Understanding the Benefits of SIP Trunking

A SIP trunk is a system that allows you to operate your business telephony systems over an internet connection. SIP benefits include the ability to run multiple lines, increased reliability, and the option to run not only voice but also video and chat, all on one connection.

SIP is commonly associated with VoIP, but they are not the same technology. Rather, SIP is one of the tools used to facilitate VoIP. To make a VoIP call using SIP, you'll use a SIP gateway. This acts as a server and manages the registration of VoIP-capable devices on the network, allowing them to connect to the VoIP provider and make or receive calls. It's the job of the SIP gateway to allow multiple devices to communicate with the VoIP server at the same time.

How does SIP trunking work?

SIP stands for Session Initiation Protocol. When you use a SIP trunk, your phones or other devices use your internal networking (e.g. Wi-Fi, hubs, switches or telephony gateways) to communicate with your router.

The router sends telephony traffic over the Internet to your chosen VoIP provider, who then channels that traffic to the intended recipient, whether that's another voice provider or the PSTN network for traditional telephony.

Using SIP trunking savings on call fees can be quite impressive, especially if you're making a lot of long-distance calls. SIP trunking also makes it easier to add new numbers as your business grows. Rather than having to purchase a new phone line for each agent, SIP trunking uses one line to offer many VoIP connections.

Why use SIP trunks?

SIP trunks offer several benefits:

  • Simple and easy to understand billing for your phone lines
  • The ability to create local phone numbers for each area you serve, without requiring a physical presence
  • Flexibility and scalability
  • Easy integration with other communication systems
  • Redundancy in the event of a power outage or other failure
  • Increased employee mobility

With SIP trunking, calls can be rerouted to an employee's mobile device when they're out of the office. Employees who work from home may have their calls directed to their home phone number or log in to a VoIP client on their desktop or laptop.

SIP trunking removes the need to have a PBX in a specific geographic area to have a local phone number for that area. This means businesses can have friendly and familiar "local" numbers for their customers to call, instead of using impersonal (and sometimes expensive to call) non-geographic numbers.

Before SIP trunking was widely available, adding new numbers and changing call routing was a complex task. With SIP trunks, managing numbers is simply a matter of making changes in the telephony software. It's fast, efficient, and easy for contact center managers to use, reducing the burden on the IT team and making your customer support or outbound sales teams simpler to manage.

8x8 provides a variety of different communications tools, including all-in-one business communications and tools to integrate with a variety of different CRM platforms and other popular APIs.

If you'd like to know how you can take advantage of SIP benefits with 8x8's tools, contact us today to schedule a no-obligation demonstration or request a quote.