1-VoIP is a solid contender among business VoIP providers on the market. It is best known for stellar customer support, straightforward software and features, and low-priced plans. It doesn’t come out as one of the best VoIP solutions on the market overall, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still a decent option to consider. 1-VoIP has plenty of great features to offer users–all of which we’re going to discuss right here.
Compare 1-VoIP to The Best Business VoIP Phone Services
1-VoIP didn’t make our top list of best business VoIP phone services. But that’s not to say that it doesn’t have something to offer certain types of businesses.
It’s true that 1-VoIP lacks some features that high-performing VoIPs such as Nextiva or Ooma provide. With this in mind, 1-VoIP still has something great to offer–particularly for users looking for a simple, low-cost solution to their business communications. At first glance, it looks just like any old VoIP provider, except that it holds a clear advantage in its integration with anti-spam software Nomorobo.
If you think 1-VoIP isn’t going to reach your expectations or you want to learn more about the top VoIP phone services out there for your business, you should check out our in-depth review on the topic. We tested dozens of options in the market and narrowed them down to the most robust solutions for your convenience. See all of our top picks.
1-VoIP: The Good and The Bad
While 1-VoIP isn’t at the top of our preferred VoIP providers, it still has plenty of positives to offer–particularly for those looking for a straightforward and affordable VoIP solution.
Let’s take a look at some of the positives and negatives 1-VoIP brings to the table.
The Good
Flexible Pricing: 1-VoIP is renowned for its simple yet flexible pricing. With 1-VoIP there are no hidden charges, no excluded features, and no commitment required. 1-VoIP Business offers three pricing tiers, all of which include the same 40+ features across the board.
The draw of the higher-priced plans lies within the cost per number of users. The more users you have, the lower the monthly cost per user.
Plus, for those looking to switch providers in order to reduce costs, 1-VoIP can save you an average of 53% on your current phone bill.
Excellent Customer Service: Today’s remote workforce means that telephone communications have become vital to the success of your business. As a result, enlisting a VoIP phone provider that is reliable and helpful is essential. Fortunately, 1-VoIP built its reputation by exceeding customer expectations. It offers robust, 100% US-based customer support around-the-clock with a dedicated live answering service at your fingertips.
Anti-Spam Capabilities: A key feature that 1-VoIP holds over its competitors is its anti-spam capabilities. 1-VoIP integrates with Nomorobo–a third-party service specifically designed to block spam calling such as telemarketers and well-known blacklisted numbers. Any spam calls that do get through can be easily reported to Nomorobo for review. Not sure if you’ll like this feature? No problem. You can easily turn it on or off at any time.
99.99% Network Uptime Guarantee: If you have reservations about the reliability of enlisting a phone service that operates purely over the internet, with 1-VoIP, you needn’t worry. It offers a 99.99% network uptime guarantee. To further increase reliability, 1-VoIP also utilizes four fully redundant switching centers to ensure your connection is always rock solid.
Easy to Use: Although 1-VoIP’s excellent support team has your back, it’s unlikely you’ll need to use it too often. 1-VoIP makes setup, configuration, and management all super easy. The web portal is straightforward and easy to navigate. You can access your phone number, calling plan, and any other essential information straight out of your “My Account” page.
Use Existing Hardware: 1-VoIP is compatible with tons of VoIP hardware–as long as your phone has an RJ-11 cable, you should have no configuration issues. If you’re not tech-savvy, you can order pre-configured equipment from 1-VoIP which comes with an accompanying brochure for stress-free setup. You can also set up a softphone on your computer or cell phone to take business calls on the go.
The Bad
Lacks Video Conferencing: One aspect that hurts 1-VoIP, and a key reason why it didn’t make our top list, is its lack of video conferencing features. For some, the inclusion of video conferencing may not be a drawback. After all, there are tons of free and easily accessible options in the market that businesses may already have in place. But for businesses who are looking for an all-in-one communication solution, 1-VoIP may not be the software for you.
Softphone Setup Difficulties: While 1-VoIP does include softphone capabilities for those who wish to take business calls on the go, the setup isn’t particularly straightforward and many have reported the configuration to be complicated and cumbersome.
Lacks Web-Based SMS Capabilities: Although it’s not a common feature, some VoIP providers such as Grasshopper and Nextiva now include web-based SMS features for your business. Once again this feature may not be of importance to you, but given the opportunity, we think it’s a great one to have up your sleeve. After all, web-based SMS capabilities allow you to reach a wider variety of prospects and communicate with them in real-time.
1-VoIP Pricing and Options
One of the things that users love about 1-VoIP is its easy-to-understand pricing plans that take the guesswork out of what you get for your money. Instead of differentiating pricing by number of features, 1-VoIP differentiates pricing by the number of users instead. This means that no matter which plan you choose, you’ll have access to the same great features.
For entrepreneurs, startups, or businesses looking to only pay for what they use, the Metered plan is the one for you. It’s 1-VoIP’s most cost-effective plan starting at $14.97 per extension per month. After the monthly fee, you’ll only pay for what you use at 2 cents per minute.
We absolutely love this plan structure. It places 1-VoIP in a competitive position for any businesses with relatively low call volume who don’t need the unlimited minutes included in more expensive VoIP plan options.
If you’re a larger business with more users, then you should consider the Corporate plan. Starting at $19.97 per extension per month, it includes all the same features as the Metered plan, without the usage charges. For businesses who are receiving moderate to high call volumes, this option works out to be a lower monthly cost than the Metered plan.
Businesses that require complete setup for multiple users will likely consider the Professional plan. For just $29.97 per extension per month, this plan includes everything a business needs to get started, including a phone and phone number.
1-VoIP Business VoIP
If you’re looking for a straightforward, cost-effective VoIP service for your business, 1-VoIP is an excellent solution for you. In particular, 1-VoIP is favored by entrepreneurs, startups, or small businesses with low-call volume.
1-VoIP includes all the basic and important features a phone service should provide. Some of these features include:
- Extension-to-extension calling
- Customized call-hold music
- Customized pre-recorded announcements
- Call recording for quality assurance
- Digital call forwarding
- Voicemail to Email
- Virtual fax machine
You can also control the order in which calls are answered with customized queues, as well as enlisting an auto attendant to automatically direct callers into the right hands. Conveniently control when your phone rings your office, forwards to your mobile, or goes straight to voicemail with customizable hours of operation easily configured to date and time.
There is nothing particularly special about the features that 1-VoIP has to offer–they are good, solid but standard features that will get the job done for your business. The bonus for using 1-VoIP is largely price-driven.
However, for larger, well-established businesses who are looking for a feature-rich solution that includes things such as video conferencing and web-based SMS capabilities, a software tool such as Nextiva is much more suited to the cause.
1-VoIP Nomorobo
Here is where 1-VoIP brings a competitive advantage to the mix–its anti-spam capabilities.
How often do you get caught politely entertaining the questions of a telemarketer or answering robocalls instead of fielding prospect inquiries? If you answered often, 1-VoIP has just the solution for you. It integrates with Nomorobo.
Nomorobo is a third-party service specifically designed to block spam calls. It will intercept unwanted calls from telemarketers and well-known blacklisted numbers, so you can focus on putting your best voice forward for real customers.
Nomorobo carefully monitors and consistently evaluates calls to ensure you don’t miss anything important. For example, calls from pharmacies or schools are never blocked. It’s customizable so you can easily turn the feature on and off whenever you please, as well as add numbers to your safe-callers list to ensure they will always get through.
In a nutshell, 1-VoIP integrates with Nomorobo across all plans to bring you a safer and more secure phone service.
1-VoIP SIP Trunking
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Trunking is a type of Voice over Internet Protocol. The main difference between standard VoIP and SIP Trunking is that the latter has the ability to transfer packets of multimedia data over the internet, rather than just voice data. This multimedia could include voice, text, or video.
For most reading this review, SIP Trunking will be a step above your requirements, and the Business VoIP that 1-VoIP provides will suffice.
However, for businesses that run IP PBX software, it’s worth pointing out that 1-VoIP makes SIP Trunking services available. Almost any mainstream PBX system, such as Asterisk, Elastix, and FreePBX, can utilize 1-VoIP SIP Trunking to enjoy significant cost savings. In particular, the savings reaped by using SIP Trunking would be noticeable for businesses that manage high call volumes.
With SIP Trunking, 1-VoIP allows you to maximize calls and first impressions by eliminating busy signals. When you’re paying per number, rather than per line, you can receive unlimited calls simultaneously without having to worry about the call volume.
1-VoIP SIP Trunking services start at $4.95 per number per month for unlimited incoming minutes.
How 1-VoIP Ranks
1-VoIP is a solid VoIP software for a particular target market–small businesses or teams looking to cut costs. It offers all the standard features that competing VoIP providers include, offers straightforward and affordable pricing, and has an excellent customer support team.
However, it just doesn’t quite compete well enough to land in our top list.
When you have far more robust providers, such as Nextiva starting at $17.95 per user per month, or RingCentral starting at $20.00 per user per month, you can understand why 1-VoIP doesn’t quite rank.
If 1-VoIP were to include features such as video conferencing and web-based SMS solutions, they would certainly give the top contenders a better run for their money.
But don’t just take our word for it, read about all our top picks in our in-depth review on the best business VoIP phone services today.
- Nextiva – Best VoIP phone service for most businesses
- Ooma Office – Best for businesses without in-house IT
- RingCentral – Most affordable all-in-one solution for fewer than 20 users
- Grasshopper – Best mobile app for solopreneurs and small teams
- Phone.com – Best if you need fewer than 300 minutes per user
- Freshdesk Contact Center– Best for customer support teams
So would we recommend 1-VoIP as your next VoIP phone service? That depends.
It’s a great solution if you’re a small team or startup looking for a cost-effective solution that includes all the important features to get you up and running. But if you are looking for a robust software option that offers video conferencing, as well as integrations with other business software, a provider like Nextiva or RingCentral might be a better choice for you.
