that brings a large set of features to your business with a minimal cost. Aimed at mid-sized operations, you’ll get support that’s strong and able to grow as your business grows. Overall, Vonage offers one of the most compelling values when considering price and feature set.
10. AccessDirect
AccessDirect has been bringing affordable hosted PBX services to all types of businesses since 1997. From their offices in Kansas City, the company uses its own high-quality PBX phone systems and exceptional customer service to keep their business moving forward. They keep operating costs down by not using a sales force or expensive advertising campaigns. Instead, the business grows due to happy customers referring the services to others.
Additional Services:
11. Telesphere
Telesphere, headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, is one of the leading business VoIP providers in the country. The company offers carrier-grade performance and support for wire-line and mobile devices over its private IP multiprotocol label switching network, which is one of the largest of its kind. The cloud-based UcaaS services provided by Telesphere allows businesses of all sizes to enjoy the latest voice, video, data and collaboration features of a large enterprise system, but without the expense of complicated equipment.
12. OnSIP
OnSIP, owned by Junction Networks was founded in 2004. Headquartered in New York City, New York, the company delivers VoIP communications services with superior telephony technologies to more than twenty thousand small, medium and large businesses. OnSIP was created on the idea that the future of business communications would heavily rely on IP technologies. The company is operated by internet veterans known for building Interport Communications, one of the largest Internet Service Providers in New York City, before it was purchased by RCN in the late 1990s.
13. PBX Plus
PBXPlus is a product from InVox, whose other products include ClickDesk and FaxDesk. They offer the latest generation of business phone systems specially designed for small and medium sized companies. Businesses can design and build advanced phone systems and IVR systems within minutes by using the fastest and easiest web tools available. The service is cloud-based to allow businesses to scale extensions or expand the capacity of their phone system at any time with just a click.
14. Easy Office Phone
Easy Office Phone has been providing high class hosted PBX services and business class VoIP since 2005. The company gives businesses of all sizes a professional image. They pride themselves in providing excellent call quality, extensive features aimed at businesses and a friendly, helpful staff.
15. The Real PBX
The Real PBX (TRB) had been a leading provider of cloud hosting services since 2004. Services the company provides include hosted PBX-VOIP, cloud computing and hosted applications. As part of Real Time Cloud Services, LLC, TRB provides hosting solutions to businesses around the world. They provide live technical support and use the latest cutting edge technology. The Real PBX strives to provide phone services superior to any other PBX systems on the market.
One comment
Dears
would you please provide me a technical details and feasibility of your product, i’m interested to start a VPBX solution to my company offer to my customer for fix and mobile solution.
thank
vait