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SIP Phones and SIP Trunks Working Together

SIP Phones and SIP Trunks

Session Initiation Protocol -- it's a term that is on the cutting edge of the business telecommunications industry; SIP phones, SIP trunks, and their attendant VoIP and IP-PBX counterparts and partners are all the rage. If you're already lost, you're not alone, but the basics of this acronym-laden technology are surprisingly simple.

If you're familiar with the term 'VoIP' -- that's Voice over Internet Protocol, the technology that brought first Vonage and then the Magic Jack into our homes -- you've already got half of the understanding you need. SIP phones are simply telephones that function over data lines rather than phone lines, just like VoIP technology allows you to make Internet-based phone calls by hooking your phone to your computer.

Of course, at your place of business, the technology that backs up the act of making an Internet "telephony" call is much more robust than the scanty dongles that the at-home VoIP services use. They're called SIP trunks, and they allow your SIP phones to make Internet-based calls with much greater call clarity, much less interruption of your non-voice data flow, and in much greater number than a typical VoIP system.

The short version of it looks like this: you have a business that probably currently uses both traditional phone lines, referred to as Public Switched Telephone Network or PSTN lines, and Internet-enabled data lines. You purchase SIP phones to replace your normal phones and an SIP trunk that runs over your data lines, and then you get to ditch the normal phones and the PSTN line altogether.

Why would you want to do that? Simple: it costs less. SIP calls completely ninja past the connection fees, distance fees, per-minute fees, and of course taxes that are all an unavoidable part of the PSTN 'experience'. You're already paying for an Internet connection, and the SIP trunks are generally noticeably less costly than the collective fees for a small or medium business, particularly if you have a business that involves any amount of calling around as part of its daily operations.

A small business will probably be able to manage with SIP phones and SIP trunks and little else -- that's because SIP trunking services usually come with a few telephony features that mimic the kinds of phone features used by businesses on regular phone lines. For example SIP trunks can (and most do) offer call waiting, call forwarding, caller ID, multiparty calling, automated callback, and more. Some even offer more advanced features that would typically fall under the umbrella of Unified Communications, such as presence tracking, conferencing, and similar features.

A medium sized business will probably want to invest in an IP-PBX -- that's a Private Branch Exchange that is IP-ready for easy hookup to SIP trunks. Even with the initial investment in IP-PBX hardware however, a medium-sized business' telecommunications use is almost always large enough that they will see an immediate and definitive reduction in communications costs by switching to the SIP phone/IP-PBX/SIP trunk trifecta.

Submit a SIP Trunking VoIP quote request today for your business and save up to 80% on your monthly phone bills.

Business SIP Trunking Service

Businesses are saving up to 80% on their monthly phone bills by switching to a SIP Trunking VoIP phone service. Receive FREE SIP Trunking service quotes by completing the short form below, takes less than 1 minute to complete. Alternatively, use our Popular Business SIP Trunking Providers comparison table below to select a SIP Trunking service provider.

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