Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone systems are sweeping into businesses all over the nation, largely due to the fact that sending phone communications in data packets over the Internet is far cheaper and more efficient than sending analog signals over traditional telephone networks. For larger enterprises with their own Private Branch Exchange (PBX (News - Alert)) managing their phone systems, even more money can be saved by using SIP trunking, according to a recent blog post by hosted phone system provider BroadConnect.
Session Initiation Protocol (News - Alert) (SIP) trunks convert analog phone signals that enter a PBX into digital signals that can be sent through the Internet. SIP trunking saves even more money due to the fact that multiple phone lines can “share” SIP trunks, since the number of SIP trunks only limits the number of active calls, not total calls.
Choosing the right SIP trunking provider can be difficult for any business, as every business has different needs and different sizes. In fact, unless your business is large enough to support the installation and maintenance costs for a PBX system, hosted VoIP solutions are usually the better bet.
When choosing a SIP trunk provider, there are several different features that should be available. The first is Long Distance SIP. Most SIP trunking providers will include long distance calls for free, since VoIP makes these calls no more difficult than local calls. SIP trunking providers who are not including it are either low quality providers or are simply trying to get more money from unsuspecting customers.
Another commonly included feature that should be available from most quality providers are toll free numbers. Most quality SIP trunking providers will include one or more toll free phone line for cutomers to call for free.
A SIP trunking provider should always offer a comprehensive web portal for control of the phone service and scalability for more or fewer lines as needed. Finally, all VoIP service, including SIP trunking, should offer crystal clear voice quality that is superior to landline telephony. If the SIP trunking provider you are considering does not offer these basic features, keep looking until a quality provider with quality features is available.
Edited by Alisen Downey