Did you know that within the next five years it's expected that 93% of new phone lines ordered will be SIP? What is SIP and why are so many businesses transitioning to SIP for their corporate communications?
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Trunking is a converged IP service that will deliver the following services on a single access either Internet or MPLS:
· Local voice service
· Long distance voice service
· Data WAN service.
One critical feature to note is that SIP can carry local connectivity. This can include services normally provided by the LEC Local Exchange Carrier such local dial tone and DID (Direct Inward Dial) service. In many areas the existing phone numbers including DIDs can be ported to the chosen SIP carrier so that both local and long distance can be provisioned on the same circuit. (Note: Each location must be checked for number portability and 911 capabilities prior to provisioning local service.)
Most businesses are looking to simplify and unify their corporate communications. SIP trunking allows you to do just that. By employing SIP on your IP or MPLS network you can consolidate both voice and data over a single pipe to meet all your telephony and data network requirements.
For businesses with multiple locations, SIP trunking now provides the ability to centralize management and provisioning of bandwidth and voice connectivity. Many carriers provide a simple user interface control panel or offer outsourced network management services which can also save time and money. Either way, reliance on multiple local, long distance and data carriers is now bypassed by employing an enterprise wide MPLS or IP based SIP network. In many locations SIP can replace LEC provisioned PRIs and TDM service. For those of you who manage multiple LECs in various parts of the country, you know how much of a headache this can be. Having a single point of contact and a single bill for all services is now possible and at an average savings of 20-60%.
SIP is more easily scalable than Traditional TDM trunking which is often provisioned via T-1 / PRI connection which can require expensive access charges and only provide a maximum bit rate of 1.544 mbps over 24 voice / data channels, each of which runs at 64 kbps (the European equivalent, E1, gives you only a bit more, at 2.048, with 30 voice channels). In many locations, SIP can be delivered via Ethernet which allows you to easily and quickly turn up additional bandwidth and services as needed in much shorter time frames and at a much lower cost than with traditional phone service.
Another advantage of SIP is that it provides businesses, large and small, with the ability to easily tie together offices throughout the country and the world on a single managed network. Generally, interoffice calls are free and charges for out of network calls are often less expensive. In addition, SIP provides a simple solution for businesses that want to project a local presence in areas throughout the country and the world by turning up local numbers to those areas that will ring to a specified location on their network. As I have pointed out in an earlier article, it's very important to understand the difference between SIP providers when choosing a carrier for your SIP network.
Joan is passionate about SIP trunking, specifically how it helps simplify business communication.
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