What are the top cloud-based phone systems for small businesses?

It's also great if you have employees that work from. The ease and flexibility to have them appear as they are in the office.

This question is flawed. No one answering it will have in depth knowledge on,say, more than 3 or 4 systems unless they are some kind of comparison expert and since there are literally hundreds or even thousands of different systems available, no one can answer it properly without some kind of leaning or bias based on the systems they know well. To add to that, modern systems fall broadly into 3 categories: fully hosted (off the shelf) like Gamma Horizon and Contact, Ring Central, 8X8 etc, hosted PBX phone system with SIP (eg 3CX with Gamma/Voiceflex SIP) or on premise hardware with SIP (eg Mitel, iPecs) etc. All totally different logistically but providing similar solutions. It’s up to the expert consultants to recommend what is best.

Having voicemail to email ensures you can call your customers back in a timely manner. No waiting until you get back to the office to check your voicemail.

Most phone systems will have most of the basic features that most people will ever need. Where they differ, in my experience, is how easy are they to use and administer, how smooth and simple is the operability and, if using physical handsets, how much frequent and extensive development is put in to offer a broad choice of device AND full testing and support of those devices. Also how frequently are new features and software levels launched so that customers can add and keep their system up to date with new features. Some systems are great at this. Others are not. Also what features are included and what features cost extra? This is not always made clear at the point of sale.

It is nice to have a user interface to be able to make changes on the fly. By having this you don't need to have an on staff person just to manage the system.

A clear, simple and easy to use system is essential but not always what the customer ends up with. Proper user training should be provided as not all users are able to easily pick up new tech tools. In my experience so many phone system suppliers literally throw in systems without giving proper training which is a missed opportunity as the users probably won’t get the full benefit of the tools they now have at their disposal. Allowing time and budget for proper training is essential. It’s also important to provide admin training if the customer wants to manage their own adds, moves and changes, manage reports, user permissions and so on (some businesses will want to, some less so). Some suppliers charge extra for changes etc

You should also have redundancy on presence just in case your Internet provider goes down at your location. It's feasible to get a small connection around $100.

Always ask for customer examples so you can speak to other businesses with the solution you are being offered to see how reliable things have been. Part of the sale process should be a fact find exercise to ask questions about your Internet connection, speed, reliability, router, network switch and WiFi set up (your phone system is going to use all of these and it has to work well and be reliable). A conversation must be had about failover - what happens when any of the above fail (including power) and what happens in the cloud if there is an issue at that end? In my experience in many scenarios some or all of these conversations are not had properly. Regardless of all that, what is the first line support like? Ask all these questions…

With so many cloud based carriers it should be easy to find one that provides all your services for 1 cost. Meaning all local and long distance is included.

Comparing systems these days is almost impossible as there are literally thousands of offerings and suppliers. When it comes to cost, some systems base their pricing per user. Others do not. Some offer standard features and then charge extra for additional features. Some don’t. Ensure there’s sufficient budget for proper installation, training and support. Some offerings will be more flexible than others (eg allowing you to spread one off costs over a longer period - 3 years for example). Always look at the total cost of ownership over the length of the contract. Contracts must be scrutinised for unfair clauses like auto-renewals, notice periods. Avoid 7 year contracts for obvious reasons. 5 years is too long really. 3 years max.