What to look for in a business phone system

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When you think about what drives your business forward, your mind might go to strategy, people, or even product. But underneath all of that, quietly powering deals, customer relationships, and day-to-day collaboration, is something far more foundational: communication.

And at the heart of business communications? Your business phone system. 

The right system can boost your team’s efficiency and surface the insights your people need to work smarter. But the wrong one can quietly chip away at productivity, customer experience, and revenue.

In this article, we’ll guide you through the key features to look for in a modern business phone system and share how platforms like Aircall are transforming the way teams connect, both internally and with the customers they serve.

Key takeaways

• Cloud-based VoIP phone systems offer unmatched flexibility, scalability, and cost-efficiency compared to traditional landlines, and on-premise PBX setups.

• Ease of use, global reach, and responsive support make cloud phone solutions ideal for remote teams and fast-growing businesses that need to adapt quickly.

• Modern business phone systems like Aircall integrate with CRMs, helpdesks, and collaboration tools to enable teams to deliver faster support.

• AI features such as automated call summaries, voice agents, and conversation intelligence reduce admin work and boost agent productivity.

• Call analytics, smart routing, and real-time monitoring provide deeper visibility into team performance and customer experience without needing a dedicated data team.

Types of business phone systems

To get a lay of the land when it comes to business phones, let’s take a look at the three main setups in action today.

• Traditional landlines, which run on the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) and require physical copper wiring and hardware. These systems offer reliable coverage but are limited in the features and integrations they offer businesses. 

• IP-PBX systems work with SIP “hard phones”, which are normal desk phones that use the internet to place calls rather than the physical PSTN cable grid. While on-premise PBX systems use your business’s internet connection for call routing, they still rely on internal servers or hardware.

• A cloud-based setup is a fully virtual business phone system powered by VoIP technology that uses software and the internet rather than desk phones and other hardware. Phone calls are placed and received through a dedicated app or your browser on existing mobile devices like laptops and smartphones. This is also known as a “softphone” setup.

Why cloud-based phone systems are the right choice for modern businesses

Traditional landline and on-premise phone systems require IT technicians for installation, frequent maintenance, and costly hardware. These limitations make these systems difficult and expensive to scale. 

The only real benefit of an analog setup over a fully virtual VoIP system is the reliability of the connection, something to consider when operating in an area with an unstable internet connection or frequent outages. 

Otherwise, fully virtual, cloud-based solutions are a better, more flexible choice for businesses. 

A VoIP setup performs for businesses of all sizes, and it’s the only viable business phone option for remote teams. With these systems, it’s easy to add on more users as call volume grows, integrate with your essential business tools, and analyse customer conversations. 

Key considerations and checklist for choosing a business phone system 

Aside from asking yourself, “how much does a business phone system cost?”, you need to know what you’re actually paying for. These 10 features are must-haves in a modern business phone system if you want to get real value for your money.

1. Widespread reach and agile operations

You likely have customers across the country or even the world, so you need a phone provider that enables you to create multiple ‘local’ lines to different regions without requiring a physical presence. 

With a cloud-based system, you can start small and instantly add (or remove) lines as your needs change without expensive hardware upgrades.

Aircall, for example, works together with the best SIP trunking carriers (Twilio, Voxbone, and Colt) to ensure quality coverage all across the world. We offer local numbers for your business in 100+ countries, as well as toll-free numbers in any country in which your company operates. 

You also need to find a platform that makes it easy to add (or remove) extra lines at the click of a button. Note that this is impossible with an on-premise system, so unless you go for a cloud-based solution, you may be stuck paying for more lines than you actually need at a given moment.

2. Bang for your buck

Cloud-hosted VoIP phone systems don’t carry the high upfront costs of hardware installation like traditional landlines and PBX systems, nor do they come with significant maintenance costs. 

Cloud-based systems do require regular monthly subscription fees, so it’s worth shopping around to make sure you get your money’s worth. Keep an eye out for additional features that streamline operations, save time, and, ultimately, money. 

However, cost isn’t everything. “Think beyond price when choosing a phone service,” recommends Steve Faulkner, Founder and Chief Recruiter at the Spencer James Group.

“Instead of focusing on cost alone, prioritise reliability and flexibility to support how your team actually works. For example, our recruiters may work from the office, from home, or need to access messages while visiting clients onsite. This makes a phone system with remote-work-friendly features like easy call forwarding and mobile VoIP apps an absolute must.”

3. Integrations with your essential business tools

Your phone system needs to talk to all of your critical tools and workflows, which will increase productivity and ease the workload for your team. “The one thing I wish I had known sooner? The importance of system integration,” warns Mary Case, Founder of The Happy Food Company. 

“Our first system didn’t integrate into our CRM, meaning we missed important context and had less efficient processes. Moving onto a new platform that integrated with our customer profiles gave us total visibility of order history during an incoming support call, improving our speed of resolution time and customer satisfaction considerably.”

Aircall, for example, connects with: 

• CRMs like HubSpot and Salesforce

• Helpdesks like Intercom and Zendesk

• Collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams and Slack

• Sales automation platforms like Pipedrive and Salesloft

4. Security and reliability

Despite being hosted in the cloud, a virtual phone system isn’t unsafe. The key is to find a provider that invests heavily into fortifying cloud security protocols, such as:

• SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) authentication

• User roles and permissions

• TLS/SRTP encryption

• Data sanitisation

What’s more, you want to ensure your customers can always reach you, meaning reliability is a key consideration. At Aircall, for example, we work with best-in-class global voice carriers and invest in redundancy on every level. Thanks to this, we boast 99.95% uptime. 

5. AI capabilities

When your employees have to search through past conversations to remember what was said, it eats into their day and takes time away from more high-impact tasks.

When your employees spend valuable minutes finding customer histories, typing out case notes, or navigating between multiple systems during a call, it eats into their day and slows down service. AI-powered call systems surface the right info instantly, summarise conversations, and log everything automatically. This means your team can spend more time resolving queries and less time buried in admin.

Aircall, for example, helps your team stay one step ahead with AI Assist Pro, which equips them with insights that summarise recent interactions with the customer, suggests talking points during the call, and automates CRM updates and follow-up emails after the call ends, saving time and improving the customer experience.

6. Call insights and analytics

Call analytics help you go beyond gut feel to see what’s really happening in your customer conversations, from how long it takes agents to respond to how often customers have to call back: it all adds up to valuable insights you can use to train teams, spot gaps, and improve customer experience. 

Tools like Aircall make this process simple and accessible. Its user-friendly dashboards display key metrics like average call duration and wait times in real time, so managers and team leads can spot trends at a glance. You don’t need a dedicated data analyst to understand what’s working and what’s not.

Beyond just numbers, Aircall’s analytics can show you which agents are excelling and which might need extra support, highlight peak call times to help with scheduling, and reveal customer pain points based on call volume or repeat issues. This means your teams get actionable feedback they can use right away to deliver better service and drive sales.

7. Ease of use and customer support

Every hour spent figuring out how to forward a call, change a greeting, or add a new user is time taken away from running your business. That’s why ease of use is one of the most important (yet often overlooked) factors when choosing a business phone system.

With Aircall, for example, there’s no steep learning curve. The setup process is simple, and the dashboard makes it easy to customise workflows, assign numbers, and manage settings without needing a dedicated IT person on standby. Everything is where you expect it to be, which makes life a lot easier for busy teams.

10 features you need in a modern business phone system

Still using a phone setup that can’t tag calls, sync with your tools, or offer live analytics? Then it might be time to consider a new solution. Here are ten key features (all offered by Aircall) to consider when choosing the best business phone system for your organisation:

• Unified Conversation Centre: Bring all your calls, messages, and customer history into one place so your team never has to jump between tools. A unified view means faster responses and more context with every customer interaction.

• Smart Routing: Automatically send calls to the right team or agent based on time of day, skillset, or availability. Smart routing reduces wait times and ensures customers speak to someone who can actually help.

• Warm Transfer: Instead of blindly passing a caller along, a warm transfer lets your team introduce the customer and provide context before handing off the call. It’s smoother for the customer and less effort for your team.

• Call Monitoring and Whispering: Call monitoring allows managers to listen in on live calls to support agents in real-time. With whispering, they can guide an agent during a call without the customer hearing, which is great for training. 

• Queue Callback: Let customers keep their place in line without waiting on hold. They hang up, and the system calls them back automatically, providing a smoother customer experience. 

• Power Dialer: Automatically dial through lists of numbers, saving your team from manual effort and boosting outbound productivity. It’s a must-have for sales teams with high targets and limited resources.

• Interactive Voice Response (IVR): This automated menu system helps route callers to the right department without human intervention. This leads to decreased time to resolution (TTR) and minimises customer frustration

• Analytics: Track call volumes, response times, team performance, and more in one centralised dashboard. These insights help you spot trends and make data-driven decisions to improve service.

• Conversation Intelligence: Automatically capture and analyse key moments in calls like objections, keywords, or customer sentiment. It turns every conversation into a source of insight and coaching opportunity.

• AI Voice Agent: Handle routine calls, frequently asked questions, and after-hours inquiries with an AI-powered assistant that sounds natural and gets smarter over time. It supports your team and customers and ensures you never miss a call. 

Automate repetitive tasks without losing the human touch. Learn more about Aircall’s AI Voice Agent.

Why modern businesses choose Aircall 

“The greatest lesson learned when selecting a phone system for [my company] was that your phone system is more than a utility: it is part of your brand experience,” says Mary. “Within a matter of seconds, customers, suppliers, and partners form an impression, so clarity, reliability and flexibility are essential attributes.”

As a modern business, your phone system should go beyond making and receiving calls; it needs to empower agents, integrate with your existing tools, and provide real-time insights, without any added complexity. 

Aircall is more than just a business phone; it’s a customer communications and intelligence platform designed for speed, clarity, and performance. Add in an intuitive interface, reliable uptime, and responsive support, and it’s easy to see why businesses of all sizes are choosing Aircall to lead the conversation.

"The ability to scale without compromising on customer experience has been a huge win for us," says Kristy Lake, Chief Operating Officer at Novated Lease Australia. “Aircall allows us to deliver a faster resolution for customers, which also increases retention.”

Struggling with disjointed conversations? Make the switch to Aircall for connected customer communications across all your channels. Try for free today.

Frequently asked questions about what to look for in a business phone system

What is the best phone system for a business?

The best phone system for your business is one that fits the way your team works, whether that’s fully remote or dispersed around the globe. A cloud-based VoIP system like Aircall gives you flexibility, real-time insights, easy integrations, and the ability to scale without hardware headaches. It’s built for modern teams that need more than just a phone system. 

What is a business phone system?

A business phone system is more than just a way to make and receive calls: it’s the backbone of your customer communications. These systems help teams stay connected, route calls efficiently, track performance, and deliver standout support and sales experiences.

What are the key features of a telephone?

Key business phone features that can help boost your team’s productivity include call forwarding, IVR, call whispering and monitoring, and AI-powered features that help you extract key insights from your conversations. You should also look for integrations with key business tools, like your CRM or helpdesk software.

Published on July 15, 2020.