per user per month range from entry-level VoIP to business-tier plans — the wrong tier costs $360 extra per user per year
of small businesses switching from landlines to VoIP report lower total monthly phone costs within 90 days
uptime SLA offered by tier-1 VoIP providers — equivalent to fewer than 6 minutes of downtime per year
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) routes calls through a broadband connection rather than dedicated phone lines. For a small business, the relevant difference is cost and flexibility: VoIP eliminates per-line charges, supports mobile apps, and includes features that landline business systems charge extra for — auto-attendant, call routing, voicemail-to-email, and video meetings. The complication is that not all VoIP services are equivalent, and the price-per-user gap between providers is large enough to be a material decision.
The guide below uses real plan pricing to model total monthly cost, compares the features that actually matter for a small business with 1 to 20 employees, and explains which provider is the right choice for which type of operation.
VoIP pricing comparison: monthly cost per user across major providers
All prices shown are the base plan rate per user per month on an annual subscription. Each provider’s entry-tier plan is used. Feature availability at this tier is shown in the comparison table below.
Google Voice Starter ($10/user/mo) lacks auto-attendant at the entry tier, does not support desk phones, and has no customer support beyond documentation. It is appropriate for solo operators or small teams that only need a second number on a smartphone. Any business that fields customer calls, needs call routing, or has more than 3 employees should evaluate Ooma, RingCentral, or Nextiva instead. The $10 price point reflects feature limitations that create real operational problems at scale.
Total monthly cost calculator
VoIP feature comparison: what each provider includes at the entry tier
| Feature | Google Voice | 8×8 | Ooma | RingCentral | Nextiva |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auto-attendant (IVR) | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Call recording | ✗ | ✓ | Add-on | ✓ | Higher tier |
| Mobile app (iOS + Android) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Video meetings included | ✗ | ✓ | Add-on | ✓ | ✓ |
| Desk phone support | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Phone support (24/7) | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
A standard VoIP call requires approximately 100 kbps of upload and download bandwidth per simultaneous call. A 10-person office where 6 lines are active at once needs 600 kbps of dedicated bandwidth for voice — on top of general internet usage. Most business broadband connections handle this without issue. The failure mode is not insufficient bandwidth but insufficient Quality of Service (QoS) configuration: without QoS settings that prioritize voice traffic on the router, a large file upload or video stream can cause dropped packets and audio breakup. Confirm QoS support on the office router before deploying VoIP to 5 or more simultaneous users.
Time tracking software integrates with VoIP and billing systems to record billable hours, manage project budgets, and generate client invoices. The full pricing and feature comparison for small business time tracking tools is below.
