Standard telephone lines are being converted to advanced IP telephony and an unlimited number of virtual and mobile numbers are being connected. This means that more and more companies are abandoning hardware communication systems and prefer SIP connections. What is SIP trunk and what are its advantages, we will tell in this article.
What is SIP trunk in telephony?
SIP – protocol for establishing a communication session in IP telephony, based on which the devices recognize each other and transmit information. Such communication is called SIP-telephony.
SIP trunk – a virtual communication channel in SIP-telephony, which connects the devices in the company office and the operator. The channel is needed to process more than one call and send voice and video messages, as well as to combine the office with a virtual PBX in a single (holistic) communication channel, to build communication between your employees, regardless of which PBX they belong to.
You can see the benefits of SIP-trunk by an example. Let’s take an IT company with 3 500 employees and branches in 30 regions. The company has its call center with qualified employees, but they do not have time to process requests. There are frequent failures in the system, and the quality of communication periodically spoils. The challenge is to scale with SIP-trunk connections. The offices already have several SIP-enabled IP PBXs, so the connection process will take a couple of days. The result:
- channel capacity scalability appeared depending on the number of calls;
- the organization of the call center operation was improved;
- the working communication of employees within the company was improved;
- the connection speed and voice quality increased;
- resources and finances were saved: subscriber fees for virtual phone numbers and voice channels decreased.
What are the advantages of SIP-trunk for business?
SIP-trunk is not tied to the address; you keep the number if you move to another office. You won’t have to notify customers about the number change, order new advertising materials, or business cards, or pay the operator for the number portability. Also, the SIP-trunk connection allows you to save on additional equipment that would be required for connection to the usual telephony.
Opportunities for communication
SIP-trunk helps not only to communicate via fixed and mobile channels, to transmit video and messages but also:
- Quickly add as many new channels as needed, depending on business development.
- Access the corporate address book from desktops and cell phones.
- Use both your old and new corporate numbers.
- Create fast internal communication via short numbers for all PBX subscribers.
- Unite employees from different branches, remote and mobile employees.
- Call branches in other cities at the local rate or for free.
- Substitute a given number for outgoing calls.
Data security
Why SIP-trunk connection is safe for business:
- Traffic can go over VPN networks with additional encryption. Encryption guarantees the privacy of corporate data when transmitted over an open network.
- There is a system for managing roles and access rights. You do not have to worry about an employee wiping the database with all the numbers.
- Only company management and PBX system administrators have access to SIP-trunk.
How to connect SIP-trunk
Connection SIP-trunk is about the same with all providers:
- On the official website of the provider of the virtual PBX in your cabinet, you need to go to the SIP settings and click “Add”.
- In the window that appears, enter the IP address and port (must be known to your company system administrator).
- Specify the number – if the numbers of some telecom operator are connected to your PBX, and you want to make them available through the SIP Trunk.
- Configure routing.
- Call the hotline provider to confirm the IP.
- After confirming the IP address, you can make outgoing calls with the required CallerID number.
Conclusion
It is possible to expand the functionality of your company with a new corporate PBX, but you have to spend a lot of money on that. It is better to choose SIP-trunk to work smoothly with customers over the phone. SIP-trunk from the provider will provide a single telephone system for employees from different cities and will connect the required number of numbers with an unlimited number of channels, unlike the usual analog telephony.
