Best PBX Business Phone Systems

Virtual private branch exchange (PBX) services manage extensions and route calls to on-site and remote employees. Voice over internet protocol (VoIP) is a sensible solution for companies prioritizing flexibility. The best PBX business phone systems reduce call wait times and improve team collaboration. The migration away from company-owned hardware is well advanced but far from finished: research firm Metrigy found that 58.6 percent of businesses use only UCaaS, while slightly less than half of telephony seats worldwide still sit on customer-owned platforms. We reviewed the best business phone systems to compare their features and pricing. Our best picks are based on ease of use, call management tools and more.

Cloud PBX systems are typically priced per user rather than per phone number or extension. Dialpad and Nextiva have the lowest starting prices among our picks at $15 per user, per month with annual billing. Ooma starts at $19.95 per user, per month, while RingEX starts at $20 with annual billing. GoTo Connect doesn’t publish its rates, so you’ll need to contact the company for a custom quote. Depending on the provider and plan, published prices among our picks can reach $75 per user, per month.

Several factors can affect what you actually pay:

• Number of users and extensions: Don’t assume one main business number covers everyone who needs to use the PBX system. Employees who need their own calling access, voicemail or desktop and mobile apps generally require a user license. Like multi-line phone systems, PBX platforms can route the same incoming number to multiple users, extensions or departments, but those users may still carry individual licensing costs.
• Monthly vs. annual billing: Committing to a year can make a noticeable difference. For example, Dialpad and Nextiva both start at $15 per user, per month with annual billing, compared with $27 and $23, respectively, for month-to-month service. RingEX offers savings of up to 33 percent with annual billing.
• Plan level: Basic plans generally cover core PBX functions like extensions, auto attendants and call routing. More advanced tiers may be necessary for features such as sophisticated queues and routing, multi-site administration, integrations, analytics and AI tools. Before choosing the cheapest plan, check which PBX features your business actually needs.
• Hardware: A cloud PBX doesn’t require an on-site PBX server, and businesses using desktop or mobile softphones may need little additional equipment. If you want desk phones, headsets or conference phones, however, factor those costs into your budget. Businesses keeping analog phones, fax machines or other legacy equipment may also need analog telephone adapters. Ooma, for example, sells adapters specifically for connecting analog devices to its VoIP service.
• Add-ons and integrations: The advertised subscription price may not tell the whole story. Providers can charge extra for CRM integrations, AI tools, virtual faxing, additional business phone numbers and other capabilities. Make sure you’re comparing the cost of the system you’ll actually use rather than just the entry-level subscription.
• Volume discounts: Larger deployments may qualify for negotiated pricing based on the number of users or locations. If you’re outfitting several offices or expect to add employees, ask about volume pricing before assuming the published per-user rate is what you’ll pay long term.

PBX platforms and services provide versatility, offering flexible call routing and communications options. Everything is accessible through online portals and apps.

Auto Attendant

An auto attendant is your company’s virtual receptionist. It greets callers and offers menu options, like press one for sales. The best PBX business phone systems provide single- and multi-level auto attendants.

Ring Groups

When calls come in, the service will ring an individual’s devices or your ring group. PBX system administrators establish ring groups by placing employees into the category and deciding if they want lines to ring simultaneously or sequentially. Some vendors allow staff members to be in multiple ring groups.

Voicemail

You may have company and individual voicemail boxes depending on your PBX phone setup. Each option supports custom greetings and settings. Vendors increasingly offer visual voicemail, which displays a list of messages from desktop or mobile devices. Some also have voicemail transcription and voicemail-to-email or voicemail-to-text.

Conferencing

Modern PBX solutions have native audio and video tools. Participant and time limits vary by vendor and subscription. Most include team and one-on-one chat, virtual backgrounds and moderator features.

Call management

Cloud-based PBX platforms provide online portals for managing call flows and business hours. Most provide user-friendly dial plan editors to map out routing options and set up call forwarding rules. Advanced plans may allow custom configurations for multi-level auto attendants with call queues, two or more locations and overflow coverage solutions.

Desktop and mobile apps

Business softphone apps turn any device into part of your PBX phone system. Most vendors offer desktop, iOS, Android and web-based applications. Functionality may differ between platforms, so it’s vital to review specifications to ensure each team member can access essential tools.

Integrations

Many internet-based services connect to your business contact and calendar databases. PBX platforms may also integrate with CRM and project management software, although some providers reserve these connections for higher-tier subscriptions or add-ons. Integrations can sync information between systems and let employees make and receive calls from third-party tools, reducing app switching and increasing staff productivity.

Call Analytics

PBX vendors provide call logs as a standard feature with all plans. However, the best services go beyond the basics by offering data visualization tools and speech analytics add-ons. Aside from measuring call volumes, reporting features show key performance indicators like missed calls by users and call duration.

The right PBX system should be easy to deploy and provide the support your team needs. However, prices and features vary by PBX phone service, and comparing services is challenging. Follow these steps to select the best platform for your company.

1. Evaluate your company’s objectives and budget.

Understanding your business challenges and goals will help you get the most out of your budget and phone system. After all, there’s no point in paying for sophisticated collaboration features if you only employ frontline staff that communicate mainly through voice and text. Likewise, a basic platform with limited integrations will be less efficient for a fully remote team needing to accept calls while taking notes in project management software.

Speak with your team leaders and go over the following questions:

• Will your phone service help teams achieve specific goals, such as improving collaboration or customer experience?
• How many employees need VoIP phone numbers, and will they use softphone apps or desk phones?
• What third-party applications do you want to sync to your phone system?
• Will your company use shared phone lines or require phones for common areas?
• Do you need to connect to analog devices, like overhead pagers or fax machines?
• How many video conferencing participants do you expect to have on calls?

2. Research PBX providers.

Now that you know what you’re looking for, it’s time to check out vendors. Read online guides (like this one) to learn about reliable providers. Then, scan third-party review sites, mobile app ratings and the Better Business Bureau website. Look at usability scores and customer service experiences.

Note any standout features that align with your goals or industry. Next, head to the provider’s websites to view pricing and compare subscriptions. Identify which packages have the features your team requires and use this information to compare providers.

3. Request demos and free trials.

After narrowing your list down to a handful of PBX providers, set up demos. Get one or more team members to join the demo or ask if you can record it. Have questions ready, and if there are any features you want to learn more about, just ask. Lastly, register for free trials to see how the applications work for everyday processes.

Remember to contact customer support and use the self-service knowledge bases. You want to get the full picture of how the PBX vendor supports your company.

4. Review information with decision makers.

Go over your experiences with each platform and list the pros and cons. Pay particular attention to ease of use. Follow up with sales reps if anyone has any questions or unresolved issues. After reviewing all details, decide which PBX provides the best overall value for the price.

Flexible call management features and few, if any, upfront costs make PBX phone systems a popular option for small and mid-sized businesses. The platforms provide many benefits beyond simple telephone services.

Better customer experiences

You can personalize your PBX system to suit your business model and client base. For instance, during peak hours, you can switch on the automated attendant to greet callers automatically. Custom hold music makes their wait time less stressful, and CRM integrations mean your staff can greet the customer by name when they pick up the line.

Other unified communications features like text messaging and video conferencing allow companies to send reminders or troubleshoot issues face-to-face. With call forwarding, clients can reach your business anytime, even during an internet outage.

Increased operational efficiency

Workflow automation saves businesses money and time. PBX phone systems let you automate many call flow steps. Virtual receptionists and IVR software can answer and route calls to departments, voicemail or call queues (waiting lines). Integrations sync information between databases, reducing manual data entry.

Valuable communications insights

Data is essential to your organization. It informs hiring and scheduling decisions, as well as marketing and promotional planning. On a basic level, PBX systems provide call volume data by date, user and department. You can determine how many people hang up before an employee answers the line or how long a typical customer service call takes.

Voice intelligence platforms offer granular details. These tools can show how often callers mentioned a competitor’s name or expressed dissatisfaction.

Workforce scalability support

Cloud PBX services provide plenty of flexibility as your workforce changes. Businesses can typically add users, extensions and phone numbers through an online portal without installing new PBX hardware. Depending on your provider and contract, you may also be able to adjust licenses as staffing needs change. Consequently, cloud-based PBX systems can work well for seasonal businesses and rapidly growing companies.

To determine the best PBX business phone systems, our team of communications experts and software analysts started with the pool of 75 business phone platforms we track across the category. We filtered for systems capable of acting as a full private branch exchange — supporting extensions, multi-level auto attendants, dial plan editing and centralized administration — which left 20 candidates. We researched and tested these systems, comparing their call management capabilities, administrative tools, pricing and overall usability. From that group, we chose five best picks, evaluating each on more than 25 factors.

These factors were weighted differently in our overall conclusion. The weights were determined based on how much business owners prioritize these criteria when shopping for business software and services and making purchasing decisions.

• Pricing (30 percent): Our experts and analysts compared and contrasted each vendor’s service plans, judging which packages offered the best value. We took into account plan options, monthly and annual rates, extra charges and the costs of add-on services.
• Features (25 percent): We looked for the call management tools that define a PBX: single- and multi-level auto attendants, IVR, ring groups, call queues, extension dialing, call forwarding and voicemail-to-email. We awarded extra points for advanced services such as AI transcription, call summaries and speech analytics.
• Ease of Use (20 percent): We tested the platforms ourselves, gauging each system’s learning curve, user-friendliness and customization options, along with how hard it was to configure phones and extensions. We also considered whether there was a fully featured mobile app and softphone.
• Integrations (15 percent): We considered the number of built-in integrations that made it easy to connect the other programs businesses already use. We also factored in whether an API was available for connections that weren’t already built in.
• Customer Service (10 percent): We evaluated the range of customer service options, including whether phone assistance was provided with all package tiers, and examined each vendor’s online resources for those who prefer self-guided help.

Based on these criteria, we determined not only which systems our readers could trust but also the ways in which each one could best serve different business needs. Some platforms were better at certain tasks than others or more suited to a particular type of company. These takeaways informed the “Best for” use cases you see on this page.

To learn more about our methodology, see our full editorial process.