Large Business Phone System Comparison: Zoom Phone, Teams phone, and Cisco Webex

You work for a large company (hundreds or thousands of employees), and you’re phone system is end of life… so it’s time to start the phone system replacement project. The top 3 names you’ve heard of are Zoom Phone, Teams Phone, and Cisco Webex.

In this video, I compare Zoom Phone, Teams Phone, and Cisco Webex major differences to see which one is best for your company.
 

Want a demo and quote on Zoom, Teams, or Cisco? Click the button below and ask me today.

About Me

Mike Smith has been helping companies select the best telecom, WAN, security, and cloud services since 1999. He founded AeroCom in 2003, and has been the recipient of numerous business telecommunications industry awards, including being recognized as one of the top 40 business people in tech-heavy Orange County, CA. Follow Mike on YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit and SpiceWorks.

Key Takeaway

Large organizations comparing Zoom Phone, Microsoft Teams Phone, and Cisco Webex should focus on five core factors: Microsoft 365 licensing, existing collaboration adoption, feature depth, long-term platform viability, and total cost. For companies with E5 licenses, Teams Phone can be extremely cost-effective, while Zoom Phone stands out for call center functionality and built-in AI. Cisco Webex remains a solid enterprise option but follows a different distribution model. The right choice depends less on brand recognition and more on how your business already works and what it needs from a modern phone system.

Transcript

If you work for a large company with several hundred or even thousands of employees, choosing a new business phone system can feel overwhelming. In most cases, the same three names come up again and again: Zoom Phone, Microsoft Teams Phone, and Cisco Webex. They’re all well-known platforms, but they aren’t built the same, and they don’t serve large organizations in exactly the same way. Looking ahead to 2025 and 2026, the best option really depends on how your company operates today and what you expect from your phone system long term.

Microsoft 365 Licensing as a Cost Driver

One of the biggest differentiators between these platforms is Microsoft 365 licensing. If your company already has E5 licenses, Microsoft Teams Phone can be dramatically less expensive than almost any other phone system on the market. In that scenario, much of the phone system functionality is already included, which can bring per-user costs down to just a few dollars per month.

That said, this doesn’t mean companies should upgrade to E5 just to save on phone service. Moving from E3 or Business-level licenses to E5 can cost far more than the phone system savings. Licensing should be evaluated as part of a broader IT strategy, not as a standalone phone decision.

Existing Collaboration Adoption

Another major factor is what your company already uses for messaging, meetings, and collaboration. If Teams is deeply embedded across your organization, adding Teams Phone can feel seamless. The same goes for companies heavily invested in Zoom Meetings.

If your organization isn’t strongly committed to any collaboration platform, the playing field opens up considerably. In that case, phone system features, integrations, and long-term flexibility tend to matter more than familiarity.

Feature Differences That Matter

Features are where the differences between these platforms become more noticeable. For companies with call center or contact center needs, Zoom Phone generally has an edge, offering more mature tools that work well for both large and smaller contact center environments. Teams Phone lags in this area, offering limited options that may feel restrictive at scale.

AI is another area of separation. Zoom includes AI call summaries and assistance with standard phone users, while Microsoft and Cisco typically require additional paid tools. Integrations also matter, especially for companies using CRMs like Salesforce or HubSpot. Teams Phone works best inside the Microsoft ecosystem, while Zoom and Cisco tend to offer more flexibility. Call recording, compliance features, analytics, and reporting can also influence the final decision depending on how the phone system is used day to day.

Long-Term Platform Stability

Large organizations often worry about whether a provider will still be a strong option five years down the road. Zoom, Microsoft, and Cisco all have solid reputations for service quality and reliability, and none are likely to disappear anytime soon.

Cisco does stand out slightly due to its reliance on third-party integrators rather than direct sales. While this model works well for some enterprises, it may limit growth compared to platforms that are easier to buy and deploy directly. Still, from a long-term stability standpoint, all three platforms are generally safe choices.

Cost Comparison for Large Organizations

Cost always plays a role, especially at scale. For companies with E5 licenses, Teams Phone is typically the least expensive option by a wide margin. Without E5, Teams Phone often becomes the most expensive of the three, while Zoom Phone and Cisco Webex tend to land closer to or under ten dollars per user per month for large deployments.

At the end of the day, pricing differences matter, but they shouldn’t outweigh service quality, feature alignment, or integration requirements. Many large organizations work with experienced advisors, including firms like Aerocom, to simplify comparisons and avoid costly missteps during the evaluation process.

Want a demo and quote on Zoom, Teams, or Cisco?

So if you work for a medium to large size organization, I mean you know, 50 to 100 employees or more and you have questions on all this stuff or you want to see a demo or get pricing, don’t call these service providers, reach out, send me an email or give me a call (714.593.0011).
I would love to help answer your questions. Set you up with a demo with these service providers or additional service providers that I’d recommend. I’ve been a broker in the industry for over 20 years, so I’ve helped thousands of companies out like you make a lot better decision in a fraction of the time. I know this marketplace inside and out, and based on what your company needs, I will tell you the core 3 or 4 best applications that your company should be using for a phone system.
I’ll introduce you to those companies. I’ll set up a demo. I’ll get you set up with the right sales reps to work with that, that company. I’ll be on the demo with you. I will oversee flooring process to make sure your company gets the best pricing possible and the best implementation possible. And the nice thing is, on top of all that, your company doesn’t have to pay me anything to do all this stuff.
The service providers like zoom, Cisco, Microsoft Teams, they pay me my broker fee so your company doesn’t have to pay me anything, so there’s no excuse not to at least reach out to me, see what I have to say. So send me an email. Give me a call. It’s the reason why I do these videos. It’s a nice way to say thank you.