Yes, eTollfree is a HIPAA compliant phone service for medical offices that will sign a Business Associate Agreement. We act as a business associate under the HIPAA Rules and will sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) on request at [email protected]. Calls and account data are encrypted in transit, access is limited to staff who need it, we report breaches as the Rules require, and we hold our subcontractors to the same terms.
Two honest caveats, because you will hear otherwise elsewhere. First, HIPAA compliance is shared: we handle our side, and your practice's own configuration and staff habits are part of the other side. Second, no phone provider holds a HIPAA certification, because no such certification exists. Anyone who says otherwise is selling you a badge, not a safeguard.
If you run a small practice and just need phones that ring, route after hours and sit on the right side of a signed agreement, this page walks through what the Rules ask of your phone system, what it costs here, and how to switch without losing your number.
What HIPAA actually requires of your phone system
A patient calls to ask about a lab result. A voicemail mentions a diagnosis. Your front desk reads a date of birth aloud. Phone calls carry protected health information every day, so the provider carrying them is treated as a business associate. In plain terms, the Rules ask for five things from the relationship:
- A signed Business Associate Agreement. A written contract between your practice and the phone provider that spells out how patient information may be used and protected. No BAA, no compliant setup, whatever the sales page says.
- Safeguards. Reasonable protections around the information, such as encryption in transit and limiting access to the people who need it.
- Breach notification. If something goes wrong, the provider has to report it as the Rules require so you can respond.
- Subcontractor flow-down. Any vendor the provider relies on must be held to the same terms.
- Patient rights. Support for patient access, amendment and an accounting of disclosures.
You can read how we handle each of these on our HIPAA privacy page. The part that stays with your practice is everything you configure and do: who gets a login, what your voicemail greeting says, how your staff handle patient details on the phone. A signed agreement does not replace your own policies.
What a HIPAA-ready phone line costs at eTollfree
Compliance should not be a premium tier, and here it is not: asking for a BAA does not move you off the $6.95 number or the $14 user. Our BAA does not require a plan upgrade. You ask for it at [email protected], and it applies on the entry plan the same as any other. Here is what you will actually pay:
| What you need | Price | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| A phone number (toll-free or local) | from $6.95/mo per number | Your main line, a billing line, a second location |
| eBizLine Lite | $14/user/mo | Small practices that need simple call handling |
| Business Phone Basic | $24.95/user/mo | Front desks that want a full business phone system |
| AI receptionist | Monthly plan fee plus per-minute usage | After-hours patient intake and overflow |
A quick example: a three-person front desk on eBizLine Lite pays 3 × $14 = $42/mo in user fees. A six-person practice on Business Phone Basic pays 6 × $24.95 = $149.70/mo. Over a year, that is $504 for the first practice and $1,796.40 for the second. Either way, the BAA does not push you onto a higher plan.
Compare that with the usual surprise: a practice picks a plan that looked right on price, then learns the agreement it needs lives on a higher tier. Here, the plan you choose for your phones is the plan the BAA covers. If you only need one extra line for billing or a second location, a number from $6.95/mo is the starting price for that line, and a user on eBizLine Lite adds $14/mo, and you can add or remove users as your staff changes.
The AI receptionist is always priced two ways: a monthly plan fee plus per-minute usage of 15¢/min on the $6.95 Call Forwarding plan, 13¢/min on eBizLine Lite and 10¢/min on Business Phone Basic. See the AI receptionist page for the plans, or the full pricing page for everything else.
How the BAA works at other providers
The agreement is where practices get caught out. Many big names offer one, but not on every plan, and not automatically. Here is how three well-known providers handle it compared with us:
| Provider | BAA available on the entry plan? | What you must do |
|---|---|---|
| eTollfree | Yes | Email [email protected] and ask for the BAA. No upgrade needed. |
| RingCentral | No | The BAA covers the Advanced, Ultra and RingCentral for Healthcare plans, not the entry Core plan, so you have to be on one of those. |
| 8x8 | Not automatic | The BAA is available on X Series plans, but it must be requested when the account is created. |
| Google Voice | No (free and consumer Voice) | You need a paid Google Workspace edition plus the Voice add-on before a BAA is possible. |
These are the vendors' own published terms, checked October 2026. Terms change, so confirm the scope with any provider before you sign.
Features a medical office actually uses
Enterprise-grade call handling, without the corporate headaches. These are the pieces most practices set up in the first week:
Auto attendant and after-hours routing
"Press 1 for appointments, press 2 for billing." Calls reach the right person during the day and the right voicemail or on-call number at night.
Voicemail-to-email
Messages land in an inbox your staff already check, so nothing waits on a blinking light. Choose carefully who receives them.
Multi-location and multi-site
One practice, several offices. Each site can have its own number and hours while you manage them together.
Toll-free and local numbers
A local number for neighbors who recognize your area code, plus a toll-free line for referring offices and out-of-town patients.
Call recording, where your state allows
Record calls for training or dispute resolution where your state's consent rules permit, with the notice those rules require.
AI receptionist for after-hours intake
Answers when the office is closed, takes a message and routes urgent calls. Decide in advance what it should and should not collect.
STIR/SHAKEN caller-ID authentication
Your calls to patients are authenticated, which helps appointment reminders and call-backs avoid being flagged as spam.
Where practices slip up, and how to avoid it
Most phone-related HIPAA trouble has little to do with the technology. It comes from small habits that nobody wrote down. Before you go live, it is worth ten minutes on each of these:
- Shared logins. Give each staff member their own user, so access is limited to people who need it and you can remove someone the day they leave.
- Voicemail greetings. Keep them short and general. Ask callers to leave a name and number rather than details about their condition.
- Voicemail-to-email. Send messages to a mailbox that only the right people can open, not a shared inbox the whole office reads.
- Forwarding to personal cell phones. Convenient after hours, but decide as a practice which devices may take patient calls and how they are protected.
- Recording notices. If you record calls, follow your state's consent rules and tell callers.
- AI receptionist scope. Decide what it may ask patients before you turn it on, and keep it to scheduling and message-taking unless your compliance lead has approved more.
None of this is complicated, and none of it needs an IT department. Write a one-page policy, train your front desk once, and revisit it when your staff or your setup changes. That, together with a signed BAA, is most of what a small practice needs from its phone system.
Switching without downtime
The fear that stops most practices is losing the number patients have known for years. You do not have to. Porting your existing number to eTollfree is free and takes about 7 days. Your old service keeps working until the number moves, so there is no gap where patients get a dead line.
- Tell us your current number and who carries it today.
- Request the BAA at [email protected] while the port is in progress.
- Set up your menu and hours so the new system is ready the day your number arrives.
Questions about timing or your current setup? Contact us and a real person will help.
Find a number for your practice
Search for a toll-free, local or vanity number below. Numbers start at $6.95/mo, users start at $14/mo, and you can request your BAA once your account is open.
Prefer to read more first? See the full pricing or our HIPAA privacy page.
