The 8 Best Phone Systems for UK Small Businesses in 2025

Investing in the best small business phone system can make all the difference to your public-facing operations in 2025. In fact, with the ‘Big Switch Off’ of all UK landlines in 2027 looming ever closer, many UK-based businesses are turning to top VoIP providers for feature-rich, internet-enabled calling systems to get ahead of the competition.

According to our research, bOnline Unlimited Calling is the most suitable VoIP system for a UK small business. bOnline’s proficient call management tools, extensive communications channels and handy training features, all at an extremely low cost with unlimited minutes, will help you improve interactions between your customers and agents.

Still, while it is the cheapest option, other providers do offer additional perks for a little more money, depending on your requirements. To learn how our top eight VoIP products compare on pricing, features, and limitations, read on for reviews of each and find your best fit.

The top 8 small business phone systems in the UK

As a small business looking for a new phone system, you’re spoilt for choice. Choosing one also informs your phone pick, as many of 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.

1. bOnline Unlimited Calling

Best phone system overall for small businesses

If you are happy with purchasing its Yealink hardware, bOnline Unlimited Calling is our top choice. It has the most comprehensive offering of features and functionality across our key testing areas of call management, communication channels and training features per pound of spend.

Prices correct as of January 2025.

Why do we recommend bOnline Unlimited Calling?

We were dazzled by bOnline’s value for money – since price is a key consideration for small businesses. Offering unlimited inbound and outbound minutes for a base monthly cost of just £13.95 per month (+ £5/mth for CRM integration), bOnline Unlimited Calling is the cheapest VoIP plan with unlimited calling that we’ve assessed.

We found RingCentral Standard to be slightly cheaper when factoring in CRM integration, working out to £14.99 per month, however, you’ll only have 250 inbound minutes and 750 outbound minutes per user. As a result, bOnline had the only plan to get a perfect price rating from us, just ahead of RingCentral Standard, and is the most competitive VoIP for small businesses for low cost.

bOnline also impressed us with its comprehensive set of call management tools, from recording and queuing to custom hold music and voicemail transcription. In the joint-third position of our top eight in this category, it only missed out on a perfect score due to a lack of voicemail screening and call flipping, offered by Vonage Pro.

Additionally, it was the joint-second highest score for training features, too, just behind Vonage Pro. It provides call monitoring and call analytics that VoIPs such as RingCentral Standard and 8×8 X2 don’t offer, though forgoes barge and call whisper features exclusive to Vonage Pro from the options on this page.

Could bOnline Unlimited Calling do anything better?

• Hardware integration: We found bOnline is only expertly compatible with one phone brand: Yealink. This earned it the joint-lowest score in this category out of all eight providers on this page. Any businesses that want to stick with their hardware may want to choose an alternative.
• Security: It lacks multi-factor authentication (MFA), according to our research. Despite having third-party security certification and password rules, this leaves it having security measures that are less comprehensive than most other VoIP options.

What business is bOnline Unlimited Calling best suited to?

bOnline Unlimited Calling is ideal for small helpdesk operations and budget-conscious businesses due to its low-cost Starter plan, offering unlimited inbound and outbound minutes for just £13.95 per month.

While it lacks the extensive features of larger providers like 8×8 or RingCentral, it proves its worth across essential tools including voicemail transcription, call routing and CRM integrations. These features support efficient call management, making bOnline a great choice for a cost-effective yet robust communication solution.

2. GoTo Connect CX

Best small business phone system for unified communications

Our research has found that GoTo Connect CX is a top choice should you want to wield all the inbound call management features we assessed as useful to a small business. No other provider plan listed here can offer its range in this regard. Add in its range of communication channels and superb hardware integration, and decent training features, we believe it is a well-rounded option overall.

If you want to know more, check out our in-depth GoTo Connect review, or continue reading for a more details.

GoTo Connect’s pricing is correct as of January 2025. However, you can also negotiate custom quotes via GoTo.

Why do we recommend GoTo Connect CX?

GoTo Connect’s suite of internal communication features is wide-reaching. It is the only provider to score perfectly in this section, providing the most channels, including team messaging, video conferencing and screen sharing. This extensive range fosters seamless collaboration, meaning your team can communicate effectively in any format.

GoTo Connect CX also integrated with more desk phone brand systems than any other VoIP provider we tested, thoroughly impressing us as an adaptable option for most businesses.

While it scored higher for call management, GoTo Connect CX’s training features are among the most extensive we’ve tested too. It offers robust call recording, monitoring and user-specific analytics and reporting tools, second only to Vonage Max.

Could GoTo Connect CX do anything better?

• Pricing: With only 1,000 freephone (also known as toll-free) minutes per account and a price point of £25 per user, per month, GoTo Connect CX could offer better value for companies primarily calling business lines. More transparent and affordably priced options, such as bOnline, are more appealing when purely considering the bottom line, too. Although GoTo Connect CX does offer free international calls to more than 50 countries, making it a valuable softphone.

What business is GoTo Connect CX best suited to?

GoTo Connect CX is ideal for dispersed teams, such as those in construction. Supporting several desk phone brands, it is adaptable to any user setup across the country and beyond. It also has several call management and training tools to keep operations running smoothly, internally and externally.

3. 8×8 X2

Best small business phone system for software integrations

8×8 offers scalable solutions and its foundation is its X2 plan. It stands out due to its flexibility of choice, ticking many boxes for small business phone systems by offering both essential features such as ring groups and call queues to manage high call volumes effectively, and valuable extras.

Impressing us across most of our eight scoring categories, it is something of an all-rounder with unbeatable security and customer support options, like 24/7 live chat and email.

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

Why do we recommend 8×8 X2?

Our favourite aspect of 8×8 X2 is its wide range of software integrations, which we found no other competitor could match. That includes a large number of CRM platforms, such as Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics and Zendesk, alongside several helpdesk platforms for storing all your customer data and interactions.

We also found it could easily integrate with video conferencing platforms including Microsoft Teams, as well as popular calendar integration like Gmail or Outlook, so it can become a unified system for your small business. Only Dialpad Pro and, to a lesser extent, bOnline could get anywhere near to this level of all-encompassing integration.

With support for video and call conferencing for up to 500 people, instant team messaging and e-fax sees 8×8 X2 offer one of the most unified communication channel setups we’ve tested, too. GoTo Connect’s additional SMS support sees it take the crown, but 8×8 X2 is still a superb option.

Its security features are also worth reiterating, since it includes several compliance certifications and multi-factor authentication, alongside password rules and differing user permission tools, earning it a perfect score in this testing area.

Could 8×8 X2 do anything better?

• Training features: Tools for training staff are not 8×8 X2’s strong suit. It has basic call recording but managers can’t listen in on calls (monitoring), guide staff through them (call whisper) or join them explicitly (call barging) without an add-on/upgrading to its X4 plan. It also lacks analytics tools, resulting in 8×8 X2 receiving the joint-lowest score in this area, alongside RingCentral.
• Pricing: Despite offering unlimited minutes per user, we’ve awarded 8×8 X2 a middling score for its unclear bespoke pricing model, placing it far behind bOnline’s transparently cheap offering. Still, 8×8’s broad range of features may offer solid investment, depending on your business needs.

What business is 8×8 X2 best suited to?

Any organisation that operates with busy customer-service teams, or where multiple communication channels are crucial to the ongoing running of the business will find great value from 8×8’s X2 plan. Its number of channels allows business colleagues to talk to one another quickly, without difficulty and across whatever format works best.

Add in its extensive range of software and hardware integration possibilities and it becomes clear that 8×8’s expertise in creating VoIP phone systems for a huge array of industries means it can be applied to almost any small business.

The number of more comprehensive plans besides this base option means it’s a scalable VoIP for fast-growing and ever-changing business needs, too. For instance, the 8×8 X4 plan supports calling to 48 different countries, which could be useful if your team ventures into international operations or is expecting to have offices abroad in the future.

4. Dialpad Pro

Best small business phone system for call management

Our thorough research looked closely at how suitable Dialpad Pro is for small businesses and we were most impressed with its strong call management and external integration potential, plus extensive customer support. It is pricier than other options and could have a larger offering of training and communication tools, however.

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 such as transcribe calls and flag them as positive or negative for your reflection. This means you can focus your attention on other tasks as you work on making your small business succeed.

Read our detailed Dialpad review for more information.

Prices correct as of January 2025.

Why do we recommend Dialpad Pro?

Dialpad Pro outscored all other competitors for call management features, with a perfect score. In other words, it does everything we asked of it, from virtual receptionist, voicemail and screening features to queuing, re-routing, flipping and forwarding abilities. Given Dialpad Pro’s unlimited calling minutes allowance, any business dealing with large call volumes will be well-equipped to manage a variety of different calling needs.

After 8×8 X2, Dialpad Pro performed best for software integrations, too. It’s one of the only plans to integrate with Microsoft Teams for video conferencing, and syncs with Outlook and Gmail for calendar usage. It only integrated with Salesforce on the CRM front, so your mileage may vary depending on your software choice, but it did integrate with several helpdesk platforms outside that major player.

And it’s good news on the integration front all round, with Dialpad Pro seamlessly integrating with the largest amount of phone brands we tested, besides GoTo Connect CX.

Could Dialpad Pro do anything better?

• Training features: Upskilling staff is crucial for growing small businesses using VoIP, and while Dialpad Pro isn’t an outlier in its poor performance here, it’s still a point of weakness. It offers call recording and basic analytics but lacks advanced features such as call listening, joining calls and discreet coaching, falling behind the likes of like Vonage Pro and bOnline.
• Communication channels: Ranking second bottom for this area among the top eight providers, Dialpad Pro can only have 10 or fewer participants on video calls. Despite being an area of relative weakness, it still scores a respectable, middling total since it offers team messaging and regular call conferencing included by default, while it is the only provider besides GoTo Connect CX to offer SMS use.

What business is Dialpad Pro best suited to?

Dialpad Pro is ideal for small businesses needing excellent call management, such as customer service centres, sales teams and support desks.

Its live call coaching, top-tier software and hardware integrations and comprehensive call management features make it perfect for businesses handling high call volumes and prioritising team training. Plus, SMS functionality means it could be beneficial for mobile-centric businesses, too.

5. Vonage Pro

Best phone system for training features

After conducting in-depth research across our eight assessment areas, we found Vonage Pro blew the competition away in certain sectors, namely its rich array of advanced training features to upskill your staff, including call barge and call whisper functionality, plus detailed analytics and reporting of user calls.

It was highly commendable for call management features too, and despite leaving us less impressed with its communication channels, software integrations and pricing, still sits comfortably in the middle of the pack from our list of top eight providers.

Read our Vonage review for more details or read on below for more specifics about what Vonage’s Pro plan offers.

Prices correct as of January 2025.

Why do we recommend Vonage Pro?

As mentioned, training features are the standout reason to turn to Vonage Pro. Simply put, Vonage Pro can do all the training tools we know small businesses would love to have access to, beyond the basics like call recording.

For businesses that want to use call monitoring, barging and whisper functions, and have analytics and reporting tools built-in, then Voyage Max is the only platform we tested that offers all of them in one place. For these reasons, it earned a perfect score in this category. That’s a streak ahead of the next highest scorers bOnline Unlimited Calling and GoTo Connect, both of which don’t support whisper and barge functionality.

Vonage Pro does almost everything we asked of it around call management. It supports several call screening features such as caller ID, recorded and transcribable voicemails and call blocking, alongside a virtual receptionist and queueing, routing, forwarding, flipping and ring groups, too. It beat all other VoIPs on this page besides Dialpad Pro, which also offers customisable hold music.

Working with more than three of the phone brands we tested, Vonage Pro is also one of the better VoIPs in terms of hardware integrations. This makes it a solid choice to integrate into your existing setup – though do double-check that your current desk phones work with Vonage Pro before purchase.

Could Vonage Pro do anything better?

• Communication channels: Businesses needing in-built video conferencing will find Vonage Pro lacking this feature, unlike most VoIPs we tested. It supports call conferencing and team messaging but also goes without SMS, e-fax and other functions, leaving it behind competitors.
• Software integration: One of five VoIPs for small businesses to score nothing in this assessment area, Vonage Pro isn’t alone in its lack of integration possibilities for small businesses. However, the company of the crowd doesn’t dismiss the fact that Vonage Pro lacks any CRM, helpdesk, video conferencing, customer-service live chat or calendar integration.
• Pricing: While Vonage Pro offers unlimited inbound and outbound minutes, we believe the cost of £20 per user is near the maximum amount a small business would like to spend. As a result, it scored the joint-lowest total in this assessment area, alongside NBC Cloud Voice Enterprise and GoTo Connect.

What business is Vonage Pro best suited to?

Call centres dealing with high call volumes or growing customer service teams will be well-positioned to take advantage of Vonage Pro’s comprehensive training features.

New staff can be guided with tools such as call whisper, which lets another user listen in on a call and speak privately to the call hander, potentially coaching them through a live call on how to engage with customers. Call barge can let a user join the call as an active participant too, should the call require a more experienced hand, while some strong analytics and reporting dashboards mean new staff can also be monitored in the aggregate.

6. RingCentral Standard

Best small business phone system ready to scale

If your business values the ability to scale your operations as you grow, we think RingCentral is a great phone system for you, thanks to all the external hardware connections it can adapt to, its access to more advanced call management features like voicemail screening. It has lots of support tools and a breadth of communication channels too, plus intuitive dashboards to help you gain valuable insights that will guide business decisions.

While the extent of those features isn’t as wide as some other providers, you can easily take things to the next level when you need it through RingCentral’s pricier plans down the line – and we found that to be the case across all our testing areas. Businesses growing quickly can check out the full list of our favourite VoIPs in the UK, where RingCentral’s Premium plan is currently our top pick.

Check out our in-depth RingCentral review.

Prices correct as of January 2025.

Why do we recommend RingCentral Standard?

RingCentral Standard has a wealth of options for communication, allowing you to video call with up to 100 participants with on-demand recording and unlimited audio conferencing, all for up to 24 hours at a time.

What’s more, while RingCentral’s Standard plan cannot integrate a business CRM, it can incorporate popular communications and workspace tools such as Slack, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. From our research, the only communication method not covered was SMS – look to Vonage Pro or GoTo Connect CX for that feature – and sits in joint second place for the extent of features offered.

Equally impressive is that when we compared it with competitors, including Vonage and bOnline, RingCentral raced ahead for its customer support service. Offering 24/7 live support, phone, email and live chat support, you can be confident you’ll have a whole dashboard of nifty features to power your small business.

Compared to bOnline, NBC and Google Voice, RingCentral Standard is an excellent option to integrate with your existing phone hardware. We found it could work perfectly with more phone brands than any other provider, besides GoTo Connect CX, while offering iOS and Android app support too.

Could RingCentral Standard do anything better?

• Software integrations: Its Standard plan lacks CRM, helpdesk or calendar software integration and scored nothing here as a result. Still, when your business needs it, you can upgrade to a Premium or Ultimate subscription and sync with more than 90 CRM platforms, key helpdesk integrations like Salesforce and Zendesk, analytics and much more.
• Training features: When it comes to training features, RingCentral Standard only offers call recording. Beyond that, if you need more advanced tools like call barge or whisper, you’ll have to look elsewhere or be prepared to wait until your business is ready to upgrade since RingCentral Premium offers all those tools and more.

What business is RingCentral Standard best suited to?

RingCentral Standard is ideal for small businesses ready to scale, whether that’s consultancy firms or marketing agencies. Advanced communication tools such as video calling with up to 100 participants, solid customer support options and wide-ranging hardware compatibility mean remote teams may particularly benefit from RingCentral’s suite.

Given it lacks CRM and helpdesk software integration on its Standard plan, customer support centres, tech support services and sales-driven organisations will want to steer clear or upgrade to the Premium package.

7. NBC Cloud Voice Enterprise

Best small business phone system for secure and streamlined communication

NBC’s Cloud Voice Enterprise plan performs admirably in the core functionalities required of a VoIP system: communications and call management.

Although it offers limited integrations for small businesses when compared with 8×8 and GoTo, if you’re looking for a provider that has a track record of pleasing its users, then NBC’s has an excellent reputation via sites like Trustpilot and largely down to its excellent British-based customer support team. They specifically choose to work with small businesses too, meaning its team should understand your needs down to the ground.

Prices correct as of January 2025.

Why do we recommend NBC Cloud Voice Enterprise?

While it didn’t outshine the competition in any particular area, NBC’s standout quality is its call management features. Here, it matched our top overall VoIP provider plan, bOnline Unlimited Calling, reflecting NBC’s ability to do most of the call management features we tested, including call forwarding, flipping and voicemail transcription. It only fell short of Dialpad Pro’s perfect score through a lack of caller ID and voicemail screening functionality.

Supporting team messaging, video conferencing for more than 10 users at once and audio calling, NBC Cloud Voice Enterprise has all the main communication methods required of most modern VoIP-related small businesses covered.

NBC Cloud Voice Enterprise is a highly secure provider, too. Certified for third-party data security standards, requiring MFA for all users and supporting user permission levels, it ranks third among our top eight in this category – although its password rules could be stronger.

Could NBC Cloud Voice Enterprise do anything better?

• Software Integrations: Not supporting integration with any CRM, helpdesk, external video conferencing, customer live chat or calendar services, NBC Cloud Voice Enterprise is far behind the likes of 8×8 X2, bOnline Unlimited Calling and Dialpad Pro here.
• Training Features: An important method of upskilling staff, NBC’s lack of call whisper, barge and monitoring leaves it a little bare in terms of training tools. You can record calls and access some data on user calling, however.

What business is NBC Cloud Voice Enterprise best suited to?

NBC’s Cloud Voice Enterprise plan is perfect for small businesses that prioritise excellent call management and robust security. As explained above, these features make it a reliable choice for businesses needing secure and efficient call handling, with unlimited minutes, at an easy-to-digest price point of around £21 per month.

Any businesses heavily reliant on CRM, helpdesk or extensive software integrations are likely to want a more equipped alternative in this regard.

8. Google Voice Starter

Best small business phone system for Google Users

If you’re already using Google products at your business and happy with how they are performing, then adding Google Voice to the mix should be an appealing straightforward proposition for minimal spend.

Although our research rated Google Voice rather poorly for external integrations and call management features – which does put it far behind other providers including bOnline and 8×8 –you can benefit from seamless integration with the other Google products since you are required to sign up for Google Workspace before you can access Google Voice.

For more information, check out our Google Voice review or continue reading here for insights on what else it can offer your small business.

Prices correct as of January 2025. Google Voice prices are only listed in USD, but you can purchase your subscription in the UK.

Why do we recommend Google Voice Starter?

Google Voice Starter provides several compliance certifications, multi-factor authentication and encryption. No other provider equals Google Voice in security measures, except for 8×8.

Google Voice offers the equal second-best communication channel selection of VoIP providers we’ve tested, supporting chat messaging and video meetings of up to 150 participants (with features including hand raising, breakout rooms, audience polling and Q&A abilities). All meetings are recorded to Google Drive too, with 2TB of pooled storage per user by default (although it’s worth stressing that this varies depending on your Workspace plan). It does lack e-fax and SMS functionality, however.

Another boon is that Google Voice Starter is relatively cheap for Google Workspace users, with prices starting from just $10 per month, per user. You don’t get as extensive features compared to other VoIPs, leaving the exact value for money in question, but it’s still affordable for most small businesses.

The caveat, as alluded to, is that this expense will only feel small if you already have a Google Workspace account, since to get Google Voice you need one. Prices range between £5 per user, per month and £15 per user, per month for Google Workspace.

Could Google Voice Starter do anything better?

• Call Management: Google Voice has plentiful communication channels but lacks features for external call management, such as call queuing and routing that almost all other providers offer. It also misses call flipping and the use of customisable hold music. It does provide a virtual receptionist, voicemail transcription, caller screening, caller ID and ring groups. However, these features aren’t enough to lift it from the lowest ranking in this category.
• Training Features: Offering just call recording and basic analytics, Google Voice isn’t ideal for employee training. It lags behind bOnline, GoTo Connect CX and Vonage Pro due to missing call monitoring, whisper and barge features. Still, it outperforms RingCentral Standard and 8×8 X2, whose extensive training features are reserved for pricier plans.

What business is Google Voice Starter best suited to?

Naturally, any small businesses already using Google products will find Google Voice Starter very appealing. It seamlessly integrates with Google Workspace, providing easy setup and unified communication tools, extensive storage and unbeatable security protection for your valuable data.

On the other hand, a lack of robust call management tools and personalised support make it less ideal for e-commerce companies needing extensive external integrations or human customer support teams.

How much does a small business phone system cost?

A VoIP system for small businesses typically costs between £10 per user, per month and £30 per user, per month. The average price per user, per month is £20. Most providers offer a cheaper monthly price when billed annually, but if you choose to pay monthly, while costing you a little extra, it 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. You might also face additional fees for the number of phone lines you require, or for other perks like an international virtual number.

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 such as 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 read the reviews on this page or our best business VoIP provider guide, and chosen chosen your new provider (check out our free price comparison tool if you’re still undecided) 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, as well as often being able to connect to desk phones if you need them.

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 and they’ll do the rest. There can be a downtime of around one working day, so try to 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 these features makes it easy to understand trends and patterns, and make informed decisions without needing to use a lot of resource on carrying out research.

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 hardware and software infrastructure – When you’re entering the VoIP-verse, choosing a provider with integrations is key. Look out for ready-made integrations for features such as CRM, workspace, email, web conferencing, internal messaging and external messaging platforms. Similarly, if you don’t need to purchase new desk phones then it will be easier to get to business right away.
• 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 include 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, such as internal messaging and video conferencing. Security will also be key here as this shields your business from risks as you expand.

How We Ranked the Best Phone Systems for Small Businesses