How to Pick the Best Business SIP Trunking Providers For Your Company
Let’s face it, the topic of SIP trunking is terribly tricky—mostly because it can be tough to make sure you’re picking the perfect SIP trunking provider for your small business. But here’s the deal—choosing a SIP trunking provider doesn’t have to be a nightmare. In fact, if you know the basics of trunking, what’s important to your business, and why trunking can make an impact for your small-to-mid-sized business, you’re already three steps further into your journey of picking the perfect trunking partner.
The challenge? Determining the answers to those three things we just mentioned.
Don’t worry—that’s exactly what we’re diving into together right here, right now. This article is going to do a few things that we consider super important for your SIP trunking decisions:
- Give you a solid definition of what SIP trunking is and why it matters.
- Provide you with the top tips needed to start your provider search.
- Answer the most commonly asked questions about SIP trunking.
By tackling these three obstacles together, we’ll be sure to kickstart your search for the SIP trunk provider that’s perfect for you!
Talking Trunking—What is SIP Trunking?
Sometimes it’s best to start with the basics to ensure we’re all working from a solid foundation of knowledge. This can be exceptionally beneficial when it comes to tricky topics like SIP trunking. So, let’s begin with a basic vocab breakdown.
SIP trunking—short for session initiation protocol trunking—is a method of sending voice and other types of unified communication services over the internet. Most commonly, SIP trunking is used to make, modify, and end calls that happen over the internet. Unlike a traditional phone line service, the process of SIP trunking uses the internet to make communication between two or more parties happen. Every SIP trunk used supports something called a SIP channel. Each SIP Channel is equivalent to a single incoming or outgoing call—so, every call coming in is one unique SIP channel, every call going out is another unique SIP channel. This can go on infinitely because SIP trunks can hold an unlimited number of SIP channels.
It’s OK to think of SIP trunks functioning like traditional phone lines as long as you understand this distinction—SIP trunking uses IP-enabled private branch exchange (PBX) to make and receive voice calls. There are no traditional phone wires—all of your calls are happening over the internet. This means that as long as you have the internet, you can make calls anywhere, anytime.
The term VoIP comes into play here, too. VoIP is a cloud-based service that relies on a third party to provide telephone connectivity through the internet. SIP trunking is the technology that allows VoIP calls to happen in the first place.
Still not entirely comfortable with the concept of SIP trunking? No sweat. We’ve got an entire article here that dives even deeper into the basics. Check it out, skim through it, and build up that foundational knowledge—we’ll be here and ready to pick it up when you get back.
How to Pick the Best Business SIP Trunking Providers for Your Company
As much as we wish a one-size-fits-all solution existed for picking the perfect provider, the reality is that every business has different needs, requirements, and goals—that means there might not be a single SIP trunking provider that can help every business out there. That’s why knowing what’s important to your business, what your goals are, and where you need assistance are all so important when it comes down to picking the right provider.
Our advice? Evaluate the features you need and try to understand the benefits that come hand-in-hand with every provider. Ask important questions about each provider, like:
- What benefits does this provider bring to the table?
- Does this provider offer customers support? IT support? When are they available—what if my questions and issues don’t happen during normal business hours?
- Will my internet company offer me a variety of trunk providers? How do they pick them and will they openly discuss that with me?
- Will this SIP provider offer flexible and adaptable services?
- Will I be able to port my current numbers?
- Can I add or remove phone sessions?
- Will I be able to host multiple calls at once, or will my service be limited?
Ultimately, picking the right provider is up to you—but it’s crucial to answer questions like these to ensure you’re choosing a partner, not just a provider.
The Top Questions About SIP Trunking—Answered
How Does SIP Trunking Work?
Unlike traditional phone services that use copper phone lines to transfer voice (sometimes referred to as primary rate interface or PRIs), SIP trunking works with IP-enabled private branch exchange (called PBX) to transfer voice and unified communications over the internet. Ultimately, if you have access to a high-speed internet connection, you can make calls over the internet wherever and whenever through a third-party SIP provider.
What is the Difference Between SIP Trunking and VoIP?
Because SIP trunking is the technology that allows voice communication to be sent over the internet and VoIP is the process of making a call over the internet, it’s important to realize that while these terms are used interchangeably, they’re not exactly the same. SIP trunking is the technology that allows VoIP calls to happen. In other words, SIP trunking can exist without VoIP calls, but VoIP calls cannot exist without SIP technology.
What Are the Benefits of SIP Trunking for VoIP Services?
The benefits of switching over to SIP are pretty vast, but ultimately, businesses can enjoy benefits like:
- Cost savings
- Unified communication
- More reliable connection
- Flexible scalability
- Network consolidation
- Minimizing costly hardware
- Minimizing physical infrastructure
- Failover guarantees
- Data protection
What Type of Businesses Can Benefit From SIP Trunking?
In short, almost every type of business can majorly benefit from SIP trunking over traditional phone services. Because SIP relies on an internet connection, it’s typically possible for your company’s internet provider to offer SIP services, further unifying and consolidating your communication services. Ultimately though, businesses who make a lot of calls—local, long-distance, and international—or going to see the major benefits of SIP trunking. Gone are the mysterious charges associated with making these types of calls on phone lines—using the internet to make your phone calls can save you a ton of money.
Your SIP Trunking Partner—Optimum Business Has Your Back
When it comes down to it, you don’t need a SIP trunking provider—you need a partner who will be there for you whenever you need them. You need a tech provider that has your back, is ready to help at a moment’s notice, and will never leave you hanging. Because ultimately, we know that the tech world can be tricky to navigate—but it’s necessary for your small business’ success.
At Optimum Business, we’re proud to be that partner for small business owners just like you—we want to do everything in our power to help you succeed. We believe SIP trunking can take your company to the next level, and we want to be with you every step of the way.
If you’re ready to kickstart your SIP trunk adventure, check out our business SIP Trunking page or reach out to our top-notch sales team. Still have questions? We want to hear from you. Reach out to our customer service time at any time—we’re here to help.