10 Best Phone Systems for a School

A school phone system streamlines communication between staff, parents, and students while reducing workload and costs. It also offers flexibility to manage calls across multiple devices and scales easily as the school's needs grow.

A modern phone system connects teachers, administrators, and support staff under one unified platform. This allows for quick internal messaging, call transfers, and instant updates, keeping daily operations smooth and organized.

With direct lines to teachers or school offices, parents can easily ask questions, receive updates, or report absences. Moreover, most school phone systems come with automated menus to help parents reach the right department without long wait times.

Auto-attendants and call routing handle routine inquiries like school hours or event schedules. This reduces the volume of calls staff need to answer manually, giving them more time to focus on high-priority tasks.

VoIP-based phone systems are typically more affordable than traditional landlines, especially for long-distance or inter-campus calls. They also require less hardware, saving on maintenance and upgrade costs.

Call logs and recordings provide documentation for important conversations with parents or staff. These records are useful for quality control, training, and resolving misunderstandings or disputes.

Staff can make or receive calls from desktops, mobile phones, or tablets, whether they’re in the classroom or off-site. This flexibility ensures communication doesn’t stop when someone is away from their desk.

Cloud-based systems allow schools to add new extensions or departments with ease. This ensures the phone system grows in step with your school’s communication needs, without the need for major infrastructure changes.

The top phone systems for schools include Calilio, CallHippo, Aircall, OpenPhone, RingCentral, Vonage, Dialpad, 8x8, Ooma, and Nextiva.

Calilio is a modern, cloud-based phone system that meets the unique communication needs of schools and educational institutions. Designed for both small schools and large campuses, Calilio helps streamline internal communication, enhance safety, and improve parent engagement through advanced VoIP technology.

With features like smart call routing and multilingual support, Calilio ensures that every call reaches the right person, whether it’s a teacher, administrative staff, or emergency contact. Its easy-to-use interface and scalable structure make it ideal for handling high call volumes across multiple departments or school locations.

Calilio also supports SMS capabilities for sending alerts, reminders, and updates to parents. It also offers secure access across devices, allowing staff to stay connected on the go.

Features

• Voicemail-to-email with Transcription
• Call Masking
• Call History
• Call Notes and Tags
• Call Recording
• Call Screening

Pricing

CallHippo’s cloud-based phone system helps simplify communication and improve call management for educational institutions. With features like call routing, voicemail-to-email, and call analytics, it helps schools stay connected with parents, students, and staff.

CallHippo is ideal for both small private schools and large campuses, offering flexible calling options through virtual phone numbers with multi-device accessibility. Its user-friendly interface and robust feature set make it easy for school administrators to monitor communication and respond promptly to inquiries.

Features

• Voicemail-to-email
• Call Recording
• Call Notes and Tags
• Call Analytics
• Call Masking
• Call Screening
• Timezone-based Calling

Pricing

Aircall is a cloud-based phone system for schools that helps to manage communication more efficiently across departments, staff, and external contacts. With features like call recording, warm transfers, and call tagging, Aircall helps school administrators streamline parent communication, improve staff coordination, and maintain call records for transparency.

Its intuitive interface and browser-based setup allow school teams to work effectively from anywhere, whether in the front office, at home, or on mobile devices. Aircall also integrates easily with CRM and helpdesk platforms. This makes it easy for school staff to track parent communications, log student interactions, and manage support requests from one place.

Features

• Call Notes
• Browser Calling via Extensions
• Call Recording
• Warm Transfers

Pricing

OpenPhone offers a flexible cloud-based phone system for modern schools seeking simplicity, control, and mobility. It provides a centralized communication solution where administrators, teachers, and support staff can stay connected using shared and individual numbers, all from their existing devices.

With easy number management, privacy protection, and seamless tool integrations, OpenPhone helps schools streamline their daily operations and maintain secure, accessible communication with parents, students, and staff.

Features

• Number Porting
• Shared and Individual Numbers
• Tool Integration
• Main School Number
• Number Management
• Work from Any Device
• Team Privacy Protection

Pricing

The RingCentral phone system combines phone, messaging, and video conferencing in a single app. It ensures seamless connectivity between educators, students, parents, and staff, no matter where they are. With AI-driven tools like conversation intelligence, video collaborations, and integrations into learning platforms, it supports streamlined administrative workflows.

Features

• AI Receptionist and Virtual Agent
• Unified Communication App (Video, Messaging & Phone)
• AI-Powered Call and Meeting Summaries
• Emergency Calling with Location-Based 911
• LMS Integrations (Canvas, Blackboard, D2L)

Pricing

Vonage provides a robust, cloud-based phone system for schools. Its comprehensive features include VoIP calling, team messaging, video conferencing, SMS, and a unified collaboration tool. They help the educational institutes to streamline communication across departments, students, and parents.

Designed for flexibility and scalability, Vonage allows staff to handle school communication securely, whether they’re on campus or working remotely.

Features

• Call Recording
• Call Analytics and History
• SMS Messaging from School Numbers
• Seamless Call Handoff (Call Flip)

Pricing

Dialpad provides one of the best phone systems for schools and colleges. It unifies voice, video, SMS, and team messaging under one secure cloud system, helping educators, administrators, and IT teams streamline daily communications across campuses or remote environments.

Designed for educational flexibility, Dialpad supports everything from virtual classrooms to admissions outreach and emergency response. For instance, its screen sharing, AI live coach cards, video conferencing, and whiteboarding make it easier for educators and staff to collaborate in real time.

Features

• SMS and Messaging from School Numbers
• Call Routing and Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
• Voicemail Transcription and Voicemail Drop
• Browser-based Video Meetings
• Easy Setup and User Management

Pricing

8×8 is a CPaaS (Communications Platform as a Service) that powers modern educational institutions in an easy way to manage communication through a single cloud-based platform. It enables voice calls, SMS/MMS, video, and messaging to the students, parents, or teachers through a single platform.

Whether it’s for admin tasks, sending mass alerts, or keeping in touch with parents and students, 8×8 supports it all. With global coverage, no-code tools, and support for rich media, it helps educators and IT teams simplify communication and manage everything in one place.

Features

• Video and Voice Integration
• Omnichannel Messaging (SMS, WhatsApp, Viber, RCS)
• Voice and Video API Integration
• Custom Call Flows and IVR Routing
• Voicemail and Number Masking
• Interactive RCS Messaging

Pricing

• The basic plans start as low as $15 per user per month. For more detailed pricing, contact the sales team.

Ooma Office offers a cost-effective, cloud-based phone system tailored to the unique communication needs of schools, colleges, and training institutions. Designed for both small schools and large campuses, Ooma supports staff-to-staff, staff-to-parent, and emergency coordination with professional VoIP features like call transfer and teleconferencing.

Ooma’s school phone system also helps institutions manage high-volume calls, streamline administrative workflows, and improve school-family engagement, while cutting costs and simplifying operations.

Features

• Voicemail for Each Staff Extension
• Call Logs for Administrators
• Call Recording
• Spam Call Blocking
• Voicemail Transcription

Pricing

Nextiva’s school phone system helps you to manage a single campus or a multi-site school system. It helps school institutions to boost parent engagement and support safer learning environments, providing features like unified communication platforms, virtual classrooms, and cloud-based messaging.

For internal communication, Nextiva offers features like intelligent call routing, voicemail-to-email, and SMS messaging. This ensures that calls and messages reach the right staff members quickly-whether they’re in the front office, a classroom, or working remotely. Its user-friendly interface and centralized admin controls make it easy for IT teams to manage communication across all departments and locations.

Features

• Auto-attendant and Call Routing
• Voicemail-to-email with Transcription
• SMS and Messaging from School Numbers
• Video Conferencing
• Call Analytics and Logs

Pricing

To select the right school phone system, firstly assess your communication needs and then consider factors like ease of use, available features, integration capability, and affordability.

• Assess Your School’s Communication Needs: Identify the size of your school, number of users, and key use cases, such as office communication, classroom-to-office calls, parent outreach, or district-wide announcements.
• Prioritize Education-focused Features: Look for features like auto-attendant, voicemail-to-email, SMS alerts, call routing, and call recording. These support daily operations and enhance safety and accountability.
• Ensure Ease of Use for Staff: Select a system with an intuitive interface that teachers and administrators can use with minimal training, thereby reducing errors and saving time.
• Check Compatibility and Integration: Make sure the system integrates smoothly with tools your school already uses, such as student information systems (SIS), attendance apps, or CRM platforms for parent communication.
• Review Cost and Scalability: Compare pricing plans based on users, features, and campus size. Choose a system that fits your current budget and can scale easily as your school expands or adds new departments.

Choosing the right school communication solution can have a transformative impact on how a school operates. It helps reduce missed calls, streamline administrative workflows, improve safety, and foster stronger engagement with parents and staff. The best systems provide robust features like emergency alerts, call routing, voicemail‑to‑email, and multi‑device access while remaining easy to use and scale with growth.