5 Benefits of A Virtual SIP Environment

Projections show that in 2020, there’ll be 204.8 billion corporate VoIP users across the world. Even traditional telephone companies are starting to jump on board. Back in 2017, AT&T pulled the plug on landline services in 20 states.

It’s only a matter of time before providers stop developing and supporting technology for legacy phones. The last thing you want is to get stuck in the dark ages without a way to communicate with your customers.

It’s time to evolve.

If you’re considering making the switch from a conventional phone system to SIP business services, this article is for you. The sooner you make the change, the better so read on and learn more about the benefits that await you

What Are SIP Business Services?

SIP stands for Session Initiation Protocol. It’s used in combination with VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol to make calls over the internet.

VoIP is the vehicle, while SIP is the language. When you use VoIP, data packets get sent over the internet via VoIP hardware and software.

The sending and receiving computers use SIP, which is a set of rules or a language for computers. Based on these rules, the packets get unpacked, decoded and displayed in a way we can understand.

SIP services for businesses use virtual phone lines instead of physical phone lines to send the data. When you bundle these phone lines together for business, it’s called SIP trunking. 

You may also hear VoIP services referred to as Business VoIP, Hosted VoIP or Cloud PBX.

Benefits of SIP Trunking for Business

The benefits of using SIP business services are many and varied. What follows are five ways your company can profit from virtual services over legacy telephony. 

Check out our pricing to see how SIP.US compares. 

1. Cost Saving Services

Typical phone services charge for calls by the minute and often have a monthly service fee to boot. SIP trunking services only have a monthly fee that doesn’t change based on the number of calls you make.

As a rule, SIP trunking providers also don’t charge for long-distance calls within a certain area. For example, they may include all calls within the 48 contiguous states of America. Some also consider a call to Canada, Alaska and, or Hawaii a local call.
Monthly service fees for VoIP include: 

SIP Channels

Each SIP Channel supports one incoming and outgoing call at a time. Most providers charge no more than $30 per channel. Providers who roll their setup costs into the monthly fees are less expensive starting out but have higher monthly fees overall. 

Before you switch to SIP, it’s a good idea to figure out how many channels you’ll need. Your provider can help you with these calculations, or you can work it out on your own. This article may help you determine the number of channels that’s best for your business. 

Direct Inward Dialing (DID) Numbers

DID numbers are the actual phone numbers your customers use to call you. For each number you need, there is a nominal fee of no more than a few dollars per month. There may also be a one-time setup fee of one or two dollars.

Toll-free DID numbers are almost always more expensive than a standard number, but not by much. 

A careful evaluation of your company may show that you only need one or two separate numbers. Most employees don’t need their own phone number for customers to call. For the most part, they just need a line to make and receive calls. 

Nomadic Enhanced 911 Services

Enhanced 911 (e911) services let emergency services see where 911 calls come from. They do this with caller ID. Because you can reroute DID numbers anywhere, this does not help them at all.

For this reason, most SIP providers offer nomadic e911. This allows responders to see where you are, no matter the number you’re calling from. 

2. Practical Hardware and Software Pricing

You may not even have to buy new equipment to get you started. Many office phones have builtin features that make them compatible with SIP services. If your existing phone does not have the ability to convert, you can get an analog telephone adapter so it will.

Even if you don’t already own a phone system, there are two other possibilities. 

Instead of a traditional phone set, you can use Softphones. Softphones use a headset and computer with internet access to make and receive calls instead of a phone.

3. Ability to Reroute Calls with Ease

One of the beautiful things about an internet-based phone network is that it goes where ever you need it, whenever you need it. You can have your calls routed almost anywhere on the fly.

SIP services are very reliable. They aren’t affected by power outages and internet outages are rare. If you do experience downtown, you can send calls to a secondary location that is up and running.

Don’t have an alternate office space? No worries! Reroute calls to your cell or home phone or your employee’s devices.

This also makes it possible for employees to work from home lowering overhead and needed office space.

With SIP trunks, you have options, a traditional phone service can’t offer. 

4. Fax Over IP

Remember that big, noisy clunker taking up space in the back of your office? The one that screams at you every time you send or receive a fax? The one you beat one second and coo softly at the next trying to coax it into working?

Once you switch to SIP, you can throw it out the door. SIP makes it possible to send faxes securely over the internet. 

5. Scalability

If you need to add or renew lines to your traditional phone service, good luck. We’re not saying it isn’t possible, simply that it’s not as easy as it sounds.

To grow a traditional phone system, you must contact your provider and buy the physical lines. Then you have to pay for their installation, which can take a good deal of time.

Most companies go ahead and buy the max lines they’ll need upfront, so they don’t have to do it again a few years later. If you do this, you’ll end up paying for equipment you’re not using.

With SIP technology, adding and removing channels is both cheap and immediate. You can add them for a busy time of year, like the holidays, and then remove them when you don’t need them anymore.

You only ever pay for what you need. 

Ready to Make the Switch? 

If you’re ready to get started, use the link to fill out the form. It takes less than 60 seconds to create your account with SIP.US. 

Have more questions? Not a problem, you can contact us anytime! 

We look forward to helping you with your SIP business services.