If your business telephones use a PBX that was installed in the last 12 to 18 months, then it’s more than likely that you could be ready to make the move to SIP Trunking immediately - and even if it was installed between 18 months and five years ago, then you may only require the addition of new hardware interfaces. The City Lifeline London data centre is home to a variety of carriers who can quickly and effectively provision you SIP Trunking within the facility. But what exactly is SIP Trunking and why should you bother anyway?
What is SIP Trunking?
SIP Trunking is where traditional ISDN30 or ISDN2e connections are replaced with one or more dedicated IP connections. A complete SIP Trunking deployment generally consists of an access circuit which is capable of carrying voice traffic, a SIP-enabled PBX and a SIP-enabled firewall or other edge device between the SIP Trunk and your own network. Once internet connectivity has been established, the SIP channels can then be turned on within minutes and the service is live.
What are the benefits?
Cost is the most obvious benefit. A typical ISDN30 connection with 30 voice channels can cost more than £5,000 a year to rent on a minimum 12 month contract, whereas SIP Trunks typically cost around 50% less per channel to rent, and carry a much shorter commitment. So, based on your organisation’s telecoms infrastructure, it’s easy to quickly calculate the cost saving.
It’s also worth remembering that, while cost saving is an immediate benefit, moving to SIP Trunking should really be a strategic business decision and not a short term tactical one. Yes of course, you will save money almost straight away, but there are many other benefits which can be gained as well. These include:
- Improved control - Self-manage your telephone numbers, instantly set-up redirects, move extensions at will, add extra call handling capacity to meet traffic peaks or even populate your outbound CLI with any number that you have a right to use.
- Number flexibility - SIP Trunks allow you to move offices and yet keep the same geographic numbers without any ongoing call forwarding costs, or even any costs associated with new company stationery!
- Total scalability - Your telecoms capacity can be adjusted up or down as business needs dictate, usually without any delay and also without the contractual penalties of traditional services.
- Everyday resilience - SIP Trunking gives you the option to take your connectivity from multiple sources - for example leased lines, Assured DSL, Ethernet and even the Internet. So should one connection fail, another can be used in its place.
- Data communication - Bandwidth on the SIP Trunk can also be shared with data services, bringing the possibility of further savings and laying the foundation for full voice and data convergence in the future.
Despite the clear advantages, it’s understandable that some organisations might be reluctant to make a wholesale move to SIP Trunking. If this is a factor, then you’ll be pleased to know that a gradual migration path is possible - starting with a few extensions and leading progressively to 100% SIP capability.
Click the link to read our Simple Guide to SIP Trunking to learn more about what SIP Trunking can do for you.
