Partners
50+ carriers. No favorites.
We partner with 50+ phone, contact center, internet and TV providers. That independence is the point: we recommend what fits, and you pay less than buying direct.
Phone and contact center platforms
Every platform has its own page.
Strengths, Gartner placement, G2 ratings and what to check, with a demo this week and free setup.
RingCentral
Phone, messaging and video in one app, with one of the largest integration catalogs.
Dialpad
AI built into every call: live transcription, summaries and coaching.
8x8
Employee calling and contact center on one platform, with strong international coverage.
Nextiva
Business phone, video and messaging with customer experience tools, popular with small and mid-sized businesses.
Microsoft Teams Phone
Real phone numbers in Microsoft Teams, through EmpireUC Direct Routing.
Zoom Phone
Calling inside Zoom, for teams that already meet on Zoom.
net2phone
Straightforward cloud phone service with quick setup, built for small and mid-sized businesses.
GoTo Connect
Phone, meetings and chat in one app, with a healthcare edition and contact center tiers.
Vonage
Business phone, contact center and communications APIs, owned by Ericsson.
Webex
Cisco’s cloud calling, meetings and contact center, plus Webex Connect for texting and messaging journeys.
Aircall
A cloud phone built for sales and support teams, with 100+ CRM and help desk integrations.
Broadvoice
A cloud phone system and contact center from one vendor, priced for small and mid-sized businesses.
Mitel
Onsite and hybrid phone systems for large, multi-site organizations, with cloud through partners.
NICE CXone
An enterprise contact center platform: every channel, workforce management and analytics.
Five9
A cloud contact center known for strong outbound and blended dialing.
Genesys Cloud
An enterprise contact center platform for complex, omnichannel customer journeys.
Talkdesk
An AI-first cloud contact center, with editions built for healthcare, financial services and retail.
EmpireUC
Our own cloud phone system, set up and supported by our team. Often the better fit for small offices and care facilities.
Carriers
Internet, TV and phone carriers we work with.
Our take
The leaders, honestly.
So we went further: for each leader on Gartner and G2, we added what our clients and specialists actually experience. Here is our take.
RingCentral
Our take on RingCentral
RingCentral has been named a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for UCaaS twelve years running, most recently in 2026, and in our experience it is the most complete and reliable UC platform available. The trade-off is price: it is rarely the cheapest option for a small business. With Empire’s 24/7 support in front of it, you seldom need to call RingCentral directly.
Nextiva
Our take on Nextiva
Nextiva is not in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant, but it is highly rated by users on G2. It is packed with features, includes intuitive sales tools, and competes hard on price with free add-ons, which makes it a popular choice for small and mid-sized businesses.
Windstream Enterprise
Our take on Windstream Enterprise
Windstream Enterprise’s OfficeSuite UC (formerly Broadview) is not in Gartner’s current Magic Quadrant. It is lighter on remote features and integrations, but for a business that mostly works from desk phones and wants reliability at a low per-extension price, it is hard to beat, which is why it is popular in healthcare.
net2phone
Our take on net2phone
If we were picking leaders ourselves, net2phone would be near the top. Its portal and mobile app are simple enough that staff just use them, pricing is consistently competitive, and its size means our clients get real attention even with a small number of seats.
GoTo
Our take on GoTo
GoTo Connect pairs business phone service with GoTo’s meeting and IT-support tools. It is built for small and mid-sized businesses and their IT teams, and scales to the enterprise. Gartner names GoTo a Visionary in its 2026 Magic Quadrant for UCaaS.
Vonage
Our take on Vonage
Vonage offers cloud phone, video and messaging for internal teams and customer-facing staff alike, on any device, with strong APIs for businesses that want to build communications into their own software. Gartner places Vonage as a Niche Player in its 2026 Magic Quadrant for UCaaS.
Gartner’s Magic Quadrant reports rank technology vendors by vision and ability to execute. They are the benchmark most businesses start from when choosing a cloud platform.
The Magic Quadrant has its critics. Its criteria are often said to favor large vendors and investors over buyers, Gartner doesn’t publish vendors’ component scores, and its methodology isn’t fully transparent.
Reviewed October 2026 against Gartner’s 2026 Magic Quadrant for UCaaS (published July 2026) and current G2 ratings. Analyst positions change every year; this page is checked when they do.
Independence
Fifty partners, no favorites.
Carriers · Platforms · Hardware
Paid the same either way
Whichever carrier you choose, our residual is the same.
Put in competition
They bid against each other for your business.
Walked out when needed
If one under-performs, we work to get you released.
Let the carriers compete for you.
Tell us what you need, and we’ll get them competing for it.