How to Start SIP Trunking in the Cloud
You’ve probably heard about all the cost-saving benefits of SIP trunking, but you may be worried about the crossing over process or the transition process.
Setting up your SIP trunking in the cloud is actually remarkably simple.
And once it’s set up, it gives you an incredibly clear and reliable voice call option. Your costs will drop, but your calls won’t.
But how hard is it to set up? Do we have to replace all of our existing hardware? Let us put your mind at ease by walking you through what you need to know and do.
Step 1: Ask the Right Questions Before You Start
Before you dig into the nitty gritty of actually setting everything up, you need to make sure this is the right solution for you.
So ask yourself:
Is There Enough Bandwidth?
This is a big one, as an overloaded network is going to hurt your SIP trunking performance, and slow the speeds down everywhere else in the building.
Keep in mind, the G.711 voice codec uses 85kbps of bandwidth per call, so:
- A speed of 512kbps will support 6 simultaneous calls (512 /85= 6)
- A speed of 1 mbps will support about 11 simultaneous calls (1000/ 85)
- The average speed in the US is about 5 mbps, which would support about 55 simultaneous calls
- Google’s fibre net can top out as high as 1 gbps, which would give you roughly 11,764 simultaneous calls
Of course, to know if you’ve got enough bandwidth, you really need to factor in how many users you will likely have. And how likely they are to be using it simultaneously.
What is the Number of Concurrent Calls Expected to Be?
This is the second big question you need to ask.
A typical organization has a ratio of about 3:1 or 4:1 employees to concurrent calls. That means if you have 60 people in the office at any given time, you might have 20 concurrent calls at any given time.
But that’s an average business and the pendulum may swing far in either direction.
For example, if you have a call center (doing tech support or bulk sales) you can expect to have a 1.5:1 or a 2:1 ratio. And if you’re an inbound center, you may go as high as 1:1 during peak times. Like a help desk flooded with outage calls.
However, a creative boutique may not need nearly that number. They may have 60 people, but 40 of those are designers, and you may only have 2 or 3 of those people on the phone at any given time.
There is no magic bullet number you can apply to any business.
Is the PBX SIP-Enabled?
Most of the newer PBX systems are SIP enabled.
But if you’re working with an older system there are a few ways to make sure it is PBX is SIP-enabled.
- If you have a data jack or Ethernet jack on the back of the PBX, it is probably SIP-capable
- If you only see analog lines, the system does not have a data jack or Ethernet jack it is probably not SIP enabled
- Look in the user’s manual.
- You should be able to find a section on ‘configuring a SIP Trunk’
- If the system is SIP ready. Look for words like SIP or SIP-enabled IP calling
If the PBX is not SIP-enabled, you can still use an ATA (analog telephone adapter) that will convert SIP’s digital signal to analog. The ATA acts as a gateway to the legacy PBX and allows the use of SIP trunks. You can buy them in all sorts of sizes, from 1 port to as high as 24 analog ports.
Do You Still Send Faxes?
Yes. Faxes are still a thing. For some reason. And this technology and fax machines don’t get along too well.
So if the organization still sends and receives a lot of faxes, this may not be a great solution.
According to a recent survey, approximately 89% of small to medium sized organizations still use fax in some form (This could be via computer or fax services), and 62% of IT pros still support physical fax machines.
These are still widely used in organizations in:
- Government
- Finance
- Healthcare
- Manufacturing
They’re also still used by some insurance companies.
Step 2: Make the Business Case for SIP trunking
If you’re an IT worker who has to present this as an option to the higher ups before getting implemented, we can help you make the business case for SIP trunking.
We’ve also created a proposal template you can use here.
Your superiors are probably most concerned with these questions:
Will this help productivity?
Yes!
Making the switch to SIP trunking means the IT department would spend less time maintaining several circuits, so they could focus on:
- Increasing customer satisfaction
- Ensuring overall security
- planning for business growth and scaling
Will This Save Us Money?
Again, the answer is a resounding yes. SIP trunking for businesses is often far less expensive than most other solutions. Let us show you how.
Will This Be a Difficult Transition?
You would think so, but it’s actually really simple.
A lot of people think this would mean swapping out all the old phones. Fortunately, that’s not the case, you can keep your old phones. Simple SIP gates can enable you to do so.
This is important because a lot of companies don’t love paying big upfront costs (like, say, an entire fleet of new phones) even if it means they save money down the road. Fortunately, you don’t have to worry about that.
The cost and hassles of putting in a new system are incredibly low.
Is it secure?
Once you have the money conversation, you will probably have the safety conversation. Security is always a major concern and a lot of people may assume SIP trunking opens you up to more security risk. This is a very common concern.
This isn’t a problem if you work with a quality vendor and company. You want a trustworthy, dependable provider that offers:
- 24/7 anti-fraud monitoring
- Solid and proven security
- World-class customer support services
Do You Want to Know More?
If you’ve read this far, you’re starting to see the potential that SIP trunking can bring to your business in terms of affordability, reliability and security.
If you have any additional questions about how to get started, we can help.
You can click here to contact us any time to ask us any questions. A member of our team will get back to you as soon as possible.