How we score Business phone systems
Rubric v1, published Sep 24, 2026 · See the ranking
We score each phone system on its entry plan - the cheapest plan a small team can buy online - using only what the company publishes on its own website: prices, contract terms, included features, support hours, uptime commitments and compliance terms. Every score is worked out by the formula shown for its criterion, and every fact behind it links to the page it came from, with the date we read it.
A fact the company does not publish counts as absent. We have not tested these systems hands-on; when we do, the method will say so and the rubric version will change.
The criteria
| Criterion | Weight | What a 10 and a 0 look like |
|---|---|---|
| Price for a small team | 30% | Per-user monthly price of the entry plan: the lowest price the company publishes, annual prepay included, before promotional discounts; where the company's own pages disagree, the higher figure. 10 at $15 or less, 0 at $45 or more, straight line between. Quote-only pricing scores 0. |
| Included features | 25% | Which of six features the entry plan includes, per the company's pages: unlimited US calling, an auto-attendant, business texting, video meetings, call recording, a mobile app. 10 x features included / 6. |
| Contract and cancellation | 15% | 10, less 5 if the entry plan cannot be bought month to month, less 3 if it has a seat minimum above one, less 2 if the terms charge for leaving early (the rest of the term, or a termination or disconnection fee). Not published counts against. |
| Reliability and compliance | 15% | 5 for a published uptime SLA of 99.99% or better (3 for a lower published SLA), plus 5 if the company says it signs a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement. |
| Support | 15% | Support on the entry plan: 24/7 phone and chat 10; 24/7 on one channel 7; business-hours phone and chat 6; chat or email only 3; not published 0. |
The overall score is 10 × the sum of weight × criterion score, from 0 to 100, shown as 0-10 with one decimal.
Version history
- v1, published Sep 24, 2026: Price for a small team 30%, Included features 25%, Contract and cancellation 15%, Reliability and compliance 15%, Support 15%