VoIP Tips

One of the biggest “buzz” phrases at this week’s Internet Telephony Conference was SIP Trunking. From the conference track, to the expo floor, SIP Trunking was everywhere. For those of you who are not yet familiar with SIP Trunking, here is a brief overview.

SIP Trunking is based on SIP.

SIP stands for Session Initiation Protocol. SIP is an application-layer control (signaling) protocol for creating, modifying, and terminating sessions with one or more participants. It is widely used as the signaling protocol for VoIP calling and is widely thought of as the standard for VoIP calling. Typically, a company’s VoIP calls will involve a circuit switched handoff to the PSTN outside of the company’s local area network. With SIP Trunking, the company’s VoIP Service Provider handoff’s calls via the Service Providers SIP Network. Calls that are going to the PSTN will routed over the Service Providers IP backbone to the nearest PSTN gateway.

For the truly non-technical, a SIP Trunk is simlar to a phone-line, except that a SIP Trunk utilizes the IP network, not the PSTN. SIP Trunking also allows for convergence of voice and data onto common all-IP connections.

So why should you be using SIP Trunking? Here are the 9 Benefits of SIP Trunking that help answer that question.

1. SIP Trunking reduces or eliminates the costs associated with the purchase of hardware media gateways.
2. SIP Trunking also reduces or eliminates the costs associated with the ongoing support and maintenance costs of hardware media gateways.
3. SIP Trunking reduces the recurring costs of separate PSTN and data circuits (some dedicated to voice, some to data).
4. SIP Trunking eliminates the over-subscription of voice channels based on business requirements.
5. SIP Trunking supports multiple forms of communication including video and instant messaging allowing for greater levels of user presence.
6. SIP Trunking utilizes DID’s (Direct Inward Dials) that allows each employee to have their own phone line. This increases the flexibility and implementation of call control and dial plans.
7. SIP Trunking improves the call quality of voice based IP communications because each SIP Trunk is a dedicated “channel.”
8. SIP Trunking reduces toll charges from SIP origination/termination services to the PSTN for external long-distance and local access calls.
9. SIP Trunking allows for the selection of a single SIP Trunk which increases the flexibilty and ease of adding, subtracting, or changing a line.

SIP Trunking is a unique product that delivers great benefits to small and medium businesses.

As one of the hottest new products in the VoIP industry, there will soon be an increase in SIP Trunking offerings from a number of different providers. In addition to the 9 benefits of SIP Trunking listed above, make sure that prior to making any business communication decisions on SIP Trunking, you fully consult with your service provider of choice about the implications of this decision on your business.

As the Voice Over IP Industry continues to grow and mature an increasing number of equipment manufacturers are offering IP phone solutions. As the number of possible solutions increase, the more complex the process gets in selecting the proper IP phone. Here are ten questions (in no order of importance), that if answered prior to investigating any solution, should make the selection an IP Phone much easier.

1. Who Will Be Using the Phone? Executive, Manager, Sales Associate, Associate, Recptionist, etc.

2. What Features and Functionality Does That Person/Position Need? Call Waiting, Call Transfer, Call Parking, Conference, Speaker Phone, etc

3. How Many Incoming Calls Will the Person/Position Recieve at a Time? This Decides How Many Lines Appearances the Phone Will Need.

4. How Often Will the Phone Be Used? Is the Person/Position on the Phone All Day Long or Will They Hardly Need to Use it.

5. What phone system Are Your Using? Make Sure Your Phones Are Compatible With Your System Prior to Purchasing Them. This is Especially Important With Open Source or Open Source based Solutions.

6. How is The Office Wired? Do You Have Seperate Ethernet Connections For the IP Phone and the Computer, or Does the IP Phone Need a LAN and a WAN Port in Order to Connect to the PC.

7. What are Your Power Requirements? Will You Be Using an AC Outlet or Does Your Network Support Power Over Ethernet.

8. What Protocol and Codec Does Your Service Provider/IP PBX Support? SIP, MGCP, H.323, G.711, G.729, etc.

9. What is the Standard Manufacturer’s Warranty and What Level of Support Do They (or Thier Resellers) Provide Free of Charge? It is Always Wise to Make Sure That a Defective Phone Can be Returned and That Any Installation Issues That You Might Encountered Can Be Handled Without Lengthy Time Delays.

10. What is Your Budget? What Are the Financial Limitations to the Phone Deployment and Which IP Phone Offers the “Best Bang for the Buck.”

By answering the ten questions above you should be well on your way to making the proper selection for your IP Phone needs.

Have a question or tip that will assist in making the IP Phone selection process easier? Add it to the comments below!