SIP Trunking – Addressing the Hidden Costs of Telephony Networks

The issue of SIP trunkinghas become increasingly important over the past year or so as a natural part of the evolution of VoIP networks.Initially, most VoIP networks were deployed as intracompany nets with the traffic running over internal packet networks. Any connection to the PSTN were via traditional TDM trunks for a very good reason: TDM trunks were the only viable method for connecting to the PSTN. (Made the decision rather simple…)

Now, however, service providers are supporting packet-based SIP trunks for interface to the network. Consequently, these can be used for at least two good reasons: more efficient bandwidth utilization and intercompany end-to-end packet conversations. This latter point is particularly important as VoIP evolves to fully a functional Unified Communications and Collaboration scenario – whether intracompany, intercompany, and/or “Cloud-based.”
At a time when management is demanding maximum efficiency from every department, the hidden costs of traditional TDM (time division multiplexing) phone networks are coming to light. Unfortunately, traditional networks are location-oriented, need physical provisioning, maintenance, and management at the site of the voice access lines – making these traditional systems inherently inefficient and costly.

SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) trunking is an intelligent, IP-based platform for next generation collaboration that can provide cost savings opportunities and deliver a new level of enterprise efficiency. SIP trunking takes advantage of IP broadband connectivity to combine multiple voice circuits with data networks to reduce the inefficiencies of TDM networks. A recent study estimates companies that adopt SIP trunking save 26 percent from what they now pay for TDM trunks. With SIP trunking, you can deploy as many phone lines as you need, when you need them, and allocate that phone capacity across various locations. SIP trunking also enables a variety of business enhancing applications and services that can boost your efficiency and deliver a competitive edge.