At this point, SIP trunking is almost the standard in modern telecommunication. The SIP trunking market is growing at 13% globally, which is trending toward a $35 billion market value by 2030.
This impressive growth brings up a few questions. What is the importance of SIP trunking for the future of telecom? What are the benefits of SIP trunking? And what should you look for in a SIP trunking provider, if you’re going to use this technology in your business?
Here are some plain-language answers to these questions.
What is the importance of SIP trunking in modern communications?
SIP is an acronym for Session Initiation Protocol. SIP trunking is a method of sending voice and other communication data over internet connections. A SIP trunk is essentially a digital phone line. And, since the connection is digital, SIP trunks can also be used for video calls.
SIP trunking is important because it’s more efficient than analog phone lines on the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). A traditional phone line trunk can only handle a relatively small number of phone lines, because it requires a physical wire for each additional phone line.
This presents high infrastructure costs for businesses that need a high volume of phone connections, such as call centers. It also takes a long time to add more traditional phone lines, since more wires must be installed.
With SIP trunking, a nearly unlimited number of phone connections can be handled by a single internet connection. The number of phone connections that can be hosted on an internet connection is only limited by the bandwidth of the connection.
SIP trunking is vital for the future of telecom because it enables businesses to get far more phone connections at much lower initial and ongoing costs. And it gives businesses the ability to connect video calls on the same connection that they use for voice calls.
What are the benefits of SIP trunking?
Lower installation and maintenance costs are certainly important for businesses. But SIP trunking offers even more cost reduction potential. And there are other benefits of SIP trunking, beyond cost.
SIP trunking can reduce costs for businesses because it’s less expensive to make long distance and international calls on a SIP trunk. This can be a significant cost reduction for most businesses, since most businesses serve at least some customers outside their local area.
Additionally, you only have to pay for the SIP trunking connections you need. On a traditional phone line, the wires must be installed. And you have to pay for those lines whether you use them or not.
On SIP trunks, you can establish connections as you need them, then terminate the SIP connections you’re not using. That way your business never has to pay for phone connections you’re not using.
Going beyond cost savings, SIP trunk connections are also far more versatile than traditional phone lines. In addition to being able to connect video calls, SIP trunking connections can also be used to add communication capabilities to software applications and send SMS messages.
This enables software developers to put messaging and phone call functionality directly into their apps. And SIP trunking calls can be made from softphones — basically making calls from a computer — which eliminates the need for traditional desk phones in office settings and call centers.
And using a computer to make phone calls offers far more potential for automation. It’s much easier to use auto dialers, build PBX (Private Branch eXchange) systems, and implement other voice communication tools on a softphone.
SIP trunking is just less expensive and more capable than legacy landline connections.
What do you need from your SIP trunking provider?
There are five key areas that you should look at when you assess a SIP provider:
Data protection
Since calls are transmitted over the internet, it’s vital that your SIP provider has a network that implements modern cyber security protocols to protect data on internet connections.
Redundancy
Sending data over the internet requires a lot of connections. And it’s important that your SIP provider has redundancy built into their network, with automatic failovers, so your calls stay connected, even if there’s a hiccup somewhere in the connection.
Real-time data
Your SIP trunking provider should give you real-time data about call volumes, durations, and other data to help you analyze your calls and optimize call usage.
Customer support
A good SIP trunking provider should offer hands-on customer support to help you configure your SIP connections and help with troubleshooting at all hours.
Pricing
Obviously, pricing matters. And your SIP provider should offer competitive prices. This saves you money. But lower prices also indicate that the SIP trunking provider outsources less of their network to third-party operators.
That’s it. Upgrading to SIP communications is an all-around comms upgrade for any business, especially businesses that are still running legacy phone systems.