Tired of your old phone system?
Your on-premise PBX is likely costing you more than just money. It’s also inflexible, making it hard to support your growing, hybrid team.
This rigidity often leads to missed calls and frustrating customer experiences, which directly hurts your bottom line and service reputation. It’s a constant operational headache.
Many businesses feel trapped by high maintenance costs and the inability to scale quickly without significant investment. This holds back service acceleration and growth.
A modern cloud PBX system solves these issues, offering a way to unify all your communication channels while lowering operational expenses significantly.
While we’re discussing cloud systems, understanding cloud security software is equally important.
In this article, I’m going to guide you through my picks for the best cloud PBX system to help you cut costs and accelerate your service.
You’ll discover solutions that streamline communication, integrate with your existing tools, and provide the flexibility your business needs to thrive in today’s market.
Let’s get started.
Quick Summary:
| # | Software | Rating | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nextiva → | Growing businesses | |
| 2 | GoTo → | Expanding teams | |
| 3 | 8×8 → | Scaling enterprises | |
| 4 | Dialpad → | IT and procurement leaders | |
| 5 | Ooma → | Growing remote teams |
1. Nextiva
Is your team struggling with fragmented communications?
Nextiva offers a Unified-CXM platform that centralizes all customer interactions, simplifying your operations. This means your team can manage calls, chats, SMS, and social media from one place.
This integrated approach helps you reduce costs and IT overhead by consolidating various technologies into a single system, eliminating the need for multiple siloed solutions. The result is a more efficient and productive workflow.
Speaking of optimizing spending, my guide on cloud cost management software explores how to automate savings and accountability.
Here’s how Nextiva steps in.
Nextiva unifies all your customer interactions into an AI-powered platform, orchestrating complete customer journeys. This simplifies engagement, ensuring consistency across voice, live chat, and messaging apps.
You’ll benefit from intelligent routing, which uses situation and skill-based algorithms to direct inquiries to the right agents, reducing wait times and improving resolution. Additionally, Nextiva includes generative AI knowledge bases and real-time dashboards for quick insights and enhanced decision-making. The platform’s open architecture, with REST APIs, also ensures scalability and continuous innovation.
This ultimately boosts productivity and customer satisfaction.
Key features:
- Unified Customer Experience Management (CXM): Centralizes all customer interactions across multiple channels, including voice, live chat, SMS, and social media, into one AI-powered platform.
- Intelligent Routing and AI Capabilities: Leverages situation and skill-based routing, generative AI knowledge bases, and sentiment analysis to optimize call distribution and agent performance.
- Workflow Automation and Analytics: Features like real-time dashboards, custom reports, and workflow engines enable streamlined operations, data-driven decision-making, and increased team productivity.
Nextiva features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: If you’re an IT director seeking the best cloud PBX system to consolidate communication tools, Nextiva’s Unified-CXM platform is a strong contender. Its AI and automation features, like intelligent routing and real-time analytics, help reduce operational costs by 40%, as seen with Tata Play Broadcasting, making it ideal for growing businesses.
2. GoTo
Is your current PBX holding your business back?
GoTo Connect offers an all-in-one business communication software, including a cloud-based phone system and softphone, perfect for unifying your communication channels. This means your team can easily connect and engage.
The software addresses your need for unified communications and efficient remote team support, simplifying how your organization connects, engages, and builds relationships. This allows your business to surpass ever-rising customer expectations effortlessly.
Say goodbye to communication silos.
GoTo Connect introduces an AI Receptionist, a 24/7 smart assistant for answering calls, automating tasks, and improving customer service. This allows your team to focus on higher-value work, ensuring no customer inquiries are missed and providing continuous support.
Additionally, GoTo Connect CX provides a comprehensive suite of customer experience tools, while the Contact Center offers an AI-powered omnichannel solution designed to empower agents and inform supervisors. This integrates seamlessly with your existing workflow, making setup straightforward and management easy. The result is a unified platform that simplifies IT management and boosts collaboration among teams, suppliers, and customers.
Connect and collaborate like never before.
Key features:
- GoTo Connect Phone System: Provides a smart business phone system with over 100 features for all your communication needs, including VoIP capabilities for seamless transitions or new implementations.
- AI Receptionist: A 24/7 smart assistant built into GoTo Connect that handles incoming calls, automates tasks, and simplifies customer service, allowing your team to focus on higher-value work.
- GoTo Connect CX & Contact Center: Offers a comprehensive suite of customer experience tools and an AI-powered omnichannel solution to boost customer service and inform supervisors, all with easy IT management.
GoTo features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: If you’re seeking a comprehensive, AI-powered cloud communications platform to unify channels and enhance customer service, GoTo is a strong contender for the best cloud PBX system. Its AI Receptionist and integrated CX tools simplify operations, ensuring seamless communication and reliable support for your growing business, as demonstrated by companies like BMW of Murray.
3. 8×8
Are you struggling with fragmented communication systems?
8×8 offers a single intelligent platform designed to connect your employees and customers seamlessly.
This means you can unify communications to build customer loyalty and business impact, simplifying your tech stack and overcoming complex challenges.
Here’s how 8×8 can help.
8×8 provides a product portfolio that supercharges your customer experience, from contact center solutions to unified communications and no-code APIs. Their Contact Center empowers agents with AI to simplify operations and delight customers, while 8×8 Work connects teams and customers globally with an AI-enabled communication suite. Additionally, 8×8 offers no-code CPaaS for connecting with customers on their preferred channels, and 8×8 Engage supports all customer-facing teams. Plus, you can amplify your existing Microsoft Teams capabilities with 8×8’s integrations.
The result: a unified platform engineered to propel your business growth.
Before diving deeper into 8×8’s features, you might find my analysis of best cannabis software helpful for specific industry compliance needs.
Key features:
- Unified Communications: Connects your teams and customers globally with an AI-enabled communication suite for streamlined interactions.
- Contact Center Solutions: Powers agents with AI to simplify operations, enhancing customer satisfaction and overall service delivery.
- Communications APIs (CPaaS): Enables no-code connections with customers across various channels, simplifying customer engagement and outreach.
8×8 features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: For growing businesses aiming to centralize communications, elevate customer experience, and modernize legacy systems, 8×8 stands out as a strong contender for the best cloud PBX system. Its unified platform, AI-enabled tools, and strong security features help mitigate risk and maximize operational efficiencies, as evidenced by over 3 million trusted business users.
4. Dialpad
Struggling with complex, costly communication systems?
Dialpad simplifies your communications with real-time AI insights across calls, messages, and meetings.
This means you can streamline interactions and enhance customer service, saving your team valuable time and improving operational effectiveness. It’s designed to accelerate work through unparalleled AI.
Here’s how.
Dialpad offers an AI-powered customer communications solution that includes instant AI summaries and action items from every interaction. This enables next-gen contact center capabilities with AI agents, assistants, coaching, and insights, transforming your sales and support. Its proprietary AI delivers unmatched accuracy at scale, ensuring your data remains private and secure while providing predictable costs. Additionally, Dialpad seamlessly integrates with essential business applications like Salesforce, Zendesk, Microsoft Teams, and Google Workspace, unifying your communication channels.
The result is sharper insights and remarkable outcomes.
Key features:
- AI-powered insights: Delivers real-time AI summaries and action items from calls, messages, and meetings, enhancing customer interactions and streamlining workflows for your team.
- Comprehensive communication platform: Unifies your business communications, including calls, messaging, and meetings, supported by a dual-cloud architecture for best-in-class resiliency.
- Seamless business integrations: Connects with critical applications like Salesforce, Zendesk, and Google Workspace, saving your team up to 5 hours per week by consolidating workflows.
Dialpad features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: If you are an IT director or procurement officer seeking the best cloud PBX system that offers advanced AI capabilities and robust integrations, Dialpad is a strong contender. With customer testimonials highlighting 25% less time spent on calls and 4x increase in calls reviewed by sales, it significantly enhances efficiency and customer outcomes.
5. Ooma
Struggling with complex, costly phone systems?
Ooma offers business phone service, complete with mobile and desktop apps, providing a unified communication experience. This means your remote teams can stay connected from anywhere.
It helps growing businesses unify communication channels and supports hybrid work models, addressing the challenges of evaluating cloud PBX systems by offering sophisticated communication solutions made simple.
This is your path to streamlined business communication.
Ooma’s business solutions tackle the decision paralysis you might face, providing customizable phone, video, and messaging services suitable for any business size. They offer essential features like call management, video conferencing, and team chat, making daily operations smoother and more efficient.
You’ll find specialized features such as a virtual receptionist, call parking, and overhead paging, ensuring your customer service is always top-notch and professional. Additionally, Ooma includes CRM integrations for popular platforms like Salesforce and HubSpot, helping your sales and support teams enhance efficiency and customer experience by seamlessly linking your communication data.
The result is reduced telephony costs and enhanced productivity.
While we’re discussing business efficiency, understanding how MES systems streamline production is equally important for operational excellence.
Key features:
- Unified Communication Channels: Provides phone, video, and messaging solutions, including mobile and desktop apps, to keep your entire team connected and productive, regardless of their location.
- Advanced Call Management: Offers features like a virtual receptionist, call parking, call queuing, and auto dialer, streamlining customer interactions and improving operational efficiency.
- Seamless CRM Integrations: Connects with platforms such as Salesforce, HubSpot, and QuickBooks Online, enhancing customer data management and sales process optimization.
Ooma features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Ooma stands out as a strong contender for the best cloud PBX system due to its comprehensive features, including robust call management and critical CRM integrations, all designed to support remote teams and lower operational costs for growing businesses.
6. Zoom
Struggling to unify communications and cut telephony costs?
Zoom offers a robust platform to connect your entire organization seamlessly.
This means you can simplify communication across your growing business, overcoming complex integration challenges.
Here’s a simpler way.
Zoom unifies your communication needs, from meetings to phone calls. This means you can consolidate vendors, enhancing efficiency and simplifying management.
You’ll discover a platform designed for both security and scalability, ideal for supporting your remote and hybrid work teams. Plus, it integrates with your existing business applications, allowing your teams to work smarter and faster.
Additionally, Zoom’s platform provides a consistent user experience across devices, empowering your employees with flexible and reliable communication tools. This helps eliminate operational downtime and user resistance, ensuring smooth migrations.
Boost productivity and simplify your tech stack.
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Key features:
- Unified communications platform: Consolidate meetings, phone, and collaboration tools into one intuitive system to reduce complexity and costs.
- Flexible hybrid work support: Empower your remote and in-office teams with secure and scalable communication solutions that adapt to your evolving needs.
- Seamless business application integration: Connect your communication platform with your essential CRM and other business tools for enhanced workflows and data consistency.
Zoom features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: If you’re seeking the best Cloud PBX system that consolidates communication and supports hybrid work models, Zoom offers a compelling solution. Its focus on security, scalability, and integration capabilities can significantly reduce your telephony costs while enhancing your team’s productivity and customer service efficiency.
7. Aircall
Struggling with phone systems that hinder productivity?
Aircall offers a cloud phone system specifically designed for sales and customer support teams, ensuring your business conversations are managed in one centralized hub. This means your IT directors can streamline operations and procurement officers can confidently invest in a reliable solution.
Aircall helps your growing business avoid the common pitfalls of complex telephony, providing clear analytics and real-time conversation intelligence. This reduces decision paralysis and allows for smarter, data-driven choices.
It’s time for better conversations.
Aircall transforms your sales and customer support by providing an integrated customer communications and intelligence platform. With features like AI Voice Agents, your business can ensure no call is missed, enhancing customer service efficiency and employee productivity.
Additionally, AI Assist helps your team nail every conversation, from prep to follow-up, with real-time insights and AI-powered workflows, making sure agents know exactly what to do next instead of asking customers to repeat themselves. Furthermore, Aircall unifies communication channels, allowing you to reach three billion WhatsApp users from their favorite platform, all within Aircall’s hub for calls, texts, and WhatsApp messages, which significantly reduces overall telephony costs. This comprehensive approach is essential for supporting hybrid work models.
You’ll gain more clarity and less guesswork.
Before diving deeper, you might find my analysis of best conversational AI platforms helpful.
Key features:
- AI Voice Agent and AI Assist: Automate inbound call handling 24/7 and provide real-time conversation intelligence for improved sales and customer support interactions.
- 100+ Integrations: Connect Aircall with essential business tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zendesk, ensuring a unified communication hub and reduced operational downtime.
- Powerful Analytics and Call Routing: Monitor performance metrics, improve resolution rates, and efficiently route calls to the right agents with customizable IVR menus.
Aircall features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Aircall stands out as a best cloud PBX system, especially for growing businesses, by offering an easy-to-use platform that integrates essential AI-powered features and over 100 business tools. This focus on unified communication, intelligent workflows, and reliable performance helps lower costs and accelerate service, allowing your teams to focus on customer relationships and crush their quotas.
Conclusion
Your phone system shouldn’t hold you back.
Choosing the right system is overwhelming. With so many options and complex features, finding the right fit for your growing business feels impossible.
The move to the cloud is a strategic shift. It’s about reducing infrastructure overhead and improving collaboration, which is critical for growing businesses seeking flexible, modern communication solutions to stay competitive.
This is my top recommendation.
From my review, Nextiva stands out. Its Unified-CXM platform cuts through the complexity by centralizing all your customer interactions into one place.
Their AI and automation tools, which helped Tata Play Broadcasting cut costs by 40%, streamline operations. Choosing the best cloud pbx system like Nextiva means you’re investing in true efficiency.
To further enhance business performance, my guide on best marketing attribution software provides valuable insights.
I suggest you book a free demo of Nextiva to see firsthand how it can transform your communication stack.
You’ll lower costs and accelerate service.
