The 5 Best Virtual Phone Number Apps

Why is 8x8 the Best Overall Virtual Phone Number App?

From the get-go, 8x8 provides unlimited domestic minutes across all plans. This gets upgraded to unlimited international calls to 14 countries on the X2 plan, which extends to 48 countries on the X4 plan. Likewise, it has a number porting capability on all pricing tiers, so you can retain your existing business phone number while enjoying call flexibility.

8x8’s impressive call features include voicemail-to-text, a virtual receptionist, and localized toll-free numbers. The most noteworthy of which is its high-quality voice calling and analytics. Plus, many advanced features like power dialer and predictive dialing for an additional cost. Moreover, 8x8 ranked first in our customer support (5/5), security (5/5), and scalability (4.9/5) research categories.

You have to look out for its 10-user limit on its cheapest (Express) plan. Nevertheless, this user limit quickly dissolves as you upgrade to the X2 plan, which enables an unlimited number of users. On the other hand, if you want to spend as little as you can while ensuring your growing team will be catered for, try Vonage. This provider allows unlimited users on its cheapest plan, which costs £9 to £16.50 per user, per month.

Why is RingCentral Best for Small to Medium Businesses?

RingCentral closely takes the second spot with top marks in external connections (4.3/5), customer support (5/5), and scalability (4.9/5) in our research. Not only is it reliable, but it has a wide compatibility with software and flexible enough to adapt when your business starts to grow.

RingCentral offers unlimited domestic minutes and number porting across all plans. It also offers plenty of call features, including a virtual receptionist, customizable hold music, SMS, and a set caller ID. Best of all, RingCentral comes ready to integrate with up to 250 software platforms, such as Whatsapp, Facebook, Slack, and Hangouts Chat.  

The drawback is, many outbound communication features, like auto dialer and custom call lists require RingCentral Engage, an add-on that comes at an additional cost. Apart from this, it has a user limit of 20 on its cheapest plan, unlike Vonage, which has no user limit across any of its plans. Luckily, it becomes unlimited when you upgrade to the Standard plan.

Why is Vonage Best for Scaling Businesses?

Vonage enables you to add unlimited domestic minutes, number porting, and unlimited users for every plan. Plus, a mix of call features, such as set caller ID, call flip, and a localized toll-free number. The great thing is, Vonage also offers reliable, high-quality virtual phone numbers that are quarantined for a period of time to avoid unwanted calls from previous owners

Scoring a 4/5 in our feature analysis, Vonage offers over 50 communication features to choose from and include in your plan. This makes it easier on your pocket because you only pay for the functionalities you need. This allows you to start off on the cheapest plan with the most essential features, scaling up as your demands grow.

Moreover, Vonage has collaboration features (team messaging, document sharing) and software integrations (Hubspot, Office 365, Salesforce, and Zendesk) that are important for a growing business. Plus, you can add call features, such as a call queue, ring groups, call barge and call whisper to handle calls from your growing client list. All of these contribute to Vonage’s high 4.5/5 scalability score and earning our recommendation as the best virtual phone service for scaling businesses.

That said, advanced features like voicemail-to-text, ring groups, and SMS/chat are only available at an additional cost. These features are offered free by 8x8 and RingCentral. Aside from this, Vonage’s call conferencing is limited to three participants. You have to pay an extra fee to increase its capacity to 30 users. 

Why is GoTo Best for Low-Price Longevity?

GoTo Connect is the business phone number app we recommend for low-price longevity. For one, it does have good value for money, scoring 4.5/5 in our pricing analysis. More importantly, of the providers that scored best for pricing, we found GoTo to be the most scalable as it offers call queues, call whisper, management, and collaboration . This means GoTo is adaptable enough to partner with you if you’re just starting out, or you’re expanding globally. 

For as low as £10 per user per month, you’ll get unlimited users, unlimited domestic minutes, and number porting. What’s more noteworthy is, GoTo generously offers free international calling to more than 50 countries on its Standard and Premium plans (but not its cheapest Essentials plan). In addition to this, you’ll get a comprehensive list of inbound communication features, including a virtual receptionist, call queue, and ring groups. 

If there’s one thing to watch out for, is the lack of external connections, seeing it earn a low 2.6/5 in integrability. That’s quite the opposite of RingCentral, which boasts up to 250 integrations. If you’re already using scores of different software, it's more likely that RingCentral already has a built-in integration. 

Why is Dialpad Best for Conversational AI?

We rated Dialpad as the virtual business number app with the best conversational AI. Boasting a stellar list of inbound and outbound communication features across all plans, Dialpad scores 4.2/5 for features in our research. Enjoy advanced features, like customizable greetings, virtual receptionist, and voicemail-to-text from its lowest to highest pricing tiers. Most importantly, it has conversational AI that is enhanced by natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning features to help analyze your conversations. This means it can decipher your calls and provide tailored and actionable suggestions with Real Time Assist Cards to help you better communicate with your team and clients.. 

Dialpad allows you to have unlimited users, provides unlimited inbound and outbound domestic calls, and number porting across all plans. Once you upgrade to its Pro plan, you’ll get localized, toll-free numbers in more than 50 countries.

However, Dialpad falls short on external connections, earning a low integrability score of 2.4/5. Unlike 8x8's 10 live chat integrations, Dialpad only has Slack. Luckily, it has its own SMS/chat and team messaging, so you can still reach your team instantly.