Krishi Chowdhary has half a decade of experience writing buying guides and product reviews for numerous leading technology websites. He spent two years writing for…
Sofia Rebuck is an Editor at Techopedia with over five years experience researching and writing about tech and software products, working across the North American…
We uphold a strict editorial policy that focuses on factual accuracy, relevance, and impartiality. Our content, created by leading industry experts, is reviewed by a team of seasoned editors to ensure compliance with the highest standards in reporting and publishing.
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Our Verdict
Zoom Phone excels at offering a stable voice and video calling solution at an affordable price
Zoom is a well-known name in the VoIP market and one that delivers great value for money, particularly for small businesses.
Beyond the free plan, Zoom Phone offers unlimited domestic texting and an incredibly intuitive audio and video calling interface. You also get a boatload of third-party app integrations which many find invaluable.
The team chat function further adds to the appeal of using Zoom, but its functionality extends beyond this, including advanced features like an auto attendant to automatically route calls, for example.
That said, as we explore in this review, compared to rivals, it lacks features. Overall, though, it’s free (and cheap to scale), very user-friendly, and great for audio and video collaboration needs.
Zoom Phone8.3
Pros
Easy to use
A generous free plan
Best-in-class audio calling features
Fun meeting interaction options
A native app marketplace with 2,400+ integration options
Zoom, headquartered in California, is an all-in-one communication platform particularly useful for businesses with remote teams. It first catapulted into the limelight during the pandemic in 2020 and has been a popular choice among companies ever since.
We’ve carried out extensive hands-on testing to find out if Zoom is the VoIP platform you’ve been looking for. Read this detailed Zoom review to know everything about Zoom i.e. its features, pricing, pros, cons, and how it compares to the competition.
Let’s look at the various plans Zoom has to offer:
US & Canada Metered
US & Canada Unlimited
Global Select
Starting Price
$120/year/user
$180/year/user
$240/year/user
Unlimited Domestic Calling
Metered domestic calling
Unlimited domestic calling
Unlimited domestic calling
Unlimited Domestic Texting
✅
✅
✅
International Calling
Available as add-on
Available as add-on
Available as add-on
Numbers
Toll-free numbers
Toll-free numbers
Toll-free numbers
Video Conferencing
✅
✅
✅
Call Recording
✅
✅
✅
Voicemail Transcription
✅
✅
✅
Note: there’s another plan called “Pro” but its pricing isn’t transparent, so you’ll have to contact the team to get a custom quote. It has, more or less, the same features as the Metered plan except for phone extensions.
Overall Zoom offers 6 types of products, all related to business communication. For this review, however, we will focus on Zoom Phone.
All three plans under Zoom Phone include:
Unlimited Internal Calling
Metered Outbound Calling
One Management Portal
Domestic SMS & MMS
US & Canada Number
Multiple Devices Use
US & Canada Metered – $120/year/user
Pay-as-you-go, along with unlimited inbound calling, you get features like HD call quality, voicemail transcriptions, unlimited auto attendants, call recording, an emergency response center, call handoff between devices, and more.
US & Canada Unlimited – $180/year/user
This is the first plan on the list that supports unlimited regional calling within the US. You also have the option to buy an add-on for outbound calling to a specific country. Other than that, there’s no major difference when you put it side by side with the metered plan.
Global Select – $240/year/user
The Select plan is, once again, not very different from the previous plans. However, here you get unlimited regional calling in one of the 48 countries and territories offered by Zoom and the optional add-on to access further countries.
Other Zoom Pricing Plans
If the above-mentioned features are not enough for your business communication needs, you can also try the Business Plus plan under Zoom One — a communication-oriented product that also comes with Zoom Phone.
Costing $269.90/user/year, this plan offers unlimited internal and outbound calling, Call recording, and other Zoom Phone features along with Zoom Meeting functions such as Translated Captions, Workspace Reservation, and an AI companion.
Zoom Phone’s Features
Here’s a glimpse into the main features offered by Zoom Phone:
Calling Functions
The quality of Zoom calls is truly fantastic. When we tested it out, the audio was crisp, and we only encountered minor connection issues during one test that weren’t due to our own internet connection.
Every plan comes with unlimited internal calling, while only two plans come with unlimited outbound calling i.e. from your agents to your customers.
You also get toll-free numbers and phone number extensions in case you have a huge team and an auto-attendant/IVR to handle your customers when your agents are busy on another line.
One thing we found useful was the option to re-route the call to either a different number or voicemail. This is definitely a convenient feature during holidays or post-business hours. In case a call goes to voicemail, you have the option to get it transcribed so you can easily scan the message before calling back.
Overall we found the setup to be seamless, calls were easy to manage with the portal, and with add-ons like phone recording, you can save important conversations with ease.
Video Functions
The primary function of Zoom Phone’s video meeting feature is to elevate a regular call to a Zoom video call when needed. You can also transfer this call to a Zoom Meeting or Zoom Room at the click of a button which can be useful for internal communication.
If you choose the Zoom One plan, your video meetings will be quite fun. You get to experiment with interesting meeting backgrounds and filters. You can also drive up engagement among the team with interactive polls, quizzes, and in-meeting reactions.
Another interesting feature is the ‘Touch up my appearance.’ It’s like a beauty filter that you can use to look more presentable for clients after a tiring day at work. Additionally, if you are not a fan of being in the video yourself, you have the option to create an avatar to represent you.
Auto Attendant and Call Distribution
There’s an auto-attendant available on Zoom Phone that acts as your virtual receptionist. It greets your customers, understands their concerns, and routes the call to the agent suited to handle the query.
What’s good with the auto-attendant, except for the call routing, is that it helps keep your callers engaged until one of your agents is ready to take over while still giving the caller a sense of progress.
We found the auto-attendant to be a solid addition, it helped clear the calling backlog and keep things in order for the agents.
Plus, Zoom Phone offers automatic call distribution groups (ACD) with call queueing, which queues your incoming calls and then distributes them as and when the agents become available.
Team Chat Functions
Keeping in touch with your team is just as important as keeping in touch with your customers. That’s why we recommend using Zoom’s built-in Team Chat tool. It’s so effective that you don’t need any third-party app to manage your team.
There are three ways to interact with your team. You can either send someone a direct text, create a channel based on a certain topic, or create a group.
All the messages and files you share in these chats will be safely stored. If you want, you can also save them on the Zoom Cloud or other third-party storage. There’s also a dedicated chat room for members of a meeting so that you can keep in touch before, during, and after the meeting without losing track of the conversation.
Although we find Zoom Chat to be sufficient, if you don’t feel the same, you can always integrate it with another platform.
Native integrations on Zoom Phone include Salesforce, Slack, Contact Center, Microsoft, and Google. Apart from that, Zoom has its own app marketplace from where you can access 2,400+ third-party apps. The variety is truly commendable.
The apps are divided into categories such as CRM, Collaboration, and Analytics so that you can quickly find them. And under each such category, you’ll have tons of options to choose from.
For example, under the CRM category, you’ll find 205 options — no other VoIP service will give you so many choices. Connect Zoom with the best CRM software for seamless customer management.
On top of that, Zoom also integrates with Zapier, which is another popular app marketplace that helps you integrate with 6,000+ business tools. You’ll never run out of integration options with Zoom.
Is Zoom Phone Safe?
Zoom takes customer security very seriously. For instance, when advanced chat encryption is enabled, it uses both asymmetric and symmetric algorithms to encrypt your chats.
It also generates private keys for each device which are not shared with anyone to prevent unauthorized users from tampering with the chats. Other than that, every call and meeting is encrypted with 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), with optional end-to-end encryption.
For additional security, you can lock a meeting, add a password to it, or require all participants to share an audio signature.
Also, their team works constantly to find and fix vulnerabilities before the hackers get to them. In short, with Zoom, your team and assets are in safe hands.
Zoom Phone Customer Reviews
Zoom has received amazing reviews from most users online. On Gartner, it has received a total score of 4,4 out of 5 based on 5,400+ reviews. Out of this, 60% of the users have given it a 5-star rating, and 37% of the users have given it a 4-star rating.
Similarly, on G2, Zoom has received 4.5/5 ratings based on 53,900+ reviews. Out of this, more than 40,000 people have given it a 5-star rating.
Most people love the platform’s usability. Even if you aren’t a tech expert, it’ll only take you a few minutes to figure out the platform. Also, Zoom One has a free plan which makes it one of the best VoIP for small businesses that cannot afford to invest in a VoIP platform yet.
The only complaint that some users have had about Zoom is instability when the network is poor. Although it’s not Zoom’s fault if your WiFi is acting up, some users feel that a Lite version could fix this issue.
There are some notices of varying levels of customer support, with some users referring to the support as “lazy”. However, the majority of reviews note that they’ve had prompt expert support. Other than that, we haven’t noticed any significant issues with Zoom.
What Is Zoom Phone Good For?
Zoom Phone is fantastic for both audio and video calls, making it a great fit for businesses of any size. It truly shines for companies with call agents in multiple locations, thanks to its cloud-based management system.
And the best part? You can personalize the experience to perfectly match your business with features like call delegation and a huge amount of integrations.
You might remember that Zoom was one of the most sought-after platforms for remote working during the pandemic when online connection became more important than ever. That’s because its audio and video calling features exceed industry standards.
Let’s consider the Zoom Avatar tool for video meetings as an example. It’s perfect for introverts who don’t want to turn on their camera. Similarly, the Appearance Touch-Up tool can give you a quick makeover before an important meeting.
Zoom Phone Vs Top Competitors
Here’s how Zoom Phone sizes up against some of the other top players in the industry:
– Unlimited audio conferencing and calls
– Voicemail notifications and transcription
– Free number porting
Money-Back Guarantee
14 days
30 days
30 days
30 days
30 days
Zoom Phone Vs RingCentral
RingCentral has a few advantages over Zoom Phone. For instance, you get built-in virtual notes which meeting participants can use to record important pointers. You also get video recordings and live transcriptions for your meeting. Since Zoom Phone focuses more on the audio calling aspect, it misses out on all these features.
Zoom makes up for it with automatic call distribution. Basically, you use the Call Queue feature to route incoming calls to a certain group of agents. The one who takes the call first gets it. All in all, RingCentral has better options for video and transcripts, but Zoom Phone makes staying organized easier.
Zoom scores better than Google Voice in terms of native call management features. Google Voice is undoubtedly easier to use, and every plan will automatically grant you access to all the other Google products, such as Google Sheets, Forms, Gmail, Calendar, and so on.
Zoom, on the other hand, offers much better features. You get to park your calls and seamlessly handoff calls while switching devices, and there’s also call recording and Barge/Monitor/Whisper/Takeover for managers to take over calls when needed.
In short, Google Voice is best for those who prioritize ease of use, and Zoom Phone leads the way will call management features.
Zoom Phone and Ooma both specialize in audio calling, making the competition a little tough. However, Ooma has slightly more features to offer. It can double up as a pager or intercom line when needed, plus you get access to virtual faxes on every plan.
However, if you’re looking for more internal collaboration and video calling functions, Zoom is a better choice. You get to choose between as many as 2,400 integrations, which is more than what Ooma offers.
Curious about Ooma and what it offers? Read our full Ooma review.
Verdict — Is Zoom Worth It?
Yes. Zoom Phone is totally worth it for businesses looking for a steady audio and video calling solution. The connections are stable (as long as your network is fine), the audio and video quality is great, and there are tons of exciting features such as voicemail transcription, call parking, team chat, and so on.
Additionally, the integration capacity is great. In the Zoom marketplace alone, you can connect with up to 2,400+ apps. Although users have had occasional complaints of lazy customer support, the team is knowledgeable and helps you sort out any difficulties you might have. That said, the ease of use of the platform ensures you do not have many questions in the first place.
Our team has more than 13 years of experience in the industry. Before Zoom, we have already tested countless other VoIP platforms, so we know what makes the best VoIP service.
On top of this, our 2-week trial also helps. Our own team of experts tests every product we write about for 2 weeks. During this period, we check if the features are as good as they claim to be, their average uptime, and ease of use. We also check whether the customer support team is available and responsive.
After that, we look into what other customers have to say about the platform. These people who have months or years of experience with a service give us a great feel of what one can expect in the long run.
How We Choose The Best VoIP Provider
Here’s a quick rundown of the parameters you need to check when picking a good VoIP provider:
PriceScalabilityEase of UseIntegrationsCustomer SupportUptimeHidden Costs
The key here is to match your budget with the features you want out of a VoIP service. You can find a good provider without breaking the bank, so there’s no need to go over your budget.
The VoIP provider you choose should be able to grow with you. Otherwise, you’ll have to switch to a new provider every time you get more customers. For this, we recommend looking for providers that have a custom Enterprise plan or add-ons that allow you to manage more customers at once.
Any app you choose for your business should be easy to use. Time is your most precious resource at work, and you don’t want to waste it trying to train your team. Also, a tough VoIP app can severely hamper your team’s overall performance.
No app can cater to all your needs at once. But if you pick one with good integration capacity, you’ll at least be able to connect to other apps and centralize your work. It’ll help you manage multiple aspects of your business from one unified dashboard.
You may always run into an issue with a tech service or product, so make sure your chosen VoIP provider has a responsive team that can be contacted in more than one way i.e. email, live chat, and/or phone calls.
The VoIP provider you choose should have 99.999% to 100% uptime. If it’s down too often, you’ll miss out on new customers or fail to service your regular ones.
Sometimes, you might end up paying more than the price you were promised in the beginning. Hidden costs are to be blamed here. They are often hiding in plain sight — a service charge, a forced add-on, or a price hike after renewing your subscription. Make sure you read the fine print to avoid such hidden costs.
FAQs
What Is Zoom Phone?
Zoom Phone is a VoIP service, which is a part of the Zoom platform. It only offers calling features through audio and video calls. All the other features of online event management and agent profile management are not available in this plan.
How Does Zoom Phone Work?
You’ll need an active Zoom subscription and the Zoom app to use Zoom Phone. Once you have those, your phone will seamlessly integrate with your purchased plan and all that it offers. You can use it to seamlessly transfer calls and convert an audio call into a video meeting.
Is the Zoom Phone System Good?
Zoom Phone is one of the best VoIP services we have seen so far. Apart from the ease of use, what really impressed us was the call quality. Plus, you get tons of advanced call management features like call recording, call redirecting, voicemail transcription, and so on.
Does a Zoom Phone Call Cost Money?
Yes. Once you have purchased a plan, you don’t need to pay anything for internal calling — it’s unlimited. Depending on the plan you pick, you’ll get metered or unlimited outbound calling. What will actually cost you extra money is international calling, as it needs to be purchased separately – just like additional phone numbers and toll-free numbers.
Can You Text From Zoom Phone?
Yes, you can text from Zoom Phone but this feature is only available to users from the USA, Canada, and Australia. You can send both SMS and MMS but it has to be domestic. And you have to send it to a direct number, not a company number.
Techopedia’s editorial policy is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.
Krishi Chowdhary has half a decade of experience writing buying guides and product reviews for numerous leading technology websites. He spent two years writing for Business2Community.com before joining Techopedia.com. He has a degree in Commerce and extensive experience in the technology industry. He's also the key driver behind TechReport.com's news content, delivering expertise insight into the latest tech and cybersecurity news daily.
We uphold a strict editorial policy that focuses on factual accuracy, relevance, and impartiality. Our content, created by leading industry experts, is reviewed by a team of seasoned editors to ensure compliance with the highest standards in reporting and publishing.
Disclosure
When you buy through affiliate links in our content, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Learn how our funding model works. By using this website you agree to our terms and conditions and privacy policy.
When you buy through affiliate links in our content, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Learn 
