(Credit: René Ramos; Shutterstock/Kunakorn Rassadornyindee)
For some, phone calls have gone the way of the dodo, but even in a world saturated in emails and Slack messages, there's still plenty of voice communication taking place at the office. Most of it is powered by a digital private branch exchange (PBX) system, better known as voice over IP (VoIP) technology—essentially all the best things about the internet, but used specifically for facilitating calls.
Every year, we ask our readers to rate the best VoIP service vendors in the industry. This time, for the eleventh year in a row, we have the same winner. We even expanded our questionnaire to query information technology managers for ratings and got that same victor again. But now we also have another award winner for IT deployment consideration.
The Top Work VoIP Service for 2024
Voice isn't dead, which is easy to see based on how many vendors there are in the VoIP service world. Last year we hit a new high of 17 companies for this list and we still have the same number for 2024. The mix of returning names includes stalwarts like 8x8, Cisco, Nextiva, Vonage, and RingCentral; consumer-focused entries Google Voice and magicJack; corporate team tools like Zoom Phone and Microsoft Teams; and big-name ISPs and carriers with VoIP options such as AT&T, Comcast, and Spectrum.
Among all those companies competing, Silicon Valley-based Ooma reigns supreme as our top-rated VoIP provider. It's the top scorer (or tied for the top) in 14 out of 15 metrics we query readers about—and even when it comes in second, it's not far behind. That's eleven Business Choice awards in a row for Ooma.
For a closer look at how our providers stack up on factors like call quality, ease of use, and tech support, tab through the table below using the arrow icons, or the menu at the top.
Ooma's overall satisfaction score is higher than all the rest, but is down from the heights it achieved in years past, with a 9.0 in 2021 and a 9.2 way back in 2018. It holds steady now with the same 8.6 it earned last year.
The rest of the numbers Ooma posts are fantastic, with most of them well over 8.5. Even in the one category where Ooma comes in second (mobile support), it earns an 8.6. (Zoom Phone bests it there; Zoom also ties with Ooma for the best softphone support rating.) Ooma's lowest score is under CRM integration, where it still trumps anyone else in that category with enough response to get a score.
New or reappearing on the list this year are 3CX and Avaya. Neither made the cut in 2023, but 3CX in particular has a nice showing here in 2024, landing in second place behind Ooma. Read more about 3CX below.
The majority of vendors in this list deliver passing-at-best overall satisfaction scores, indicating a general feeling of reader disenchantment with most VoIP vendors. Still, there are some standouts in certain categories. Comcast has great call quality for example and Zoom has the previously mentioned first-rate mobile and softphone support, as well as excellent email integration. Even the at-home-plug-in-hardware magicJack has a decent score for ease of use—but not as high as the numbers from the happy customers at Ooma. Ooma even wins the price category, an area where it competes with free services like Google Voice (which now ties for fourth place with Microsoft Teams on cost).
Select low scores may steer people away from certain vendors. For example, you'd be wise to avoid Google Voice if you need tech support. Verizon isn't much better for support, and its score for system management is even worse. Spectrum VoIP fares poorly when used on mobile devices. And based on the lowest score on the chart, you should definitely look away from using Microsoft Teams if you need a system that can also send a fax.
The Top IT-Managed VoIP Services for 2024
There's a whole layer to VoIP services that general users don't have to consider: How well does that office VoIP work for the IT managers who have to deploy and maintain it? For the IT staff who took the Business Choice VoIP survey, the answers are very familiar.
Ooma again dominates the standings with a plethora of high scores, in particular for cost, ease of use, call quality, security, and email integration with the platform. It's the service IT managers prefer by a wide margin.
However, a closer look at our survey data also reveals that a majority of Ooma's raters come from small businesses. Larger operations tend to favor other vendors, which is why this year we're also bestowing a Business Choice award to Tampa-based 3CX, since 36% of its respondents come from businesses with 201 employees or more.
3CX doesn't lead in any category, but has the top number (behind Ooma's) that we consider the most important: Overall satisfaction. It also has a very good recommendation score, but interestingly enough, both the winners lag a few tenths behind Zoom Phone when it comes to the likelihood of being recommended. Zoom also does well with support for non-desk phones like mobile handsets and softphones (on a computer).
Full Results
The 2024 Business Choice survey for VoIP Services was in the field from March 1 to April 1, 2024. For more information on how we conduct surveys, read the survey methodology.