The 8 Best Office and Home Office Phone Systems

Mitel’s MiVoice 6940 is our favourite phone for offices because it’s so modern in focus: it’s clearly been designed with an understanding of the flexibility and convenience that office workers love in mind. Firstly, you can integrate your mobile phone with the device, meaning you can use the 6940 to answer calls to your mobile, and browse and ring your mobile contacts. You’ve also got an impressive 96 programmable keys, so you can customise the device’s functionality to match your working priorities. What’s more, embedded bluetooth means you can connect cordless headsets for fantastic mobility (in other words, you can roam around the office while maintaining a private conversation). And this is a phone that doesn’t just feel modern, it looks modern too – the MiVoice 6940 boasts a sleek seven-inch colour touchscreen, and a cordless handset to boot.

Let’s start by saying that hands-free office phones aren’t actually a real thing. What you’re really looking for is an office phone with a headset, and you’re not likely to find these two components combined into one device. With this in mind, the best approach is to find an excellent headset that can integrate with quality desk phones, or the VoIP software you use to take calls via your mobile phone or desktop. A prime example? The Yealink WH62 headset. It boasts the noise cancelling technology needed to keep conversations clear in office environments, and can come with an integrated busy light (available at an extra cost), which you can position at the top of your computer or workstation. The light automatically turns red when you’re on a call, so your coworkers will know not to disturb you. We also love the intelligent muting function: just push the mic up and away from your mouth to have a quick private conversation.

Poly’s (formerly Polycom) VVX 250 model is a four-line IP phone. We recommend it to small offices because it provides all the functionality you’ll need for a team that makes frequent VoIP calls, but for an affordable price. It’s an entry-level phone that’s really easy to set up (just plug it in to get started), making it ideal for businesses that don’t have a dedicated IT department for technical help. The VVX 250 also boasts some nifty features that are quite rare for its price point, including a 2.8-inch colour display screen and the ability to connect the phone to your wifi (using an optional wifi dongle). This phone also offers three-way audio conferencing for important client conversations or collaboration sessions.

With the advent of the NBN (National Broadband Network), VoIP is definitely here to stay. But if you’re not ready to transition to a VoIP system and IP phones just yet, you can still use landline phones – also known as analogue phones – which connect to your traditional phone network instead of the internet. And when it comes to office landline phones, you won’t get better than Panasonic’s KX-DT680. This device is a digital phone, which means it connects to your landline, but boasts a better sound quality than a standard analogue model. It also has an impressive 4.3-inch colour LCD display screen, and full duplex audio quality via the handset, a speakerphone, and a headset jack.

Similarly to Mitel’s MiVoice 6940, Cisco’s 8865 model can integrate with your mobile phone for excellent flexibility and control over calls and contacts. But what gives this model an edge as a home office phone is its in-built video camera and screen, which enable you to have 720p HD video chats with remote colleagues in just one tap, and using only the phone. The 8865 also boasts bluetooth connectivity, so you can connect a cordless headset and go for a walk around the room – or grab a snack from the fridge – while talking. And perhaps best of all for home office workers, using Cisco Expressway with your phone system can give you single-sign-on, highly secure access to calls and your team’s collaboration tools from your position outside the company firewall.

The world of DECT (digital enhanced cordless telecommunications) phones doesn’t seem to have embraced home working as much as other phone systems have, with most cordless phones still designed for on-site teams. Snom’s M15 SC, however, has been designed with home offices in mind. This no-frills phone can take care of all your everyday calling needs, and comes with everything you need for portability: this includes a 50-metre roaming range from the base, a belt clip so you can carry it with you hands-free, and a headset jack, so you can talk without having to hold the phone to your ear. Lasting for seven hours of talk time and up to seven days in standby mode, it doesn’t boast the most impressive battery life we’ve seen, but it should provide enough juice to keep you talking through the day.

While not a phone in itself, the Jabra Evolve 20 headset can connect to over 10,000 phone models, as well as a variety of UC (unified communications) platforms – including special features for Microsoft Teams compatibility – so it’s likely to be compatible with whatever phone or system you use at home. This headset is particularly well-suited to noisier homes thanks to its advanced noise-cancelling technology, which not only blocks background noise through your ear cushions, but also through the microphone. This means your caller won’t hear your dog barking, your kids playing, or your roommate chatting, either – just your lovely, crystal clear voice. Plus, with a separate control unit for volume, mute, start call, and end call buttons, calls are incredibly easy to control.

The Konftel Ego is one of the best conference phones on the Australian market. We recommend it for home offices because it’s designed to be portable – weighing in at just 230g and boasting a 15-hour battery life, you can use it pretty much anywhere. It’s only ideal for small groups of up to six people to sit around, but that shouldn’t be a problem if you’re working away from your team. Plus, if you like face-to-face meetings, you can integrate the Ego with Konftel’s 4K Cam20 device, or regular old Skype for Business. And if you like listening to music or industry podcasts while you work, the Ego doubles as a multimedia speaker for when you’re not busy conferencing.