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VoIP and landlines are options for your business phone system. Learn the pros and cons of each and how to choose the right communication solution for your growing business.
When you first selected your company’s business phone system, you were likely offered one of two choices: a business VoIP system or a traditional landline-based system, also known as a plain old telephone service (POTS). If you went with the landline option, it may be time to upgrade to a more modern VoIP solution.
Here’s an overview of business VoIP and traditional landline telephones, including the pros and cons of each, to help you determine which type of business phone system is best for your organization now that your business is more established.
A Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system uses a broadband internet connection to make calls. By contrast, traditional, land-based phone lines require a physical connection to a telephone network, which needs switches to transmit analog audio to other phones worldwide.
As working from home becomes more common, more people are switching to VoIP because they can use it over a business broadband internet connection. A VoIP phone number is virtually identical to a traditional phone number, so you can still call friends, family or colleagues using traditional phone services.
There are free VoIP services, such as Google Voice, in which long-distance calls may be limited or have reduced audio fidelity. There are also paid VoIP services (we’ll review some later) that can handle multiple phone numbers and allow you to run inbound and outbound contact centers, communicate with customers via text message and more.
The most significant difference between VoIP and a landline is the VoIP’s flexibility. Traditional, land-based phone lines require a physical connection to a telephone network, which needs switches to transmit analog audio to other phones worldwide. VoIP, by contrast, relies on a broadband internet connection.
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VoIP has three key advantages over traditional copper-wire-based landlines:
VoIP technology is an excellent business phone system option for established and growing companies, but it isn’t suitable for every organization. Here are its pros and cons.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Lower cost | Dependence on a broadband connection |
Rich functionality | Limited emergency services |
Portability | Audio and latency issues |
Scalability | |
Ideal solution for global teams |
As a traditional landline user, you’re probably familiar with these pros and cons.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Reliability in emergencies | Higher cost |
Good audio quality | Limited functionality |
Ease of use | Stationary devices |
|
There are a few important questions you should ask when you’re deciding whether to switch from a landline phone system to a VoIP service.
We’ve shown how VoIP is a lot more flexible and capable than POTS lines because of the technical architecture that supports it.
Many of the best business phone systems offer improved functionality and scalability because they run on VoIP. Below, we’ve highlighted some of the most popular services if you’re ready to make the switch.
Zoom, probably best known as a video conferencing app, is also a capable and scalable VoIP platform that’s ideal for businesses of all sizes. Prices start at $10 per user per month. For that price, you get access to a wide range of features, including SMS integration, free extension-to-extension calling, unlimited outbound calls and direct-dial numbers for over 40 countries.
Read our in-depth Zoom review.
Vonage is an attractive option for companies that are upgrading their current phone system. It has over 30 built-in switchboard features, like call groups, multilevel auto-attendants, call monitoring and HD voice quality. It’s easy to set up, and you can add or remove new lines instantly when needed. Pricing starts at $17.99 per user per month.
Read our comprehensive Vonage review.
RingCentral is a powerhouse. This scalable and easy-to-use system supports internet faxing, voicemail (and voicemail-to-text and voicemail-to-email), automatic call recording, team messaging, call recording, call queueing and much more. The support for SMS, video conferencing, social media messaging and other communication channels is excellent. Pricing starts at $20 per user per month.
Read our latest RingCentral review.
We love that Ooma’s comprehensive VoIP system makes it easy to operate the platform. The Express Setup Assistant is simple to launch and configure your system. You then connect devices by downloading the softphone app. The platform’s features include SMS, video conferencing, message analytics, hunt and ring groups, virtual faxing, call routing and more. Pricing starts at $19.95 per user per month.
Read our up-to-date Ooma Office review.
Nextiva offers an impressive array of valuable VoIP features, including SMS/MMS, unlimited audio conference calls, online faxing, auto-attendants, call popping (on-screen notifications of incoming calls) and video conferencing. The online dashboard makes system configuration simple, and it’s easy to add and delete users, lines and numbers. Prices start at $23.95 per user per month.
Read our in-depth review of NextivaONE.
The GoTo Connect platform is popular with small and midsize businesses thanks to features such as unmetered calling to more than 50 countries, advanced analytics for monitoring call quality, video conferencing, SMS and call queueing, and intelligent call routing. Priced from $27 per user per month, the platform offers superb native integrations with Oracle Sales Cloud, Microsoft Teams, Salesforce CRM, Zendesk, HubSpot, Salesforce Service Cloud and more.
Read our comprehensive review of GoTo Connect.
Dialpad is a feature-packed and competitively priced option that starts at just $15 per user per month. This AI-powered platform provides a broad range of capabilities, including SMS, video conferencing, advanced call routing, self-service chatbots, social media messaging, outbound dialing and call transcription. The AI integration is excellent and delivers meaningful insights about company performance by monitoring call and contact metrics.
Read our up-to-date review of Dialpad.
8×8’s impressive unified communications platform offers a great range of features, including call queueing, advanced call routing and multilevel auto-attendants. This flexible platform offers options to interact with customers by video, mobile, web, text message and other channels so they can contact you easily. Pricing starts at $24 per user per month.
Read our latest review of 8×8.
Eduardo Vasconcellos contributed to this article.