A dedicated business phone number is a crucial part of having a professional, cohesive business identity – no matter if you’re a solo freelancer or part of a Fortune 500 company.
Modern business phone apps make it easier than ever.
The days of office PBX systems and desk phones are long gone. Today, business telephony is rooted in the cloud, powered by Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology.
As a result, you can have a business number that enables voice and video calling, as well as messaging, as a softphone app on your smartphone.
While video calling solutions like Zoom or Microsoft Teams are popular among remote workforces, professional business phone services have several advantages over them.
For one, call quality and reliability is higher. For another, unlike Zoom, these providers guarantee top-notch security. This is essential if you’re communicating about sensitive data or confidential business information. Plus, most of these services integrate smoothly into larger networks of business tools.
This article showcases the top 5 business phone apps currently available for iOS and Android.
1 – Nextiva App
First off, this app by cloud communications company Nextiva tops the list.
It offers voice and video calling, conferencing, and instant messaging. You can customize it with your information, and set up a personal room for conference calls. In addition, there’s a large range of advanced call management options – from queuing and forwarding to customized hold music and blocking.
What’s more, Nextiva’s app integrates seamlessly with the company’s larger offer of proprietary business software. From customer relationship management (CRM) to in-depth analytics, Nextiva provides an all-in-one business communication suite.
A separate app by the same provider, Cospace, extends the offer with a comprehensive set of team collaboration and productivity features.
Pricing for Nextiva’s business VoIP offer starts at $19.95. It’s available for iOS, macOS, Android and Windows.
2 – Vonage Business Communications
Next up, Vonage’s app offers a solid set of VoIP capabilities, extended by unified communications and CRM features.
This provider offers calling, texting, and video conferencing. It also includes advanced options like call recording, call forwarding and voicemail transcription. A particularly handy feature is Vonage’s linked device functionality. You can link up to five devices at a time. If you want, you can set all devices to ring at once when there’s an incoming call.
Vonage’s business suite integrates easily with other business platforms, like Hubspot and Salesforce. With the app, you can access all this information and the corresponding business contacts on the go.
Pricing starts at $14.99 per user and month, with per subscriber fees depending on the overall number of users. The app is available on iOS, macOS, Android, Windows, and as a web app. There are also browser extensions for Chrome, Edge, and Firefox.
3 – Grasshopper and Grasshopper Connect
If you run a small but highly mobile business, Grasshopper is a great choice for you.
This provider’s basic app allows you to place calls, send texts and MMS, and set up group messaging. In addition, it makes it easy to manage calls, fine-tune notification settings, manage extensions, detect spam calls, and set up extensive call forwarding options.
Grasshopper Connect takes Grasshopper’s offer a step further. This version of the app is designed to centralize your communications with each of your business contacts. It offers a single timeline view of emails, texts, and phone calls to stay on top of interactions without having to switch apps.
The app is available on iOS, macOS, Android, and Windows. Pricing for 1 number with 3 extensions is $26 per month.
4 – Aircall
Aircall offers straightforward cloud-based phone solutions and unified communications.
This app offers local numbers in over 100 countries, making it especially attractive for teams distributed across several countries or even continents.
It integrates voice and video calling, conferencing, email, and messaging. In addition, it also connects natively to CRM systems like HubSpot, Salesforce, and Zendesk.
Aircall stands out for being geared towards the needs of distributed teams. It makes it easy to share contacts, assign calls to teammates, add context and comments, and set up detailed call transfer structures. Users can also record calls for future reference and training sessions.
Another stand-out feature of the mobile app is its shared call inbox. This allows a team to see an automatically updated list of calls that require follow-ups – an excellent way of keeping track of leads in the sales funnel.
Pricing starts at $30 per user and month, with a 3 user minimum. The app is available on iOS, macOS, Android, Windows, as a web app, and as a Chrome extension.
5 – 8×8 Work
8×8 Work, finally, offers a solid solution for voice and video calls, conferencing, and public and private chat. It is a one-stop cloud-based collaboration tool, no matter if you’re a freelancer, a small business, or a large corporation.
Some nifty additional features this app offers are advanced call management, setting business hours, and direct-to-YouTube live-streaming.
Pricing starts at $12 per user and month, though this only includes voice and video chat. The full app functionalities are unlocked at the X2 plan, at $24 per user and month. The app is available on iOS, macOS, Android, and Windows.
Conclusion
A solid business phone service will help you stay connected, reduce friction losses, and take your communications to the next level.
When choosing an app, be sure to check which provider best meets your needs in terms of additional functionalities, team size, and integrations. If you need more info, check out this guide on how to pick the best VoIP provider for your business.
At the end of the day, the right app will help you supercharge your business communications.