Let ${\mathcal T}$ be the $C^\ast $-algebra generated by the Toeplitz operators $\{T_\varphi : \varphi \in L^\infty (S,d\sigma )\}$ on the Hardy space $H^2(S)$ of the unit sphere in $\mathbf{C}^n$. It is well known that ${\mathcal T}$ is contained in the essential commutant of $\{T_\varphi : \varphi \in \operatorname{VMO}\cap L^\infty (S,d\sigma )\}$. We show that the essential commutant of $\{T_\varphi : \varphi \in \operatorname{VMO}\cap L^\infty (S,d\sigma )\}$ is strictly larger than ${\mathcal T}$.