Google Voice is a great option for businesses that already use Google Workspace, since it’s a Google Workspace add-on product and integrates seamlessly with Google communication tools, such as email, video calling, and document sharing.

On top of this, Google Voice is one of the cheapest VoIP phone systems on the market, costing between $10 and $30 (USD) per user per month. At this price, businesses will still get access to unlimited domestic inbound and outbound calling and core call management features, such as an auto-attendant.

That said, Google Voice isn’t a great option for businesses that experience high call volumes, such as customer service teams, since it’s missing call management features, namely call queues and training features such as call monitoring.

In this review, we’ll assess Google Voice’s key VoIP features, discuss pricing, and compare Google Voice to competitors. By the end, you should have a good idea of whether it’s right for your business.

Google Voice

2.8

Pricing $10-$30/user/month

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Suitable for

Businesses with a Google Workspace subscription

Organizations that experience frequent cold-callers

Businesses that use Polycom phones

Not suitable for

Businesses that don’t use Google Workspace

Customer service teams

Organizations that experience high call volumes

Pricing

Plan	Price
Starter	$10/user/month
Standard	$20/user/month
Premier	$30/user/month

What Features Do You Get with Google Voice?

Google Voice comes with core call management features suitable for businesses that get moderate call volumes. It’s a little light on training features, however, and doesn’t integrate with a large number of third-party hardware phones or software apps.

We’ll go over Google Voice’s key characteristics in detail in the following sections, starting with all important VoIP call features.

Core VoIP phone system features

Google Voice has a clean, modern-looking interface, and we found the platform easy to use when we tested it. Setting up contacts was very straightforward, and we appreciated that we could customize profile images with fun icons.

When it comes to all-important call handling, incoming calls appear as a pop-up in the Google Voice app, and clearly labeled icons make it easy for us to find call management features.

Here, we are setting up the profile of a contact user in Google Voice, which is much simpler than some other software we've used, especially for those well acquainted with Google products. Source: Expert Market

Call management features

Google Voice’s main call management features include an auto-attendant (also called a virtual receptionist), customizable greetings, customized call routing, and ring groups. These are great features for any business to have since they reduce manual effort and ensure callers are quickly diverted to the correct employee or department.

Businesses also get access to voicemail transcription, which makes it easier for employees to sort through audio messages and quickly respond. Rival Dialpad goes a step further and provides AI-powered call and voicemail summaries, which make it slightly more suitable for businesses with a high call volume.

In Google Voice, you'll get a transcript of voicemail messages sent to your profile. Source: Expert Market

While Google Voice has the essentials, it is missing call queues and a call flip feature. These are essential tools for businesses that receive a high call volume, such as call centers or customer service teams, since call queues ensure calls aren’t dropped when lines are busy, while call flip enables agents to switch devices whilst maintaining a call. For larger businesses that need more tools for handling high call volumes, we recommend RingCentral or 8×8.

Read our RingCentral Review and our 8×8 Review for more information.

Call minutes

Like most modern VoIP systems, Google Voice allows businesses to make and receive domestic calls for an unlimited number of minutes. This includes not just calls to the US but to Canada as well, making Google Voice a great option for businesses that operate regionally.

That said, international calls are metered, with rates varying depending on the country. If your business makes frequent international calls, 8×8 is a better option since it offers unlimited outbound calling to over 47 countries.

Training

Google Voice has very limited training and monitoring features – another reason why we don’t recommend it to customer service teams. Businesses will only get access to call recording and call analytics, which provide insights into metrics such as call lengths.

Customer service teams or customer-forward businesses, such as hotels, need additional features, such as call barge, call whisper, and call monitoring, so managers can effectively train employees.

Communication features

Since Google Voice is a Google Workspace add-on, businesses won’t get access to many new communications channels besides those already included in Google Workspace.

Luckily, Google Workspace comes with a wide range of communication and collaboration tools, from email and team messaging to video calling and conferencing. It’s also easy to share documents and files between colleagues with Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms.

The one extra communication channel Google Voice affords businesses is SMS communication, which is unlimited within the US. This can be used for both internal and external communication.

All in all, Google Voice and Google Workspace provide businesses with an almost complete set of communication channels. The one feature Google Voice is missing is e-fax, which is widely used by businesses in the legal and medical fields. E-fax is offered by most competitors, including RingCentral and GoTo Connect.

Read our GoTo Connect Review for more information.

Google voice integration options with Workspace

Google Workspace users should already know the integration potential between different Google apps possible with Google Voice. Source: Expert Market

Customer service

The level of customer support you get with Google Voice depends on your Google Workspace subscription.

Every Google Workspace plan, except the Enterprise plan, comes with “Standard Support”, which includes phone support and access to a user forum and vast knowledge center.

Google Voice doesn’t offer support via live chat or email, but businesses can upgrade to “Enhanced Support” or “Premium Support” to get access to faster call response times and other forms of priority support.

Overall, Google Voice and Workspace’s customer support could be better. Competitors RingCentral and 8×8 offer support channels that Google Voice doesn’t, including email and live chat, making them more accessible.

Hardware options

Google Voice only integrates with Poly desk phones, and hardware integration isn’t available on Google Voice’s $10 per month Starter plan. This means that businesses that don’t already own Poly phones will have to upgrade their hardware if they want to use it with Google Voice.

It’s quite unusual for a VoIP system to integrate with only one desk phone brand, and most Google Voice competitors integrate with at least three. Zoom Phone and Dialpad integrate with the widest range of desk phones and are compatible with eight and four brands, respectively.

Read our Dialpad Review for more information.

Software integrations

Google Voice doesn’t integrate with any third-party apps. However, businesses can integrate third-party apps with other Google Workspace apps, such as Gmail or Google Calendar.

For example, Google Workspace integrates with popular CRM platforms, Salesforce and Zoho CRM, as well as third-party communication apps such as Zoom Video and Microsoft Teams.

That said, since Google Voice itself doesn’t integrate with third-party apps, we wouldn’t recommend the platform to businesses that need to sync call data with other platforms, such as customer service teams using helpdesk software. These businesses would do better with VoIP providers RingCentral or 8×8, which integrate directly with a wide array of software.

Security protections

Since Google Voice is run by Google, a company worth trillions that operates on a global scale, it shouldn’t be surprising that it has excellent security measures in place.

Google Voice has several security certificates, including ISO/IEC 27001, which indicate it meets global standards for excellence in data security. Google Voice users also get access to multi-factor authentication and can set user permissions and unique password rules to ensure their account stays secure.

Businesses can also reduce the number of spam or cold callers they receive, thanks to Google Voice’s caller ID, call blocking, and automatic call screening technology.

Emergency calling (911) is supported in Canada for Google Voice for Google Workspace when a service address is configured, too.

How Much Does Google Voice Cost?

Google Voice only has three pricing plans that cost between $10 USD (around $14 CAD) and $30 USD (around $42 CAD) per user per month (all pricing is listed in USD rather than CAD via Google, if you were unaware). Here are their differences:

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Google Voice Starter	Google Voice Standard	Google Voice Premier
Price $10/user/month	Price $20/user/month	Price $30/user/month
Key Features 10 user limits Unlimited domestic minutes Free calls to US from any country Free calls to Canada from US Analytics/reporting	Key Features Everything in the Starter plan + Unlimited users Virtual receptionist Customizable call routing Ring groups Call recording Desk phone integration	Key Features Everything in the Standard plan + Automatic call recording Advanced reporting

Google Voice generally costs less than competitors. For example, rival Dialpad’s pricing starts at $20 (CAD) per user per month, compared to Google Voice’s $10 (USD; about $14 CAD), while RingCentral starts at $30 (CAD) per user per month.

The best value for money Google Voice plan is the $20 (USD) per user per month Standard plan, which is around $28 CAD, since it gives businesses access to unlimited users and more call management features than the Start plan, such as an auto attendant and customizable call routing.

There isn’t much of a difference in features between the $30 USD Premier plan and the $20 USD Standard plan, besides the Premier plan’s more advanced reporting and analytics tools, so most small businesses should do just fine on the Standard plan.

What Alternatives Are There to Google Voice?

If you’ve decided Google Voice isn’t the right VoIP phone system for your business, here are some alternatives to consider. We’ve selected plans from rival VoIP providers that are suitable for small businesses:

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8×8	RingCentral	Callture	Ooma	GoTo Connect Phone System	Net2Phone Canada
Expert Rating 4.7	Expert Rating 4.6	Expert Rating 4.5	Expert Rating 4.2	Expert Rating 4.0	Expert Rating 4.0
Best For Overall VoIP provider	Best For Scalability	Best For Scaling businesses	Best For Startups	Best For Remote teams	Best For Customer satisfaction
Price Custom (C$30 – C$195)	Price C$30 – C$45	Price $26.50 per user, per month	Price $24.95 – 54.99 per user, per month (billed monthly)	Price $35 – $56 per user, per month	Price C$23.99 – C$49.99
Top Benefits Features designed to optimize contact centre performance	Top Benefits Good value plans to accommodate big teams and lots of calls	Top Benefits Affordable pricing that stays the same regardless of your team’s size or needs	Top Benefits Cheap, flexible price plans with no contracts	Top Benefits Excellent app and unified communication features	Top Benefits Easy to setup and excellent support
Learn More	Learn More	Get free quotes	Try Ooma	Get free quotes	Get free quotes

What Businesses Is Google Voice Best Suited to?

To help summarise what businesses we think Google Voice is best suited to, we’ve created the table below:

Suitable for	Not suitable for
Businesses that already use Google Workspace: Since Google Voice is a Google Workspace add-on, it only makes sense for Google Workspace users to use it, especially if they want easy integration between their VoIP system and their Google apps.	Businesses that don’t use Google Workspace: Businesses that don’t already use Google Workspace software will need to sign up for a plan and migrate their files, calendar, and email to Google Workspace if they want to use Google Voice. This will be more trouble than it’s worth for a lot of businesses.
Businesses that experience moderate call volumes: Google Voice has enough call management features to meet the needs of small businesses or teams with moderate incoming call volumes, such as sales or marketing teams. Key features include an auto-attendant and customizable routing.	Customer service teams: Google Voice comes with very limited training and monitoring features, missing key tools such as call barge and whisper. It also doesn’t integrate directly with any helpdesk software, so it’s not the best option for customer-facing teams.
Businesses that want to avoid cold-callers: Google Voice comes with excellent call filtering features, including caller ID detection, call blocking, and call screening technology. This can help businesses reduce nuisance callers and focus on answering important calls from partners, clients, or customers.	Businesses that experience high call volumes: Google Voice is missing call queues and ring groups, which are key tools to help businesses manage high call volumes. For this reason, it’s not the best option for teams or businesses, such as call centers, with constantly ringing phone lines.

Methodology: How We Reviewed Google Voice

We've researched 10 market-leading VoIP phone systems, evaluating them in terms of functionality, usability, cost, and security options, so we can make the most useful recommendations to Canadian businesses.

Using our in-house research framework and ranking process, we evaluated each VoIP system across seven core categories of interest, each weighted differently, and then combined the results to come up with a final score.

Our main testing categories for VoIP products and services are:

Cost: The pricing structure associated with the VoIP service, such as monthly subscription fees, call rates, setup fees, hardware costs, and any additional charges for add-on features or services.
Call features: The functionalities and capabilities offered by the VoIP service, including basic features such as call forwarding and voicemail, as well as advanced features like auto-attendant and conference calling.
External connections: The VoIP service's ability to connect and integrate with external systems or devices, such as compatibility with existing phone systems or integration with mobile devices.
Customer support: The assistance and resources provided by the VoIP service provider to customers, including technical support, online resources, and access to customer support representatives.
Security options: The measures and features implemented by the VoIP service to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and protection of voice communications and data.
Scalability: The ability of the VoIP service to accommodate the growth and changing needs of an organization, e.g. capacity to handle a growing number of users or support multiple locations.
Reputation: External customer opinion; the feedback and ratings given by customers who have used a particular VoIP product – the market position and reputation a VoIP software holds.

Verdict: Why Choose Google Voice?

Google Voice is a logical choice of a VoIP phone system for businesses that already use Google Workspace since the two systems integrate seamlessly, and Google Voice is an add-on product of Google Workspace.

With an affordable price point and enough core call management features to manage a moderate call volume, Google Voice is a great option for small businesses that don’t need a specialized VoIP system for customer service or call center purposes.

Larger businesses, or ones that experience high call volumes and need advanced routing and integration capabilities, should consider other options, such as RingCentral, 8×8, or Nextiva.

If you need guidance finding a VoIP phone system provider, we can help. Just tell us what you need using our free quotes form, and we’ll match you with providers. They’ll reach out with custom quotes.