Eventually SIP will be the “Standard” not only for business lines, but for cell phones and eventually home phones. SIP is the most efficient solution for voice in a high bandwidth environment. The single most dynamic technology change for businesses today is interment bandwidth. T1s which used to be the gold standard for high speed internet cannot deliver the amount of bandwidth companies need. Carriers try to resolve this issue by “bonding” T1s together, which provides an inefficient and costly solution. Because the costs are recurring the overall financial impact to the company can be significant without much improvement to the bandwidth needs. Fiber is, and will be the most popular way to achieve businesses bandwidth requirements.

A SIP enabled telephone system will have a network connection that will give it access to the internet as well as other functions. The telephone technician programs the IP and password information from one or more SIP providers into the telephone system. When a number is dialed, the telephone system will use any internet connection available to establish a connection with the proper SIP provider for the telephone number dialed. For instance a call to China might use a SIP provider that specializes in over seas calls where another SIP provider might provide unlimited local and long distance US calls. Once the connection is made to the SIP provider, the connection is authenticated and the call is completed.

SIP trunks have many advantages. Because they are through the network they are “Virtual” and need no hardware. No hardware means no expensive parts to purchase and maintain. SIP trunks are IP which is the platform that all equipment (phones, readers, cameras and computers) will be built around. The IP aspect of SIP trunks allows a business to have multiple SIP providers and be able to change providers in minutes with just the change of an IP address as opposed to a two month process with traditional carriers. SIP providers have little infrastructure costs and do not need to be local as they reside in the internet cloud. A company might want to have multiple SIP providers for multiple reasons. A SIP provider might specialize in toll free numbers, inexpensive long distance, or have an unlimited plan to a certain part of the world. The numbers and the specialties of SIP providers is exploding currently and the possibilities are endless.

Possibly the best feature of all might be the fact that SIP is the only type of business line that can have an uninterrupted backup. Because it is IP, any internet connection can automatically switch your lines from a T1 or fiber circuit that may be down from the carrier or cable cut, to a backup DSL line, air card through the cellular system or even satellite. Many routers have automatic fail over ports where alternate internet sources can be connected.

The combination of Fiber internet and SIP trunks is one of the few options available to businesses where they can significantly improve their technology and at the same time experience and incredible cost savings. Here is an example

The cost savings and the advantages are so significant that it would be irresponsible not to explore the option.