Session Initiation Protocol, or SIP, is a game-changer for businesses seeking a more efficient and cost-effective way to make calls. This blog post will break down SIP in easy-to-understand terms, explore the benefits it offers businesses like yours, and help you decide if SIP trunking could be the key to unlocking a smarter phone system for your company. Click on each section to learn more.

1. What Is SIP – An Easy-to Understand Explanation
2. What Is SIP Calling?
3. SIP vs VoIP – What Is the Difference
4. What is an SIP trunk or SIP trunking?
5. SIP Trunking: Advantages and Disadvantages for Businesses

If you are considering switching to SIP for your business, or if you have questions about this technology, contact us. We can help you find the perfect phone system solution for your needs.

What Is SIP?

1. An Easy-to Understand Explanation

What is SIP? It’s one of the ways you can use VoIP.

SlP stands for Session Initiation Protocol. It is like a set of rules that allows internet-based phone systems, called VoIP</a”> (Voice over Internet Protocol) to operate. SIP is responsible for setting up, managing, and ending calls.

SIP supports not just voice calls but also the following services:

• Video meetings
• Instant messaging
• Sharing various types of media

You can think of SIP as one way to use VoIP that connects your company’s phone system directly to the regular phone network, eliminating the need for traditional phone lines.

There are other ways to implement VoIP too, such as:

• The Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP): RTP carries the actual voice and video data
• The Real-time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP): RTCP helps monitor the data delivery.
• The Session Description Protocol (SDP): SDP describes multimedia sessions.

The above are more technical details, but what’s important is that they all work together to make sure your Internet phone system works smoothly.

2. What Is SIP Calling?

SIP lets you make a phone call over the internet.</strong>

SIP calling refers to making a phone call over the Internet instead of using old-school telephone wires. It’s part of what’s called SIP trunking. This way of calling is usually less expensive and works better because it uses the Internet.

With SIP trunking, you don’t need a physical connection to a phone company anymore. It lets a SIP service connect many lines to your office phone system, which means you can quickly set up worldwide calling over the internet for your phones.

3. SIP vs VoIP – What Is the Difference?

Watch the above video to learn more about VoIP

To understand the difference between SIP and VoIP, consider the following analogy:

Think of VoIP as a highway system:

VoIP is the overall infrastructure that allows you to make calls over the Internet instead of using traditional phone lines. Different technologies can operate on this “highway,” enabling voice calls.

SIP is like a specific lane on that highway:

SIP is a dedicated protocol (set of rules) used for carrying voice calls and other forms of communication (like video) over the Internet. While VoIP encompasses various technologies, SIP is a widely used and standardized protocol for making those calls happen efficiently.

To give you an even simpler answer to the questions “What is SIP?” and “What is VoIP?”, you could say the following:

VoIP is the “what” – the overall concept of making calls over the internet.
SIP is the “how” – a specific way to carry those calls over the internet infrastructure.

4. What Is an SIP Trunk or SIP Trunking?

SIP trunking works similar to a multi-lane bridge.

A SIP trunk serves as a bridge connecting two sections of a Unified Communications system. Through SIP trunking, the network is divided into public and private sectors, streamlining communication management. To understand these two terms more clearly, here is a helpful analogy:

SIP Trunking: A Multi-Lane Bridge

Imagine your phone system as a private road (your company network) that connects to a main highway (the public internet).

SIP trunking acts like a multi-lane bridge connecting your private road to the highway. This bridge allows calls to flow smoothly between your business and the outside world.

Here’s the benefit:

Traditionally, each phone line was like a single lane on that bridge, limiting how many calls you could make or receive at once.

SIP trunking provides multiple lanes on the bridge, allowing for many more simultaneous calls, and making it ideal for businesses with high call volume.

Here’s who’s involved:

ITSPs (internet telephone service providers) are like the toll booth operators on the highway, managing the connection and potentially offering additional services like voicemail or video conferencing.

Your private server acts like your company headquarters. It connects to the bridge (SIP trunk) and then routes call to the appropriate people within your private network.

Overall, SIP trunking offers a more efficient and scalable way to connect your business phone system to the outside world.

5. SIP Trunking: Advantages and Disadvantages for Businesses

SIP trunking can give you greater mobility than traditional phone lines.

If you are considering switching to SIP, here are some points to consider.

Advantages of SIP:

Cost-effective:

SIP trunking can significantly reduce your phone bill compared to traditional phone lines, especially for businesses with high call volume. You only pay for the number of concurrent calls you use, unlike having a fixed number of lines.

Scalability:

With SIP, you can easily add or remove call lines as your business grows without needing to install additional physical phone lines.

Flexibility:

SIP integrates well with existing business communication systems, allowing features like video conferencing and instant messaging.

Improved Mobility:

Employees can use their office phone numbers on their mobile devices, making them more reachable and productive when outside the office.

Advanced Features:

SIP trunking often comes with additional features like:

• call forwarding
• voicemail-to-email
• auto attendants

These great features can help improve the efficiency and customer service of your business.

Disaster Recovery:

An extremely helpful feature of SIP trunking is that it can redirect your calls instantly in the event of a disaster. This is very important if your phone system is vital to the smooth operation of your business.

Disadvantages of SIP:

SIP needs a reliable internet connection to work properly.

Reliance on the Internet:

SIP trunking requires a reliable internet connection. If your internet goes down, your phone service will also be unavailable.

Potential Upfront Costs:

Depending on your existing infrastructure, you might need to invest in new equipment or software to utilize SIP trunking.

Security Considerations:

SIP requires proper security measures to protect your phone system from unauthorized access.

Technical Expertise:

Setting up and managing SIP trunking might require some technical expertise, although many IT service providers offer SIP solutions with installation and support.

Additional Points to Consider:

You may want a reliable SIP service provider to help you maintain your SIP system.

Your Call Volume:

If your business makes a high volume of calls, SIP trunking can offer significant cost savings.

Existing Infrastructure:

Evaluate your current phone system and internet connection to determine if any upgrades are necessary.

IT Expertise:

Consider if you have the internal IT resources to manage SIP trunking or if you’ll need external support.

Overall, SIP trunking offers a cost-effective and flexible solution for many businesses. However, it’s important to weigh the advantages and disadvantages and consider your specific needs before making a decision.

Don’t Get Left Behind: Make the Switch to SIP with Network Telecom

Network Telecom can help you make the switch to SIP.

Traditional phone infrastructure is becoming a thing of the past. Major providers like Rogers are phasing out support for legacy services. Bell is also reducing resources for these systems, making them less reliable.

Network Telecom offers a future-proof solution: SIP service. We offer competitive rates, that, on average, yield a monthly cost reduction anywhere from 25%-55%.

With our superior digital voice services, you’ll experience a reliable and feature-rich phone system at a fraction of the cost of traditional options.

With SIP, you’ll enjoy:

• Significant cost savings compared to outdated phone services.
• Crystal-clear call quality and advanced features.
• The peace of mind that comes with a future-proof, reliable solution.

Upgrade to SIP today.

Choose Network Telecom for All Your Business Telecom Needs