You’ve heard of VOIP, But What is a SIP Trunk?
Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, has become a popular alternative to traditional telecom solutions. By switching to VoIP, many businesses have been able to enjoy significant savings on their communications costs.
To maximize efficiency, it is essential for businesses relying on VoIP to choose a protocol that can handle various multimedia connections. This is where SIP trunk comes in.
So what is a SIP trunk system? Let’s take a closer look to find out.
Background Information
To understand what is a SIP trunk, and how it relates to VoIP, it is important to grasp some basic background information about how telecom works. This will establish the role that SIP plays in making VoIP work.
Conventional Telephone Trunking
The term “SIP trunk” can be broken down into two parts: SIP and trunk. SIP stands for Session Initiation Protocol. But before we discuss what that means, let’s establish what a trunk is.
In traditional telecom, a “trunk” refers to a method that allows a central system to provide network connections to several lines. Rather than the lines having dedicated connections, they each connect to this central line.
This method is called trunking because it is analogous to how multiple branches all connect to a single tree trunk. With a SIP trunk, the lines are able to carry several kinds of multimedia connections at once, including voice and video.
Understanding Session Initiation Protocol
Now that we understand what trunking is, let’s take a look at “Session Initiation Protocol.” By definition, a protocol is a set of instructions that dictates how endpoints in a telecom communication setup communicate.
What Is a SIP Trunk?
So, simply put, Session Initiation Protocol is a set of rules that allows VoIP communications to occur over a connection. Trunking sets up a network for multiple VoIP lines to connect to one central system.
For the question, “What is a SIP trunk,” there is a short answer: a better way for businesses to handle their communications. With a SIP connection, businesses can conduct all communications that they would with a traditional phone connection, but at a much lower cost. Also, by running their communications online, businesses can streamline their efforts.
What Can a SIP Trunk Do?
We have mentioned a couple of times that, with a SIP trunk, businesses can conduct all the same communications they currently do at a lower cost. Let’s take a closer look at what that means.
With a SIP trunk, businesses can make and receive both local and long distance phone calls. Because the communications are run over an internet connection, there will not be an extra cost for long distance calls.
In addition to voice calls, businesses can run video calls over the same line. This can make virtual conferences and e-commuting a more accessible option. Since the SIP trunk is all run through a centralized system, it is therefore easier to use.
Why Choose SIP and VoIP Over Traditional Telecom?
If SIP does everything that a traditional phone line does, some businesses may wonder why they should make the switch. Even if they can save money, they may think that the hassle of changing services is not worth the lower costs.
But while lower costs is a huge advantage of switching to VoIP, it is not the only one.
You Already Pay for Internet
In reality, businesses should not look at adopting SIP trunking as switching their telecom services. Instead, it is a method of consolidation.
It is all but impossible to conduct business nowadays without paying for a high-speed internet connection. So if you are already paying for internet service, which can do everything that a phone line can, why would you also pay for a phone line? There’s no reason to pay twice for essentially the same services.
This also means that you will not have to get any new hardware. A SIP trunking system can be set up with the internet services you already have.
The only additional equipment you would need are IP phones. That said, if you decide to use your computer and a headset, you would not even need that.
Additionally, switching over to a SIP trunk system will not take much time. Since you are simply taking advantage of the services you already have, it can take as little as a few hours to fully transfer your communications.
Convenience and Mobility
These days, most folks who work in an office do not spend a whole lot of time at their desk. They might be out on the road, visiting clients, making presentations, or handling other business. In other cases, employees may prefer to work from home to save money on commuting.
In all that time away from the office, it is easy to miss phone calls. In some cases, an employee may come to work to find several old voicemails on their office phone.
With a SIP trunk connection, employees will not have this problem, even if they are on the road. This is because you can access a SIP connection from anywhere.
This allows your employees to get the best of both worlds with accessibility. On one hand, they do not need to make their private cell phone number available to work contacts. On the other hand, they can still be reached at their work line, even if they’re not at the desk.
Additionally, with many SIP systems, employees can set up their voicemail to automatically send transcribed messages to their email inbox. This allows for a true synchronizing of communications, where employees can see all of their messages in one location.
Getting Started With SIP Trunk
Due to the flexibility and efficiency of SIP trunk, many businesses will find it to be a great choice for their telecom needs.
Now that you know what is a SIP trunk, the next step is to take advantage of this important advance in technology. If you would like to learn more about how to get into business selling SIP trunk, contact us. We will help you get started on this profitable venture.