A customer rings the shop line while you're out on a delivery, and the call has nowhere to go. Vonage answers that with Business Communications apps that put your work number on your mobile for calls, messages and video; Ooma offers tiered Office plans with an AI Receptionist sold as an add on. Decide by whether the call should follow you or be answered for you.
Small businesses don't usually lose calls because the phone system is broken. They lose them because the system assumes someone is sitting by a desk. The two services here both move your business line onto the internet, and both connect to the tools you already use, but they set out to solve the missed call in different ways. One puts the number in everyone's pocket. The other leans on features that pick up and route calls for you, sold on top of its plans.
The phone in your pocket and the phone on the desk
Vonage Business Communications, which Vonage shortens to VBC, is a cloud phone, messaging and video service with desktop and mobile apps. Its mobile app uses your work number to call and message, so a customer sees the business number rather than your personal one. For the office, Vonage lets you add a desk phone to VBC or bring your own, which helps if you already own handsets you'd rather keep.
Ooma describes its business phone service through tiered Office plans. Alongside the usual calling features, it lists virtual fax, and on its business pages it places AI features at the centre of the pitch. The way those AI features are packaged is the part to read slowly, and it has its own section below.
Keeping the number you already have
For most small firms, the number is the business. It's on the van, the website, the invoices and years of customer phones. According to Ooma's business phone pages, it will transfer, or port, your existing business number from your old phone company. That's the first thing to confirm with any provider before you sign, along with how long the move takes and what happens to calls in between.
Once the number has moved, the daily question is where it rings. With Vonage, the answer is wherever the VBC app is installed, on a desk phone, a laptop or a mobile. With Ooma, the answer depends on the plan and add ons you choose, which brings us to the AI features.
It's worth running a short pilot before the whole team moves. Port a secondary number first, or forward the main line for a few days, and ask two or three staff to use the apps and handsets as they would on a normal week. Note which calls were missed, how voicemail reached people, and whether texts from the business number landed where customers expected. A week of real calls tells you more than any demo.
Where the AI features sit on Ooma's plans
Ooma's own plan comparison shows its AI Answering Service and AI Receptionist as add ons on the Essentials, Pro and Pro Plus tiers, bought on top of the plan, with Enterprise handled through Contact Sales. So the AI features aren't part of the base plans. If the AI Receptionist is the reason you're looking, and the vendor says it answers questions, routes calls and books appointments, make sure the quote you're comparing includes that add on and not just the plan.
The Enterprise tier is a different conversation altogether. Ooma says it's handled through its sales team and adds SIP trunking and Teams Direct Routing, which matters to larger offices that want their phone lines inside Microsoft Teams. A small business with a handful of staff is unlikely to need that tier, but it's useful to know the path exists if you grow.
Messages, recordings, fax and the CRM
Vonage lists instant messaging, SMS and MMS under messaging, so a team can text customers from the business number as well as call them. It also lists on demand call recording for compliance, which is the kind of feature a regulated firm or a busy sales team will ask about early. And it integrates VBC with CRM tools such as Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics and Zoho, so calls can sit next to the customer record.
Ooma lists integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot and Square. The Square link is the one to notice if your shop, salon or cafe already runs on Square. Virtual fax is the other line worth noticing if your sector still swaps paperwork that way.
Vonage and Ooma in brief
Listed alphabetically and in no particular order. Each line comes from what the vendor says about its own service.
| Tool | What kind of service | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Ooma | Business VoIP | Small offices wanting calls answered and routed |
| Vonage | Business VoIP | Teams taking work calls on mobile and desktop |
Ooma
Best for: Small businesses moving an existing number across; vendor claim: its AI Receptionist answers questions, routes calls and books appointments, sold as an add on.
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Vonage
Best for: Teams who want calls, messaging and video under one work number in the VBC desktop and mobile apps, with CRM links.
How your team answers calls decides it
If your people are out and about and you want every call, text and video meeting to run through one work number on their own phones, with desk phones optional and CRM links to Salesforce, Dynamics or Zoho, Vonage's VBC apps are built for that. If you want an existing number moved across and the option of an AI Receptionist that answers and routes calls, with Square, HubSpot or Salesforce links and fax in the mix, Ooma is designed around that, as long as you count the add on in your comparison.
For a wider view, see my guide to VoIP for small business, my list of Ooma alternatives, and my piece on AI voice agents for small business phones if automated answering is what you're after.
Do you make phone or VoIP software? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
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Frequently asked questions
Can I keep my existing business number with Ooma?
Ooma says it will transfer, or port, your existing business number from your old phone company. Confirm the timing and how calls are handled during the move before you sign.
Are Ooma's AI features included in every plan?
No. Ooma's own plan comparison shows the AI Answering Service and AI Receptionist as add ons on the Essentials, Pro and Pro Plus tiers, with Enterprise handled through Contact Sales. Plans change, so check Ooma's site.
Can I use my own desk phone with Vonage?
Vonage says you can add a desk phone to VBC or bring your own. Check its compatibility details for the model you have.
Do both connect to Salesforce?
Yes, both list it. Vonage names Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics and Zoho among its CRM integrations, and Ooma names Salesforce, HubSpot and Square.
Can I record calls?
Vonage lists on demand call recording for compliance. If recording matters to you, check the current feature list for the plan you're considering on each vendor's site.
Does Ooma work with Microsoft Teams?
Ooma says its Enterprise tier adds Teams Direct Routing and SIP trunking, and that tier is handled through Contact Sales.
