A pocket knife is a small business in miniature. It has a blade, a screwdriver, a corkscrew and something that might be a file, and every part has to work, because there is no other toolbox. Nobody buys one for having the most parts. You buy the one that gets used.
In a small business, the phone is reception, switchboard, sales team and customer service, often at once and often while someone is trying to eat lunch. So the best business phone plans for small businesses are less about the price per gigabyte and more about how little the plan asks of you.
The best business phone plan for a small business gives you free calls and texts, the right amount of data per person and a link to the phone system, so the company can be reached on one number without anyone having to run the phones as a side job. Here are seven requirements to help you find it.
Why is it so hard to compare business phone plans?
Because what is easy to compare is rarely what matters. Price lists and promotions compare monthly fees and gigabytes, and they change often. What shapes everyday life in a small business does not show up in a price list: how much time the plans take, whether customers get through and what happens when you hire.
In a small business, it is also often the owner who handles the administration. Say you run an agency with six employees. Every time someone joins, leaves or changes phone, you are the one ordering SIM cards, calling customer support and searching the invoice for what happened. It is not much time on each occasion, but it is time that does not go to customers. We have gathered the questions that usually decide it in how to choose the right business phone plan.
What does a small business actually need?
Five things, roughly in this order: customers who get through, a company that looks professional, administration that takes as little time as possible, predictable costs and a plan that copes as you grow. The first one weighs the most. A small business can rarely afford to miss a call, because every customer counts for more.
That makes a plan that works with a simple phone system more important for a small business than for a large one. The large company has a reception desk. The small one has a mobile in the pocket of someone who is in a customer meeting right now. We have written about how plans keep up as you grow in our guide to business phone plans for growing companies.
Which requirements should a small business set for its phone plan?
Seven requirements cover most of it. We go through the basics in more detail in what to include in a business phone plan, but for a small business the list looks like this:
- Free calls and texts: Nobody in a small business should have to wonder whether a call is worth making. Lynes business plans include free calls and texts.
- Data per person: Whoever works out with customers needs more data than whoever sits at a desk. Choose a plan where the data allowance is set per user and can be changed later.
- One number for the outside world: Customers should be able to reach the company on one number, whoever answers. With number display, every employee can show the company number when they call out.
- Someone who answers when you cannot: When everyone is busy or has gone home, an AI telephonist can answer, share your opening hours, take a message or put the caller through. The AI is built into Lynes and developed by us.
- Administration in the app: You should be able to start, change and close plans, swap SIM cards and see invoices yourselves, without calling customer support.
- Roaming without surprises: With free roaming in the EU, calls, texts and data work as they do at home across the EU and EEA, at no extra cost.
- Room to grow: With eSIM, a new employee is up and running in a few minutes, and an operator independent phone system means you do not have to change systems as you grow.
Checklist for the conversation with the salesperson
| Requirement | Question to ask |
|---|---|
| Free calls and texts | Are calls and texts included without counting minutes? |
| Data per person | Can we choose and change data per user? |
| One number | Can the mobile show the company number on outgoing calls? |
| Someone who answers | What happens to calls when nobody can answer? |
| Administration in the app | Can we start and close plans ourselves in an app? |
| Roaming | What do calls and data cost when we travel in the EU? |
| Room to grow | How quickly can a new employee get started? |
What could it look like in a small business using Lynes?
Take the agency with six employees again. Everyone has a Lynes business plan and the same app for calls, chat and video meetings. When a customer rings the company number, it rings for whoever is available right now. If everyone is in meetings, an AI telephonist answers, shares the opening hours and takes a message, so no customer is left hanging.
When the agency hires a seventh person, the owner starts a new plan in the app and sends a link to activate the eSIM. It takes a few minutes, coffee included. When one of the consultants goes on an assignment in Copenhagen, the mobile works as it does at home, and the invoice looks the same as last month's.
Nobody at the agency has become a phone administrator. That is the whole point.
Frequently asked questions about business phone plans for small businesses
What is the best business phone plan for a small business?
The best business phone plan for a small business is the one that asks the least of you day to day. That means free calls and texts, data that can be chosen per person, one number to the outside world through the phone system and administration you handle yourselves in an app. Compare how well the plan works in practice, not just the monthly fee.
Does a small business need a phone system?
Often, but not a large or complicated one. Even with few employees, a simple cloud phone system means customers reach the company on one number, calls are shared between the people who can answer and someone takes over when nobody is free. For a small business, where every call matters, that can make all the difference.
Can employees in a small business have different data allowances?
Yes. Needs often differ more than you might think, for example between someone who works out with customers and someone who sits at a desk. With Lynes, you choose a data allowance per user and change it in the app, so nobody pays for data that goes unused.
How quickly can we add a new employee?
With eSIM, in a few minutes. You start the plan in the app, and the new employee activates the phone with a code or a link, without waiting for a SIM card in the post. The same applies when someone changes phone, and you avoid ordering new SIM cards.
TL;DR
The best pocket knife is the one that actually gets used, and the best business phone plans for small businesses are the ones that ask the least of you. Free calls and texts, data per person, one number to the outside world and someone who answers when you cannot. The rest is detail you can handle yourselves in the app.
Would you like to go through the seven requirements for your company? Talk to us and we will take it at your pace. We promise not to start with the price list.
