Best UK VoIP Number Providers (2022)
In the market for the best UK VoIP phone number provider? You might already have an idea of what you are looking for in a UK virtual number provider and what you are not. Maybe this is all new to you and you're just looking for a good place to start your research. Whatever the reason, we know you want a reliable UK VoIP phone number provider that delivers consistent call quality, useful and intuitive virtual number features, and takes care of your business communications at the most reasonable price possible. There are plenty of great options out there, and we want to help you make the most informed decision for your business when choosing your United Kingdom virtual number provider.
To start, let's review the main types of UK virtual phone numbers.
Types of UK VoIP Phone Numbers
The United Kingdom VoIP phone number is a business phone line that forwards calls from the UK to one or more physical phone lines via VoIP (voice over internet protocol). You can forward calls to any location worldwide, not just in the UK. There are three common types of virtual business phone numbers used in the UK.
Toll Free Numbers (0800 and 0808)
Toll free numbers are often referred to as "free call numbers" in the UK. They have no geographic limitations and customers can use these numbers to call your company with zero cost on their end. Free call numbers provide a more professional appearance for your business. Toll free numbers are the most common type of business phone number used by private companies. Today most toll free numbers in the UK are identified by the 0800 or 0808 dial-code: UK toll free numbers
UK National Numbers (Non-Geographic Numbers)
United Kingdom non-geographic numbers allow callers in the UK to reach your business while only being charged the same rate they would normally pay for a call made to a local landline. Non-geographic numbers tend to be especially popular for government organizations and not-for-profit organizations. The 030 dial-code is reserved for nonprofits. Other common national number dial-codes include; 033, 034, 037, 05, 0843, and 0845. For more information: National 0330 numbers
UK Geographic Numbers (Local 01 and 02 Numbers)
Geographic numbers work the same way non-geographic numbers do, but they have a dial-code associated with a local neighborhood in the UK. Local Numbers in the UK always begin with a 01 or 02 dial-code. The most popular numbers for businesses are from London and include a 0203, 0207 or 0208 dial-codes. These numbers are usually available for the same price as local business numbers in the UK. For more information: Geographic phone numbers
Comparing the Top UK VoIP Phone Numbers
In this blog article, we will compare pricing structures, service features, and contact requirements from 5 of the top the United Kingdom VoIP number providers, including:
- Virtual Landline
- NumberPeople
- CallHippo
- Sonetel
- AVOXI
But first, we will give you a quick snapshot comparison of the top virtual phone number providers in the UK.
Comparing UK Virtual Number Providers
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| Cost Rating ($ - $$$) | $$ |
$$$ Per User Pricing Only |
$ | $$ | $$ |
| Number Types Offered | Toll free, mobile, local, UIFN, national, TrueLocal in 170+ countries | UK Toll Free, UK Local, and numbers in 50 countries | UK Toll Free, UK National, UK Local | Local, national, toll free in ~75 countries | UK Toll Free, UK Non-Geo, UK Local |
| Setup Fees | |||||
| Standard Call Forwarding | |||||
| Hunt Groups | |||||
| Call Recording | |||||
| Time-Based Routing | |||||
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IVR (Unlimited Menu Options) |
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| Porting Fees | |||||
| Outbound Caller ID | |||||
| Voicemail Transcription | |||||
| Mobile App | |||||
| Phone System / PBX Users | |||||
| Premium Support (24/7/365 + Dedicated Account Manager) | |||||
| SIP Trunking(Forwarding through SIP) |
Virtual Landline
Virtual Landline is a UK VoIP phone number provider that offers four different numbers plans exclusively for United Kingdom phone numbers. Plans are available beginning as low as £5.95/mo, and are on a monthly rolling contract - so you can upgrade or cancel with 30 days notice. Overall, Virtual Landline focuses on UK customers looking for basic features with a UK number.
Virtual Landline's international coverage is rather small compared to others in this article. With minimal included minutes and international destinations, we don't recommend Virtual Landline for companies making international calls. They do offer voice add-on services in addition to general office phone system features. Virtual Landline’s pricing and talk time minutes make them a solid choice for in-region, mid-call volume companies involved with inbound and outbound conversations.
Virtual Landline: UK Business Number Pricing
Virtual Landline has four pricing plans for their virtual numbers: Basic, UK Unlimited, Global Standard, and 0800 Freephone. The pricing is as follows:
Basic
- £5.95 per month
- Unlimited inbound calls up to 3,600 minutes
- No outbound calling
UK Unlimited
- £7.95 per month
- Unlimited inbound & outbound calls
- Free app for outbound calls
Global Standard
- £8.95 per month
- 400 minutes for UK & international calls
- Free app for outbound calls
0800 Freephone
- £9.95 per month
- Freephone 0800 numbers only
- 300 minutes for UK & international calls
- No outbound calling
Virtual Landline Service and Features
Finding information on Virtual Landline’s included and add-on features for their phone numbers was pretty easy to find and navigate on their website. Features included with Virtual Landline’s UK virtual phone number plans are:
- Standard Call Forwarding
- Call Whisper
- Voicemail to email
- Time of day routing
Add-on feature packs range from £1 - £5 and include basic features like:
- Hunt Groups
- Call Recording
- IVR
- SIP Trunking
CallHippo
CallHippo offers local and toll free numbers to over 50 countries, and their UK numbers can be purchased online. Plans can be billed annually rather than monthly, and require no annual contract. We would recommend CallHippo for companies with small teams (2-4 agents) taking several calls a month from local UK numbers (rather than toll free or national).
CallHippo Virtual Number Features
Despite the high starting price when compared to other providers in this post, CallHippo offers a very minimal set of features with the Bronze plan. More features are offered with each upgraded package. SMS is also available for local and national UK number plans.
Basic features included with all CallHippo plans include:
- Standard Call Forwarding
- Skills-Based Routing
- Mobile App
- SIP Trunking
- 1 Free Standard Number
CallHippo UK Virtual Number Pricing
Out of all the providers on this list, CallHippo is by far the most expensive–this is because CallHippo now requires businesses to pay on a per user basis instead of per number. The most inexpensive plan is priced at $20 per month. CallHippo has four plans available:
- Bronze: $20 per user per month
- Silver: $30 per user per month
- Platinum: $50 per user per month
- Enterprise: $60 per user per month
Outbound starts at .019 per minute. UK phone number pricing is not readily apparent on CallHippo's website, but we would estimate pricing of about $5+ per number.
Additional "premium" features are available at an additional cost:
- Call Scribe: $15 per user per month
- Voicemail Transcription $1.5 per user per month
- Call Tracking Insights: $25 per account per month
- Custom Caller ID: $12 per number per month
- CNAM (Caller ID Name): $100 one time setup cost
Sonetel
Sonetel is a Swedish company operating out of Hyderabad, India and Stockholm, Sweden. Sonetel offers international virtual number services focused for entrepreneurs and small or medium businesses.
Sonetel Virtual Number Features
Interestingly, it's difficult to find a clear list of features available for Sonetel's Standard plan. On their virtual phone numbers page, the sole features listed are global call forwarding and SMS to email.
Business Package plan users have the following features available:
- $10 worth of free calls & call forwarding
- 20% discount on all calls
- Up to 60 simultaneous calls
- Call recording
- Voice response & Voicemail
- Call queues
- Technical Support
Premium users have Standard package features plus:
- $30 call credit per user per month and 40% discount on calls and call forwarding
- One free phone number for each user
- Priority customer service
- Connect Twitter Direct Messaging account to Sonetel
Sonetel UK Virtual Number Pricing
Sonetel has three pricing plans offered for customers: Standard, Premium, and Business Package. All packages share similarities in that they have a monthly per-user fee and additional minute rates for inbound calls and forwarding. Numbers start at $2.99, with call rates varying by number type. Toll free minutes are charges $0.071 per minute, and $0.008 per minute to call UK local or answer on a UK local line. Business Package plans have an additional cost of $4.99 per month per user, while Premium plans have an additional cost of $13.95 per user.
AVOXI
AVOXI's headquarters are located in Atlanta, Georgia and was founded in 2001. AVOXI is a leading US-based provider of UK virtual numbers - toll free, local, and national numbers - for scaling businesses in need of reliable and affordable voice services. We recommend AVOXI for midsize and large businesses in the UK, or businesses of any size that handle international calls as well as in-country calls-- it's the clear choice for customers who do a good but of international calling and want great features like IVR and Advanced Call Forwarding without paying extra.
AVOXI Virtual Number Features
AVOXI's virtual number solution is a simple, easy-to-use online call platform. While many providers only offer a small number of features within their plans, AVOXI includes over 20 that are free:
- Time-Based Routing
- IVR / Auto-Attendant
- Voicemail Transcription
- Call Forwarding
- And more!
Premium features available to virtual numbers can be added on for an additional price, like call recording and SMS forwarding. To use more advanced features like hunt groups or the mobile app, an AVOXI Genius (contact center software) license is available for purchase.
AVOXI UK Virtual Number Pricing
AVOXI's UK virtual phone numbers has no setup fees, no add-on costs for standard features, and has the most affordable call rates for midsize and high call volume companies. It's also worth noting that porting phone numbers to AVOXI is free-- in fact, in some cases AVOXI will even pay you to port your number. AVOXI's virtual numbers also let businesses forward calls in a variety of ways, including VoIP/SIP, softphone, Microsoft Teams Direct Routing, or to another phone number.
Geographic and National 03:
- Plans starting at $4.49 per month
- Inbound Call Rates: $0.009 - $0.04
- Setup Fees: $0
- Call Recording add-on at $7.99 per month
UK Toll Free:
- Plans starting at $7.99 per month
- Inbound Call Rates: $0.05 - $0.095
- Setup Fees: $0
- Call Recording add-on at $7.99 per month
Choosing the Best UK Virtual Phone Number Provider
As you compare your options, we hope our comparison helps you find the best UK VoIP number provider for your business. If you didn't find what you were looking for, please let us know! We are constantly updating our articles to be more useful for our readers, and your feedback invaluable. And be sure to check back regularly as we continue to create content designed to help business owners using business virtual number solutions.