Amvia Blog - Business Voice & Data Resources

Compare The Best VoIP Providers In 2022

Written by Nathan Hill-Haimes | 18-Jan-2019 08:04:33

Update for July 2022!

There are over 50 UK VOIP providers, so if you are looking to understand who the major UK VoIP providers are you're in the right place. In this article, you'll find a list of VOIP providers with the best VoIP phone systems and expertise in the UK.

Performance Grid Of UK VoIP Providers

 

 

5 Largest VoIP Providers

The 5 largest business VoIP providers by user count are: Ring Central, Vonage, 8x8, Skype For Business & Mitel. Since these providers are significant we've created this comparison table for you:

Provider

Conference Calling

Voicemail Transcription
Softphone
Whiteboard
HD Video
Auto Attendant
Instant Messaging
CRM Integration
Call Recording
Microsoft Integration
Inclusive Minutes  Unlimited  Unlimited  Unlimited  60 minutes 4000 minutes 

 

List Of VoIP Providers In The UK Reviewed

The VOIP providers in the UK offer a range of voice over IP telephony for businesses. Most providers have 3 types of VOIP package, a light use low user package, an SME 5-10 user package and a Premium higher usage package. The major UK VOIP providers are covered in detail here.

The major VOIP providers are BT, Virgin, Amvia, Surevoip, Skype, Vonage, Ring Central, 8x8, Mitel, Gradwell, Lily, Telappliant, Voip Studio, Voipfone and Circleloop. In this review we cover the major players mentioned, first the 5 largest providers.

 

Ringover is a business phone system that gives you unlimited calls to 110 destinations, video conferencing, SMS and group messaging, call recording, call whispering and more features focused on improving your teams productivity. No expertise needed. Integrate Ringover with major CRMs (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive etc.) or with your helpdesk tools in just a few clicks. With Ringover, your professional communications are possible anywhere in the world - all it takes is an internet connection

Features:

  • Call Centre Software
  • Unlimited International Calls
  • Group Messaging
  • SMS Messaging
  • Video Conferencing
  • Screen Sharing
  • Call Handling

Find out more here >>

 

British Telecom offer BT Cloud Phone, BT Cloud Voice & BT One Phone.  There are numerous features and benefits as summarised below:

  • CRM integration
  • Call monitoring and recording
  • Audio and video conferencing
  • Choice of regional phone number or virtual geographic numbers
  • Call forwarding and routing
  • Voicemail
  • Three-way calling
  • Advanced attendant
  • Call barring
  • Hunt group

BT Business has 3 different VoIP packages, Cloud Phone, Cloud Voice and BT One Phone. The packages are suitable for small, medium and large businesses. Support s provided by BT from the UK and is so tailored to UK business needs.

BT Cloud Phone

Basic £13/user

Connect £18/user
Collaborate £23/user
500 minutes per user included
 
24 month contract
  
 

Virgin offer Enterprise Cloud Voice and SME Cloud Voice. Here are some of the benefits included in both Virgin VoIP services:

  • Cloud Voice routes calls over the internet, so calls to mobiles using the app can cost less
  • Easily by add, remove or reroute lines instantly
  • With iOS and Android softphone apps you can carry your office phone line with you, wherever you are – on almost any device
  • Conference calling and other tools give your team better, simpler ways to help them collaborate most efficiently
  • On-site features, including call directing, hunt groups, and reporting
  • Call waiting, hold, caller ID, blocking, pickup and transfer features
  • Voicemail
  • Instant messaging
  • Presence 

Virgin IP Voice solutions include SIP Trunking and Cloud Voice. Virgin use SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) to enable businesses to make and receive calls over broadband data connections. Virgin supply the VoIP equipment and cloud infrastructure. All your business  needs to provide is internet connectivity. 

Virgin Cloud Voice

From£10.50/user 

Add on call minutes per user
 
36 month contract
 
 

Surevoip offer 3 types of VOIP service; SureVoIP Hosted Basic; SureVoIP Single User and SureVoIP Hosted VoIP System. There are a number of business benefits you'll get by using Surevoip:

  • Completely managed service by SureVoip
  • Instant Messaging
  • HD Voice
  • Use mobile, tablet PC to connect

Surevoip are a small voice over IP business based in Scotland. SureVoIP runs its own MPLS enabled network which is designed for Voice Over IP (VoIP). It does this to allow it to be independent of any one supplier, for quality and control.

SureVoIP Hosted

Single User £5/user

Hosted Basic £11/user
Hosted VoIP System £20/user
Add on call minutes per user
 3 month contract
 

Skype for business offer a VoiP solution as part of Microsoft Office 365.

There are a wide array of features available with Skype for Business:

  • Voicemail and voice mail alerting
  • Make audio and video calls in high definition (HD)
  • Great collaboration features including whiteboard and conference calling
  • Instant messaging between users
  • Free of charge Skype to Skype calls
  • Softphone app for mobiles iOS & Android
  • Fully integrated with Outlook, Word and all other Office 365 applications
  • Securely encrypted and safe communication

Skype For Business is owned by Microsoft. Their guidance is that if your business has over 20 users Skype for Business will have significant benefits over the consumer Skype offering. We think any business from 3+ users would really be suited to this product.

When wrapped up with Microsoft Office 365, Skype for Business really is a feature rich and attractive VoIP option for any UK business.

Skype For Business Costs
Enterprise 1 £6/user
Enterprise 2 £17.60/user
Enterprise 3 £30.80/user
60 minutes per user included
 
12 month contract 

Vonage offer 3 plans "Select", "Professional" and "Ultimate". These plans have a variety of features as described below:

  • Call, chat & share content with Amazon Chime
  • Allow remote workers to work as if in the office with remote office feature
  • Softphone client for iOS and Android use the VoIP phone system on your mobile
  • Choose your number or transfer your existing number
  • Remotely access voicemail
  • Unlimited calling options
  • 24 x 7 support

Vonage are a US Company but have a UK office in London. Over 2.5m users rely on Vonage for their voip phone system. The 3 Vonage services offer no installation charges, line rental, long contract commitments or hefty upfront setup costs.

Vonage Business
 
Select £9/user
Professional 2 £12/user
Ultimate £16/user
Unlimited calling with Ultimate
 
12 month contract

Ringcentral offer 4 packages "Entry", "Standard", "Premium" and "Ultimate". These packages offer business users the following benefits:

  • Integration with 3rd party sofwtare including Microsoft Office & Google Suite
  • Call forwarding allowing calls to be diverted to other UK numbers
  • Do not disturb option allows calls to be sent straight to voicemail
  • Call waiting alerts you to an incoming call when you are already on a call
  • Ring back option allows you to keep calling a number until it is free
  • Omnichannel contact centre
  • Team messaging and collaboration
  • Call monitoring for staff training purposes
  • HD audio and video conferencing
  • Voicemail transcription
  • Calls logs for all incoming and outgoing calls

RingCentral has been providing businesses with VoIP services for the last 15 years. Ringcentral have over 375,000 business customers using their VoIP system. A leader in Gartner's magic quadrant for unified communication solutions, and numerous award winner. The European HQ for Ringcentral and their UK support team is based in London.

Ringcentral Office VoIP Services
 
Entry £7.99/user
Standard £14.99/user
Premium £19.99/user
Ultimate £24.99/user
Ultimate 4000 minutes/month/user
 
30 day contract 
 
 

 

8x8 offer a variety of "X-Series" plans. These plans are specifically tailored for small, medium and large businesses. Find out more about the benefits here:

  • Unlimited calling to up to 47 Countries
  • Auto attendant offers a digital receptionist
  • UK phone number and direct dial extensions
  • HD and secure voice calling
  • iOS and Android softphone
  • Team messaging and presence awareness
  • Call recording offered as standard
  • Up to 100 participant conference calling
  • G Suite, Salesforce, Zendesk, & NetSuite Integration

Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, 8x8 is a leading cloud provider of voice, video, collaboration and contact centre solutions for over one million users worldwide. Online support is available 24x7. Quick access to product and service support is provided via web, chat, or on the phone.

8x8 Virtual Office
 
X2 £18/user
X5 £32/user
X8 £45/user
Unlimited International Calling
 
12 month contract

Mitel offer 3 business VOIP services, "Essential", Premier" and "Elite". The benefits of these services are detailed below:

  • Unlimited minutes per month*
  • Audio conferencing for up to 100 participants
  • Video collaboration for up to 24 participants
  • Web conferencing (desktop sharing) for up to 100 participants
  • Instant Messaging
  • Softphone
  • Outlook and G Suite Integration
  • Mitel Teamwork / Business SMS
  • Connect Telephony for Microsoft
  • Mobile Apps
  • Admin Portal
  • Salesforce / CRM Integration
  • Voicemail Transcription
  • On-Demand Call Recording
  • Always-On Call Recording
  • Archiving
  • Operator / Auto attendant
Mitel is one of the world's leading, and best known, voice over IP providers. Nearly 2 billion calls are made over Mitel phone systems every day. Of these calls around 33 million users access their telephony using Mitel VoIP. Mitel have over 40 years of experience providing business communication solutions, more than 60 million users in 100 countries have entrusted Mitel with their communication needs. Gartner has recognised Mitel as a leader in Unified Communications.

Mitel Cloud
 
Essentials From £13.59/user
Premier From £17.84/user
Elite From £23.79/user
Unlimited Calling
12 month contract

Gradwell offer 3 voip packages: "Single User", "Multi User" and a package with calls included. Gradwell has mixed rewiews and there are other providers which in our opinion offer better value for money. Here are the benefits of the Gradwell VoIP service:

  • Reduced phone bills with a flat monthly fee
  • Greater working flexibility
  • Keep in touch with your customers wherever you are
  • Free on-boarding service
  • Voice menus, hunt call groups and voicemail-to-email services
  • Reduction in multi-site costs – use our cloud-based system at all your business locations, with free calls between sites too
  • It’s simple to use and quick to set up
  • You can control your settings, users and call routing instantly online
  • FREE calls within the Gradwell network
Gradwell VoIP
 
Single User £5/user
Multi-User £10/user
VoIP + Calls £20/user
3000 Landline 1000 Mobile With VoIP + Calls
12 month contract
 

Lily Communications offer a hosted phone system called Lily Cloud. Lily Comms have been providing voice and data solutions to UK businesses since 2009. They are a medium sized VoIP provider with around 2500 customers. Here's what Lily say are the benefits of their VoIP service:

  • Reliable service –full support from training to number porting, provisioning and 24/7 support from the leaders in IP Telephony
  • End-to-end single solution –from handset to access to core network, you won’t get ‘caught in the middle’
  • Grow your sales with a bigger market opportunity –solutions for mobile and home workers to the enterprise
  • Future proof –feature rich with a long-term unified communications roadmap
  • Fixed and mobile integration –with extremely competitive on-net rates over a business grade network
  • Price flexibility –differing price points to match all customer types (seats and hardware)
Lily VOIP

Custom Quote/user

Unlimited Calling  

12 month minimum contract

Telappliant offer 4 types of VOIP provider services, Starter, Plus, Premium and Enterprise. Telappliant are a small VoIP provider based in London. Their online reviews are somewhat mixed. They describe the business benefits of their service as:

  • Advanced+ call centre features
  • Voicemail to Email
  • Advanced Call Routing
  • Virtual receptionist
  • Music on hold
  • Inclusive minutes
  • Audio conferencing
  • Call queuing
  • Ring groups
  • Unified communications
  • Call recording
  • Single user call monitoring
  • CRM integration
  • Advanced Statistics
VoIP Office
 
Starter £4.99/user
Plus £11.99/user
Premium £17.99/user
 Add on minutes/month/user
12/24/36 month contracts

VoIP Studio have 3 different VOIP plans, "Pay As You Go", "National" and "International". VoIP studio are a small VoIP provider based in London. They describe the benefits of their service as:

 

  • No contracts - No lock-in. You can come and go as you please!
  • 30 days free trial - Try the system for a whole 30 days before you buy
  • Quick set up- Get up and running in ten minutes
  • Reduced call rates- See cost savings of up to 30% on calls
  • Free internet calls - Connect to other VoIP users at no cost
  • Pay as you grow - Start small and add users at the click of a button
  • 24x7 availability - Log in anywhere with our desktop and mobile client
  • Great support- Stuck with something? We’re here to help
  • CRM integration - Integrate with a range of CRM solutions
  • No hardware - No OPEX and CAPEX for you to worry about
VoIPstudio
 
PAYG £4.99/user
National £9.99/user
International £19.99/user
2000 minutes National/International
30 day contract

 Voipfone offer 2 packages, Pay As You Go & Unlimited. Voipfone are a small UK VoIP provider based in London. They describe the benefits of their service as:

 

  • Call Queuing - Call Queuing is a sophisticated queuing system that allows you to queue multiple calls.
  • Virtual Switchboard (IVR) - you can direct your customers to exactly the right person, extension or group of extensions. 
  • Emergency Services Access - All Voipfone customers can call emergency services immediately on sign-up. We take your Safety seriously.
  • PBX Call Groups - The group feature allows you to combine some of your extensions so that they ring together when called.
  • PBX Extension Numbers - You can have up to 800 extensions on each account and each extension can be rung ‘internally.
  • PBX Features - Every Voipfone account includes a very long list of sophisticated services and features.

Voipfone
 
PAYG £1/user
Unlimited £19.99/user
 Unlimited calling option
  12 month contract
 

CircleLoop offer 2 packages, Pay As You Go & Unlimited. The main features and benefits of CircleLoop are:

  • CircleLoop offer a FREE trial albeit for only 7 days
  • UK business VoIP service with UK based support
  • Entry level price is low from £5/month
  • 1 free phone number is included per user enabling direct dial
  • Call logging and analytics is included in the monthly fee
  • Good for international calling with phone numbers available for 80 countries
  • You can use USB accessories such as headsets, speakers and handsets
  • Calling plans to UK, USA, Canada & Ireland included
  • Simple to transfer calls to other Company employees
  • Conference calling via a secure PIN
  • Softphone for iOS (Apple) and Android
  • Call recording as a standard feature

You may not have heard of CircleLoop. Nevertheless CircleLoop should not be dismissed. A relatively new entrant to the VoIP provider market they are growing fast due to the quality of their product and pricing.

Being a UK Company, CircleLoop's product and support is focused on UK business users. The service is very user friendly and does not require technical knowledge to install and set up.

CircleLoop
PAYG £4.99/user
Unlimited £9.99/user
Unlimited calling to UK, USA, Canada, Ireland
 30 day contract
 
TelcoSwitch offers several variations of CallSwitch including Business, Lite, Contact Centre and Meet. There is also another variation called CalSwitch for Teams which has direct integration with Microsoft Teams. The main features and benefits of TelcoSwitch are:
  • Hot desking
  • Soft/Mobile client
  • Directory services and click-to-dial
  • Instant messaging
  • Voice and video conferencing 
  • Screen sharing
  • Auto-attendant
  • Call queuing
  • Complaint call recording
  • CRM integration
  • Microsoft Teams integration
  • Secure administration portal.
 Rather than focusing on hardware, TelcoSwitch is a SaaS VoIP Provider. This means their VoIP solutions are purely software-based. CallSwitch is available in App form for Apple, Android, and Windows products. The application may require a demonstration to get the most out of it but is very intuitive for users.
 
 

Get an Amvia VoIP expert to help you compare all of these providers so that you can make an informed decision about which VoIP phone system is right for your business. Click "Get VoIP" below to get started.