VoIP has made sufficient inroads into the telecom market and has penetrated into services and industries. Now, service providers are seeking to derive a competitive advantage and clamoring to be recognized.

But how can the ordinary customer make sense of all the choices presented to them and choose a good service provider? Well, Voip-Info.org, a VoIP and telecom information resource, has some 'instant information' that is right up the line for today's 'instant populace.'

Voip-Info.org did its homework well by analyzing customer review, price, features and service plans and created a list of the top business hosted PBX (News - Alert) providers and ranked them accordingly as the top five best business hosted VoiP providers of 2012.

Nextiva ranks high in the list primarily due to outstanding user reviews and scoring an average of 4.5 out of five stars on Voip-Info.org. When it came to price, the company's business phone service plan- Nextiva Office- stood tall with its affordable $21.95 per user per month, good U.S. based customer support and offers unlimited calling to the U.S. and Canada

 RingCentral (News - Alert) emerged as another winner with good user reviews, user ratings at an average of 4.1 out of five stars on VoIp-Info.org , unlimited calling and faxing, 24x7 support service, and a service plan that was just marginally higher than that of Nextiva Office.

Voip.com made it to the top five because of its extremely affordable $17.95 per user per month. With its cloud PBX offering allowing unlimited calls, U.S. based customer service support, fantastic customer review and a smartphone app, it can give any provider a run for their money.

Vocalocity (News - Alert) scored marginally higher on user ratings than RingCentral, but its PBX unlimited extension plan cost almost the same. However, in addition to the unlimited calls to U.S. and Canada, unlike RingCentral, it offered advanced features like voicemail to e-mail transcription with no long-term contracts necessary.

Jive Communications rounded off the list. With service plans at just $19.95 per user per month, no contracts, no hidden fees, impressive user ratings and unlimited use of all its features, it could prove to be competitive.

Now, has all this info from Voip-Info.org made it easier or harder for users to decide?

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