Verizon One Talk pricing + hidden fees and limitations

If you use Verizon as your personal phone service provider, you’ve probably heard about Verizon One Talk for business. You can add this VoIP phone service to any existing plan — although it costs more time, money, and effort than you’d think.

The Verizon One Talk app bills itself as a ‘modern’ business phone system, but it’s just as limited as a traditional cell phone plan. This includes all sorts of hidden fees and surprise costs since One Talk doesn’t list detailed pricing on its website.

If you’re looking for a rundown of Verizon One Talk’s pricing, you can use this guide to get a general estimate.

What is Verizon One Talk?

Verizon One Talk is a business VoIP add-on for existing Verizon customers in the US. You can use One Talk on your phone, tablet, desktop, or Verizon-approved desk phone, then tap into features such as auto receptionists and hunt groups (extra costs required).

Verizon One Talk pricing and plans at a glance

As mentioned, One Talk’s pricing isn’t publicly listed — aside from the fact that it starts at $20 per line per month. You’ll have to talk to a representative if you want a custom quote. But keep in mind you won’t get a clear answer unless you’re a current Verizon customer and live in the US.

Here is the last publicly known pricing for Verizon One Talk:

Desk phone only

This plan starts at $25 per user per month for landline access to One Talk’s features. You’ll need to purchase desk phones directly from Verizon since only a few models are compatible with its software.

Key features

• Call forwarding
• Busy lamp field
• Call barge
• Voicemail
• Call park and call retrieve
• Paging
• Conference calling
• Call moving
• Call holding
• Intercom
• Bridge lines

Mobile only – Native Dialer

It costs $20 per user per month to use Verizon One Talk on your pre-qualified iOS or Android mobile phone. You’ll also get access to one preloaded mobile number — you can purchase additional lines for $20 per month.

Key features:

• Transfer calls to voicemail
• Video calling
• SMS and MMS
• Transfer calls from desk phones to mobile phones
• Call group features
• Two line appearances
• Call forwarding
• Conference calling

Mobile app only

You can purchase access to the One Talk mobile app for $25 per user per month. This allows you to answer incoming calls or text messages but limits your ability to get work done on other devices or apps.

Key features:

• Conference calling
• Text messaging
• Anonymous call rejection
• Third-party integrations
• Video calling
• Voicemail
• Call-through services
• Video calling
• Line sharing
• Do not disturb function

Combo

It costs $25 per user per month to use Verizon One Talk’s desktop and mobile app. This allows you to use more than 50 basic features — although you still won’t have access to productivity and AI tools offered by true VoIP platforms.

Key features:

• Video and voice calling
• Conference calling
• Calls on hold
• Call park
• Call retrieve
• Business app integrations
• Voicemail apps
• Text messaging

Hidden fees

Verizon might not list its prices up front, but we did a little digging to find the following hidden fees:

• Early termination fees: You can purchase desk phone hardware with an optional one or two year contract. Keep in mind early termination fees apply.
• Activation fee: There’s a one-time fee of $35 to add a device to a new line.
• Auto receptionist: The specific dollar amount for automated receptionists isn’t clear, but Verizon’s terms and conditions state “you will be charged a monthly recurring fee for each Auto Receptionist line in your company’s profile.”
• Call queue: Verizon offers a call queue service so you can put callers on hold virtually when all your agents are busy. However, you’re limited to a max of 40 lines — and forced to add the Call Queue Agent feature to each recipient line in the queue. In other words, you’ll have to pay monthly for each Call Queue line plus every Call Queue Agent in your company’s profile.
• Premium Visual Voicemail: It costs $2.99 per month to increase your voicemail storage capacity from 20 to 80 messages and boost your recording message capacity from a three-minute duration to a five-minute duration. You should also know this is only available for specific Android smartphones, so if you’re using a tablet or an iOS device, this feature won’t be available at all.
• Voicemail to text: If you’re using an Apple iPhone device with your One Talk plan, you can purchase voicemail to text for an extra $2.99 per month.
• Desk phones: All desk phones with One Talk enabled features must be approved by and purchased from Verizon. You should know this hardware isn’t cheap — prices range from $140 to $299 and possibly higher. 
• 911 surcharges: Verizon’s terms and conditions state that you may or may not pay 911 surcharges on a max of three numbers per account.
• Mobile data fees: One Talk can be used on mobile devices via the One Talk app. However, if your employees use Verizon mobile data rather than WiFi calling, data overage charges could apply (especially if you aren’t on an unlimited data plan).

5 things to keep in mind before committing to Verizon One Talk

Here are a few more reasons to consider Verizon One Talk alternatives:

1. Only available for Verizon Business customers in the US

Verizon may be one of the largest international service carriers, but Verizon One Talk is only available to a select group of people. Not only do you need to be an existing Verizon customer, but you’re also required to live in the US. 

2. Unreliable support

There’s no dedicated OneTalk support line — just a generic number for Verizon support. There are also no tech specialists specifically for OneTalk, which could make troubleshooting complicated when issues arise.

Here’s what a few past customers had to say:

• “After being on the phone with Verizon customer support for five days, no one could come up with a solution and I couldn’t prioritize my work at the office. Every single representative had a different story and could never give an actual answer or help [to] any degree.” — Gartner
• “During installation, the Verizon Specialist told me to remove the app from my cell phone and we would reinstall it. BAM! All my data from three years — customer and supplier contacts, all my texts, etc. — was gone, unfortunately for good!! You see, what Verizon doesn’t share with you is that they don’t have this data on their servers, so nothing is backed up! They are marketing a product to businesses that they can’t back up and can’t get the information back if they lose it.” — VoIP Review
• “Customer service is horrendous! They caused me to have no phone usage for 4 1/2 days. They didn’t look at the problem until I contacted the BBB. Only to find out they have caused the problem with a change to my settings and that it was an easy fix if anyone had looked at the issue.” — G2

3. Limited device allowances for shared lines

It’s possible to set up shared lines with Verizon One Talk, but only for a certain number of devices. According to stipulations hidden in the help desk, you can only set up a shared phone line on:

• Up to five smartphones and tablets on the One Talk Mobile App
• Up to five Microsoft and/or Apple computers on the One Talk Desktop App
• A single LTE desk phone and a single standard desk phone on One Talk for desk phones
• Two standard desk phones and a single smartphone on One Talk in Native Dialer or the Enhanced Dialer mode. 

The kicker? Verizon’s simultaneous ring feature only lets you make voice and video calls on up to three devices per One Talk phone number. This means even if you can share your line on up to five devices, only three of them can make or receive calls simultaneously.

There’s also no option to split responsibility for incoming texts, which will quickly become an issue as your business grows.

4. No clear cost until you’re signed up

Aside from stating that its service “starts at $20 per line,” there’s no public information on Verizon One Talk’s pricing. Plus, speaking to support reps may not be much help since you’ll need to contact the sales department to receive a custom quote.

You should also know there’s volume-tiered pricing, depending on the number of lines or team members you have. Verizon’s Terms and Conditions state the following tiers:

• One to nine paid One Talk lines
• 10 to 24 paid One Talk lines
• 25 to 99 paid One Talk lines
• 100+ paid One Talk lines

So while there may be volume-based discounts, smaller teams won’t benefit from them. 

5. Deliverability issues

Verizon’s biggest frustration for customers is the lack of deliverability. Many reviews cite problems with sending/receiving texts and calls, while others refer to significant bugs and glitches.

See for yourself:

• “… There are quite a few things that need work. There is no Bluetooth functionality for Bluetooth headsets which is a huge inconvenience. … Sometimes people call and you hear the phone ring but nothing shows on the screen which is an application bug error.” — Google Play
• “Sometimes the program stalls and communications do not work the way you wish them to. Please fix the glitches in both the software and hardware.” — G2
• “The office VoIP service is supposed to work over WiFi but the phone continuously drops service and will not reconnect even though it sees the network. I rely on this phone to connect with customers and it continuously has been a burden to deal with, sometimes the phone will not connect for a few minutes to a few days and is completely unreliable” — VoIP Review 

OpenPhone: A more effective alternative to Verizon One Talk

Verizon One Talk is a convenient VoIP service on the surface, especially if you’re an existing Verizon customer looking for a second phone number. But its pricing is hidden and confusing, and it lacks the features most businesses need to grow.

This isn’t the case with OpenPhone’s platform, which is consistently rated the #1 small business phone solution on G2. Signing up for an account takes 15 minutes or less — no need to buy a traditional cell phone plan or guestimate prices before you sign up.

Here’s how we compare to Verizon One Talk:

Features	OpenPhone	Verizon One Talk
Price per month	$15 per user per month	Starts at $20 per line per month (no transparent pricing beyond this)
Unlimited calling	✓	✓
Unlimited SMS, MMS to US & Canada	✓	✓
Toll-free numbers	✓	Separate service
Additional phone numbers	$5 per number	$15 per number per month
Number porting	✓	✓
Call recording	✓	X
Shared phone numbers	✓	Subject to device and number restrictions
Group text messaging	✓	X
Shared contacts	✓	✓
Auto-replies	✓	X
Text message templates	✓	X
Slack integration	✓	X
AI features	✓	X
Gmail integration	✓	✓
Zapier integration	✓	X
iOS and Android apps	✓	✓
Web-based apps	✓	Desktop only

1. Small business-friendly pricing 

OpenPhone’s pricing starts at $15 per user per month, with zero hidden fees or surprise costs. Once you sign up, you get one free number (North American local or toll-free) for every user on your plan.

You’re never locked into a particular small business phone plan, which means it’s easy to upgrade and add lines whenever needed. You also don’t have to live in the US or purchase a carrier plan to activate our service.

Every OpenPhone plan comes with the features your business needs to grow, including unlimited calls in the US and Canada, unlimited texts, voicemail transcripts, and more. Plus, the features Verizon charges extra for (including phone menus and integrations) are available on our mid-tier plan, which costs $23 per user per month.

2. Easy to set up and customize

With OpenPhone, it’s easy to purchase a number and start calling in minutes — with reliable uptime and responsive support when you need it. It only takes a few minutes to configure features like voicemail greetings in the mobile app, so you can start making and receiving calls right away.

Now compare this to Verizon’s process, which doesn’t even offer dedicated support to One Talk users. You’ll find it’s a headache to upload your own audio greeting. Just take a look at these audio file requirements:

• WAV file format
• CCITT, u-law, or a-law codec
• 8kHz sampling rate or frequency
• 8-bit mono
• 2 MB or less total file size

3. Work as a team with collaboration tools

Teamwork helps growing businesses succeed, which is why OpenPhone offers collaboration tools on every plan.

Shared phone numbers are one of our most popular features, which lets your team split responsibility for incoming conversations. You can also tap into custom ring groups to decide which member(s) of your team should get call notifications first.

Need to hand off conversations to other members of your team? With our warm transfer tool, you can make the customer experience a breeze. 

Once you’ve finished your call, you can tap into internal threads and mentions. That way, you can leave notes, ask questions, and follow up on customer issues with your team.

4. Integrate with your existing tech stack

Your business phone system should help you work smarter, not harder. That’s why OpenPhone connects with the tools you’re already using —  to be more precise, more than 7,000 third-party apps.

We make it easy to get more work done in less time. For example:

• You can tap into webhooks to send real-time notifications to team-based apps like email or Slack.
• You can also connect with Zapier to sync customer interactions across multiple touchpoints, like sending an automated text after someone fills out a form on your website.
• We directly integrate with CRMs like Salesforce and HubSpot so you can push critical data from one platform to the next.

Speaking of CRMs. . .

5. Build stronger relationships

If you don’t already own (or need) customer relationship management software, OpenPhone has a mini CRM so you can manage your team’s contacts. Every contact file is complete with custom properties and notes so you can tag calls, record info, and keep your team on the same page.

Plus, we offer call recordings and AI transcripts to keep records of past interactions. You can even tap into analytics to keep tabs on everything — without leaving the OpenPhone app.

Pros and cons of Verizon One Talk pricing plans

Verizon One Talk might make sense as an add-on for existing carrier plans. However, it doesn’t offer much scalability to growing small businesses, especially if they’re not current Verizon customers.

Pros: 

• Add-on for cell phones: If you already have a Verizon plan, you can sign up for One Talk as an extension of your phone service.
• Cost-effective: One Talk starts at $20 per line per month (not including hidden fees).
• One Talk desk phones: You can use Verizon One Talk with specific ‘cellular desk phones,’ including Yealink landline phones.

Cons: 

• No transparent pricing: Verizon One Talk no longer lists its prices and plans online.
• Requires Verizon plan: You must purchase a traditional Verizon plan before buying an add-on for Verizon One Talk.
• For US customers only: Verizon is only available to customers in the domestic US.
• Poor customer support: Verizon One Talk doesn’t offer dedicated customer support.

See why OpenPhone is the best virtual phone service provider

Verizon One Talk doesn’t make sense for most small business owners, especially if you value your time and money. That’s why thousands of companies have made the switch to OpenPhone — the best virtual phone service provider for businesses looking to scale.

Once you sign up for an OpenPhone account, you can make and receive calls in 15 minutes or less. No need to buy expensive hardware or pick between desktop, mobile, or web apps. We offer everything you need to build better relationships with your customers.

Sign up for a seven-day free trial of OpenPhone today and tap into our features right out of the box.