When it comes to saving money and increasing efficiency with your phones, there is no better option than making the switch to SIP trunking. This connection protocol has been changing how we make and take calls for a couple of decades, but many people still do not understand what it does or how it can help their business succeed. Here is a primer on the SIP trunk, what it is and how it can help your company save money and grow.
What is a SIP Trunk?
The SIP trunk is a bit of a complicated technology term, but it mostly boils down to how you connect your phone lines to the local telephone switchboard network. While the traditional switchboard is no longer people physically connecting phone wires and lines, it is still a crucial piece of infrastructure for phones, whether they are using the internet or landlines to connect.
First off, the “SIP” in “SIP trunk” stands for “Session Initiation Protocol.” This protocol dates back to the early internet days in the nineties and is essentially how your VoIP calls are set up and terminated, and how you get a dial tone. A SIP trunk then is “a broadband Internet link that utilizes SIP to connect a company’s IP-based PBX to an Internet telephone service provider (ITSP).” Essentially, it is how your internet-based phone connects to the regular telephone network.
SIP Trunk Benefits
While the definition of what a SIP trunk is can be quite technical, it translates into real benefits for businesses, especially those who need to get the most out of their phone connections. Most companies who switch to the SIP trunk enjoy these benefits.
1. Consolidate Phone Infrastructure
The SIP trunk essentially consolidates and simplifies your voice infrastructure, turning multiple lines into one that multiplies in-house. So rather than paying for multiple lines through traditional infrastructure, you can instead pay for one line and expand upon it through your VoIP phone services. The result is a drastic change in how much you spend on phone services. In some cases, it can be as much as a 60% difference in cost every month.
2. Eliminate Long Distance
The SIP trunk essentially turns every phone call into a local call, no matter where you are calling, because the phone lines recognize these calls as simply going local. This means that you can pay the dramatically lower fees of your VoIP phone provider without sacrificing the quality of your connection.
3. Grow According to Your Need
The SIP trunk lets you grow and change your telephone services along with the demands of your business instead of relying on the outdated hardware of traditional phone lines. Instead of buying additional lines and more subscriptions to the traditional telecommunications services, you can often expand the number of lines you have with a simple change to your VoIP provider plan and a slight increase in your internet bandwidth, which is significantly cheaper than going the traditional route.
GenVoice offers a number of internet-based phone services that can help you increase productivity and efficiency while saving you money at the same time. By making the switch to our services, you can tap into the many benefits that a SIP trunk and VoIP can bring to your business.