Straight numbers, because this industry hides them: hosted business phone service runs $20 to $35 per user per month from most reputable providers. 815 Voice is $24 per user per month, flat, with menus, voicemail transcription, texting, and mobile apps included.
Where budgets get wrecked is everything around the sticker price. National providers commonly add: per-feature charges (auto attendant, recording, texting), mandatory 1-to-3-year contracts with teaser first-year pricing, hardware leases at $5-10 per phone per month forever, and 'regulatory recovery' line items that quietly add 15-30%. A quoted $19.99 seat routinely lands over $35 on the actual bill.
What should be free: setup, number porting, and support. If a provider charges to move your own number to them, that tells you how the relationship will go.
Desk phones, if you need them, are the one real upfront cost: $60-120 each purchased outright, and buying beats leasing within a year. Many businesses skip desk phones entirely now and run on the mobile and desktop apps.
For a 5-person business: expect roughly $120/month all-in with us, versus $150-200 on a typical carrier bundle with a contract. Get any quote itemized and compare the full bill, not the seat price.