VoIP Service Providers
This article will provide a comprehensive look at the best VoIP and UCaaS providers for making international calls, including their pricing options, features such as routing, queuing, collaboration tools, and multiple communication channels. Additionally, it will explain how to make international calls using VoIP and offer tips on how to select the most suitable provider for your needs.
Best VoIP Providers for International Calling
Here are the leading providers for international calling using VoIP:
- RingCentral
- Ooma
- Dialpad
- 8×8
- Vonage
- Grasshopper
- Intermedia
- GoTo Connect
- Zoom Phone
RingCentral
RingCentral MVP is a cloud-based phone system and UCaaS platform from RingCentral, which combines VoIP calling, text messaging, team chat, and video conferencing for up to 200 participants. This platform features robust collaboration tools such as file sharing and storage, whiteboards, screen sharing, and more. Although it has an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, it does not offer call queuing or ring group functionality.
The phone system includes a local or toll-free virtual number, and RingCentral offers local phone numbers around the world and the option to port in your pre-existing numbers. RingCentral plans support unlimited calling within the US.
Pricing
| Business Phone System Plans | Unlimited Calling Area | International Calls (Per Minute) |
| Essentials: $20 monthly per user Standard: $28 monthly per user Premium: $35 monthly per user Ultimate: $50 monthly per user | US and Canada | $0.039 to China $0.039 to UK $0.042 to India $0.044 to Australia Up to $0.44 elsewhere |
Standout Features
Here are RingCentral’s top features:
- Real-time analytics: Usage, activity, and queue metrics and KPIs like calls made, total and average call time, customer satisfaction score, channel usage, and more–sortable by agent and historical time period
- Call center monitoring: Supervisors can listen in on phone calls, whisper privately to agents, barge into the call, or take it over
- Multi-level auto attendant: A self-service phone menu that routes customers to submenus, announcements, or users within the company
- Advanced voicemail: Voicemail transcription, plus voicemail-to-email and voicemail-to-text forwarding
Who is RingCentral Best For?
RingCentral is ideal for American companies looking for a phone system with integrated collaboration features. Despite its offering of advanced collaboration tools like file sharing and whiteboards, RingCentral does not provide unrestricted international calling beyond North America, unlike some of its competitors.
Why We Picked Them
We chose RingCentral for its robust collaboration features and multiple communication channels, all integrated within a user-friendly business communications application.
Ooma
Ooma Office is a cloud-based small-business VoIP phone system and UC platform from Ooma, offering voice, text messaging, and video conferencing capabilities. It features routing tools, queuing, over 50 standard calling functions, recording, analytics, and integrations with widely used third-party applications.
Ooma provides local and toll-free phone numbers across the US, along with the option to port numbers. Its Ooma Office business phone plans include unlimited calling within the US, Canada, and Mexico, while calls to other international destinations are charged at a per-minute rate.
Pricing
| Business Phone System Plans | Unlimited Calling Area | International Calls (Per Minute) |
| Essentials: $20 monthly per user Pro: $25 monthly per user Pro Plus: $30 monthly per user | US, Mexico, and Canada | $0.029 to China $0.032 to UK $0.033 to India $0.044 to Australia Up to $0.20 elsewhere |
Standout Features
Here are Ooma Office’s top features:
- Virtual receptionist: Design a self-service, multi-level routing menu that directs customers to various users and messages within your phone system. Create your IVR menu in multiple languages
- Call recording: Automatic or on-demand
- Voicemail transcription: Voicemail audio and transcription are forwarded to the user’s email
- Call queueing and analytics: Organize agents into queue groups, with live queue statistics such as average wait time and the number of online agents
Who is Ooma Best For?
Ooma is best for companies seeking phone and SMS only, especially those that call mostly within the US, Canada, and Mexico. Ooma video conferencing lacks collaboration features, and they don’t offer team chat.
Why We Picked Them
Ooma provides high-definition voice calling quality globally, with an extensive unlimited calling network covering 3 countries. In addition, its phone system features a comprehensive set of basic functions, including multichannel and collaboration capabilities.
Dialpad
Dialpad provides a virtual phone system and UCaaS solution that includes VoIP calling, text messaging, team chat, and video conferencing for up to 10 participants. It also offers collaborative tools such as file sharing, AI support, and routing features like auto attendants, ring groups, and hold queues.
Dialpad offers local and toll-free phone numbers in more than 70 countries, with each plan providing one phone number. Its pricing plans include unlimited calling within the US and Canada, and international calls outside this region are subject to per-minute charges.
Pricing
| Business Phone System Plans | Unlimited Calling Area | International Calls (Per Minute) |
| Standard: $15 monthly per user Pro: $25 monthly per user Enterprise: Custom quote | US, Canada, and Puerto Rico | $0.03 to China $0.032 to UK $0.05 to India $0.03 to Australia Up to $0.75 elsewhere |
Standout Features
Here are Dialpad’s top features:
- Routing and queueing: Multi-level auto attendants, ring groups, and hold queues
- Post-call summaries: AI-generated post-call summaries with call recording, transcription, highlights, and action items
- Live speech coaching: AI analyzes live call transcripts to offer agent feedback on skills like pace, word choice, tone, and customer satisfaction
- Real-time analytics: Agent and queue statistics and KPIs such as total and average talk time, calls in queue, customer satisfaction score, and more
Who is Dialpad Best For?
Dialpad is best for small US-based companies prioritizing team collaboration and AI-enhanced agent support. While Dialpad’s unlimited-calling area is smaller than alternatives, and its video meetings support far fewer participants than average, the platform uniquely offers live speech transcription and AI coaching.
Why We Picked Them
Dialpap’s automated and AI offerings provide unique features that no alternative phone system can match.
8×8
The X Series from 8×8 is a UCaaS platform and business phone system that supports various communication channels such as VoIP calling, team chat, SMS texting, and video conferencing. It stands out from its competitors with its unlimited international area, and the Express plan, which is designed for small businesses, offers unlimited domestic calling within the country where the license is held. The X2 plan provides unlimited calling in 14 countries, while the X4 plan offers unlimited calling to 48 countries. Moreover, 8×8 offers virtual, direct inward dial (DID) business phone numbers in over 100 countries.
This cloud PBX phone system has call management features such as multi-level auto attendants, ring groups, call queues, routing rules, and call monitoring tools. The higher-tier plans come with additional features such as call recording, voicemail transcription, and real-time call center analytics.
Pricing
| Business Phone System Plans | Unlimited Calling Area | International Calls |
| Express: $15 monthly per user X2: $24 monthly per user X4: $44 monthly per user | Up to 48 countries including the UK, Spain, Italy, and Australia. | Free to UK and Australia (on X2 plan) Free to China and India (on X4 plan) Up to $0.60 per minute to countries outside unlimited area |
Standout Features
Here are 8×8’s top features:
- Conversation IQ: Live, AI-supported speech analytics offering conversation insights and transcription. IQ identifies spoken keywords, topics, conversation trends, and sentiment. After each conversation, examine a visual display with volume, separate audio tracks, and a searchable transcript.
- Call queues: Organize agents into queues for shared call responsibility and call hold, with a shared voicemail inbox and custom ring style.
- Call monitoring: Supervisors can listen in on conversations, “whisper” private guidance to on-call agents, “barge” into the call to participate, or take over the call completely
- Multi-level auto attendant
Who is 8×8 Best For?
For companies with a significant amount of international calling, 8×8’s X2 and X4 plans are well-suited, as they offer free calling to 14 and 48 countries, respectively. The choice between the two plans depends on the specific countries that a company calls most frequently, as these countries may fall under either the X2’s 14-country free-calling area or the X4’s 48-country free-calling area.
Why We Picked Them
When it comes to international VoIP solutions, 8×8 offers everything a company needs: multiple communication channels, internal collaboration options, analytics, routing, and a wide international domain for unlimited calling.
Vonage
Vonage Business Communications (VBC) is a business phone system and unified communications platform that includes features such as VoIP calling, SMS texting, unlimited team messaging, and video conferencing for up to 100 users.
With VBC, you can create a business identity in various parts of the world using local and toll-free virtual phone numbers in over 96 countries. Vonage’s pricing plans include unlimited calling within North America and provide flexible international calling options such as pay-per-minute or global calling plans. VBC’s global calling plans offer monthly prepaid minute bundles at different price points, based on the country tier and the amount of minutes included.
Pricing
| Business Phone System Plans | Unlimited Calling Area | International Calls |
| Mobile: $20 monthly per user Premium: $30 monthly per user Advanced: $40 monthly per user | US, Mexico, and Canada | Global calling plans: Flexible minute bundles priced by amount and two country tiers Pay-per-minute: $0.03 to China, $0.02 to UK, $0.02 to India, $0.03 to Australia, up to $0.45 elsewhere |
Standout Features
Here are Vonage’s top features:
- Business inbox: Message customers across channels–SMS, MMS, and Facebook Messenger–organizing all messages in one inbox
- Call park: An active agent can park a call communally, where any other agent can retrieve it
- Multi-level IVR
- Call recording
- Call queues
Who is Vonage Best For?
Vonage is best for US-based teams that consistently call outside the US, but without enough volume to warrant a built-in international calling plan like competitors offer.
Why We Picked Them
Vonage’s global calling plans offer unique flexibility for companies with small-but-consistent international calling needs. They offer the best per-minute international calling rates on our list.
Grasshopper
Grasshopper is a phone system that operates in the cloud and offers VoIP calling and SMS texting capabilities. Its features include basic call management tools such as call forwarding, voicemail transcription, call transfers, custom greetings, and immediate text responses.
Grasshopper provides plans that offer unlimited calling and texting within the US and Canada, and metered international calling worldwide. Additionally, it offers local, toll-free, and vanity phone numbers in area codes throughout the US, and allows customers to transfer their existing phone numbers to the platform.
Pricing
Grasshopper’s pricing structure is unique in that each plan is charged by the account–rather than by the user–and each account includes a bundle of phone numbers and extensions.
| Business Phone System Plans | Unlimited Calling Area | International Calls (per minute) |
| Solo: $26 monthly for 1 phone number and 3 extensions Partner: $44 monthly for 3 phone numbers and 6 extensions Small Business: $80 monthly for 5 phone numbers and unlimited extensions | US and Canada | $0.02 to China $0.04 to UK $0.43 to India $0.10 to Australia Up to $0.95 elsewhere |
Standout Features
Here are Grasshopper’s top features:
- Voicemail transcription: Automatically transcribe voicemails to text, accessing them via the Grasshopper desktop and mobile app or forwarding them to email
- Simultaneous call handling: A forwarding system for calls that reach a busy signal, so customers always reach an available agent
- Custom Greetings: Record custom greetings and announcements, which play for inbound callers who reach a particular number
- Automated SMS instant response
Who is Grasshopper Best For?
For small businesses based in the US seeking a straightforward phone system, Grasshopper is a suitable option. Their pricing structure offers budget-friendly deals for companies that plan to share five or fewer phone numbers among 6-20 users. However, some users may be disappointed with the platform’s lack of key routing features and communication channels, such as IVR and team chat.
Why We Picked Them
We chose Grasshopper for their user-friendly virtual phone system, basic phone features, and small-business-friendly pricing structures, potentially costing under $10 per user per month. Nonetheless, companies that make frequent international calls should consider other options as Grasshopper’s unlimited calling area is limited.
Intermedia
Intermedia Unite is a unified communications as a service (UCaaS) platform and virtual business phone system that provides various features such as VoIP calling, SMS texting, team messaging, and HD video meetings. Additionally, all plans from Intermedia include routing features, call recording, file sharing, in-meeting collaboration tools, call center monitoring capabilities, and analytics.
Intermedia provides toll-free and local virtual phone numbers across the United States, along with the option to transfer existing phone numbers to their platform. All Intermedia plans offer unlimited calling within the United States, as well as pay-per-minute international calling services.
Pricing
Each Intermedia plan includes a free VoIP desk phone.
| Business Phone System Plans | Unlimited Calling Area | International Calls (per minute) |
| Unite Pro: $26 monthly per user Unite Enterprise: $44 monthly per user | US and Canada | $0.042 to China $0.07 to UK $0.02 to India $0.03 to Australia Up to $0.81 elsewhere |
Standout Features
Here are Intermedia’s top features:
- Supervisor analytics: Access real-time and historical multichannel contact center analytics, including agent performance and queue performance KPIs like first call resolution, talk time intervals, daily transfers, total and average call time, and more.
- Call recording
- Multi-level IVR
- Ring groups
Who is Intermedia Best For?
Intermedia is best for US-based companies that want both UCaaS and contact-center functionality from their VoIP phone system.
Why We Picked Them
While Intermedia’s plans are some of the priciest on this list, they offer advanced collaboration features, high-level analytics, multiple communication channels, and strong integrations with popular applications.
GoTo Connect
GoTo Connect is a business communications platform and virtual phone system offered by GoTo, which brings together various features such as VoIP calling, SMS, team chat, and video conferencing capable of hosting up to 250 participants. The phone system comes with routing features, call queues, recording, and real-time analytics. Additionally, the Premium plan provides contact center features such as call monitoring and traffic analytics.
GoTo Connect’s Basic plan offers a pay-per-minute rate for all calls made, whereas the Standard and Premium plans provide unlimited calling to over 50 countries, which is a more extensive unlimited calling range compared to most of its competitors.
You have the option to purchase local and toll-free virtual phone numbers within the United States, or port your existing numbers.
Pricing
The Basic plan of GoTo Connect has a limit of 20 users, with video meetings restricted to four participants and limited use of routing features. The Standard plan, which has no user limit, can accommodate up to 150 video-meeting participants and offers an unlimited calling range to 50+ countries. The Premium plan offers advanced contact center features like call center monitoring.
| Business Phone System Plans | Unlimited Calling Area | International Calls (per minute) |
| Basic: $24 monthly per user Standard: $29 monthly per user Premium: $43 monthly per user | Over 50 countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, China, India, Italy, and the UK. | Free to China Free to UK Free to India Free to Australia Up to $0.50 elsewhere |
Standout Features
Here are GoTo Connect’s top features:
- Advanced routing and queueing: Ring groups, call queues, and smart call routing for intentional and customized ring order
- Voicemail features: Visual voicemail, voicemail-to-email
- Call analytics: Real-time and historical analytics about agent and queue performance. KPIs include talk time, hold time, channel usage and activity, customer satisfaction score, and more.
- Multi-level IVR
- Call recording
Who is GoTo Connect Best For?
GoTo Connect is best for US-based teams with high international call volumes. With the broadest unlimited-calling area of any service provider on this list, GoTo Connect offers a strong international phone system.
Why We Picked Them
We picked GoTo Connect because their free calling area includes over 50 countries, even on their Standard plan for $29 a month–a great deal for companies making frequent calls overseas.
Zoom Phone
Zoom offers a cloud-based phone system called Zoom Phone that includes VoIP calling, SMS, and team chat. The platform includes call distribution, IVR menus, monitoring tools, recording, and analytics, making it a complete virtual phone system. You can purchase Zoom Phone as a standalone service or as part of Zoom’s UCaaS platform, Zoom One.
Zoom Phone provides a virtual DID phone number in your billing country along with local numbers in more than 45 countries with each plan. Though Zoom Phone has versatile domestic calling options across the world, unlimited international calling is only available as an add-on feature.
Pricing
Price structure and unlimited calling area differ across the various Zoom Phone plans, allowing for flexibility no matter where your business operates from. The US and Canada Metered plan is best suited for North American teams with low call volumes and has a pay-per-minute structure. The Unlimited Regional Calling plan offers unlimited calling within the US and Canada, while Zoom’s Pro Global Select plan allows for unlimited domestic calling in one of the 45+ supported countries.
| Business Phone System Plans | Unlimited Calling Area | International Calls (per minute) |
| US & Canada Metered: $10 monthly per user US and Canada Unlimited: $15 monthly per user Premium: $20 monthly per user | US and Canada, or unlimited domestic in another supported country. The international calling add-on supports unlimited calls to 19 countries, for $10 monthly per user. | $0.039 to China Free to UK Free to India Free to Australia Up to $0.50 elsewhere |
Standout Features
Here are Zoom Phone’s top features:
- Automatic call distribution (ACD) groups and queueing: Create agent groups that share inbound call responsibility, with custom ring style and hold queues that organize waiting callers.
- Call monitoring: Whisper, barge, and takeover
- Call handoff: Agents can switch devices seamlessly without disrupting a live call
- Multi-level IVR
- Call recording
Who is Zoom Phone Best For?
Zoom Phone is best for companies that have separate locations internationally, each making a majority of their calls domestically in their respective countries. Zoom’s Pro Global Select plan offers great-value domestic calling options outside the US.
Users who make frequent domestic and international calls should purchase a domestic plan plus the international calling add-on.
Why We Picked Them
We picked Zoom Phone because they offer a complete phone system and unique domestic calling options around the world.
How to Make International Calls with VoIP
To call a landline, mobile phone, or VoIP number internationally, use the following process:
1. Dial your country’s exit code: In the US and Canada, this is + (plus sign) or 011. Most other countries use 00 as the exit code
2. Dial the destination’s country code: If calling a US or Canada number, the country code is 1. Other countries have their own code, listed here.
3. Dial the recipient’s area code: Part of the phone’s 10-digit number, the area code changes by city or region
4. Dial the recipient’s 7-digit number
| Example Call | Exit Code | Country Code | Area Code | 7-Digit Number |
| US to London, UK | 011 (US) | 00 (United Kingdom) | 020 (London) | 315-8783 |
| India to Panama City, Panama | 00 (India) | 507 (Panama) | 850 (Panama City) | 547-6589 |
How to Choose a Provider for International VoIP Calls
The best provider for international VoIP calls depends on your company’s business needs. Some of the providers listed above emphasize collaborative UCaaS features like video-conferencing, file-sharing, and team chat, while others emphasize routing features or a wide unlimited calling area.
When picking a provider, consider the following:
- Unlimited calling area: Some providers only offer unlimited calling within the United States and Canada. Some include Mexico, while some offer international calling options in over 50 countries. Consider where you call, and how often, to evaluate how large of an unlimited area you need.
- Phone number offerings: Some of the above providers only offer business phone numbers from area codes within the US, while some provide international numbers. If you want to establish an overseas presence, consider a provider that offers virtual phone numbers in your desired country.
- Routing and queuing features: Some of the providers listed above offer diverse routing and queueing features–IVR, hold queues, ring groups, and custom ring styles–that transform your phone system into a call center. Alternatively, some providers don’t offer any of these features. Consider your inbound call volume to determine if you want advanced routing features.
- Channel offerings: Consider your team’s internal collaboration needs to decide if you want a phone system that offers team chat and video conferencing. Even further, determine if you want to prioritize advanced collaborative features, like whiteboards and file sharing.
Pricing for International VoIP Calling
| Provider | VoIP Service Starting Price | Unlimited Calling Area |
| RingCentral | $20 monthly per user | US and Canada |
| Ooma | $20 monthly per user | US, Canada, and Mexico |
| Dialpad | $15 monthly per user | US and Canada |
| 8×8 | $15 monthly per user | Up to 48 countries |
| Vonage | $20 monthly per user | US, Canada, and Mexico |
| Grasshopper | $26 monthly per account | US and Canada |
| Intermedia | $26 monthly per user | US and Canada |
| GoTo Connect | $24 monthly per user | Over 50 countries |
| Zoom Phone | $10 monthly per user | US and Canada, or domestic in another country |
Which Provider is Best for VoIP International Calls?
The best VoIP provider for your international calling needs depends on where your call centers and agents are located, the destinations you call most often, which channels and features you use most, and your team collaboration needs.
After considering your company’s needs, revisit our list to determine which VoIP provider or UCaaS platform best meets your needs.
