7 Qualities to Look for in Small Business Phone Companies

Find the best fit

Companies now communicate in dozens of ways—from emails to DMs to video chats—but there’s still no replacement for the dependable, instant access of a phone call.

Ensuring those calls are dependable and instantaneous is the priority of small business phone companies. You’re already busy keeping operations running smoothly, which is why we’ve put together this guide for the most important things to look for in a small business phone provider.

Keep them in mind as you start your search, and you just might find a match for your needs.

1. Scalability

Your small business may only have one or a handful of employees now. But if you expect to grow your business, you should look for small business phone companies that can scale right alongside you.

After all, your phone service is an essential part of your communications infrastructure. You don’t want your business to be perfectly positioned for growth and then hit a stumbling block when you can’t get new employees set up with phone lines fast enough.

2. Affordability

Some small business phone providers offer plans for as little as $10 a month. Others start their monthly billing at a higher rate yet offer discounts for prepaying annually.

Weigh how each provider’s features compare to price as you decide which phone company makes the most sense for your balance sheet.

3. Security

When protecting your business’s valuable information, it’s always better to start strong when it comes to security.

For instance, if the small business phone provider you’re planning to work with uses Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), (which means it transmits your phone call signals over the internet for at least part of their journey), you may wish to ask if they support encryption methods such as Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP).

4. Compatibility

Whether you have a fleet of fax machines, a trusty conference room speakerphone, or an assortment of iOS and Android devices, you need a small business phone provider that works with them all.

Compatibility is a particular concern for businesses that must ensure legacy equipment continues to function. Look for a provider that is willing to work with you rather than expect you to upend the way you do business to suit their standard practices.

5. Reliability

As we said before, there’s no replacement for a phone call when you need to get ahold of someone. You pick up the phone, dial the number and it just works—unless it doesn’t.

Solid and reliable communication isn’t just a nice-to-have feature for a small business phone company: it’s a must. When researching which company to work with, ask for stats about overall uptime, including how frequently they bring their service down for maintenance or other causes.

6. Automation

The right small business phone provider can do more for your business’s communications than simply connecting your phones to the rest of the world. It can also streamline and enhance your operations through automated services.

You’re likely already familiar with visual voicemail, which lets users navigate voicemail via intuitive menus rather than robotic audio instructions. Here are some other helpful features to look out for:

• Integrated communications that intelligently group phone calls, texts, emails and more on a single timeline for each customer

• AI-powered notetaking and transcription of important calls

• Automated call forwarding based on time of day and availability of employees

7. Customer service

When you trust another company to facilitate such an important part of your business, you need to know you can count on it to treat your concerns with the highest priority.

Look for a small business phone provider with a demonstrated commitment to high-quality customer service—ideally, one that will connect you with a real human if an issue arises, day or night.

One of the best ways to get a sense for a small business phone company’s customer service is to seek out testimonials from their clients. You could tap into your professional network or even look for reviews online (if you opt for the latter, make sure an independent third party collects and presents the reviews).

Keep your lines open

Finding the right small business phone provider is one powerful way to keep your business laser-focused on delivering results, not sweating the logistics. Another way? Make the supply run a thing of the past.

When you become a paid member of Walmart Business+, you unlock free shipping, no order minimum¹ and free delivery from store, $35 minimum.² You’ll also be able to earn 2% in Walmart Business Rewards on orders of $250 or more³ and start analyzing patterns with Spend Analytics to help budget for the future.

Become a Walmart Business+ member today.

¹Excludes most Marketplace items, freight & certain location surcharges.

²Restrictions apply. Additional fee applies for Express delivery.

³Exclusions apply. See full terms for details.