Internet Phone Systems Compared
Find the Best Online Phone Service
There is absolutely no reason to settle for a subpar virtual phone system when you can get an online phone service plan to enhance your already existing service. If your company relies on the telephone as a primary point of contact, then it needs a solution that allows you to handle calls on your terms, not the way that some big phone company thinks you should handle your calls.
Below, you will find comparisons of the Internet phone systems from RingCentral and Grasshopper. These are cloud-based solutions that bring some seriously sophisticated features to your already existing phone lines (landlines and/or cellphones). These virtual communication solutions can take your existing service to a completely different level, adding large corporation features on a small company budget.
Choose the Best Internet-Based Phone System
As you can tell by reviewing the below comparison tables, RingCentral offers a wider range of advanced features. With RingCentral, you get a 30-day FREE, no-obligation trial (as opposed to a 30-day money back guarantee), comprehensive Internet faxing, virtual call controller, and other powerful features not found with Grasshopper.
Grasshopper really has no advantages except that in their two more expensive plans they include either two or three phone numbers (toll-free or local). Considering that these plans are considerably more expensive than their RingCentral equivalents, and have far less included minutes, additional included numbers is not a reason to choose Grasshopper. You could purchase additional telephone numbers through RingCentral and still pay less per month. You pick the more feature-rich communication solution when you choose RingCentral.
**NEW FEATURE** Grasshopper recently introduced an optional ($10 per month) service that transcribes new voicemail messages into text, something RingCentral does not offer. This allows you to read your new voicemails when you are unable to listen to them. New messages can either be machine-transcribed, or for more accuracy, but less privacy, a real person can do the transcription (option included in the $10/month additional fee). When this voicemail-to-text transcription option is chosen, you will receive a text copy of your new voicemails as an email attachment, along with the normal audio file attachment.
To learn more about either of the two online phone services, click on “Read Review” (within the below comparison tables) for the appropriate provider. This will take you to full reviews of the services, giving you a better idea if it is a good fit for your company. You can also visit each service provider's website to further explore what each has to offer.
Online Phone Service With a FREE Trial
Once you experience how an online phone system can completely change how you communicate with customers and vendors, you will never want to go back to using just a basic service. Literally, the way you communicate will change for the better when you have complete control over how incoming calls are handled.
If you are ready to supercharge your existing telephone service, you cannot go wrong by choosing RingCentral to add a robust communication feature set to your existing service. Go ahead and try their 30-day no-obligation, FREE trial today!
The below cloud-based phone systems require you to already have an existing telephone line, which can be a cellphone or landline (or both). These solutions add some very powerful telecommunication capability to your already existing service. If you don't already have a telephone service, or are looking to upgrade, then the RingCentral Office cloud-based small business phone solution may be just what you need.
RingCentral Office is a VOIP (Voice Over IP - Wikipedia definition) solution that utilizes the Internet to give small companies communication features similar to what Fortune 500 corporations have enjoyed for years, but for far less money. RingCentral Office does not require an existing telephone service, as it comes with dedicated VOIP lines that use a broadband Internet connection.
RingCentral Office has plans starting for less than $50 per month, which is an extremely affordable alternative to conventional business phone systems. Because you don't need any technical expertise to install RingCentral Office, you don't have to pay dearly to have it installed, nor do you have to purchase expensive equipment, RingCentral Office is a great solution for an organization looking for a powerful communication tool that is easy to use and extremely affordable. RingCentral Office has features you would only expect to see in systems costing thousands of dollars, giving small business every communication advantage large companies have enjoyed for years.
Read more about RingCentral Office small business phone system, or visit the RingCentral Office Website.
Online Phone Service Plan 1 Comparison
(See individual virtual phone system reviews for additional plan information.)| Virtual Phone Plan 1 Includes: |  Pro |  Pay As You Grow |
| Read Review | Read Review | |
| Monthly Price (if paid monthly) No long-term commitment - cancel anytime! | $9.89 | $9.95 |
| Monthly Price (if paid annually) | $8.29 |  |
| FREE, No-obligation Trial |  30-day | 30-Day Money Back Guarantee |
| Free Setup & Activation | | |
| Included Monthly Minutes | 300 | 0 |
| Additional Minutes | 4.9¢ | 6¢ |
| One-Legged Billing | | |
| Virtual PBX Extension | 10 | Unlimited |
| Toll-Free or Local Number | 1 | 1 |
| Transfer Existing Numbers | Unlimited | $30 |
| Additional Local Numbers | $4.99/month | $5/month |
| True 800 Number (Starts with 800) | $30 Activation | $30 Activation |
| Dedicated Fax Number | $4.99/month | $5/month |
| Dial-by-Name Directory | $4.99/month | |
| Internet Voicemail with eMail Delivery | | |
| **NEW** Voicemail-to-Text Transcription | | $10/month |
| Virtual Auto Attendant | | |
| Complete Internet Fax Capability | | |
| Call Forwarding Service | | |
| Answering Rules | | |
| ACD Call Queuing | | |
| Hold Music/Messages | | |
| Call Screening | | |
| Call Controller | | |
| Call Logs | | |
| RingMe Click-to-Call | | |
| Overall Rating |  |  |
Online Phone Service Plan 2 Comparison
(See individual virtual phone system reviews for additional plan information.)| Virtual Phone Plan 2 Includes: | ProPlus | Ramp |
| Read Review | Read Review | |
| Monthly Price (if paid monthly) No long-term commitment - cancel anytime! | $19.99 | $24 |
| Monthly Price (if paid annually) | $16.29 | |
| FREE, No-obligation Trial | 30-day | 30-Day Money Back Guarantee |
| Free Setup & Activation | | |
| Included Monthly Minutes | 1000 | 500 |
| Additional Minutes | 4.4¢ | 6¢ |
| One-Legged Billing | | |
| Virtual PBX Extension | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Toll-Free or Local Number | 1 | 1 |
| Transfer Existing Numbers | Unlimited | $30 |
| Additional Local Numbers | $4.99/month | $5/month |
| True 800 Number (Starts with 800) | $30 Activation | $30 Activation |
| Dedicated Fax Number | | $5/month |
| Dial-by-Name Directory | | |
| Internet Voicemail with eMail Delivery | | |
| **NEW** Voicemail-to-Text Transcription | | $10/month |
| Virtual Auto Attendant | | |
| Complete Internet Fax Capability | | |
| Call Forwarding Service | | |
| Answering Rules | | |
| ACD Call Queuing | | |
| Hold Music/Messages | | |
| Call Screening | | |
| Call Controller | | |
| Call Logs | | |
| RingMe Click-to-Call | | |
| Overall Rating | | |
Online Phone Service Plan 3 Comparison
(See individual virtual phone system reviews for additional plan information.)| Virtual Phone Plan 3 Includes: | ProBusiness | Grow |
| Read Review | Read Review | |
| Monthly Price (if paid monthly) No long-term commitment - cancel anytime! | $29.99 | $49 |
| Monthly Price (if paid annually) | $23.29 | |
| FREE, No-obligation Trial | 30-day | 30-Day Money Back Guarantee |
| Free Setup & Activation | | |
| Included Monthly Minutes | UNLIMITED local & long distance (1000 toll-free) | 2000 |
| Additional Minutes | 4.2¢ | 6¢ |
| One-Legged Billing | | |
| Virtual PBX Extension | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Toll-Free or Local Number | 1 | 2 |
| Transfer Existing Numbers | Unlimited | 2 |
| Additional Local Numbers | $4.99/month | $5/month |
| True 800 Number (Starts with 800) | $30 Activation | $30 Activation |
| Dedicated Fax Number | | $5/month |
| Dial-by-Name Directory | | |
| Business Voicemail with eMail Delivery | | |
| **NEW** Voicemail-to-Text Transcription | | $10/month |
| Virtual Auto Attendant | | |
| Complete Internet Fax Capability | | |
| Call Forwarding Service | | |
| Answering Rules | | |
| ACD Call Queuing | | |
| Hold Music/Messages | | |
| Call Screening | | |
| Call Controller | | |
| Call Logs | | |
| RingMe Click-to-Call | | |
| Overall Rating | | |
Online Phone Service Plan 4 Comparison
(See individual virtual phone system reviews for additional plan information.)| Virtual Phone Plan 4 Includes: | ProUnlimited | Max |
| Read Review | Read Review | |
| Monthly Price (if paid monthly) No long-term commitment - cancel anytime! | $39.99 | $199 |
| Monthly Price (if paid annually) | $31.29 | |
| FREE, No-obligation Trial | 30-day | 30-Day Money Back Guarantee |
| Free Setup & Activation | | |
| Included Monthly Minutes | UNLIMITED local, long distance & TOLL-FREE | 10,000 |
| Additional Minutes | no charge | 6¢ |
| One-Legged Billing | | |
| Virtual PBX Extension | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Toll-Free or Local Number | 1 | 3 |
| Transfer Existing Numbers | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Additional Local Numbers | $4.99/month | $5/month |
| True 800 Number (Starts with 800) | $30 Activation | $30 Activation |
| Dedicated Fax Number | | $5/month |
| Dial-by-Name Directory | | |
| Business Voicemail with eMail Delivery | | |
| Virtual Auto Attendant | | |
| **NEW** Voicemail-to-Text Transcription | | $10/month |
| Complete Internet Fax Capability | | |
| Call Forwarding Service | | |
| Answering Rules | | |
| ACD Call Queuing | | |
| Hold Music/Messages | | |
| Call Screening | | |
| Call Controller | | |
| Call Logs | | |
| RingMe Click-to-Call | | |
| Overall Rating | | |
