Best business VoIP provider (UK)
Based on our in-depth, expert analysis, independent reviews, awards and service levels, we found that the following companies are currently the best UK VoIP providers for businesses:
- Gamma
- 3CX
- Mitel
- RingCentral
- 8x8
- bOnline
- Vonage Business
- 4Com
- Gradwell
- Lily Comms
- BT
- Virgin
- SureVoIP
- Microsoft Teams
The top five UK VoIP providers in March 2023
| Image | Product | Rating | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
Best value  | Gamma Horizon Feature-rich phone system, which is an excellent fit for most UK businesses.
| 9.7 | Compare Providers |
Most flexible  | 3CX Hugely versatile VoIP system that you can host wherever you like.
| 9.5 | Compare Providers |
 | Mitel MiCloud Leading UK VoIP provider with an excellent cloud solution.
| 8.5 | Compare Providers |
 | RingCentral Global VoIP provider with a versatile product.
| 8.1 | Compare Providers |
 | 8x8 One of Gartner's leading Unified Communications providers, a global VoIP provider.
| 8 | Compare Providers |
Short for Voice Over Internet Protocol, VoIP means that telephone calls are made through the internet, rather than a landline, ISDN, or mobile network. A VoIP phone system gives businesses lots of additional functionality to make phone calls. Examples include call recording, call transfer, hunt groups, and even the ability to make calls from mobile phones.
The two types of VoIP systems
There are two ways you can get a business VoIP system; buy the equipment and run it from your office, or subscribe to a hosted VoIP provider, like the UK VoIP providers mentioned in this guide. In 99% of cases today, the latter is the best solution for businesses for various reasons such as reliability and cost. For that reason, in this article, we will focus on hosted VoIP phone systems.
A VoIP phone system works by taking your analogue voice signal and converting it into a digital signal that can be transferred over a broadband line to your UK VoIP Provider.
Unlike traditional phone systems where you need a physical phone, you could use any of the following to make VoIP calls:
- A VoIP Phone
- A computer with an internet connection
- A smartphone with an internet connection
- A web browser (with some VoIP phone systems)
How VoIP works with an IP phone:
How VoIP works with a laptop softphone:
Regardless of the business VoIP provider you choose; there are some universal benefits you can expect to enjoy:
- Lower service costs
- Work from anywhere with an internet connection
- Free calls - near unlimited calling
- Improved portability
- Scalability
- Advanced features
- Clearer voice quality
- Flexibility with softphones and mobile apps
- Easy to manage via a web portal
Lower costs
Controlling costs in business is vital, which is why the first benefit of VoIP phone systems we want to bring to your attention is that, in most cases, it lowers costs. Of course, how much it reduces costs depends on your current systems, but we would usually expect savings of anywhere up to 50%. Yes, that's right, VoIP services can save you up to 50% compared to a traditional phone system with an ISDN line.
Cost savings vs a traditional PBX
When it comes to a traditional phone system, businesses must invest in handsets and PBX hardware. A PBX on its own can cost thousands of pounds, and while that can often be leased over several years, getting set up still represents a massive cost.
In contrast, by using a cloud-VoIP provider, you do away with the capital outlay and simply charge you per user per month for everything.
Connectivity costs
To run a traditional phone system before VoIP, you needed telephone lines such as ISDN and internal cabling to every desk. Every time you want to add another person to the system, you'd need to get them connected via a cable running back to the PBX; this is, of course, in addition to any networking you need for computers. The great thing with business VoIP systems and handsets is that they run over the same network as your computers, completely removing the need to have a second connection going back to your comms room. Not only that, but they can also even run over wireless, which, while not quite as reliable as a physical network cable, can give you more flexibility over where the handset is located in the office. Finally, as we know, ISDN line rental is costly and is being phased out in favour of SIP lines - by moving to VoIP, all of your calls go over your internet connection so you can rid yourself of one more ongoing cost.
Call costs
Direct savings also come in the form of reduced call costs, with many VoIP service providers even offering substantial free call packages; our favoured options, for instance, give you 2000 minutes to UK landlines and 2000 minutes to UK mobiles per user per month! VoIP calls can be up to 60% cheaper domestically and sometimes up to 90% cheaper internationally than calls via PSTN or ISDN.
Maintenance costs
Another significant cost related to traditional phone systems and handsets is the maintenance costs. When you purchase a PBX, you'll invariably take out a support service alongside it with a local provider so that as or when you have issues or want to make changes, you have someone to call. Those maintenance costs add up, and as your system gets older, you'll likely find that the support fees only increase.
By getting a hosted VoIP system, you remove the need for a maintenance contract to support your PBX. You pay your monthly fee per phone, and the rest is taken care of. You don't own the hardware and therefore don't need to look after it.
Work from anywhere
Arguably one of the most significant benefits given that we are increasingly working from both the office and home is the ability to take business calls anywhere you have an internet connection. With VoIP, you aren't tied to a physical phone line, so you can be anywhere in the world and pick up your business phone. This flexibility is a massive benefit for businesses that embrace home working and hybrid working following the pandemic.
Improved portability
A VoIP number is completely portable, so you can use the same number wherever you go. For people who travel often, this is welcome news as they can appear to be in the office from anywhere. Better yet, if your business changes its address or your employees need to work from home for an extended period, you can all keep your phone numbers; it makes things seamless.
Scalability
Scalability is a benefit often associated with VoIP as it provides business owners with a system that can grow as their company grows. A cloud VoIP solution does away with the need to purchase expensive hardware or a dedicated telephone line as a business grows. Got a new office opening? Simply order a few more handsets and ship them to the site.
Advanced features
VoIP provides you with many advanced features such as auto-attendant and call forwarding that help businesses of all sizes operate efficiently and help small companies project a larger image. Equally, VoIP can help large enterprise-scale organisations present a more approachable image. It all comes down to how the VoIP system is set up.
Let's say you have a Birmingham-based business, which serves clients across the UK, but especially in London. By signing up with a business VoIP provider in the UK, you can get a VoIP phone number with a London area code, even though you're not based there. This gives your customers the impression that you're a local business even though you might not be.
Similarly, the auto-attendant and call routing features can make you look larger than you are. For example, you could be a sole trader, but you've set up your VoIP system to seem like you're a company with several departments.
Clearer voice quality
Today, as long as you have a fast and stable internet connection, voice quality shouldn't be an issue. VoIP calls tend to be clear and crisp, with no latency, lag or call dropout issues.
The key to VoIP call quality is having broadband or a reliable leased line with plenty of bandwidth. If your connection is slow and often drops, it's a warning sign that VoIP might not be the right fit for your business.
Two lines are better than one
At T2k, we typically recommend you should have one internet connection for your VoIP phone service and another for your computers. This separation ensures that employee internet usage doesn't impact your phone calls. If you choose a VoIP service provider who does both phone services and broadband, the other plus is that your calls have less "digital distance" to travel, improving reliability and giving you the best call quality.
Unified Communications refers to a VoIP phone system that integrates multiple communication methods. A business usually communicates in many ways, such as phone calls, video conferencing, instant messaging, email, SMS, fax, etc. A Unified Communications service connects many of the ways your business communicates, letting them talk to each other in one system and making your business more efficient. The best UK VoIP providers and their systems will typically enable companies to utilise the power of Unified Communications.
Whom you choose to provide your VoIP is incredibly important, given that, in all likelihood, you'll be with them for several years. Ofcom offers several tips on things to ask when choosing a VoIP provider, but our thoughts are that you need to make sure they offer all of the following:
- Setup for minimal or no capital outlay
- The choice between hosted or an onsite solution
- UK based customer support
- Highly rated and reviewed
- In business for a reasonable length of time
- A clear track record for high service levels
- Experienced with small and large business
- Lots of features that match your requirements
Without further ado, we bring you our summarised list and reviews of the best UK VoIP providers for businesses in 2023.
Please remember that the best VoIP provider for you will largely depend on your requirements, so it's always best to speak to us first to help you make the right choice.
You can reach us on 01202 854111, Monday to Friday, 8:30 am-5:00 pm. Alternatively, click one of the buttons on this page to request a comparison quote.
1. Gamma Horizon
Gamma and their hosted VoIP phone system Horizon are at the top of our list of UK VoIP providers. A business-only provider of telecoms services, Gamma operates almost entirely through a network of partners. Their Horizon hosted VoIP platform is award-winning and market-leading, which is why many partners choose it as their hosted VoIP service of choice. The great thing with Horizon is that it is suitable for businesses of all sizes, so even the smallest of companies can use it and then add users as they grow. Bigger companies will find a suite of features that is hard to beat, including integration with CRMs and Micorosft Teams, along with things such as video conferencing and instant messaging.
Horizon customer reviews
As Gamma delivers its Horizon service through a network of smaller UK based partners, there isn't a single place you can go to get customer reviews. Ultimately, the quality of the service is down to the provider you choose.
- Feature-rich VoIP phone system
- Packages start at just £9.95 per month
- Generous free call bundles
- Unlimited VoIP phone numbers
- Excellent reliability and service levels
- Work from anywhere
- Make calls from your desktop, laptop or mobile phones
- Integrates with popular CRMs
- Integrates with Microsoft Teams & Outlook
- Excellent support from smaller partners
- Not as flexible as some systems
- Supports fewer IP phones
- No choice over where the system is located
2. 3CX
3CX is quite different to the other providers on this list as their VoIP solution can be deployed almost anywhere, be that on your premises, in a private datacentre or the cloud. Incredibly, 3CX can even be installed on Raspberry Pi, demonstrating how flexible and lightweight their software is. Unlike the other VoIP providers on our list, with 3CX, you will need to get SIP trunks, too, meaning it's not an all in one solution; depending on how you look at that, it could be a strength or weakness. Another big plus for 3CX over other UK VoIP providers is that it'll do many advanced things out of the box; examples include integration with CRM apps, browser-based video conferencing and much more.
A cursory glance around the internet at reviews, and you'll find that we're not the only ones that appreciate this system.
Rating out of 5 stars:
4.5 Stars - TechRadar
4.4 Stars - G2
4.5 Stars - Capterra
4.2 Stars - Spiceworks Community
- Complete control over your phone system
- Choose your own cloud provider
- Choose your own hardware
- Choose between on-premise or cloud
- Supports ALL IP phones
- Modern Android and iOS apps
- Make calls from the web and Windows
- Extensive feature list
- Integrates with Microsoft Teams natively
- Integrates with leading CRM apps
- Includes Instant Messaging
- Highly rated and recognised as an excellent solution
- Need to find your own SIP trunk provider
- Requires a partner to set up
- Not as easy to manage as other solutions
3. Mitel
If you've been in business for a while, you'll undoubtedly have come across Mitel as they've been a leading provider of onsite phone systems for many years. Mitel's MiCloud Connect is their offering into the hosted business telephone system market.
Mitel MiCloud Connect is a flexible cloud-based VoIP phone service that delivers Unified Communications. Much like other leading business VoIP providers, Mitel's MiCloud enables workforces to work from anywhere, assuming you have an active internet connection. It's also packed full of apps and integrations so you can link your telephone system to the other software you use in your business. Finally, far from just being a phone system, Mitel MiCloud gives you a suite of email and even SMS tools to enhance your customers' experience.
- An all-in-one telephony solution
- Stable, reliable and secure
- Feature-rich VoIP solution
- Conferencing and mobile compatible
- Available for PC, Mac, iOS and Android
- Integrates with leading CRMs and calendars
- Includes business SMS
- Audio and video conferencing
- Limited handset choice
- Not as feature-rich as other solutions
4. Ring Central
RingCentral is the first of the global players we've included in our VoIP market review. Although the system is excellent, as they are a global company with so many customers, it seems they find it challenging to provide high-level service to everyone. RingCentral has positioned itself as arguably the biggest provider of VoIP phone systems globally, with a massive presence in the US, UK, and Europe. For a good reason, their enterprise-grade VoIP solution is comprehensive, giving businesses access to an extensive suite of tools designed to level up their communications. The only downside with RingCentral, a common theme with the international players in the market, is that their support can be patchy, as highlighted by their meagre score of just 2.4 out of 5 on the reviews platform Trustpilot. For this reason, we score them lower than the UK VoIP Providers Gamma and 3CX in particular.
It's fair to say RingCentral has mixed reviews, with a pretty low score of 2.4 out of 5 on Trustpilot but a far more respectable score of 4.5 on Gartner Peer Insights. Like some of the other big players in this list, while you will likely get all of the business VoIP features you need and more with RingCentral, you will be relatively unimportant to them. Therefore, the customer service levels could be questionable.
- Messaging, phone and video are all integrated
- Global company and a good choice for international businesses
- Integrations with over 250 apps
- Excellent system security
- Works across your computer, tablet and phone
- Used by some of the biggest companies in the world
- Real-time analytics for phone and meetings
- Eliminate IT overhead with one system
- Scale-up and deploy new users very quickly
- Work from anywhere
- Quick setup
- Negative customer reviews
- Patchy UK support
5. 8x8
8x8 is another of Gartner's leading Unified Communications providers and is a global VoIP business, also opertating in the UK. As you might expect, their business VoIP service is packed full of features, so many so we'd be hard-pushed to list them all out. As we'll look at in a moment, perhaps the only thing counting against 8x8 is its customer service levels, as their reviews currently show.
Similarly to the other top VoIP providers we've looked at, the 8x8 eXperience Communications Platform is much more than a phone system; it's a suite of communications tools. Across phone, video, messaging, and even team chat, 8x8 is there to empower your employees and, in turn, delight customers.
8x8 customer reviews
As we've suggested, the only thing counting against 8x8 is its reviews from existing customers. Their current Trustpilot rating is just 3.9, which puts them among some of the lowest scoring providers on this list. As we've suggested, this doesn't mean they always provide a poor service, but it seems they have more unhappy customers than, say, bOnline or T2k.
- Business phone, team chat and video calling
- Embeddable communications with a developer-friendly API
- Works with Microsoft Teams
- Global reliability
- End-to-end encryption
- Integrates with CRMs
- AI-powered workflows
- Video meetings, 1:1 and aa-hands
- Works in a web browser
- Unlimited calling, SMS and fax
- Relatively poor customer review
- Comparably expensive provider
6. bOnline
bOnline is an exciting company in that they provide far more than just VoIP phone systems; they also do things like web design. As a UK VoIP provider their solution is focused very much on smaller companies that are perhaps looking for their first phone system.
Unlike many global providers, bOnline positioning itself as small business-friendly, offering "honest pricing" and short contracts. Only tying customers in for a short period gives companies the flexibility to move away if they're not happy with the service and arguably means that bOnline is exceptionally confident in its VoIP service. Another plus is that they are a UK based company, so they are better placed to provide high levels of customer support.
bOnline Reviews
bOnline has amassed an impressive haul of over 7,000 reviews and has a current Trustpilot score of 4.6. That's incredible considering the number of reviews and demonstrates the high quality of both their business VoIP solutions and their customer service.
- Make business calls from your computer
- Sync your mobile contacts
- One-click call audio and video meetings
- Call forwarding, call queuing and call Recording
- HD Voice calls
- Call reports
- Business hours call routing
- Local or national numbers
- Customised greetings
- Excellent customer reviews
- Video meetings
- Not as good for larger or growing businesses
- Some customers have experienced poor support
7. Vonage
Vonage is one of the market leaders for Unified Communications, offering more than mere VoIP to consumers and businesses alike. While Unified Communications might seem like jargon reserved for only the most prominent companies, Vonage is actively pushing it into smaller businesses.
Ultimately, it's a hosted VoIP service, but it's packed full of features that enable you to integrate your communications into a single platform. Vonage Business Communications looks to streamline Voice, SMS, team messaging, fax, video meetings, etc.
Vonage Reviews
Vonage talks a good game, and there is no doubt that their service is packed full of features, but looking at their reviews on Trustpilot, they still have some work to do. Currently, they score 3.9 stars out of 5 from over 600 reviews. A consistent complaint seems to be how hard it is to contact Vonage when there is an issue, which is unfortunately often the case when you work with these larger companies.
- Click to dial and paperless fax
- Call monitoring and Virtual Receptionist
- Call Forwarding and Call Flip
- Control your business phone system from your computer
- Work anywhere with mobile apps
- Voicemail transcription service
- Call Announce, so you know who is calling
- Integrates with Microsoft Teams
- Call continuity and emergency routing
- Paperless fax
- Local or geographic VoIP phone numbers
- Relatively poor customer reviews
- Expensive VoIP solution
- Customer reviews cite frequent technical issues
8. 4com
4com provide several hosted VoIP options and on-premises systems too. They primarily run on HiHi phones, which enable advanced functionality like Unified Communications (UC), so integrating into other platforms should be a breeze.
According to 4Com, their Hihi phones are suitable for businesses ranging in size from 3-100 employees, making it a good fit for UK based SMEs.
Having been in business for some 20 years, 4Com has established itself as a leading VoIP reseller in the UK.
4Com Reviews
4Com currently enjoys a Trustpilot score of 4.8 out of 5 stars, which is impressive given the number of customers. Similarly to us here at T2k, it would seem that 4Com takes looking after its customers seriously, which shows in their reviews.
- Call reporting and stats
- Integration with popular desktop apps
- On-hold marketing messages
- Call recording functionality
- Auto-attendant system
- Voicemail to email
- Simple installation and setup
- UK based service and support
- No upfront costs
- Limited choice of handsets
- Their growth has reduced service levels
- Expensive service according to customer reviews
9. Gradwell
Gradwell is a well-established telecoms provider based in Bath. With a large team and an extensive client base, they can support almost any company that looks to them for VoIP. Alongside their VoIP offerings, they also provide services such as connectivity and software; they are a modern-day communications partner by all accounts.
With thousands of customers across, including many well-known brands, Gradwell is undoubtedly one of the top VoIP providers in the UK.
Gradwell reviews
Gradwell are one provider on this list whom we know are very good, but it seems of late their service levels have slipped somewhat. Currently, their Trustpilot score is hovering around 3.9 stars out of 5. However, the frequency of 5-star reviews seems to be increasing, signalling perhaps the resolution of some of their troubles.
- Simple to manage plenty of features
- Call routing functionality
- Softphone apps for iOS and Android
- Great for remote teams
- Fast setup
- Competitive pricing
- HD Audio quality
- Use any device
- Built on AWS web services
- No limit on capacity, so it can grow with your business
- Excellent resilience
- Sometimes poor support, as highlighted in customer reviews
- Somewhat dated phone system
- Moved backwards in recent years
10. Lily Comms
Lily Comms is a VoIP reseller, meaning they don't have their technology; they add value to other's platforms. They have a range of solutions available from some of the best VoIP providers. The advantage of working with a reseller like Lily is that you'll usually get better levels of support than you would be working with a global provider.
Lily Comms Reviews
Lily Comms is comparable to T2k in that they currently have a score of 4.9 out of 5 from their customer reviews on Trustpilot. This is encouraging not only for Lily but for T2k too, as ultimately, we both use the same underlying technology to deliver services to customers.
- Award-winning provider of communications and IT solutions
- Highly rated on Trustpilot
- Partner of multiple leading tech companies
- Tailored services
- Choice of underlying VoIP platform
- All customers get a dedicated account manager
- 24/7 support options
- Some customers mention poor call quality in their reviews
11. BT Business
BT is synonymous with telecoms, being that it's the oldest phone company in the world. Today, it provides various services domestically and to the corporate market, from TV and mobile to business VoIP systems.
While perhaps not everyone's favourite company, it has to be said that they must be doing something right to be where they are.
BT Business Reviews
BT's reviews are, in all honesty, pretty poor; they're a huge business and therefore taking care of individual customers tends to be complicated. This is represented in their currently Trustpilot score of just 1.2 out of 5. However, it should be noted that they aren't actively asking their customers for Trustpilot reviews, so it tends to be only the people who have had negative experiences that take the time to find their profile and leave a review.
- Choose between local and non-geographic numbers
- Integration with mobile devices so you can work from anywhere
- Call forwarding, routing, Voicemail and more
- Call Recording and monitoring
- Extensive CRM integration
- Cloud-based with simple admin portal
- Instant messaging
- Video Conferencing
- Often poor levels of support
- Difficult to contact them
- Sometimes poor voice quality
12. Virgin Media Business
Virgin Media are another well-known name on our list of the best providers, whom you will undoubtedly have come across for in the very least domestic TV and phone services. But they also provide a range of business VoIP services to complement their other offerings, such as business internet connectivity. Virgin provides several VoIP solutions, including backing off to another leading provider in this list 8x8. As much of their business VoIP service is backed off to 8x8, please refer to that review higher up this page for more information.
Virgin Media Business Reviews
We're sorry to say that the situation for Virgin in terms of reviews is very similar to that of BT. As they aren't actively encouraging customer reviews, their Trustpilot profile is littered with complaints. Of course, as is always the case with reviews, they should be taken with a pinch of salt, but overall, the picture isn't too positive.
13. SureVoIP
SureVoIP is one of the few providers on this list to boast their independent network and business VoIP solution. With a national MPLS enabled network, they provide a high-quality and high-reliability service. Perhaps not as well known as others on this list, they are a genuine contender in the market, having won various industry awards in the past few years.
Sure VoIP reviews
SureVoIP collects their reviews via Reviews.io and currently have a rating of 4.48 out of 5, with 90% of reviewers recommending SureVoIP. This high score demonstrates their commitment to quality and customer service and justifies their inclusion in this list of best VoIP providers for business.
- Various solutions depending on your company size
- All of their business VoIP services provide HD Voice quality
- Voicemail to email as standard
- Choice of handsets along with desktop and smartphone softphones
- Fully encrypted calls for security
- Port numbers over and get new ones
- Call Recording and conferencing
- Auto-attendant and IVR options
- Some reviews state that simple issues aren't solved efficiently
14. Microsoft Teams
The final VoIP provider we've reviewed is Microsoft and their business communications platform Teams. Many of you will already know of and use Microsoft Teams, and there's an increasing number of companies that are not enabling it for voice. However, it's not without its faults, with high costs and patchy support, but it is worthy of being on our roundup.
Microsoft Teams reviews
Microsoft collects reviews for their Teams product on TrustRadius, where they have a very good score of 8.1 out of 10, one of the highest of any of the global companies we've reviewed.
- Many people already familiar with the software
- Voice and video calling
- Meeting recording
- Webinar hosting
- Integrates with other Microsoft tools
- Limited functionality in comparison to other cloud PBXs
- Only chat support provided
Cloud-based VoIP platforms today provide a complete business communications service with extensive fixed and mobile telephony capabilities.
What to look for in a VoIP phone system
When you're changing your phone system, you want to ensure that whatever you move to won't just save you money but give you a reliable platform for growth. You want to maximise productivity and give your team the tools they need to provide brilliant customer service. Business-focused features that emphasise control and administration take the burden of management away from you and improve profitability.
In our opinion, you should always look for a UK VoIP provider with exemplary support, as your phones are central to the performance of your business.
Find a system with an easy to use interface
Most, but not all of the top providers, will give you a web portal where you can log in and manage your phone system. Here are some of the options you'll have:
- Call history
- Voicemail to email settings
- Call routing management
- Hunt Group configuration
- Call Recording settings and the recordings themselves
- Call stats, reports and dashboard
Features that improve team working
Cloud VoIP improves team working through a variety of features; many of which should be included as standard with your VoIP system's subscription:
1) Adhoc conferencing
Start a conference at any time, without scheduling a meeting, simply drag and drop users from your contacts to an open within, and you can enjoy all of the features of a planned conference.
2 ) Hunt Groups
Distribute calls across your team using Hunt Groups; it doesn't matter where the team is based, or even if they're in the same office; if they're in a group and available, they can be included in your call routing. Choose from the following five ways to call the group:
- Circular - Sends calls to users based on their position in a list
- Regular - Sends calls to the next available user in the hunt group
- Simultaneous - Sends incoming calls to all of the users at the same time
- Uniform - Send the call to the user who has been idle the longest
- Weighted - Assigns calls to users based on percentages you set in the Hunt Group
3 ) Call transfer
Transfer calls to any internal or external number quickly and easily, and not only that, easily receive the call back if no one answers. Simply enable the settings, and you'll have the option of how many times a transferred call should ring before it's transferred back to you. You don't need to answer either; using Blind Transfer, you can transfer a call without speaking to the person.
4 ) Common or customisable settings for sites, groups and departments
Reduce admin and maintain consistency across the organisation by grouping sites, teams and departments together. Changes in settings can then be rolled out on a per-site, team or department basis.
5) Call park
Put a call on hold and pick up another phone, giving you the flexibility to move around the office and even switch to a mobile device or computer.
6) Call Pick-up
Is someone in the team away from their desk? With Call Pick-Up, you can take the call and tell the person when your colleague will be back. This feature allows you to answer colleagues' phones and pick up call-waiting calls.
7) Call Waiting and music on hold
Call waiting for queued callers and ensure you're ready to take the next call. With music on hold, you can choose to play waiting music or even promotional messages while your customers wait.
8) Auto Attendant
Auto-attendant provides menu options to callers so that their call can be routed to the correct person or team. You can create a bespoke schedule that enables the auto-attendant only during working hours and disables it when the office is closed for a holiday.
Features to improve efficiency
VoIP phone systems provide a range of features specifically designed to help your team maximise their efficiency.
1) Last number redial and click to dial
Quickly redial the last number that was called, received or missed and use your computer to Click to Dial anyone in your contacts list.
2) Presence or Pre-set Availability
Manage incoming calls with Presence and Pre-set Availability; if you know you're not going to be available, your business phone needn't ring. Call routing can take the caller to someone available. Choose from four different availability profiles:
- Available In Office
- Available - Out of office
- Busy
- Unavailable
These profiles include the ability to manage incoming call functions, for example, Call Forwarding, Busy, Voice Messaging and Call Notify.
3) Anonymous call Rejection or Selective call Rejections
Anonymous Call Reject allows a user to reject calls from people that have restricted their caller ID. By activating the service via your provider's web portal, callers without identification will be informed that the user isn't accepting calls. The user's phone won't ring, and the user won't see or hear any indication that a call was attempted. This service, of course, doesn't apply to calls from within the business or group.
4) Auto Call Back and Busy Lamp Keys
If you call another person in your company and are busy, you can use Automatic Call Back to be notified when they're off the phone. Equally, you can have Busy Lamp Keys on your phone handset, which show you whether another user is on a call or not.
5) Do Not Disturb
Do Not Disturb will show you're unavailable and automatically reject attempted calls or transfers.
6) Company Directory
With Company Directory, you can assign up to 100-speed dials for your favourite numbers. Save time and avoid having to search for a popular number.
7) Call Recording
Use call recording to create audit trails and ensure compliance. Equally, you can use call recording for training purposes and quickly and easily listen back to calls that have taken place.
Mobile and flexible working
VoIP services give you and your team so much flexibility to work from anywhere. Enjoy features such as Call Forwarding to manage calls effectively, Home Worker to take profiles and settings home, Voicemail to email to never miss an important call, and Hot desking to move around and work from anywhere.
The phones you get for your new VoIP phone system play a big part in your team's experience. VoIP phones come in all shapes and sizes, but one thing to bear in mind is that not all phones will work with all UK VoIP Providers' systems. While we can show you some of the best handsets on the market, it's always wise to speak to your VoIP provider to find out what they offer.
Poly VVX 150 Phone
The Poly VVX 150 handset is an entry-level phone suitable for handling low to moderate call volumes. With an intuitive user interface, usability and navigation are simple, requiring minimal training. The VVX 150 provides a high-quality but cost-effective solution with advanced unified communications (UC) features.
Poly VVX 250 Phone
The Poly VVX 250 iis a basic VoIP phone with a colour display. It's a high-quality IP phone with four lines and excellent sound quality. It's ideal for office workers who need the quality features that a modern business environment demands.
With Polycom HD Voice delivering superior high definition sound quality, the VVX 250 has advanced voice processing capabilities.
Poly VVX 450 Phone
The Poly VVX 450 is a step up from the previous models featuring 12 lines and is a high-performance desk phone with a colour display. It's a high-quality IP phone stacked with features for today's busy business executives and upper management. It's a perfect fit for all environments, with the HD Voice delivering superior sound quality. The Polycom Acoustic Fence technology minimises background noises, echoes and distractions.
Yealink W52P Cordless
The Yealink W25P Cordless IP Phone is the perfect fit for busy small businesses that need a flexible device that can roam around an office. In our experience, the Yealink W25P is the best wireless business VoIP phone currently available, feature-rich and cost-effective, the perfect companion to cloud-based VoIP services.
PolyTrio 8500 Conference Phone
The Poly Trio 8500 takes business conference calling to the next level. It's a sleek and sophisticated model with a full-colour screen for ease of navigation and use. With Polycom's market-leading voice quality, you can be sure that your meetings will be seamless.
Poly Trio 8800 Conference Phone
The PolyTrio 8800 is a modern business conference phone with video and content performance that marries excellent voice quality. The Polycom Trio can turn meeting rooms into a collaborative, hassle-free team working environment.
It can be challenging to know their differences with hundreds of UK VoIP providers to choose from. This section gives you our top tips to consider when you're choosing your VoIP provider. Click here if you'd like a more detailed guide to choosing a business VoIP system.
Price of business VoIP services
Prices between business VoIP providers can vary quite significantly, so it's essential to get several quotes to understand what they will charge you per month.
Work out how many minutes you use approximately per month and then see if it's worth paying a set fee for a certain number of minutes, or would it be less expensive with a pay-as-you-go VoIP provider?
Spending an hour researching the options will ultimately save you a lot of money on calls.
Quality of business calls
We always recommend researching the business VoIP providers you're speaking to understand their customers' thoughts.
Business VoIP services require a significant amount of investment to keep them operational, so you need to know that you're in safe hands as a customer.
Ease of use of the VoIP platform
Some VoIP providers will provide you with complicated instructions that are difficult to follow and make using the system a real struggle. Others will install for you and be on hand to give you training on how to use the system. Look for a provider that offers you that level of customer service as you must have got a good grasp of the system.
If you're pretty technical already, this may not be too important to you, but the simpler, the better for everyone else.
Choose a business provider for the features you'll use
The functionality that business VoIP systems provide is far greater than you'd expect from a traditional phone or even a PBX system; because of that, you'll want to make sure you familiarise yourself with all of the things the cloud-based platforms you're looking at can do.
While many of these features will be included in your monthly service fee, some will attract an additional charge, so speaking to each provider to establish what it'll cost for you to use such features is essential.
Can you scale the service up and down?
VoIP allows your business to connect your staff quicker and easier than ever before, but what happens if your business grows or shrinks?
In most cases scaling a VoIP service up won't be an issue, and the provider you're working with will be more than happy to sell you another license for the platform. But what happens if you need to reduce the number of subscriptions you have? Make sure you speak to the VoIP provider about this; the last thing you want is to be tied into a contract for a person no longer in the business.
How secure is the VoIP service?
Technology can be prone to security threats, so understand what security measures are in place to protect your VoIP calls. Can you imagine what might happen if you were, for instance, using call recording and someone got their hands on all of your recorded calls? It doesn't bear thinking about, so make sure you check with your VoIP service provider whether they support secure communications and what measures they have.
Customer support and reviews
As you use the hosted VoIP service, there will likely be certain things you need assistance with, so check with your provider what level of customer support they provide. The best VoIP providers will offer telephone-based support, and we suggest avoiding those that only offer live chat.
Choice of phone numbers
The great thing with business VoIP phones is that you can have a phone number anywhere in the UK. This is great if you're running a market campaign in one city but located somewhere else; all of the calls will still come through to your business phone, but you appear to be local from the customer's perspective.
Number porting
Phone number porting is the process of moving your existing phone number over to the new service. Check with your account manager or customer service that this is available before taking the service out to ensure you can keep your number.
Based close to Bournemouth, T2K was founded over 28 years ago as a specialist business telephony provider. Today, we support hundreds of businesses and thousands of users across the UK with both hosted and onsite phone systems. Our customers range from small businesses to large multi-site organisations with complex networking requirements. Being at the forefront of the development of VoIP systems, we're perfectly placed to provide you with expert advice based on years of experience. We regularly review all of the UK VoIP providers so that we can make up to the minute recommendations to our customers.
UK Based Customer Service
The strength of our business comes from our customer service; we provide stability, reliability and continuity via our 100% UK based support. Most of our staff have been with us for ten years or more, which means our customers get the same excellent service from our dedicated team, time after time.
We ensure that your business receives the very best customer service available with dedicated account management.
When comparing business VoIP providers, it's essential to find one that's got a track record of reliability. Ultimately the provider you choose will be your telephony partner for the foreseeable future, so you must take your time when you're speaking to the various VoIP providers.
Having worked for T2k for nearly 25 years, it's fair to say that Lee is an expert when it comes to all things telephony and business communications. Overseeing the commercial side of the business, he has helped the company evolve and grow through the decades. In recent years, and with the advent of VoIP and hosted telephony, Lee has made sure that T2k is at the forefront of technological developments. With a firm interest in helping businesses navigate the world of telecoms, Lee is responsible for the majority of the content on this website.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are the best business VoIP providers in the UK?
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