Is SIP Trunking the Right Choice for My Business?
While SIP Trunking is a very well-established gateway to conspicuous cost savings, reliability, and flexibility, no two companies are the same. There are no technological silver bullets. While SIP trunking offers few drawbacks in contrast to alternatives, it requires adequate data connectivity bandwidth to work compellingly. Organizations that choose SIP trunking as part of an on-premise VoIP solution will need to plan for some up-front capital investment in resources and may have trouble finding skilled telecommunications trooper for implementation and ongoing maintenance.
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However, SIP is the right choice for many organizations who are ready to reap the benefits of IP-based phones and establish a relationship with a hosted VoIP vendor and move their business communications to the cloud. If your organization has ever struggled with confusing monthly phone bills, unreliable phone lines, high calling costs, or balancing on-site phone lines with employee mobile devices, you may benefit tremendously from switching to SIP.
Voice-over-IP telephones (VoIP) are quickly becoming the most common way for organizations to manage voice communications. Endorsing VoIP and SIP trunking allows organizations more options for communications than heirloom PRI and Centrex services via major telecommunications providers.
Organizations that are considering ways to save on their phone bills may consider SIP trunking as an option. With a cloud provider for SIP services, the initial investment is negligible.
Continue reading to learn how it works, and how your business may benefit from adopting this communications technology.
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Is SIP Trunking the Right Choice for My Business?
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SIP is based on a request/response transaction model where each transaction consists of a request that invokes a particular method or function on the server and at least one response.
SIP typically sends these messages in UDP (User Datagram Protocol) on port 5060, with 5061 used for a second line on a two-line ATA*(see below). Included in the invitation, when setting up a call, are parameters describing exactly what form the audio or video will use. These parameters are included in the SDP (Session Description Protocol. When both endpoints agree and are ready to start exchanging media or data, RTP (Realtime Transport Protocol) is used to exchange the data or voice packets. RTP will typically be carried on a port from a range of ports, most likely between 10,000 and 20,000, which are then assigned to each endpoint after negotiation and acceptance of a particular port on each side.
SIP typically sends these messages in UDP (User Datagram Protocol) on port 5060, with 5061 used for a second line on a two-line ATA*(see below). Included in the invitation, when setting up a call, are parameters describing exactly what form the audio or video will use. These parameters are included in the SDP (Session Description Protocol. When both endpoints agree and are ready to start exchanging media or data, RTP (Realtime Transport Protocol) is used to exchange the data or voice packets. RTP will typically be carried on a port from a range of ports, most likely between 10,000 and 20,000, which are then assigned to each endpoint after negotiation and acceptance of a particular port on each side.
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Benefits of SIP Trunking
Companies considering the switch to SIP are often familiar with its cost savings potential. If your firm places a lot of long-distance or international calls, you may save a staggering amount compared to legacy phone service.
While this attribute of SIP is attractive, the benefits are far more than just financial. Let’s look at the most common benefits of SIP Trunking.
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1. Cost Savings:
SIP trunking offers several ways to reduce your business’s communication costs. If you have SIP trunks in place, you don’t need to buy ISDN, BRIs (Basic Rate Interfaces), PRIs (Primary Rate Interfaces), or local PSTN gateways.
With the inherent extra capacity built into an internet connection, there is no need to purchase additional bandwidth for VoIP calls. Voice and data can run over the same lines, saving on infrastructure costs required when running separate networks.
SIP trunking also saves on long-distance charges. Since a SIP provider handles the PSTN connection to the internet, they can connect each call as close to its final destination as possible. This results in major savings for companies doing a lot of long-distance or global business over their voice lines.
Clarity’s SIP trunking solution, clarity delivers nationwide dial tone, inbound and outbound calling, unlimited on-net and local calling, and competitive long-distance and international rates. SIP trunking gives your enterprise the ability to set up virtual numbers in other geographic areas, enabling callers to use these numbers instead of pricier 800 numbers.
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2. Immediate ROI:
With numerous technology investments, companies may not value returns on investment for years. In some cases, the tech investment is a take a chance due to a lack of case studies providing ROI. Fortunately, SIP is a well-established technology with minor upfront investment costs. Without a capital investment, companies who switch to SIP begin appreciating cost savings from the first monthly billing statement.
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3. Global Potential & Mobility:
SIP supports your organization’s need for fast growth across multiple geographic locations. By combining your voice and data into a single network, your organization’s geographic locations and remote workers can be consolidated. The fast scalability of SIP also allows your companies to scale with extreme flexibility as you open new sites or establish full-time remote workers.
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4. Unified Communications:
SIP can act as a gateway towards Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS). When selecting a SIP provider that offers a full suite of communication tools such as video conferencing and fiber-optic Internet connectivity, your organization can unlock the benefits of an IP-based communications suite that includes mobility, instant messaging, collaboration apps, and other flexible, cloud-based tools for business productivity.
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5. Remote Connectivity:
As many traditional VPN users know, connectivity to the network while traveling can be hit or miss depending on the strength of your signal, local firewall configurations, and so on. When SIP trunking is implemented with SIP-specific remote connectivity solutions, remote users can negotiate with most non-SIP firewalls and NAT (Network Address Translation) devices that are often found in hotels, residences, and other similar locations. This capability makes your sales staff and remote-connected vacationers happy, as staying continually connected to the office – at least at some level – has become commonplace in today’s business world.
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6. Network Consolidation:
Most companies still pay for telephone voice service and data separately, even when using a single provider. SIP trunking enables companies to move their voice and data into a single network, treating voice calls as a form of data transmission.
While this will maximize the bandwidth demands on your data connection, it ultimately saves significant money and increases reliability, especially with fiber-optic Internet connectivity.
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7. No More Physical Infrastructure:
With legacy phone service, expanding your organization’s infrastructure can be challenging. You may need to wait lengthy periods for the local telecommunications company to install new phone lines. Remote employees or individuals who work from home often need a company-provided mobile device, which is another investment on the part of your organization, just to communicate with colleagues. With SIP, your organization can add phone lines by simply connecting handsets to your data connection. Individuals who work off-site can be integrated into your company network and be reached by a dedicated internal phone number and a two to five-digit extension number.
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8. No Costly Hardware Investments:
SIP trunking does not require additional hardware investment. With many alternative methods of telephony, such as PRIs, your company may need to invest in costly additions to hardware as you scale phone lines. With a SIP provider, adding phone lines or add-on services is as simple as buying an additional handset and scaling your monthly service agreement.
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9. Reliability:
While legacy telephone service can be interrupted due to weather events in the telephone room SIP trunking is a reliable technology. With a vendor that offers mobile failover as a form of redundancy, your phones can be used for communications even in case of some failure by allowing you to route your calls to other offices or employee mobile devices.
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10. Simple Management:
Your IT team will never have to use their mobile device to wait on hold to speak to a customer service representative again. SIP trunking and VoIP phones offer easy-to-use administrative portals for on-site management, including actions like adjusting call routing, changing extensions, or adding phone lines fully on-demand.
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Clarity is proud to have been providing 3CX Telephone System to North America since 2006. As one of the oldest 3CX Partners in North America with clients worldwide offering this unified communications platform and ultimately earning the level of Titanium Partner Clarity Technologies Group, LLC surpasses expectations.
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Call Clarity at 800-354-4160 today or email us at [email protected] . We are partnered internationally around the globe and we are open seven days a week 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM EST/EDT. http://45.33.92.219
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