How to Help Your Customers Understand SIP Trunk Channels

If the father of telecommunications, Alexander Graham Bell, could witness the quantum leap that has occurred in the industry, he would be proud. However, even for those working in telecommunications, dealing with rapid advances can sometimes be difficult to navigate. And if it’s difficult for IT professionals, just think how difficult it must be for customers who, a few years back, thought there was no need to switch from their landlines. Luckily, we have what you need to explain SIP trunk channels to your customers. 

Although only an estimated 29% of the nation still has landlines, there are many people that don’t fully understand all the alternatives available to them. And while we’re past any hesitation about VoIP as an effective technology, convincing customers that cloud phone services like SIP trunking are the best thing for them can be hampered by unfamiliar terminology. In this guide, we’ll walk you through some tips on how to explain SIP trunking channels to customers in an easy-to-understand way.

SIP Trunk Channels 101

In the early days of telecommunications, phone systems were all hard-wired and circuit-switched. A physical Primary Rate Interface (PRI) trunk would be run from the central office to your home or office. Within each trunk were lines (or channels) used for calling. Everything was physical and tangible, so even if the mechanism by which the sound was transmitted wasn’t understood, the concept was easier to grasp. 

Related: Effectively Onboarding Your SIP Trunk Customers

Cloud technology is hard to understand initially because it isn’t visible or tangible. The idea may be particularly challenging for customers who grew up or started their careers using traditional phones. It helps to make comparisons to things that are more familiar to establish the baseline. Then you can move on to what these new advances in technology and telephony offer. 

Moving Past the Technical Jargon

While a SIP trunk channel may sound enigmatic, it is in fact quite simple and extremely useful. First, let’s break down the terminology:

• Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) – This is a set of rules that enables the transmission of digital data, including voice, video, messaging, and much more, over the internet. 
• SIP trunk – A virtual phone line used for making calls from a computer, IP-enabled phone, or mobile app.
• SIP trunk channels – Each SIP trunk channel is a virtual line for a single, individual call on your SIP trunk. Multiple concurrent calls require multiple virtual channels.

In short, a SIP trunk is the virtual container for your virtual phone lines. With SIP, physical trunks are no longer necessary to connect a phone system to a voice network. Instead, your customer can communicate via virtual SIP trunks and get up to 48 channels per trunk.

Benefits of SIP Trunk Channels

Now that you’ve set the stage by introducing the primary characters, you can start to tell the story of what these virtual lines can do for your customers’ businesses. Part of explaining the benefits is also answering the inevitable questions about this new way of communicating and allaying their fears or concerns. Let’s talk through some of the most beneficial aspects and answer some of their questions. 

Cost Savings

Traditional phones, also called POTS or Plain Old Telephone Service, could be quite costly. It required investment seemingly at every turn, from hardware to installation, maintenance, repairs, and monthly service charges, not to mention long-distance and international call charges. 

SIP trunking charges may vary between providers. However, the top providers of SIP trunk channels offer multiple plans with flexible pricing and options to fit any business, possibly saving your customers up to 60% over POTS plans. There are SIP trunking plans that offer: 

• Unlimited outbound calls to the contiguous U.S. states and Canada
• Unlimited inbound calls to your local numbers
• Customizable sizing by the number of simultaneous calls you expect to make
• Options for toll-free calling
• Reasonable business text rates

Scalability

SIP trunk channels are easily scalable to fit your customers’ business needs. Plans are in blocks of minutes, usually starting at 2,500 with three standard, one enhanced, and one toll-free phone number. The plans increase in blocks up to 100,000 minutes and 100 standard numbers, also called direct inward dialing (DID) numbers. You can upgrade your plan at any time with instant provisioning. 

Flexibility

Since SIP trunks are not subject to specific local exchanges, your customers can have a local number for any area they serve, regardless of the physical location of their company. That also means that if the business moves, adds offices, or combines offices, they don’t have to change DID numbers. They are completely portable. No contract service also means your customers have the freedom to make changes or discontinue service at any time.

Centralized Management 

One of the most valuable features of SIP trunking channels is the ability to combine services, such as voice calls, video, messaging, collaboration software, and virtual meetings, from one platform and one provider. Called unified communications, it simplifies administration and saves time and money on training employees on multiple, disparate digital communication systems. 

Related: Keys to Keeping SIP Trunk Customers Happy

The Most Common SIP Trunking Questions

Now that you’ve explained the top benefits to your customers, you can answer some of the most commonly asked questions. 

How Reliable is SIP Trunking?

In the analog days prior to digital communication, if the phone lines went down, there was no option but to wait for the phone company to come to investigate and repair the problem. With the advent of SIP trunks, businesses have the benefit of failover to a different number in the event of an issue. Where analog calls had one route from end-to-end, digital calls are routed in multiple ways to add another layer of dependability. 

How is the Call Quality?

Today’s calls over SIP trunking channels are clearer than ever. Problems that used to occur like static, call dropping, or echoes can now be automatically detected and corrected. Your customers can enjoy better, more dependable, higher quality calls than on landlines. 

Is SIP Trunking Secure?

Calls made over SIP trunk channels are encrypted and kept secure. There are multiple methods to ensuring every element of your operations are secure, and the right SIP Trunking provider will allow you to confidently assure your customers about the security of their systems.

SIP Trunk Channels Made Easy

New or abstract concepts can be a challenge for anyone at first. It’s just a matter of framing ideas by comparing or contrasting them to more familiar concepts. Now that you have the tools to explain SIP trunk channels in simple terms, you can start to educate your customers on what it can do for them. 

Providing the best service to your customers depends on partnering with the right SIP provider. SIPTRUNK is the reseller platform that helps propel you and your customers toward mutual success. If you aren’t already a partner, let’s get started!