SIP trunking is a technology that almost every growing business owner has heard of as a model using existing internet connection for enabling video, chat, and voice calls. While they know SIP trunks as virtual phone lines that offer small businesses enterprise-grade advantages like lesser hardware needs, setup formalities, and cost, not many entrepreneurs know the technology inside-out.
What started as an approach for analog phones to link with PBX systems, has today evolved into a technology that enables users to make calls over the internet without even going through a reliance on traditional phone systems. SIP Trunking, today, has given small businesses access to virtual communication options without the expenses of traditional enterprise phone systems.
What is SIP Trunking?
SIP trunk meaning can be studied as a technology that enables the delivery of multiple unified communications services and voice over the internet. The method is typically used by companies for connecting their Private Branch Exchange (PBX) phone system to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) through an internet connection instead of a traditional phone line.
In the traditional telephony system, physical wires (trunks) were used for connecting the PSTN with PBX. Through SIP trunking, all these physical connections get swapped by virtual trunks which use the internet to carry video, voice, and messaging volumes.
The Features of SIP Trunking
Now that we have looked into the SIP Trunk managed services meaning on a high level, getting a detailed view of the technology would call for an analysis of the features it comes laced with. Features that power communication capacities for businesses. Some of those features include:
- Voice Services – SIP trunking delivers high-quality voice call capabilities over the internet, enabling both outbound and inbound calls.
- Scalability – Businesses are easily able to scale their SIP trunking capability up or down on the basis of their requirements without depending on physical infrastructure modifications.
- Flexibility – The model supports a multitude of communication models such as voice, video calls, instant messages, and even presence information.
- Local and Toll-Free Numbers – Companies can easily able to obtain toll-free and local phone numbers from diverse geographic locations, enabling them to create a presence in different geo regions without having a physical office.
- Number Portability – SIP trunking allows companies to keep their current phone numbers when changing to a new provider or when migrating to any SIP-based service.
- Unified Communications Integration – The approach seamlessly combines with multiple unified communications (UC) platforms, powering functionalities like email integrations, voicemail, and conferencing.
- Quality of Service (QoS) Management – SIP Trunk companies tend to provide several tools for managing and monitoring QoS – an event that ensures consistency in video and voice quality.
- Redundancy and Disaster Recovery – SIP trunking sustains failover and redundancy options to make sure that continuous communication continues in the case of equipment or network issues.
- Dynamic Caller ID – Businesses can easily personalize the outbound caller ID on the basis of their specific criteria or user choices.
- Security – SIP trunking providers tend to implement hack-proof security approaches like authentication and encryption to safeguard communication channels from unauthorized attacks and access.
- Cost Savings – It usually provides massive cost savings when compared to traditional phone services, specifically for businesses that have a high call volume or have several international communication requirements.
- API Integration – A number of SIP trunking companies offer APIs that enable businesses to club in advanced-grade communication features into their existing workflows or applications.
How Does SIP Trunking Work?
SIP trunking operates by setting a digital connection between a business’s public switched telephone network (PSTN) and a private branch exchange (PBX) phone system or another SIP-powered system active over the internet. Here’s how it typically works:
- Configuration – To start, companies set up their PBX phone system for communicating with SIP trunking service providers. This consists of configuring the PBX for recognizing and authenticating connections from a SIP trunk.
- Establishing Session Initiation – When the call gets made from the business’s PBX, it sends in a SIP request to the SIP trunking provider for establishing a communication session. This request tends to have information around the destination phone number and the communication type – voice, video, etc.
- Call Routing – The SIP trunking provider then gets the SIP request and chooses the best routing for the call. This might also comprise routing the call to a PSTN, another SIP-based system, or another destination active inside the same network.
- Media Transmission – Once the call gets routed, media data or voice gets transmitted between the destination endpoint and PBX through the SIP trunk. This data is generally transmitted with the help of a Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) over the Internet.
- Call Termination – When the call finishes, the SIP trunking provider closes all the communication sessions and discharges any resources attached to the call. This might comprise of sending a SIP message to the PBX as a signal to finish the call.
- Billing and Reporting – The SIP trunking provider might gather usage data for their billing purposes and offer reporting tools for the companies to track performance and call activity.
How to Get Started With SIP Trunking?
The benefits of SIP Trunking depend heavily on how well they are integrated into your network. Let us look into the next.
Your Business Plan
Take your time to thoroughly understand your communication requirements – your team size, number of lines, and the bandwidth you require. Knowing the details of your call traffic patterns would enable you to estimate all the necessary bandwidth for efficient operations.
Data Privacy
Look into the depths of all the security features delivered by different providers you might be considering. Typically, a good SIP trunk provider would have a well-formatted secure network and clear data policy, protecting your information against hacking and cyberattacks.
Features & Capabilities
Businesses tend to use SIP trunks for improving the communication experience and lowering expenses. With this in consideration, look at what the providers have to offer very diligently. Some of the top features to look out for include –
- E911
- Caller ID
- Call data records
- Voicemail
Budget
Plan out the budget your company can spend in a month. The pricing tends to vary across providers with them charging on the basis of monthly usage or per-user charges. Usually, monthly SIP trunks can range from ₹1200 to ₹2000 per line, which immensely helps small companies. You can also read into the bundle offers to make sure that they fit your services and needs.
Reliability & Uptime
A SIP trunking provider must keep all your processes running irrespective of disasters, emergencies, or peak hours. They must have a strong disaster recovery plan for business continuity under every foreseeable and sudden situation. We recommend going with a provider that offers business-level data centers and a proactive network monitoring system for quality and safety assurance.
We hope that this article helped you understand SIP Trunking a little better. Ultimately the model is what can help you get a competitive edge in the overly digitally crowded industry.
