SIP Trunk PBX and VoIP: What Are They and How Do They Work?

With telecom acronyms, there’s no question things can get confusing. Learning more about each, how they can work together, and how they can enhance business communications can help you determine what you need and why these services may suit your business.

Getting to Know Common Acronyms: SIP Trunk PBX

Before you read more about how SIP trunk PBX works, take some to become familiar with the basics of telecom acronyms. These services provide a unique benefit for your business that can prove invaluable with overall communications productivity and efficiency.

SIP Trunk

SIP, which stands for Session Initiation Protocol, is how you make an IP or VoIP call. It is an application layer protocol for creating real-time video or audio sessions between two phones (endpoints). It is one part of SIP trunk PBX.

SIP is the technology behind the creation, modification, and termination of sessions that involve more than one party in an IP network. This is true whether you are on a traditional two-way call or you have a multi-party conference call.

Related: How to Find an Unlimited SIP Trunk Provider (and Why) 

PBX

PBX stands for Private Branch Exchange. It is a private telephone network that allows users to talk to one another. Various hardware components work together to offer connectivity to the phone network. It is the other element of SIP trunk PBX.

The PBX operates on your business’s internal phone network, and the system manages the routing and advanced calling features for both outbound and inbound calls.

Setting up a PBX is complex. While this is true, the PBX system offers several benefits for businesses, making it worth the time, effort, and investment to set it up.

VoIP

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. It describes a method used for placing and receiving phone calls over the Internet. VoIP is considered an alternative to using traditional phone service providers.

If you have ever heard of your IP address, that is the Internet Protocol address. The IP address is how computers (along with other devices) communicate with one another online.

While VoIP isn’t new, it is a smart, affordable way to handle unlimited calls.

With VoIP, you can make and receive calls without local phone service if you have an Internet connection. The solutions can work on any computer because they are designed on open standards.

VoIP will use your broadband Internet connection for making and receiving low-cost or free calls. With VoIP, you can call others who use this technology and people who do not.

This is because ATA, an Analog Telephone Adapter, converts the signal from analog to digital. At this point, the digital packets are moved over the Internet to a nearby digital location. From there, the information is turned back into analog and moves over the PSTN,  which allows the person on the other end to receive the call.

These three technologies — SIP Trunk, PBX, and VoIP — combined create a modern mix for businesses of all sizes to communicate efficiently with enterprise-level features at considerably reduced costs. In the following sections, you will review a series of benefits of SIP trunk PBX.

Benefits of Using SIP Trunking, PBX, and VoIP Together for Your Business

Using SIP trunking, PBX, and VoIP together provides several benefits to your business. These include:

Compatibility

SIP removes the need for physical connections by moving all communications to the Internet. It can also work along with your existing phone system. This means that you can avoid losing money since you can use the physical system in place. Put simply, it helps ensure that no resources go to waste.

Scalability

SIP trunking requires an Internet connection. Because of this, though, you have the flexibility to add additional DID phone lines and numbers to your PBX system, both on-site and cloud-based, when the need arises.

Disaster Recovery

SIP trunking allows you to redirect calls. This feature makes it possible to prepare for any type of disaster that may impact your business communication channels.

Cost Effectiveness

SIP trunking can help reduce company costs related to telecommunications by up to 50%. In 2015, this realization alone led to over 300,000 ISDN channels being dropped.

The channel is considered more cost-effective because it eliminates:

·  Costs related to international or long-distance calls

·  The ongoing purchase of local PSTN gateways or PRIs

·  Installation and ongoing maintenance costs for traditional channels

Additional Features           

Beyond the basic data facilities and voice options, SIP has several other benefits when paired with VoIP. Some of these features include:

• Holding multimedia conferences

• Tracking geo-locations

• Sending instant messages

• Checking user availability

• Using three-way conferencing, transferring, or terminating calls

Better Communication

Your business can easily communicate across geographical boundaries using SIP trunking. For example, employees who sit in remote offices can maintain a seamless communication channel with their colleagues and managers with this system in place.

SIP trunking is also particularly valuable for your business if more and more remote workers are joining your team from different parts of the world. SIP helps to iron out issues related to scalability as changes in the number of employees will not result in complete system breakdowns.

Related: What to Look For in a SIP Provider?

Finding the Best Service Provider

As you can see, utilizing SIP trunking, PBX, and VoIP together offers several communication benefits. It’s important to use the latest technology to ensure your business remains competitive, which is especially important today with more and more companies popping up all the time.

While this is true, not all service providers offer all three, leading to integration issues. Finding one provider that offers everything will pay off and benefit your business in the long run.

If you are ready to implement these technologies in your small or medium business, call us at SLIP.US  and let us empower your business using the benefits of SIP trunking and PBX!