The 8 Best Phone Systems for UK Small Businesses

We compared the eight best VoIP systems for UK small businesses and Vonage Pro comes out on top. AI technology is taking the world by storm and has found its way into VoIP systems. The Vonage Pro plan incorporates artificial intelligence (AI) to help your business communications run smoothly, while its metrics give you complete oversight of interactions between your customers and agents. Above all, we think its scalability makes it the perfect choice for small businesses looking to grow.

However, Vonage may not be your best match if you’re looking for an ultra-secure telephone system as it does lack some key security features.

If you're looking for the perfect system for your UK small business but are short on time, you can use our free quote comparison tool to receive obligation-free quotes from trusted providers.

Or, read on for our reviews on the best systems based on our first-hand product testing. We've also summarised the best VoIP providers on the market, comparing them on pricing, features, and limits so you can find the best fit for your unique needs.

What is a small business phone system?

A phone system for a small business is a secure, reliable communications platform involving messaging, video, and phone solutions. The best type of phone system for small businesses is a VoIP system as they're affordable, easily scalable, and flexible.

For small businesses, efficiency is key and VoIP phone systems provide a system to streamline internal and external communications. Collaboration is made much easier with VoIP systems and will aid small businesses in developing a more cohesive team.

With less upfront costs than traditional phone systems and the ability to scale up or down easily VoIP systems are well-suited to small businesses. As VoIP systems run over the internet, phone lines can be added fairly cheaply and inexpensively compared to traditional phone lines which have to be manually added.

What is a VoIP phone system for small businesses? 

A VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) system is a phone system run over the Internet. This means no traditional phone lines or even hardware are needed. For small businesses, providers typically offer a lower-priced plan with fewer features. These features such as predictive dialing are more suited to larger businesses.

Instead, small businesses are just paying for the phone line plus features like voicemail, spam prevention, and a customisable greeting. These features are more suited to the needs of a small business.

The top 8 small business phone systems in the UK

As a small business looking for a new phone system, you’re really spoilt for choice. Choosing one also informs your phone pick, as the best office phones out there work in conjunction with these systems. Below are our top picks for the small business phone systems on the market.

** available at additional cost

Prices correct as of October 2023.

Want to find out what makes them so great? Read on for our reviews of each of these small business office phone systems, including prices, features, and more.

If you're looking for a provider to accommodate another type of business, check out the general top virtual phone systems of 2023.

1. Vonage Pro

Best phone system for small businesses

Prices correct as of October 2023.

Vonage offers a wide range of customer support features and has a globally distributed network of offices including one based in London, that is on hand via email or phone in case of any hiccups with your phone system.

Its data centres are spread over the US, Singapore, Sydney, Frankfurt and Dublin. We think Vonage is a great option for businesses looking to scale due to its low monthly costs. This system also allows you to utilise ready-made integrations, such as Hubspot, Salesforce, Zendesk, Slack, and Office 365, which means you can unify all your business communications in one spot. This will give your company all the necessary tools to develop a great customer experience strategy.

Read our Vonage review for more details.

Vonage Pro Features

• Software integrations – Although it comes at an additional cost, you can integrate Vonage’s phone system with a wide range of software platforms. However, if you want to access web conferencing, you’ll need to use Unytalk, which costs extra.
• Onboarding support – This is only available at an additional cost.
• Scalability – Vonage Pro gives you the right foundations to scale up your business via call queues, ring groups, an unlimited number of users, call recording, call monitoring, and analytics. It also integrates seamlessly with Slack, which allows you to set up a remote operation that will help slash costs.
• Conversational AI – Vonage Pro comes a powerful tool for you to use AI in customer service: through its conversational AI feature, you can easily answer calls with a virtual assistant, reducing overall waiting times.

Vonage Pro Comparisons

Backed by our thorough research, which considered software integrations, onboarding support, and the scalability of each small business phone system, we gave Vonage an overall 4.7/5 for small businesses. Although RingCentral races at the same speed, Vonage strides ahead because of its rich offering of features like ring groups and analytics and reporting, at a lower price point. For that reason, we gave Vonage a perfect 5/5 rating for price – the highest pricing score of all the providers on this page.

However, we did give Vonage a 3/5 rating for security because it’s missing multi-factor authentication and password rules, which are features provided by competitors like Google Voice, RingCentral, and 8×8.

2. 8×8 X2

Best small business phone system for scalability

8×8's pricing is no longer public, so you'll need to contact 8×8 directly for exact pricing.

We found that 8×8 offers robust, scalable building blocks. With features like ring groups and call queues offered at its X2 subscription plan, your small business should be able to deal with large volumes of callers easily. What’s more, with web conferencing and internal live chat integrations with a wide range of platforms including Telegram and Slack, your team will be able to work remotely, giving you more flexibility and reduced costs.

Since 8×8 is a multi-national, its customer support teams are on hand 24/7 from around the globe and its data centres are spread over 35 countries. While this is great for connectivity and for being able to get help at all hours, it may not be ideal if you're keen to deal with solely UK-based customer service agents. That being said, its European HQ is based in London.

8×8 X2 Features

• Software integrations – The X2 subscription is integrable with CRM, Helpdesk, Web Conferencing, external and internal live chats, email, and more. This makes 8×8 a powerful tool your team can leverage to personalise customer experience and work quickly by avoiding having to hop back and forth between different communication channels.
• Onboarding support – This is provided through 8×8’s Customer Success Managers, but it is unclear whether this comes at an additional cost.
• Scalability – 8×8 X2 allows you to sync your internal communications because it’s compatible with platforms like Slack, Telegram, and Teams, so you and your team can work remotely. It’s also equipped with call queue, ring groups, analytics, customisable call routing, and call recording, all of which allow you to handle large numbers of callers, and gather data to optimise your small business.

8×8 X2 Comparisons

We've awarded 8×8 3.9/5 because we believe it stands out due to its flexibility of choice. Whether your small business needs a comprehensive, savvy system or you just want the essentials, 8×8 can tick the boxes on your small business phone system checklist. 

Although we’ve given 8×8 a score of 2.5/5 for its pricing, placing it far behind Vonage and bOnline’s perfect 5/5 in this category, you can consider the extra money you’re putting down as a worthy investment, thanks to 8×8’s broad range of features.

Nevertheless, we awarded 8×8 a stellar 5/5 for its generous customer support and security, which is unrivalled by all other providers featured here. 8×8's customer support includes 24/7 live support, live chat, and email support. Its security features include several compliance certifications and multi factor authentication. 

3. bOnline Unlimited Calling

Best small business phone system for desk phone compatibility

Prices correct as of October 2023.

As of the latest update in October 2023, bOnline offers a Starter plan rather than its pre-existing Pay-As-You-Go plan.

If you are happy with your hardware, bOnline is a great choice as it has the widest offering of third-party desktop phone compatibility to save you from having to replace your existing phones.

Geared specifically towards the UK small businesses, bOnline has earned an ‘Excellent' rating on Trustpilot for its personalised customer service, which is operated from its Surrey offices. In terms of where its data centres are, bOnline describes them as ‘geographically dispersed' so we can't be sure where they are located. If your business often handles sensitive data, you may feel more comfortable dealing with a provider that you can be sure is following EU or UK data privacy laws.

bOnline Unlimited Calling Features

• Software integrations – You’ll need to pay an extra £5 per month to access helpdesk and CRM integrations.
• Onboarding support – It is available for Unlimited Calling subscribers.
• Scalability – There's no limit on user numbers and thanks to call queue and ring groups, you can deal with large numbers of callers.

bOnline Unlimited Calling Comparisons

Our meticulous research has brandished bOnline Unlimited Calling with a 4.5/5 for small businesses overall, placing it in the third spot of our top eight telephone systems for small businesses.

Although we’ve given it a 3/5 for scalability as it’s missing a few key ingredients like call conferencing, call recording, and reporting, its price is pretty much unrivalled. For only £12.95 per user, per month, we’ve given it a perfect 5/5 for price, making it (alongside Vonage) the most competitive in this category when compared with all of the other providers we spotlight here!

4. Nuacom Unlimited

Best small business phone system for customer satisfaction

As of August 2023, Nuacom's pricing is no longer public so these prices may no longer be accurate. You'll need to contact the provider directly for its actual pricing. 

Although it offers limited features for small businesses when compared with 8×8 and GoToConnect, Nuacom is trusted by key clients like Credit Union and Volkswagen. If you’re looking for a provider that has a track record of pleasing its users, you should look no further than Nuacom. It blows the other providers out of the water with its 4.9 Trustpilot rating, thanks to its excellent Ireland-based customer support team.

Check out our Nuacom review for more.

Nuacom Unlimited Features

• Software integrations – When compared with other providers like 8×8, Vonage, bOnline, we found that Nuacom has a limited offering of external connections. Although you can sync your telephone system with CRM, Helpdesk, internal live chat, and email integration, you can only do so with a small number of platforms – only Hubspot, Slack, and Google Workspace. This means Nuacom is not integrable with Web Conferencing, external live chat, analytics, SSO, and does not offer an open API.
• Onboarding support – This is offered as a 15-minute onboarding support session.
• Scalability – With a requirement to have at least two users, Nuacom comes equipped with call queue and ring groups, which can help you manage a large number of callers. However, this isn’t necessarily the most scalable solution as you’d be missing out on a number of management features, such as customisable call routing, call monitoring, call-flow designers, and setting up teams. You also won't have access to video conferencing, which can complicate keeping your team connected when working remotely.

Nuacom Unlimited Comparisons

We've given Nuacom an overall score of 4.2/5, which places it in the fourth spot of our best telephone systems for small business comparison, right before GoToConnect. Nuacom’s average customer review score of 4.6/5 places it in the pole position of customer satisfaction, with bOnline racing close behind at 4.4. This places Nuacom in the pole position of customer satisfaction, with bOnline racing close behind at 4.4/5.

That said, we scored Nuacom just 2.6/5 for its features, lacking spam prevention, external video calling, and predictive dialling. Its security also lacks compliance certifications, multi-factor authentication, and encryption. 

So, if you want lots of features and more stringently protected data, we think 8×8 or Dialpad would be a better phone system for your small business. However, based on its customer satisfaction score, not many users have faced insurmountable challenges with Nuacom.

5. GoToConnect Standard

Best small business phone system for value for money

Prices correct as of October 2023.

For just £21 per user, per month, you’ll be able to wield all the inbound communication features you might need as a small business, including call queue and ring groups – an offer that no other provider offers.

As a US company, GoTo is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts and operates servers all around the world. Servers are assigned based on traffic and availability rather than location and data is stored in the US. GoTo's preferred support method is via its online knowledge hub and virtual assistant rather than personalised help from a human customer service agent.

If you want to know more, check out our in-depth GoToConnect review.

GoToConnect Standard Features

• Software integrations – GoToConnect is compatible with CRM, helpdesk, web conferencing, internal live chat, email, and SSO platforms, and has an open API. However, the menu of the platforms you can sync GoToConnect with is not as generous as other providers because it misses out on Office 365, Hubspot, and Bullhorn.
• Onboarding support – This is available on GoToConnect Standard.
• Scalability – With an unlimited user limit, ring group, call queue, analytics, call recording, and customisable call routing, GoToConnect Standard gives you the features that will help you piece together the bricks needed to scale your small business. What’s more, GoToConnect also gives you access to internal live chat and web conferencing, which can help keep your business working remotely and helping you cut unnecessary costs.
• Pause and resume recording: From May 2023, agents can pause and resume recording during a live call while using the softphone.

GoToConnect Standard Comparisons

After combing through all the information available on GoToConnect, we've given it an overall score of 4/5. Although its customer support score of 3.4/5 lags a bit behind that of RingCentral and Vonage, the features you can access such as spam prevention, gives you greater value for your money.

GoToConnect also gives you free international calling to 50+ countries, making it a great softphone option for businesses who need this sort of offering.

6. RingCentral Premium

Best small business phone system for external connections

Prices correct as of October 2023.

If your business values compatibility with its software anatomy, we think RingCentral is a great phone system for you thanks to all the external connections it can adapt to. What’s more, with RingCentral’s reports and intuitive dashboards, you’ll gain valuable insights that will guide business decisions.

Another globally distributed provider, RingCentral's data centres are spread across 24 countries, including the US. While its fleet of global offices includes a West London location, it's not clear whether this is where the customer service is operated.

Check out our in-depth RingCentral review.

RingCentral Premium Features

• Software integrations – At the Premium and Ultimate subscriptions, you can sync your phone system with over 90 CRM platforms, with key helpdesk integrations like Salesforce and Zendesk, analytics, and other platforms like Slack, WhatsApp, and Facebook. This will help strengthen the customer service arm of your business while allowing you to instantly draw on customer-specific data to provide a frustration-free experience.
• Onboarding support – It is available to RingCentral Premium subscribers.
• Scalability: RingCentral has an impressive offer for scalability, equipping you with all the right tools, including call queue, ring groups, web conferencing tools, internal live chat, and all the management features you should need as a small business. It also includes multi-factor authentication, password rules, compliance certifications, and encryption, which will help shield your operation as you continue to scale.

RingCentral Premium Comparisons

Factoring in price, integrability, features, and customer support, we've awarded RingCentral a great score of 4/5 for its value as a system for small businesses. With access to key features like call queue and ring groups, you can easily take on a large number of callers and glam up your operation. It is because of this that we gave RingCentral a score of 4.1/5 for features – the second highest score in this category against all of the providers we looked at!

What’s even more impressive is that when we compared it with its competitors like Vonage and Dialpad, RingCentral races ahead for customer service features in our research, offering 24/7 live support, phone, email, and live chat support. So, you can be confident you’ll have a whole dashboard of nifty features to power your small business.

RingCentral Premium New Features

As of March 2023, staff can now gain access to a colleague's voicemail inbox in the app, which is helpful for when a member of staff is away or unavailable. You can also manage multiple shared inboxes in your voicemail tab.

7. Google Voice Standard

Best small business phone system for Google Users

Google Voice prices are only listed in USD, but you can purchase your subscription in the UK.

Prices correct as of October 2023.

Although our research rated Google Voice rather poorly for external connections and features, which does put it far behind other providers like 8×8 and RingCentral, if you’re already happy with all the Google products that businesses use, the setup will be fairly straightforward. You can also benefit from seamless integration with the other Google products.

If you're looking for a UK-centric provider, Google Voice may not be the best choice since it predominantly operates out of the US, with offices based in California. Similar to GoTo, Google's support style rests on its online help centre and user forum. If you're looking to get in touch with a human for personalised support, this may not be the provider for you.

For more information, read our Google Voice review.

Google Voice Standard Features

• Software integrations – While you can sync Google Voice with CRM and helpdesk platforms like Zoho, Copper, Pipedrive, Salesforce, and Hubspot, you will have to use flagship Google products for email, web conferencing, and workspace capabilities.
• Onboarding support – This is not available to Google Voice Standard subscribers.
• Scalability – Although Google Voice offers the bare minimum when it comes to management features (analytics and customisable call routing), it has the security features needed to ensure your operation is properly protected. It also includes web conferencing and internal live chat – if you’re happy to use Google Meet and Google Chat. Therefore, what it lacks in management features is made up for in terms of security, but keep in mind that this isn’t a golden solution to scale up your business.

Google Voice Standard Comparisons

We've put the key features offered by Google Voice for small businesses to the test and have given it an overall score of 3.7/5. While it’s a great option for Google users, its limited features sees it score 2.6/5 in this category. In terms of features, it matches Nuacom, but lags far behind others like RingCentral and 8×8.

However, what it does excel at is security, which is the reason we gave it an excellent 5/5 in this category. It providers several compliance certifications, multi-factor authentication, and encryption. No other provider equals Google Voice in security, except for 8×8. 

8. Dialpad Pro

Best small business phone system for conversational AI

Prices correct as of October 2023.

Our research process found that Dialpad's AI function can lighten your load by transcribing calls, flagging positive and negative calls for your reflection, automating summaries following the call, and offering tips throughout the call. If you're the owner-operator of a small business in its infancy, Dialpad can give you the feeling of having an extra pair of hands without needing to hire more agents.

While it's headquartered in California, Dialpad has had a London-based office since 2019. With a globally dispersed network of data centres, this is another provider suitable for establishing international connectivity. Dialpad is another provider that relies on online help via submitting a ticket or consulting existing help articles.

Read our detailed Dialpad review for more information.

Dialpad Pro Features

• Software integrations – Dialpad is syncable with CRM, helpdesk, web conferencing, email, workspace, internal live chat, and SSO, giving you access to platforms like Salesforce, Zendesk, Hubspot, G Suite, and Slack. However, it does miss out on external live chat and analytics integrations, and its own API. Overall, we found that it has a pretty limited offer of syncable platforms, particularly on the CRM front, as your menu only includes three possible CRM platforms.
• Onboarding support – This is available to Dialpad Pro subscribers.
• Scalability – With access to call queue, ring groups, and a variety of management features like call recording, analytics, and call transcripts, Dialpad Pro offers a good range of tools to help build your business. You can also use internal live chat and web conferencing to slash costs, as you can keep your operation remote. However, its security measures do miss out on multi-factor authentication and password rules, making it less secure than other providers, like Google Voice and 8×8.

Dialpad Pro Comparisons

Our thorough research looked closely at how suitable Dialpad Pro is for small businesses and awarded it an overall score of 3.5/5. This is mostly because it’s pricier than other options, and it could have a larger offering of external connections. It lacks CRM integrations, helpdesk integrations, and email integration.

Despite this, we do know that Dialpad Pro is nifty and futuristic thanks to its conversational AI, which allows you to do a lot of things hands-free. This means you can focus your attention on other tasks as you work on making your small business succeed. Despite its faults, we awarded it a great 4/5 for customer support, ranking above other providers like Nuacom, GoToConnect, and bOnline.

How much does a small business phone system cost?

A small VoIP system for businesses typically costs between £6 per user, per month and £28.99 per user, per month. The average price per user, per month is £17.

Most providers offer a cheaper monthly price when billed annually, but if you choose to pay monthly, while costing you a little extra, will give you more flexibility.

Pricing can change based on the number of employees you have. Typically, the more employees you have, the lower the per-user cost.

Although VoIP providers can easily add phone lines as these are virtual, you'll have to pay per line. RingCentral, for example, charges £2 per month for additional phone numbers and £3.99 per month for an international virtual number. If you plan on a large number of phone lines, it is best to check how much the provider charges per phone line.

VoIP providers tend to charge in tiers, with lower tiers having a lower cost. For small businesses, these lower tiers include the main features of a VoIP system like business phone lines, messaging features, and a virtual receptionist. However, as your business scales and you want to access advanced features, you can choose a higher tier that's in line with your affordability.

How can I switch phone system providers?

Once you've chosen your new provider using our free quote comparison tool, the reviews on this page, or our best business VoIP provider guide, you're ready to start the process.

If you're switching from a traditional landline system to a VoIP system, you may need to invest in some new hardware. VoIP systems can run on a laptop, desktop computer, tablet, or smartphone. If you're switching from another VoIP system, you may not need new hardware but its best to check this with your new provider.

If you're investing in new hardware, this may be fairly expensive but a worthy investment as you'll continue to use the same hardware even if you switch VoIP systems in the future.

If you want to keep your number, you can do this via number porting which is offered by all of the providers we recommend. This is carried out by your new provider so you'll need to let them know.

There can be a downtime of around 1 working day, so try and arrange to carry this out on a day that will be the least disruptive to your business.

What are the key features for your small business phone system?

When searching for the right phone system for your small business, you might be wondering what the key features you should look for are. We've put together a list for you so you know what your phone system should provide:

• Virtual receptionist – this is an automated function that will help direct callers. This feature helps streamline calls and uses up less manpower.
• Call queue – this places callers into a virtual queue so they aren't left calling for ages. Once an agent is available, the caller will be put through.
• Call conferencing – your team can dial in from anywhere with call conferencing, streamlining external and internal communications.
• Call recording – ensure you comply with regulations and prevent any misunderstandings. Plus, these can be used to assess agent performance and training.
• Software integrations – your system should be able to integrate with software such as a CRM system. This makes it much easier to collect customer data and provide better customer service.
• Analytics and reporting – for small businesses, having this feature makes it easy to understand trends and patterns, and make informed decisions without needing to use a lot of resource on carrying out research.

Top-rated small business phone system providers in London

While we've analysed globally-leading phone system providers, you may be interested in some options that are firmly placed on home soil. Here are some recommendations for top phone systems operating out of London:

• bOnline: Based in London, bOnline is geared towards small businesses and boasts a 4.5 rating on Trustpilot.
• Voipfone: Headquartered in London, this is a smaller VoIP provider if you're looking for a local solution.
• VoIPstudio: Located in North London, VoIPstudio also scores excellently on Trustpilot and Google for its services.
• Nuacom: Operated out of Ireland, London and Amsterdam, Nuacom is another provider which tops the charts for its customer support.

How to choose the right phone system for your small business?

When choosing a VoIP phone system for your small business, there are a couple of key features that can help you make your decision less complex. You can consider:

• Money – As is the case for a lot of things in business, money can be an inevitable pain point. Therefore, it’s important to prioritise options that charge low up-front monthly fees; offer inclusive domestic minutes; provide multiple communication channels (so you don’t have to pay extra to get these from other providers); and provide solid customer support, so you can avoid losing money during potential phone downtime.
• Compatibility with your software infrastructure – When you’re entering the VoIP-verse, choosing a provider with integrations is key. Look out for ready-made integrations for features like CRM, workspace, email, web conferencing, internal messaging, and external messaging platforms.
• Scalability – As a business, you can be burdened by extra costs in the long-term if you outgrow an important software system, forcing you to upgrade to a different provider. Therefore, you’ll need a VoIP system that can grow as fast as your business. Key indicators for this includes providers that let you onboard an unlimited number of users; come with call queues; ring groups; a good array of management features; and features that allow you to run your operation remotely, like internal messaging and video conferencing. Security will also be key here as this shields your business from risks as you expand.