Most of today’s business owners realize the need for modern telecommunications technologies. What a lot of business owners don’t realize, however, is just how quickly the telecommunications industry is changing and evolving. Keeping up with the ever-changing nature of telecommunications is important for running a successful business though, and smart business owners use a variety of telecommunications methods, such as unified communications, mobility, video, and more. For those who don’t have time to stay on top of all of these methods, there is, fortunately, another solution. That solution is SIP trunking. This telecommunication type is so vital that, even if all other types of telecommunication are abandoned or are used in outdated formats, a business can still thrive. Furthermore, SIP trunking actually makes it easier to utilize other communication applications.
The benefits of SIP trunking don’t stop there, however. This telecommunication methodology can also save businesses money, make networks simpler and easier to use and access, and just really has the power to positively transform a business. Regardless of where a business currently is in its telecommunications strategies, SIP trunking is definitely worth considering, and here, businesses can learn what kinds of things they should be “considering” or thinking about as they enter into the world of SIP trunking.
While it’s definitely important to be utilizing an SIP trunking service, which service you choose is every bit as important as whether or not you’re using SIP trunking. Fortunately, there are many excellent SIP providers out there. In fact, many businesses, unbeknownst to them, already have willing providers in their PRI trunk leasers.
There are also companies that specialize in providing both SIP trunking service and Internet Telephony Service. Then, of course, there are companies focused solely on providing SIP trunking services. Many broadband data service providers even offer SIP trunking services these days.
Individuals are encouraged to think about the services they are already using. If they would like to combine their services, meaning they’ll pay just one bill per month and get all of their services, including SIP trunking services, in one convenient location, they’re better off choosing SIP trunking services through a company they already use. Those, however, who would like to minimize their telecommunications services and focus mainly or even solely on SIP trunking or who need highly specialized and capable SIP trunking services may want to work with a provider that only provides and focuses on SIP trunking.
Regardless of which type of service is chosen, it’s important for business owners to be very selective about the companies that they choose to work with and to do their research to ensure superior service.
Business owners who already have experience with PRI trunks will know firsthand that cost varies greatly from one provider to the next and based on the exact services received. The same can be said for SIP communications. In most cases, companies will lease SIP trunks on a monthly basis, and users will be given a certain “bandwidth” that they must stay within. Usually, this bandwidth is defined by an allowed number of concurrent calls, long distance minutes, and/or other criteria. Users who go outside of their plan’s parameters often face extra fees or “cut off’ service, which can be frustrating.
The easiest way to determine exactly how many SIP trunks are needed and the cost is to think about current monthly usage and to compare it with what other, more advanced services are offering. Business owners who find that they can get more (or the same) for less would be wise to go with the cheapest but still most high quality option available.
Perhaps one of the scariest things about adding in SIP trunking services or switching to a new provider is that, in some cases, businesses face the possibility of losing their current phone numbers. Losing current numbers, especially if they are long held, can be quite detrimental to businesses, particularly if their customers may have a hard time locating them again once the number is changed.
Generally, it’s easy to keep one or two numbers, but when new numbers start to be added in or when multiple numbers need to be changed, the process can become difficult or even impossible. For these reasons, it’s wise to choose an SIP trunking service that has access to local numbers specifically in the business’s region. Don’t go with a company that’s going to stick the business with a “toll free” number, which seems impersonal. Instead, choose one that can offer a local number and cement the business’s region firmly in the minds of clients. The only exception to this rule is for businesses that serve a wide range of regions or that work solely online; in these cases, having a “central” number, even if it’s a toll free number, is not nearly as harmful.
While SIP trunking is a wonderful thing, it is not without its downfalls. Perhaps one of the worst things about SIP trunking is that, at any time, a service could temporarily go down. Avoiding this problem, at least most of the time, can be accomplished by choosing a company with a high reliability percentage. Even then, however, “going down” is a part of life for SIP trunking users; it happens, even with the very best services, from time to time.
The important thing is to not just crumble when there are network problems, equipment failures, or other unforeseen circumstances that lead to an SIP trunking failure. Instead, smart businesses know to have some kind of plan in place for when this happens. Many businesses, for example, have the foresight to choose SIP trunking providers that feature a redundant architecture to reduce failure occurrences. Others have even built their own redundancy models by having a secondary SIP trunking service in place. It’s even better if this secondary service is located elsewhere to avoid outages caused by local problems. Businesses can further prepare for outages by having at least a few PRI trunks available just in case.
Finally, businesses should always be careful to choose SIP trunking services that offer better (or at least equal) call quality than PSTN provides. Today’s landline connections are surprisingly clear, so meeting this criteria isn’t as simple as one might think. An easy way to ensure clear call quality, however, is by having an admission control system in place. This system disallows businesses from taking on more calls at a time than their networks can handle. That way, when phones start ringing off the hook, in-progress calls are not negatively affected. Many businesses also use codecs to translate audio packets into higher bandwidths, equaling higher call quality. Lower bandwidth transformation can also be useful when calls are being received at high volumes.
The important thing is to choose an SIP trunking service that has some kind of method in place to improve and maintain call quality at all times. To know exactly what an SIP trunking service’s features and strategies are, ask! Also, check out the service level agreement, which should clearly detail the provider’s network uptime, call completion rates, call quality scores, and more. A company that doesn’t have a service level agreement is not one worth working with.
As a final, “bonus” tip, businesses should always choose a SIP trunking company that makes use of a session border controller, or, at the very least, should be using one themselves. Session border controllers can make all the difference when it comes to call security, call quality, and reliability of the SIP trunking service. Business owners who carefully consider these factors should ultimately be satisfied with their SIP trunking services.
