Line2 began, much as its name implies, simply as a service you could use to add a second, digital line to your cell phone plan.
However, as the product has matured, more features have evolved, and it can now be identified as a true business phone service, albeit one that's mainly focused on small business customers.
Folks looking for a deeper feature set and the kinds of services that larger businesses and enterprises need will do better to opt for either AT&T Collaborate or RingCentral Office, our two Editors' Choice winners.
Even so, we were impressed by how much Line2 has evolved the product since its early days.
A second tier is available that significantly extends its capabilities.
The Standard plan, which costs $9.95 per month (billed monthly), provides a similar set of features compared to packages like Grasshopper .
The Elite plan, which is what we tested and which costs $19.95 per user per month (billed monthly), adds even more features as well as management support.
Line2 is available in app form for Apple iOS and Google Android as well as for Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac computers.
There's also a web app that can be used for other types of computers, or if you decide not to install an app.
I tested Line2 using the iOS, Windows, and web clients.
Functionality for all of them was very similar, which means that there's no real learning curve when switching between the various apps.
Each Line2 account can have up to 99 extensions, each of which gets their own phone number and a full set of features.
You can dial between extensions with three digits.
Extensions are billed at the same rate as the initial Line2 account.
Long distance calling in the US and Canada is included, international calling is supported at "competitive rates," which can be as low as $0.01 per minute to Western Europe, but you should use the Account feature to look up rates for international calling.
For example, it costs a penny a minute for calls to Germany, but 38 cents a minute to call a German cell phone.
Unlike many phone providers focusing on small business, Line2 does have the ability to manage a small call center.
There's support for lead-in audio messaging and administrators can choose between round-robin or top-down call distribution between their agents, with the call manager retaining the ability to remove agents or re-order calls as needed.
Additionally, the Pro and Elite plans can handle simultaneous forwarding of inbound calls.
While call center apps for larger organizations will have a number of additional feature beyond these, Line2 says its primary target is handling the needs of service desks with about 10 agents.
For such operations, what the company provides should be enough, though even here, you'll want to consider integration capabilities with marketing and sales apps, like your customer relationship management (CRM) system.
Easy Setup
You get started with Line2 by going to the website and choosing to either buy the service immediately or to get a 7-day free trial.
Once you've done that, you enter your contact information and then choose your phone number.
Once that's done, you provide your payment information, and you're ready to go.
Once you're through the initial sign up, you can choose to port an existing number, choose a vanity number or you can choose a toll-free number.
For solo operators, there's a plan that's basically where Line2 plan, namely, the Standard Plan which will run you $9.95 per month (billed monthly) plus the additional calling rates outlined earlier.
Some very small companies might be able to get by using just the Line2 mobile apps as these allow customers to assign up to 5 separate numbers to a single account.
Customers can then name and even color code each line so they know immediately who is calling and for what.
Beyond the Standard Plan is the Pro plan, which is meant for small businesses and teams, and runs $14.95 per user per month (billed monthly), and includes basic small business VoIP features like multiple line management, a call attendant, and a dial-by-name directory.
Finally, there's the Elite tier, which Line2 bills as its "complete business solution." This one is still low-cost at just $19.95 per user per month (billed monthly), which is a big drop from even competitively priced bigger business solutions such as RingCentral Office or Vonage Business Cloud ($19.99/Month at Vonage) .
This Elite tier includes somewhat higher-end features like a call queue, live chat, and electronic fax for every line.
While that's a nice small business feature set, it's still missing the high-end features of the bigger players, especially those things users have become used to in the collaboration arena, such as shared meetings and video conferencing.
Then again, Line2 costs a fraction of what those services cost, so it's a great option for price-conscious companies.
Once you've chosen the service you want, log into the web app, and then take the trouble to download the appropriate client software.
Downloading the appropriate app will make Line2 more useful.
You can do that from the Android or iOS App stores.
The Mac and Windows apps are available form the Line2 website.
Configuration and Management
You can perform most of the management steps for Line2 from any of the apps, but the web app provides the easiest means of navigating the administration of the Line2 phone system.
Here you can see all of the options presented in a way that's both clear and intuitive.
You make selections from a series of menus that include contextual help.
Most choices use buttons, although some use slide switches that are color coded.
There are drop-down menus for actions such as choosing your time zone or business hours.
The menus include a complete range of settings for an auto attendant if you have the Elite version of Line2, including actions that can be taken with each key press.
Most of your day to day management of Line2 will probably take place in the Call Handling section of the web app.
Here is where you'll choose callers to block, to check voicemail, including where to email recordings or transcripts of messages, and what to do after hours.
This is also where you'll set up call screening and forwarding, and where you'll configure the auto attendant, though this is available only in the Pro and Elite plans.
The Line2 web app also lets you manage and analyze call activity, text messages and voicemail messages.
You can manage your account, including your service plans, your fax settings and your Line2 phone number.
The account settings is where you set up extension calling.
Conference calling is available for $99.50 annually or $9.95 per month for up to 1,000 minutes.
Additional minutes are $0.02.
Testing Line2
I tested Line2 on three platforms, which included an Apple iPhone XS ($349.99 at Amazon) , an HP dual-Xeon workstation and a Lenovo T470 laptop.
The wireless devices used an 802.11ac WiFi network, and the workstation used dual-homed Gigabit Ethernet.
Access to the internet was via Verizon FiOS symmetrical gigabit fiber, except when the iPhone was out of the office, where it used T-Mobile 4G LTE.
I found no issues with call quality.
Recordings showed no evidence of digital artifacts in the audio.
The use of Wi-Fi versus wired Ethernet also had no measurable impact on operation or sound quality.
Again, however, this testing was conducted on a relatively clear network, meaning there wasn't a lot of other app traffic vying for bandwidth.
Conducting the same tests in your own environment, with all your production software working as it normally does, that's still a requirement before deciding whether or not the service will work for you.
It'll also help you decide whether your network infrastructure needs configuration tweaks to deal with any jitter or Quality of Service (QoS) settings.
Premium Services
Line2 offers a selection of premium services, including things like professional voice recordings for your various hold or sales greetings.
There's also personalized account setup, vanity numbers, and in-person help for meeting even more complex or unique needs.
You can also change numbers, and select additional numbers from multiple area codes in the US and Canada.
All tiers support SMS and MMS messaging, and there's even a Text Widget, which lets a potential customer enter a message and their mobile number that then gets received by the Line2 app, which routes it appropriately.
From there, a live conversation can continue via SMS.
This means, customers can initiate a conversation directly from your website, which is where the Text Widget gets accessed, and that conversation can get seamlessly transferred via the phone.
Overall, Line2 offers a solid business phone service that covers the basic feature set important to most small business customers.
More advanced features, notably video calls or video conferencing, for example, aren't included.
It also doesn't offer a choice of hold music, and has a poor support selection for VoIP desktop handsets.
However, the features it does offer work well, its softphone is well designed, and its price is very reasonable.
While you may outgrow it rather rapidly depending on how fast your organization is moving, it's a nice solution for small companies.
Editors' Note: Line2 is owned by j2 Global, the parent company of Ziff Davis, the publisher of Daxdi.com.
The Bottom Line
Line2 may have begun as an app to let you access multiple lines on your cell phone, but today, this is a full-on cloud business phone service that squarely targets small business and does so at a very nice price.
Still, you may not find every feature you want, so vet the service carefully before committing.
