Written by Julia Watts Updated on 7 February 2023 On this page Top 7 best UK VoIP providers What is a VoIP system? 8x8 RingCentral Vonage GoToConnect bOnline Dialpad Nuacom How did we find the best business VoIP providers? The best VoIP providers in the UK: verdict 4 Best entry-level VoIP office phones Grandstream GXP2200 Yealink T23GN Poly VVX 601 Mitel IP485G 5 Best DECT (cordless) VoIP office phones Panasonic KX-TGP600 Mitel Aastra 632 Gigaset SL785 Yealink W52P Grandstream DP720 How does VoIP work? Benefits of VoIP for small businesses FAQs Expand Our site is reader-supported. By clicking our links, we can match you with a potential supplier, and we may earn a small commission for this referral. The best business VoIP provider in the UK is 8×8. During our extensive research, we found that 8×8 offers a broad range of excellent features, while also scoring incredibly highly for its customer support, scalability, and security functions – making it a great all-rounder for businesses. RingCentral is our close second (4.5/5), offering a similar solution, but with fewer features.With the new age of home working, as well as inflation meaning that every cost-cutting measure should be taken, there's no better time to look at a VoIP phone system for your business. Our expert researchers have selected seven of the top UK VoIP providers in total that could meet your needs. Read on to find out what each of these providers has to offer, what they’re best at, how much they cost, and how they can help your business thrive.Short on time? We can match you with business VoIP providers to help your business succeed. Get in touch to receive tailored, obligation-free quotes in a matter of minutes. Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward Best all-round 8×8 Best for customer service teams RingCentral Best for small businesses Vonage Best for startups GoToConnect Best for desk phone compatibility bOnline Best for conversational AI Dialpad Talk Best for customer satisfaction Nuacom 4.7 4.5 4.4 4.2 3.5 3.8 3.5 Pricing £10 – £36 Pricing £7.99 – £28.99 per user, per month Pricing £9 – £16.50 per user, per month Pricing £10 – £44 per user, per month Pricing £6 – £15.50 Pricing £12 per user, per month – bespoke Pricing £14.99 per user, per month – bespoke Domestic minutes Unlimited Domestic minutes 0 – 2,000 inbound and 100 – 4,000 outbound (depending on pricing plan) Domestic minutes 0 – unlimited (depending on pricing plan) Domestic minutes Unlimited Domestic minutes 100 – unlimited outbound (depending on pricing plan), unlimited inbound Domestic minutes Unlimited Domestic minutes Unlimited International minutes Unlimited to up to 48 countries International minutes Not included International minutes Not included International minutes 0 – unlimited to 50+ countries (depending on plan) International minutes Not included International minutes Not included International minutes Not included Free Trial Only on 8×8 Express Free Trial Free Trial Free Trial Free Trial Free Trial Free Trial Try 8x8 Get Quotes Get Quotes Get Quotes Get Quotes Get Quotes Get Quotes Save by comparing VoIP phone system quotes from leading providers Do you already have a business VoIP phone system? Yes No Answer a few questions – it only takes a minute The top 7 best UK business VoIP providersAccording to our detailed research, the following suppliers offer the best business VoIP phone systems available in the UK in 2023:8×8RingCentralVonageGoToConnectbOnlineDialpadNuacomRead on for more information about the VoIP services provided by each company, including features, prices, and the types of businesses they're best suited for. Our Research There are a lot of VoIP providers on the market – more than you could reasonably cover in weeks of researching. That's why we've done the research for you and picked out the most noteworthy options. By focusing on specific features and information, like pricing and customer reviews, we're able to determine the best provider for your business. What is a VoIP system?VoIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol, and refers to the software-based tech that allows businesses to make and take calls over the internet using a broadband connection, rather than through traditional phone lines. VoIP phone systems convert the sound signal of users' voices into digital data streams, which can then be sent in “packets” over the internet. The signal is passed through an Ethernet cable to the VoIP server or gateway, before connecting with the internet.Investing in a VoIP phone system gives you the freedom to use a variety of different devices to make and receive calls.If you're worried that VoIP can only apply to desk phones (also known as IP phones), don't worry! VoIP calls can be made by computers or laptops, and if portability is important to you, tablets and smart phones can also make VoIP calls.VoIP phone systems also enable much cheaper domestic calls, and low price per minute international calls, too. Not to mention the fact that they come with a variety of call management and collaboration features, helping make your communications with customers and teammates run smoothly and professionally. They're especially handy for home working, as long as each employee has a strong Wi-Fi connection.Watch our video for an explanation of VoIP and how it works: 8×8 – Best all-round business VoIP provider in the UK 8x8 4.7 Pricing £10 – £135 Get an 8x8 quote Full review Why is 8x8 the best all-round VoIP provider? Our detailed research has shown that, overall, 8x8 is the best VoIP provider for UK businesses. It scored incredibly well in a number of our research categories, including features, security, customer support, and scalability, and scored 4.7/5 overall – our highest rating. Read more + Read less - Strengths Offers the best variety of features, with super generous video and call conferencing Excellent 24/7 customer support - better than GoTo and Nuacom's offering Lots of security features, including encryption and compliance certifications Easiest to scale out of every competitor Weaknesses Can become expensive, with prices reaching as high as £135 per user, per month No spam prevention, while this is offered by GoTo and Vonage Aggregated customer review score is lower than Vonage, Nuacom, Dialpad, and every competitor except Ring Central Pricing See more See less PackageStarting price per user, per month (paying annually)Starting price per user, per month (paying monthly) Express £10 £10 X2 £19 £25 X4 £36 £47 X6 (with contact centre features) £85 N/A X7 (with contact centre features) £105 N/A X8 (with contact centre features) £135 N/A Pricing correct as of February 2023In particular, we love the breadth of features available on 8×8’s plans. As you’ll see in our key features analysis below, from the X2 plan upwards, 8×8 boasts all the features we know to be most important for productive comms with customers and clients – from unlimited minutes and local numbers to ring groups, call queues, and CRM integrations.8×8’s security features also impressed us, earning the provider a score of 5/5 in this category. With multiple compliance certifications, multi-factor authentication, password rules, and TLS/SRTP encryption, 8×8 does a lot to ensure your company’s calls and data are kept under lock and key.Finally, as a result of our research, we can tell you that 8×8 offers a really good level of customer support (it also scored 5/5 here) – something any provider must do before we could reasonably call it the best! 8×8 has a user forum and a knowledge base to peruse, and a 24/7 live chat function and phone line for those out-of-hours issues. Email support is also available for your less time-sensitive queries.As we’ve noted, cost is 8×8’s main downfall. In our in-depth analysis, it earns a score of 2.5/5 for price, which reflects the fact that 8×8 is one of the most expensive phone systems on the market. That said, you do pay for what you get, and 8×8 is bursting with more excellent features than its competitors on this list. After all, 8×8 scores a stellar 4.6/5 for features, the highest features score we awarded in this category in our research. It’s also worth noting that 8×8 scores 4.9/5 for scalability, so investing in it now could mean easier growth for your business in the future.8×8’s key features for businessesExpressX2X4X6X7X8Unlimited domestic minutes✓✓✓✓✓✓Unlimited international minutes✘✓ To 14 countries✓ To 48 countries✓ To 48 countries✓ To 48 countries✓ To 48 countriesLocal numbers✓✓✓✓✓✓Ring group✘✓✓✓✓✓Call queues✘✓✓✓✓✓Video callingUp to 100 peopleUp to 500 peopleUp to 500 peopleUp to 500 peopleUp to 500 peopleUp to 500 peopleCall conferencingCRM conferencing✘✓✓✓✓✓CRM integration99.999% Uptime SLAOnboarding support‘Customer Success Managers’, likely at an extra chargeLive customer support24/7 live chat and phone lineIn our research, 8×8 scores 4.6/5 for its range of features – the best score achieved by any of the providers we analysed. Boasting all the features we’ve identified as most important for business communications and smooth operations, it’s easy to see why 8×8 does so well here.One thing to note is that 8×8 is one of the most generous VoIP providers when it comes to call conferencing and video meetings, with capacity for a whopping 500 people to join in at once. This could be a very helpful thing if you tend to run company-wide meetings, or you’re looking to scale your business at pace.It’s also worth noting that 8×8 can integrate with a solid range of CRM systems: Salesforce, Copper, Freshdesk, Hubspot, MS Dynamics, Pipedrive, Zendesk, Zoho, 1CRM, Bullhorn, Copper, and Sugar.Of course, you can see that the cheapest plan, 8×8 Express, misses out on a few of the features we’d want to see. That said, this is an entry-level plan tailored to startups and small businesses, and the absent features aren’t necessarily ones you’d need if you’re in this boat.How does 8×8 compare with its competitors?When compared with other UK business VoIP providers, 8×8 comes out on top in most criteria. But one thing it absolutely does better than any other provider is offer a huge variety of features. In this respect, it especially outshines GoToConnect, Nuacom, and bOnline, all of which offer a limited range of features.That said, all of these providers (and GoToConnect, in particular) get their own back when it comes to pricing, as their systems are all better value for money than 8×8’s – coming with fewer features, yes, but cheaper prices to match. RingCentral – Best business VoIP provider for customer service teams RingCentral 4.5 Pricing £7.99 – £29.99 Get free quotes Full review Why is RingCentral best for customer service teams? Scoring 4.5/5 overall in our research, RingCentral is a close second to 8x8. However, it’s less of a solid all-rounder and more of an excellent option for customer service teams specifically. Read more + Read less - Strengths Excellent customer support, tied with 8x8 for the best score Offers an excellent range of ready-made integrations Comes with a great range of features, second only to 8x8 Tied with 8x8 for the best scalability score Weaknesses Doesn't offer great value for money, scoring 2.3/5 in our cost analysis Aggregated customer review score of 3.5/5 No first-party desktop phones Pricing See more See less PlanPrice (per user, per month billed annually)Price (per user, per month, billed monthly) Essentials £7.99 £12.99 Standard £14.99 £18.99 Premium £19.99 £23.99 Ultimate £24.99 £28.99 Pricing correct as of February 2023Customer service teams have to deal with a lot of incoming calls. RingCentral boasts a great range of features to help make light work of this, including a virtual receptionist, local toll-free numbers, and customisable greetings and hold music on all of its plans. Upgrading to a Premium or Ultimate plan will also enable you to set up ring groups and call queues, to organise your callers even more smoothly. RingCentral also comes with external video calling and SMS features, giving your customers more ways to get in contact with your team.Of course, training is hugely important in the world of customer service – your team’s phone manner has to be great, after all. RingCentral comes with features that can help with this, including call transcripts, call recording, call monitoring, call whisper, and call barge. Be wary, though, that RingCentral’s cheapest packages don’t offer all of these, so you’ll have to pay a little more for the full breadth of training and monitoring tools.Finally, it’s worth knowing that RingCentral comes with ready-made integrations with helpdesk, workspace, email, conferencing, and messaging platforms to help unify your comms and easily hold customer data. Once again, though, most of this is only available on RingCentral’s Premium and Ultimate plans.In our analysis, RingCentral scores a below average 2.3/5 for pricing, which isn’t great. At first glance, RingCentral is a nice and affordable option, and it's cheaper than 8×8. But we gave it a lower score because, on closer inspection, you’ll find that it offers less value for your money. As you’ll see in the key features analysis below, the majority of RingCentral’s really valuable features only become unlocked when you pay for its pricier packages. Its minute allowances, in particular, are very low on its entry level plans, while other providers offer unlimited minutes right from the off.RingCentral’s key features for businessesEssentialsStandardPremiumUltimateUnlimited domestic minutes✘ 0 inbound, 100 outbound*✘ 250 inbound, 750 outbound*✘ 1,000 inbound, 2,000 outbound*✘ 2,000 inbound, 4,000 outbound*International minutes✘✘✘✘Local numbers✓✓✓✓Ring group✘✘✓✓Call queues✘✘✓✓Video calling✘Up to 100 peopleUp to 200 peopleUp to 200 peopleCall conferencing✘✓✓✓CRM integration✘✘✓✓Uptime guarantee99.999% Uptime SLA99.999% Uptime SLA99.999% Uptime SLA99.999% Uptime SLAOnboarding support✘✓✓✓Live customer support24/7 live chat and phone line24/7 live chat and phone line24/7 live chat and phone line24/7 live chat and phone line*inclusive minutes per account, per monthDuring our research, we gave RingCentral a features score of 4.3/5, our second-highest features score (after 8×8). This is because it comes with an excellent variety of features to help manage the internal and external communications of your business.One thing to be aware of is that RingCentral’s Essentials plan does what it says: it provides VoIP system essentials, but not a lot more. It’s on RingCentral’s higher tiered packages that you’ll find things like video conferencing, CRM integrations, and generous inclusive minutes. So, if you’re running a larger business with more varied needs, do bear that in mind.That said, once you do have access to CRM integrations, you’ll almost definitely be able to conjoin RingCentral with your system of choice – it can integrate with 97 different CRM apps.How does RingCentral compare with its competitors?RingCentral is hot on 8×8’s heels in many aspects, with a breadth of features that comes closer to 8×8’s than any other provider. It just falls short of matching it, missing benefits, such as unlimited domestic minutes, and features that include custom call lists. Plus, ready-made integrations are available on fewer of its plans. However, it does match 8×8’s shining customer support offering, and provides just as much scope to easily scale your business. Save by comparing VoIP phone system quotes from leading providers Do you already have a VoIP phone system? Yes No Answer a few questions – it only takes a minute Vonage – Best VoIP provider for small businesses Vonage 4.4 Pricing £9 – £16.50+ Get free quotes Vonage review Why is Vonage best for small businesses? Vonage is our top choice for small businesses for a number of reasons. Firstly, it offers excellent value for money (in these stakes, it was beaten only by GoToConnect, our top pick for startups), with plenty of features, including unified communications tools such as video conferencing and team messaging, available even on Vonage’s cheapest plans. Unlimited domestic minutes only kick in on the Professional and Ultimate plans but, as you’ll see, these packages are still very affordably priced. Read more + Read less - Strengths Great value for money, with affordable pricing plans Easy to scale, scoring our second highest score and beating GoTo Connect, Nuacom, and Dialpad One of the only providers with a spam prevention feature Weaknesses Less generous features than 8x8, RingCentral, and Dialpad. It's missing a power dialer, an auto-dialer, and an predictive dialing Doesn't offer multi-factor authentication or password rules, making for weaker security features on offer Weaker external connections offering than 8x8 and Ring Central (as it doesn't offer email integration or analytics) Pricing See more See less PackagePrice (per user, per month) Select £9 Professional From £12.50 Ultimate From £16.50 Pricing correct as of February 2023We know small businesses are often looking for pathways to growth, so it’s great that Vonage did very well in our scalability comparison, scoring 4.5/5 on this front. The ring group, call queue, and call routing features on Vonage’s more advanced plans will help your team handle growing volumes of calls, while call recording, monitoring, and analytics will help you train new staff and ensure the quality of your business’s comms is top notch. There’s also the fact that Vonage allows an unlimited number of users on all of its plans, so you won’t be forced to pay for an upgrade once your team hits a particular size.Small businesses should also feel reassured by the decent level of support Vonage offers to its users, including a user forum, a knowledge base, and live chat, email, and phone support (though you should be aware that these lines aren’t open 24/7). Vonage’s 99.999% uptime guarantee means it’s unlikely your all-important income will be unexpectedly impacted by downtime.Vonage’s value for money is its key strength, earning a score of 4.3/5 for pricing in our research. With prices ranging from just £9 to £16.50 per user, per month, Vonage’s monthly fees are incredibly low for such a comprehensive system – it has unified communications features, including video conferencing and team messaging, available on all plans. This makes it a fantastic options for small businesses that are dealing with narrow budgets.Vonage’s key features for businessesSelectProfessionalUltimateUnlimited domestic minutes✘✓ To domestic landlines✓International minutes✘✘✘Local numbers✓✓✓Ring group✘✓✓Call queues✘✓✓Video calling✓✓✓Call conferencingUp to 3 people free, up to 30 at an additional costUp to 3 people free, up to 30 at an additional costUp to 3 people free, up to 30 at an additional costCRM integrationAt an additional costAt an additional costAt an additional costUptime guarantee99.999%99.999%99.999%Onboarding supportAt an additional costAt an additional costAt an additional costLive customer supportLive chat and phone lineLive chat and phone lineLive chat and phone lineSomething that’s likely to jump out at you is how many of these key features come at an additional cost. Obviously, this isn’t ideal when other VoIP providers include things like CRM integration and onboarding support for free. That said, Vonage’s monthly fees are already cheap enough that paying extra on top shouldn’t necessarily break the bank.How does Vonage compare to its competitors?As we've mentioned, Vonage offers great value for money. In this respect it almost beats all of the VoIP providers on this list. The exceptions are bOnline, which offers a very similar level of value for money (bOnline is cheaper than Vonage, but also less robust); and GoTo, which offers the best bang for your buck. Vonage also stands out for its scalability, proving itself to be easier to scale than the providers on this list, except for 8×8 and RingCentral.When it comes to features, though, Vonage is fairly middle of the road. It doesn't offer as many as 8×8, RingCentral, or Dialpad, but it offers a better breadth of features than bOnline, Nuacom, and GoTo. GoToConnect – Best business VoIP provider for startups GoTo 4.2 Pricing £10 – £44 Get free quotes Full review Why is GoTo best for startups? GoTo’s phone system, GoToConnect, is our favourite VoIP system for startups. When you’re starting a business, you have to make sure you’re getting as much as you can for as little money as possible. During our research, GoToConnect was our top scorer in the category of value for money, earning 4.5/5 – so it’s a good bet if you’re looking to secure helpful features like unlimited domestic minutes and multiple communications channels (such as phone, video chat, and messaging) for a relatively small price tag. Read more + Read less - Strengths Offers the best value for money out there Has a good reputation among customers, with an aggregated review score of 4.4 International calling to over 50 countries Weaknesses Fewer ready-made integrations than the other providers (except Dialpad) No 24/7 customer support or live chat, unlike 8x8 and Ring Central Slightly lower uptime guarantee of 99.996%, lower than Ring Central, 8x8, and Vonage Pricing See more See less PlanStarting price per user, per month Basic £10 Standard £21 Premium £44 Pricing correct as of February 2023As your startup accrues a customer base, you’ll need a VoIP system that can help you communicate with potential customers and clients as professionally as possible. With GoToConnect, you can set up a virtual receptionist, customisable on-hold music, recorded greetings, and voicemail capability to give callers a polished experience when they get in touch. You can also set up local numbers, so customers don’t have to pay to phone you. Better still for budget-conscious new businesses, these features are all available on GoToConnect’s cheapest package.Of course, it’s likely that you won’t stay at startup size forever. Fortunately, GoToConnect’s unlimited user limit and available call management features mean it’s a scalable system – it earned a scalability score of 4.4/5 in our analysis.If bang for your buck is what you’re after, GoToConnect has it. Earning a top score of 4.5/5 in our pricing analysis, GoToConnect offers the best value for money out of all the VoIP providers we researched. It gives you unlimited domestic minutes on all plans; and it also enables you to call over 50 different countries on its Standard and Premium plans, while still providing solid, unified communications features for collaboration across the board.GoToConnect’s key features for businessesBasicStandardPremiumUnlimited domestic minutes✓✓✓International minutes✘✓ To 50+ countries✓ To 50+ countriesLocal numbers✓✓✓Ring group✓✓✓Call queues✓✓✓Video callingUp to 4 peopleUp to 150 peopleUp to 250 peopleCall conferencing✓✓✓CRM integration✓✓✓Uptime guarantee99.996%99.996%99.996%Onboarding support✓✓✓Live customer supportPhone linePhone linePhone lineThe first thing you might notice here is that even GoToConnect’s cheapest plan comes with the vast majority of the features we know to be the most important for businesses (everything except inclusive international minutes, but these are unlikely to be integral to a UK startup’s operations anyway). We weren’t lying when we said this VoIP software offers brilliant value for money!That said, there are a few weaknesses to pluck out from our key features analysis. GoToConnect provides free CRM integration, but it can only integrate with Salesforce or Zoho. Compared with RingCentral’s ability to integrate with 97 different CRM systems, GoToConnect comes off a little stingy here. Of course, this won’t matter if your CRM of choice is Salesforce or Zoho.As we’ve already mentioned, GoToConnect’s customer support isn’t comprehensive. It can offer you support over the phone and via email, but these lines aren’t open 24/7, and – somewhat archaically – there’s no live chat option for those of us who prefer to tap out a question for an instant response.Finally, it’s worth noting that GoToConnect’s video conferencing platform will only allow up to four participants per call on the Basic plan. Obviously this will be enough for you if your team’s no larger than this, but you should bear in mind that, as your team grows, you may need to upgrade to the Standard plan for larger, video-based meetings.How does GoToConnect compare with its competitors?When compared with its competitors, GoToConnect does well, with a better average customer review score than 8×8, RingCentral, and Vonage. We also rated it as easier to scale than Nuacom, Dialpad, and bOnline. Its strongest advantage, though, is the fact that it offers better value for money than all of the providers on this page (have we mentioned that already?).However, GoToConnect didn't fare so well when we compared integrations. Only Dialpad has a smaller range of ready-made integrations than GoToConnect – the other providers on this page all come ready to integrate with a bigger range of software. It's also worth noting that GoToConnect's array of features isn't as comprehensive as the feature sets you'd get with 8×8, RingCentral, Dialpad, or Vonage. bOnline – Best business VoIP provider for desk phone compatibility bOnline 3.5 Pricing £6 – £15.50 Get free quotes Why is bOnline best for desk phone compatibility? During our research, we found that bOnline is compatible with the biggest variety of third-party desk phone manufacturers. All the VoIP systems we analysed are compatible with one to four desk phone brands – except for bOnline, which is compatible with seven: Panasonic, Yealink, Poly, Aastra, Alcatel, AudioCodes, and Htek. Read more + Read less - Strengths Good option for small businesses, offering great value for money beaten only by GoTo Connect Excellent reputation among customers, with an aggregated review score of 4.5, beaten only by Nuacom Can also provide business fibre broadband, and web design services Weaknesses Offers fewer features than all the other providers, except Nuacom. It's missing spam prevention, an auto-dialer, and custom call lists CRM integration costs £5 extra on the cheaper plans Lacks security features, like user permissions, multi-factor authentication, and compliance certificates Pricing See more See less PackagePrice per user, per month (paid annually) Pay As You Go £6 Unlimited Calling £13.95 Unlimited & Video £15.50 Pricing correct as of February 2023But why is this significant? Well, it means that if you already have desk phones in situ, the likelihood that a bOnline system will be able to slot neatly into that infrastructure, without the need for you to spend money on all new phones, is pretty high. That said, there is one notable absence on bOnline’s list of compatible phone brands: Cisco. So if you already have Cisco phones on your premises, that’s something to be aware of.As we’ve mentioned, bOnline’s pricing is one of its major strengths, earning a good score of 4.3/5 in our cost analysis. Ranging from just £6 to £14.95 per user, per month (when paid for annually), it’s one of the cheapest VoIP providers you’ll come across. With unlimited minutes available on most plans, as well as free Yealink T31P desk phones on the Unlimited & Video package, bOnline offers excellent value for money.bOnline’s key features for businessesPay As You GoUnlimited CallingUnlimited & VideoUnlimited domestic minutesUnlimited inbound, 100 outbound*✓✓International minutes✘✘✘Local numbers✓✓✓Ring group✘✓✓Call queues✘✓✓Video calling✘✓✓Call conferencing✘✓✓CRM integrationAvailable for £5 extra per monthAvailable for £5 extra per month✓Uptime guarantee99.9%99.9%99.9%Onboarding support✘✓✓Live customer supportLive chat and phone lineLive chat and phone lineLive chat and phone line*Inclusive minutes per user, per monthAs you can see, bOnline’s cheapest package, Pay As You Go, is super basic, offering very few of the key features we’d recommend businesses look to secure.Really, this plan should only suit you if you’re a single person operation, have a pretty small customer base, and who’s just looking to set up a professional phone number. If you run a larger business, you’ll find much more value in bOnline’s pricier plans (take the word “pricier” with a pinch of salt here, because even bOnline’s most expensive plan is relatively very cheap).Another thing to take note of is the fact that bOnline charges £5 per month for CRM integration on its Pay As You Go and Unlimited Calling plans. This is a pain, for sure, when other providers include ready-made CRM integrations in their packages. However, these two bOnline plans are pretty cheap to start with, so an extra fiver shouldn’t necessarily break the bank. Helpfully, bOnline can integrate with 11 different CRM systems, including Salesforce, MS Dynamics, and Hubspot.How does bOnline compare with its competitors?Among its competitors, bOnline stands out when it comes to price, offering as much bang for your buck as Vonage (bOnline has fewer features, but is also cheaper, so this balances out). Here it's beaten only by GoTo, the best VoIP provider for value for money. bOnline also boasts an excellent reputation among customers, with an aggregated customer rating of 4.5/5 – higher than the scores customers gave Dialpad, GoTo, Vonage, RingCentral, and 8×8. The only VoIP provider with a higher customer score is Nuacom, with 4.6/5.That said, there are a few areas where bOnline is beaten by its competitors – its security features, scalability, and customer support options are all outperformed by the other providers on this list. Dialpad – Best business VoIP provider for conversational AI Dialpad 3.8 Pricing £12 – bespoke Get free quotes Dialpad review Why is Dialpad best for conversational AI? We like to recommend Dialpad because its phone system has a really standout – and somewhat futuristic – feature: conversational AI. Known as Dialpad Ai, this function accurately transcribes your phone calls in real-time, flags whether or not the conversation is negative or positive (empowering you to check in on the call transcripts that need reviewing), automates post-call summaries, including highlights and action items, and enables you to create notes with tips and advice that appear on screen when certain keywords or phrases are spoken on a call. Reassuringly, Dialpad Ai can be switched off to avoid transcribing sensitive calls. Read more + Read less - Strengths Great customer support, including a user forum, knowledge base, and live chat Offers the best range of features after 8x8 and RingCentral Great customer reputation, with an aggregated review score of 4.4 Ring group functionality available on the cheapest plan Weaknesses Fewest ready-made integrations with other systems Not very easy to scale, scoring 3.3/5 in our scalability analysis Only set up one local number per user Only the most expensive package has an uptime guarantee Pricing See more See less PlanPrice (per user, per month) Standard £12 Pro £20 Enterprise Bespoke Pricing correct as of February 2023This feature would prove most helpful for businesses with sales teams, call centres, or contact centres, as it can help your team to quickly make sense of high volumes of calls, with instant visibility over outcomes and next steps, and access to in-the-moment coaching.Dialpad’s pricing is good, earning it a reasonable score of 4/5 in our pricing analysis. Starting at £12 per user, per month, Dialpad is certainly affordable, but its plans don’t offer quite as much value for money as GoTo, Vonage, or bOnline. You should also take note of the fact that the Enterprise plan comes with custom pricing – this will be worked out on a case-by-case business, so it’s difficult to predict how much it’ll cost without getting a quote directly from Dialpad.Dialpad’s key features for businessesStandardProEnterpriseUnlimited domestic minutes✓✓✓International minutes✘✘✘Local numbersOne per userOne per userOne per userRing group✓✓✓Call queues✘✓✓Video calling✓✓✓Call conferencing✓✓✓CRM integration✘✓✓Uptime guarantee✘✘100%Onboarding supportAt an additional costAt an additional costAt an additional costLive customer supportLive chat24/7 live chat and phone line24/7 live chat and phone lineDialpad’s Pro and Enterprise plans provide a lot of the important features needed by businesses. Alongside GoTo and Nuacom, Dialpad is one of the only providers we analysed that offers ring group functionality on its cheapest plan, which is a nice tick in its favour.However, there are limitations to call out. Firstly, ready-made CRM system integration is only available with Salesforce, Zendesk, and Hubspot, which is something to be aware of if you don’t use one of these three systems for your customer relationship management. That said, the software does have an open API, so you may be able to create your own integration with a CRM system of your choice.It’s a little disappointing that Dialpad’s Enterprise plan is the only package that actually comes with an uptime guarantee. That guarantee is 100%, which, in theory, means that your system will never go down. It’s a shame this excellent promise isn’t replicated for Standard and Pro users, who are left wondering how likely it is that their system could suffer an outage.Finally, it’s worth pointing out that Dialpad only enables you to set up one local number per system user. Of course, that’s totally fine if that’s all you need. But if you’d like your integral team members to be contactable on a variety of numbers, well, that’s not possible with Dialpad. You can try RingCentral or 8×8 to tick this off your list.How does Dialpad compare to its competitors?Dialpad offers a great selection of customer support channels, and earns a customer support score (4.5/5) that's only beaten by 8×8 and RingCentral, who both score a 5/5. Its variety of features is also really solid and, again, 8×8 and RingCentral are the only VoIP providers that offer a comprehensive array of features. But Dialpad finally one-ups these two giants when it comes to price and customer satisfaction – Dialpad's prices are cheaper, and its average customer review score (of 4.4/5) is higher than 8×8's and RingCentral's (both 3.5).However, Dialpad is definitely let down by its lack of ready-made integrations – it has the fewest of all the providers on this list. It's also not as easy to scale as 8×8, RingCentral, Vonage, GoToConnect, or Nuacom. bOnline is the only system that's more difficult to scale. Nuacom – Best business VoIP provider for customer satisfaction Nuacom 3.5 Pricing £14.99 – bespoke Get free quotes Nuacom review Why is Nuacom best for customer satisfaction? When shopping around for business software, we know how useful it can be to look at user reviews. More often than not, they’re the first things we seek out: after all, they’ve been written by real people, who’ve had real experience with the system in question. Read more + Read less - Strengths Boasts the best customer review score on this page Set up ring groups and call queues on the cheapest plan Weaknesses Least generous range of features on this page No unified communications tools, like video chat or messaging Not great for scalability or ready-made integrations Pricing See more See less PlanStarting price (per user, per month) Unlimited £14.99 Call Centre £29.99 Enterprise Bespoke Pricing correct as of February 2023So it’s a huge pro for Nuacom that, of all the UK VoIP providers we analysed, it has the best overall review score from its customers. We aggregated user ratings from software review sites G2, Capterra, Trustpilot, and TrustRadius, resulting in a fantastic overall score of 4.6/5 for this VoIP provider.In our cost analysis, Nuacom scores 3.8/5, which means it’s not the best VoIP provider out there when it comes to value for money. Starting at £14.99 per user, per month, its Unlimited plan is the most expensive entry-level VoIP package we researched. The jump up to £29.99 per user, per month on the Call Centre plan is quite a big leap to take for growing businesses that want to move onto the advanced packages. That said, Nuacom is still cheaper overall than 8×8 and RingCentral.Nuacom’s key features for businessesUnlimitedCall centreEnterpriseUnlimited domestic minutes✓✓✓International minutes✘✘✘Local numbers✓✓✓Ring group✓✓✓Call queues✓✓OptionalVideo calling✘✘✘Call conferencing✓✓✓CRM integration✓✓OptionalUptime guaranteeOptionalOptionalOptionalOnboarding support15-minute session15-minute session15-minute sessionLive customer supportLive chat and phone lineLive chat and phone lineLive chat and phone lineWith Nuacom, you can set up ring groups and call queues even on the cheapest plan, which is generous considering that most VoIP providers only offer these features with their advanced plans (GoTo is the only other provider on this list that makes these features available straight away).On the flipside, one huge downfall for Nuacom is that it doesn’t come with any video conferencing capability. In fact, it doesn’t provide any unified communications features, with no sign of team messaging or document sharing tools either. Nuacom may be all about the VoIP phone technology but, nowadays, it’s reasonable for you to expect a comprehensive collaboration platform from your VoIP provider, so you don’t have to pay more to sign up to additional systems. It seems Nuacom is a little behind on this front.It’s also interesting that Nuacom’s uptime guarantees are optional. We presume they’re add-ons that you can pay extra for, or negotiate to be included in your package.How does Nuacom compare with its competitors?As we've mentioned, Nuacom beats everyone else when it comes to customer satisfaction. But, interestingly, it's come up fairly average in most of our other research categories. For example, it scores a 3.8/5 for scalability, which means it's easier to scale than Dialpad and bOnline, but not as easy to scale as 8×8, RingCentral, Vonage, or GoToConnect. And, in some respects, Nuacom is worse than average – it offers the smallest range of features of all these VoIP providers. How did we find the best business VoIP providers?Our team of independent researchers has conducted an in-depth dive into seven of the most used and best-rated business phone system suppliers on the market. We prioritised all the possible features that businesses might need from a VoIP provider, which include:Price: How much does this product cost?External Connections: Will the product seamlessly integrate into a businesses existing communications infrastructure?Features: What can this product do? Is it a barebones phone, or does it come with more interesting features that can make it worth the cost?Customer Support: What options do the providers offer you if you need help with their products?Security: How safe are the VoIP connections? Are there safeguards against external players?Customer Score: We’ve aggregated customer reviews from platforms like Trustpilot and Capterra to assure you that our knowledge is robust on paper, and also in practiceScalability: We looked at how easy each VoIP provider makes it to grow your business. How do they address adding new phones to an existing system? The best VoIP providers in the UK: the verdict Offering a dazzlingly and comprehensive range of features alongside top-notch security measures and customer support channels, as well as excellent scalability, our research reveals that 8×8 is the best business VoIP provider in the UK. RingCentral comes in close second, and is our top pick for customer service teams.If your business is still growing, you should know that Vonage is the best VoIP provider for small businesses, and GoToConnect is the best option for startups. Meanwhile, bOnline is compatible with the biggest range of desk phones, and Dialpad stands out for its futuristic conversational AI features. Finally, Nuacom is the VoIP provider that has earned the very best average review score from its customers.But if you're still looking for help when it comes to choosing the best business VoIP provider for your team – our free quote comparison tool can help! Simply tell us a little bit about your business, and we'll match you up with the best VoIP providers for you. They'll then be in touch with tailored, obligation-free quotes. It's a quick and easy way to compare the right options for you. Top 9 business VoIP Desk PhonesVoIP desk phones work with a cloud-based VoIP, or hybrid IP-PBX solution. They provide physical desk solutions that are headset compatible (ie. not softphones). They can be used alongside other components from your VoIP phone system provider, such as smartphone applications and desktop computers.We’ve included our top picks for entry-level, wired VoIP systems and DECT (cordless) VoIP systems below: 4 best entry-level VoIP office phonesThe selection of phones below includes basic, wired models that function a lot like conventional desk phones: 1. Grandstream GXP2200 Android desktop phone Grandstream GXP2200 This is an inexpensive corded multimedia Android VoIP phone. It features a responsive touchscreen LCD, in addition to hard keys for functions such as mute, voicemail, hold and so on. As this phone uses an Android operating system, it enables access to popular apps, such Skype, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Google Voice.The Grandstream GXP2200 is a modern, feature-rich desk phone ideal for forward-thinking businesses. This VoIP phone will suit all types of organisations. Apps can be downloaded via Google Play Store, or you can create custom ones. It has a 4.3 inch touchscreen LCD.Price: £80 Overall Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Key features:✓ Directory with 1,000 contacts✓ Call history holds 500 records✓ Call transfer, forwarding, and waiting✓ HD wideband audio 2. Yealink T23GN Dual Gigabit Ethernet IP phone Yealink T23GN A well-priced phone with an easy-to-use interface and HD audio. Features include: call hold, mute, one touch speed dial and call forwarding. It also has local three-way conferencing, ring tone selection and import, and a local phone book with 1000 entries.The Yealink T23GN is a full featured IP-PBX phone which accepts three lines, has caller display and anonymous call rejection. It’s a good all-round VoIP desk phone for any office, but especially small to medium sized businesses. The only downside (which stops it from bagging a perfect 5/5) is that its interface isn't the most user-friendly, which represents a slight learning curve for new users.Price: £75 Overall Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Key features:✓ Large directory✓ Extensive features✓ Dual gigabit Ethernet ports✓ 132 x 64 white backlit display 3. Poly VVX 601 Poly VVX 601 The Poly (formerly Polycom) VVX 601 is a more advanced VoIP desk phone option. It gives exceptional call quality and has a large, very responsive touchscreen. This corded phone supports up to 16 lines, video conferencing and playback through the use of external USB cameras. It also features HD voice technology.The Poly VVX 601 is one of the most popular VoIP phones available. The bright display enables users to manage their calendars, and receive meeting and catch up reminders, all on their phone handset. This capability saves time and boosts productivity. Although it's a pretty robust product, it's definitely pricier than other options on the market, which doesn't make it suitable for businesses that are aiming to tighten their belt. This is why we've shied away from giving it a higher rating.Price: £215 Overall Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Key features:✓ 4.3″ LCD touchscreen✓ Bluetooth integration✓ HD voice quality✓ Dual USB ports 4. Mitel IP485G Mitel IP485G A general office VoIP desktop phone, the IP485G has a backlit colour display with a searchable, expanded directory. It has built in visual voicemail alongside standard transfer, conference call and on hold features.The Mitel IP485G phone is ideal for an office-based professional. It has a full duplex speakerphone, visual voice and conferencing capability, and a 10/100/1000 Ethernet switch for Gigabit speed. However, Mitel isn't perfect and its rating drops lower than other providers because its infrastructure isn't the most scalable, making it harder to use for larger enterprisesPrice: £75 Overall Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Key features:✓ Eight lines✓ Expanded call history✓ LED indicators✓ 480 x 272 backlit colour display Best DECT VoIP Office PhonesVoIP DECT phones are cordless, making them more mobile than traditional VoIP telephones.The most innovative phones have a wide range of features, including large colour LED displays, SMS facilities, and integrated phone books. VoIP DECT phones are manufactured by many of the big telecoms companies, including BT, Mitel, Siemens, Panasonic, Cisco, and Gigaset.Here’s our pick of the top five around today: 1. Panasonic KX-TGP600 DECT Phone Panasonic KX-TGP600 The Panasonic KX-TGP600 suits small to medium sized businesses which need a more mobile desk phone. It’s a wireless VoIP DECT phone which can fit eight handsets to each base and will handle eight simultaneous calls.This phone has a vivid colour screen and a long battery life. SRTP (Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol) is available for extra phone security. The phone has an excellent and extendable range.Price: £85 Overall Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Key features:✓ Range of 100-200 feet✓ Noise reduction technology✓ 200 hours standby battery life / 11 hours talk time✓ Repeaters available to extend connection range 2. Mitel Aastra 632 DECT Phone Mitel Aastra 632 The Mitel 632 DECT is a hardy DECT business phone. It can be used outside, or in industrial environments. It’s perfect for factory floors and care or medical facilities, as it’s easy to clean and complies with hygiene requirements. It also has a sensor alarm and an emergency call key suited to hospitals or highly secure areas.A superb quality workplace phone for both general and specialised environments. It has a colour TFT display, extensive telephone book, ambient noise filter, and a mini USB PC interface, and many more features. The Mitel 632 has all the functionality and navigation you would expect, plus the added benefit of its robust design for certain workplaces.Price: £85 Overall Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Key features:✓ 12-hour talk time✓ Man down, no movement, and escape alarm✓ Hands-free operation 3. Gigaset SL785 DECT phone Gigaset SL785 The Gigaset SL785 is ideal for home and office-use. It has positive reviews for its touchscreen interface with integrated answering machine (45 minute recording capacity) and ECO DECT technology for reduced battery and power usage.The slick design makes this model perfect for modern businesses and the clear display offers a number of functionality benefits. Other advantages include: directory transfer options and the ability to store multiple numbers under one directory entry.Price: £195 Overall Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Key features:✓ Bluetooth enabled✓ Base handset locator✓ Call recording✓ 15-hour talk time 4. Yealink W52P Yealink W52P With a 1.8 inch colour display and intuitive user interface, the Yealink W52P offers all the standard features you would expect including intercom, transfer, call forwarding and three-way conferencing.With a 1.8” colour display and intuitive user interface. The Yealink W52P offers all the standard features you would expect including intercom, transfer, call forwarding and three-way conferencing. The downside is that the setup can be a bit tricky, which could be discouraging for some users who just want to get their unified communications infrastructure up and running as quickly as possible.Price: £90 Overall Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Key features:✓ Exceptional HD sound✓ Highly scalable✓ Up to 4 simultaneous calls✓ Up to 5 VoIP accounts 5. Grandstream DP720 DECT IP Phone Grandstream DP720 This is an inexpensive VoIP solution that gets the job done. Up to five phones can be attached to a single DECT hub and up to 10 SIP accounts per handset. It’s a full HD audio phone with a long range that’s perfect for small businesses or as a home phone.The Grandstream DP720 is a high quality DECT wireless IP phone designed for homes and small business. It has three-way local conferencing, phonebook, and DECT authentication and encryption technology. With a modern design and high-end features, it’s a great phone for a great price. The main sticking point with Grandstream is that while it's great for small businesses, its features offer prevents it from being the scalable solution that medium to large enterprises might be looking for.Price: £50 Overall Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Key features:✓ 10-hour talk time✓ 80-hour standby mode✓ 300 metre outdoor range, 50 metre indoor range✓ 5 phones per DECT base ▶ Read more: Best SIP providers UK How does VoIP work?VoIP stands for “Voice over Internet Protocol,” which basically means that the phone connection is based on Wi-Fi. It's still a standard phone, but workplaces will set up their phone network to a VoIP adapter, which, when connected to the Wi-Fi router, will allow calls to be made through the internet. It's essentially the same principle as sending an email.There is another element of VoIP phones worth mentioning: the SIP trunk. SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) trunking is essentially beefing up your phone system at its servers in order to handle large volumes of calls. While a SIP trunk isn't necessary for a VoIP system, it can be very handy, especially for larger businesses.While they serve the same function, VoIP is a different beast entirely to your standard phone line. While standard landlines have operated the same way for many years, VoIP forgoes the phone lines. By using Wi-Fi connections, the calls are cheaper, can go long-distance more easily, and are more reliable than a standard phone line. Some providers also offer HD voice quality, which means they can sound clearer than standard phone calls.This doesn't mean that the sending and receiving phones need to both be VoIP-enabled. VoIP calls directed at regular phone numbers will be converted to a regular signal without any delay or loss of voice quality. And portability isn't a problem either – VoIP calls don't need to be made from a desk phone. They can come from tablets and mobile phones too! The benefits of VoIP for your small businessNo matter the size of your business, VoIP will bring you several benefits. Let's take a look four ways a VoIP system can help your business grow.1. Reduce costsThe adoption of a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephone system for your small business can drastically reduce both your capex (capital expenditure) and opex (operational expenditure).In other words, not only is it a great long-term investment, but it will start saving you money on your calls from day one.Providers, such as One2Call, offer free inter-site communication, which is hugely beneficial for your business – especially if you're looking to expand. Providers offer VoIP to UK landline calls for as little as 1p per minute.2. Flexible and mobile communicationsVoIP systems can work from any location with internet, or via a VPN (virtual private network). This makes them a great choice for if you run a smaller business with staff who work from home. Telephone numbers can be retained and will remain directly associated with the main business office, allowing employees to use the same service.One good example of what UK VoIP providers can offer your small business comes from Voipfone, which delivers up to 800 different extensions (per account).These can be placed in any physical location, in the same office or internationally, and calls will be free of charge.3. Enable growthVoIP offers the potential to scale up operations as your business continues to grow.Additional ports can be easily configured and brought online to provide for an extended service, or withdrawn and taken down when you no longer need them.This can all be achieved seamlessly without disruption or downtime, ensuring that communication between your employees and customers will not suffer.The V-Plan Business VoIP package from Vonage (from £12.25 per month) gives you unlimited dialling to UK landlines, as well as unlimited calls to Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Canada, and the US. This makes it a great option if your business is looking to expand into exciting new territories.4. Connect to the futureStudies have shown that over 45% of UK businesses were already using VoIP phone systems in 2016 and that the majority of the rest would be doing so in the near future. With call charges of up to 50% lower than BT and other providers, it’s no wonder so many savvy small businesses in the UK are making the switch. Are you? Save by comparing VoIP phone system quotes from leading suppliers Do you already have a VoIP Phone System? Yes No FAQs Which VoIP provider is the best in the UK? The best business VoIP provider in the UK is 8×8. Its broad range of features helped it secure the top spot in our independent research, where it scores an impressive 4.7/5. How do I get a free VoIP number in the UK? Some VoIP providers will offer the first number as a free offer, only charging for additional numbers past that. Otherwise, there are services like Google Voice or FreedomPop that offer free VoIP services, though these may be rudimentary due to the lack of cost. Will VoIP work if the internet is down? This will depend on the provider, but typically VoIP services do still work if the internet fails. There are a couple of different redundancies that can be built into a VoIP system, such as resorting to conventional phone lines, or having the calls being rerouted through cell phones. Is VoIP as good as a landline? While there's no definitive winner, it's a very close race. Landlines can be slightly more reliable, especially in locations with weaker Wi-Fi presence, but VoIP phones win when it comes to scalability, cost, and long distance calls. What is the main disadvantage of VoIP? As VoIP relies on an internet connection, a spotty connection can be a real hurdle when it comes to using your VoIP phone. There can also be noticeable latency and spotty moments on the calls when compared to a conventional phone line, which can again be exacerbated by a poor internet connection. Is it worth switching to VoIP? While every company has different needs, it's probably worth switching to VoIP, especially over a long term period. While the initial investment might cost, as you're switching your entire phone system, the money you save over time will eventually prove that VoIP was worth your investment. This is especially true for a business with several phones that are almost always in use. Can I keep my phone number if I switch to VoIP? Yes! I almost every case, ruling out technical glitches, you will be able to take your phone number with you when you switch to VoIP. Why is everyone switching to VoIP? The main reasons to switch to a VoIP provider are:Increased scalability: As your business grows, new VoIP ports can be easily bought and installed with zero interruption to your business' operationsCost savings: VoIP can save your business a lot of money on phone calls, especially if you make them frequently, with some even making inter-site communication entirely freeEasier long distance calling: If you run a business with multiple sites or home workers who are frequently on the phone, VoIP will ensure easy communication as long as there is a Wi-Fi connection Written by: Julia Watts Software Expert Specialising in business software, Julia writes jargon-busting guides about VoIP, fleet management, dash cams, fuel cards, and more. Having spent almost a decade writing for entrepreneurs and reviewing business solutions, she loves helping exciting ventures – big or small – to flourish.