The Best Cloud Phone Systems for UK Businesses in 2023

With an impressive 4.7/5 rating in our in-depth research, we like 8x8 because it ticks all the right boxes when it comes to business communication needs. With a generous range of integrations, including CRM, Helpdesk, web conferencing, and external live chat, you can easily integrate 8x8 with your pre-existing software infrastructure. This will allow you to bring all of your business tools under the same umbrella.

It also is compatible with a broad range of third-party desktop phones, including Polycom, Cisco, Panasonic, and Yealink, making it a powerful and painless tool to set up. 8x8 also offers onboarding support with their Customer Success Managers, making it a top-notch option for helping new employees adapt to the communications system used by your business.

The part where 8x8 does falter is in price. Scoring a 2.5/5 in this category in our research, it's a more expensive option when compared with the other providers we look at. If you're looking to tighten your belt, then we'd recommend looking at bOnline or Dialpad instead.

RingCentral MVP is our top cloud phone system for customer service teams because it is comprehensive and offers enterprise-level features at affordable prices.

RingCentral's most popular plan, Premium, comes with 2,000 free minutes per person, video meetings for up to 200 participants, advanced call features, such as ‘whisper' and ‘barge'; and multi-site management, so you can use the system seamlessly across different business locations. Plus, RingCentral can be integrated with over 250 apps, so it's likely to work well with the systems your various teams already use. Thanks to all of these great assets, RingCentral scores a 4.3/5 for features and external connections.

However, we do think that RingCentral has room for improvement in its price. Scoring a 2.3/5 in this category in our research, RingCentral isn't the best option for businesses that are looking to save money in their next unified communications investment. If you're looking for a more affordable option, we'd recommend looking at Vonage, bOnline, or GoTo Connect, all of which score above a 4/5 for price in our research.

Boasting a set of shiny features like dynamic call routing and post-call analysis, Vonage’s embrace of AI in its Professional subscription plan gives your small business the flexibility it needs to keep customers happy and scale up your operation. Its provision of tools, metrics, and data gives you a 360-degree view of the interactions between your customers and agents. This will enable you to turn insights into actionable items that heighten your return on investment (ROI). Vonage Professional offers a wide range of customer support features and low monthly costs are a recipe for scaling up your operation.

Although these come at an additional cost, Vonage also lets you tap into its wide set of ready-made integrations because it’s compatible with systems like Hubspot, Salesforce, Zendesk, Slack, and Office 365. This allows you to unify all your business communications in one spot, giving your agents all the necessary tools to provide the best customer service possible. These features explain why over 700 customer centre customers have turned to Vonage internationally. Thanks to all of these great assets, Vonage scores a 4.4/5 overall in our research, as well as a strong 4/5 for features.

However, where Vonage stumbles is with its security features. Scoring a 3/5 in this category in our research, Vonage doesn't come equipped with multi-factor authentication or password rules. If you'd like to feel reassured on the security front, we'd recommend going for 8x8 or Google Voice instead.

GoToConnect is a safe option if you’re looking to get value for your money because it promises a seamless onboarding process, which involves getting your softphone cloud system working within a day. For as little as £10 per user, per month, it has the richest offering of international calls. It gives you access to free international calling to over 50 countries. This makes GoToConnect a fantastic option for businesses that are looking to cater to, or maintain, an international clientele. This rich call offering and its low price earns it a 4.5/5 for price. 

Regardless of which subscription you choose, GoToConnect gives you access to all the inbound communication features you might need, including ring groups and call queue. These features let you take on increasingly more calls, which is a great asset for scalability. Thanks to this, GoToConnect earns a 4.4/5 for scalability in our research.

However, and ironically so, GoToConnect isn't the greatest at external connections. Scoring a 2.6/5 in this category in our research, you miss out on external live chat, analytics, and workspace integrations. Therefore, GoToConnect isn't great for businesses that already have a well-established and broad software infrastructure with lots of moving parts.  If you want a puzzle piece that will fit in with all the software integrations you need, we'd recommend looking at RingCentral or 8x8.

Chosen by over 50,000 businesses and promising a two-minute setup from scratch, bOnline’s  is a great option for your business if you’re looking for a provider that’s a master key when it comes to adapting to your desk phones.

Although it’s not a match for first-party desktop phones – just like all other VoIP providers on this page – bOnline welcomes a wide range of third-party desktop phones. Panasonic, Yealink, Polycom, Aastra, Alcatel, AudioCodes, Htek – they can all become part of your bOnline unified communications phone system, saving you a trip to the hardware shop!

bOnline also has a great customer score, earning an average 4.5/5 from user reviews on platforms like Trustpilot and Capterra. This is an added reassurance to know that other bOnline users have had positive experiences.

The unfortunate news is that bOnline isn’t great for security. Scoring a very poor 1/5 in this category in our research, bOnline leaves your communications more exposed than other providers because it doesn’t offer multi-factor authentication or compliance certifications. If security is your priority, we’d recommend going for Google Voice or 8x8 instead.

With one foot in the present and another in the future, Dialpad is known for its innovative use of conversational AI. Known as Dialpad AI, this function accurately transcribes your phone calls in real time, and flags whether or not the conversation features happy or frustrated customers. It automates post-call summaries, and allows you to create notes with tips and advice that appear on screen when certain keywords or phrases are spoken during a call. You can also choose to turn off this feature for confidential conversations. This futuristic functionality earns Dialpad a 4.2/5 for features in our research.

The other great thing about Dialpad is its robust customer support. Scoring a 4.5/5 in this category in our research, Dialpad gives you access to a user forum, a knowledge base, live chat, phoneline, 24/7 live support, and 100% uptime guarantee.

However, Dialpad underperforms in the external connections arena. Scoring a below-average 2.4/5 for external connections, Dialpad doesn't offer email, analytics, external live chat, or web conferencing. If this is a top-priority in your VoIP wishlist, we'd recommend looking at 8x8 or RingCentral instead.

With lots of sensitive information traveling back and forth between clients, employees, and managers, having a unified communications system that protects your operation from prying eyes is essential. Scoring a perfect 5/5 for security in our research, Google Voice is a great cloud phone system to adopt.

Regardless of the subscription you purchase, you are promised a wealth of compliance certifications, multi-factor authentication, password rules, TLS/SRTP encryption, and user permissions. Google Voice also has a solid 4.4/5 customer score, which reflects that the reviews that users have left on platforms like Capterra and G2 have been largely positive.

The downside of being a Google Voice user is that you have limited access to important features, which is why it scores 2.6/5 for features in our research. For instance, you can only use analytics and reporting management features, and you miss out on virtually all inbound communication features. Therefore, if you’re looking for a highly functional solution, we’d recommend going for 8x8 or RingCentral.

*Prices for Google Voice are only advertised in USD