The market is growing exponentially, and better communication is the key. Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a digital way of communication over the internet. SIP trunks are not limited to voice calls, but they are also used for multimedia communication that combines voice, video, and messaging services.

According to studies, 86% of buyers are ready to pay more for a great customer experience. Customers value great customer experiences and are willing to pay a price premium of up to 13% for great services.

To grow your business, you must provide better customer service. One way to improve customer service is by upgrading your telephony system. Seamless customer service can help you a lot while dealing with International clients. The well-known way to enhance your communication system to the cloud is SIP Trunks. Let us dive deep and learn in detail about SIP trunking and how it helps you lower international calling costs.

How does SIP trunking Works?

SIP trunking has replaced the old analog phone systems with digital systems. It does not use traditional phone lines to route the calls. But instead sends voice calls over the internet. The various components of SIP trunking systems that are involved in its working involve:

Let us shed some light on each of them and explain them in detail.

SIP Channels: SIP channels are the digital version of the old analog phone systems. A SIP channel allows one outward, and one inward calls simultaneously. Also, you do not need any wiring systems to add new channels.

SIP Trunks: SIP trunks are multiple lines grouped. SIP trunks act as virtual phone that connects a business to a telephony service provider. SIP trunks act as an intermediary between a company’s phone connections and its Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP). It allows inward or outward communication between multiple networks.

SIP Protocol: SIP protocol is a set of communication rules. These rules tell how to make or end data connections over the internet. It enables the voice communication session between the users so that they can speak to each online through a phone line, video call, or messaging service. 

SIP Provider: The providers offer SIP services such as voice calls, video conferencing, and messaging. These groups one or more SIP connections and runs them through a company’s private branch exchange. 

What are the factors involved in SIP Trunking pricing?

The pricing of SIP Trunking depends on various factors such as equipment, implementation fees, and more. There are a few factors that affect the cost of SIP, they are:

  • Setup Fees
  • Add-ons Features
  • Monthly Subscription 
  • Outbound Call Rates
  • New Phone Lines
  • Number Porting Fee
  • Handsets and PBX configuration

Setup Fees: SIP trunk vendors change a SIP setup fee. The pricing depends on per setup and vendors' charges per month. The setup fees depend on the cost of consultation, implementation, and quality testing.

Add-on Features: The add-on features can increase the monthly fee per user. If your business chooses extra add-on features for inward or outward communication, you may have to cost according to that.

Monthly Subscription: This is the fixed price that your business needs to pay to your SIP Trunking provider. These can vary from provider to provider.

Outbound Call Rates: These are the metered plans. These can charge you per minute and include a monthly fee.

New Phone Lines: If businesses switch to SIP and provide inward dial numbers for more users, they will be charged accordingly.

Number Porting Fee: If you are willing to change your existing phone number and port to the new vendor. The porting fee will be considered.

Handsets and PBX configuration: A IP-compatible handset is required for SIP trunking to work properly, and that will cost too. The cost depends on the brands and features of the handset.

Why is SIP Trunks affordable?

SIP Trunks not only replace costly traditional phone systems but also help in reducing your phone bills. Here are a few reasons why SIP Trunks are so affordable.

  • SIP Trunks help in reducing bills by eliminating the need for expensive Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) lines.
  • Even though SIP Trunks use metered plans, they have a low cost of per-minute SIP calling as compared to traditional telephony.
  • SIP Trunks use the Internet to make and receive calls through Voice Over Internet Protocol.
  • SIP Trunks maximize the phone systems by connecting them to a cloud PBX.

Now that we have learned about the working of SIP Trunks, the factors involved. Now let us move further in the article and learn about the benefits of SIP Trunking.

How do International SIP Trunks benefit your business?

A SIP Trunks let your business does all the communication over the internet. Session Initiation Protocol enables end-to-end communication over the Internet. In simple words, SIP trunking providers provide a bundle of virtual phone lines that uses the internet connection for business voice service.
Let us now dive deep into the benefits and discuss each of them in detail.

  • Integrated Communication System: SIP trunking helps you build a strong infrastructure. SIP trunking eliminates the use of multiple or overlapping networks. It allows various data transmissions like voice, video, and more by using one IP-based network.
    For example: If you need to provide support to a large number of calls, you can simply increase the internet bandwidth. It eliminates the need for purchasing a new voice service solution. 
  • Instant Return on Investment (ROI): When it comes to Return on Investment, it takes businesses years to get the results. But this is not the case with SIP Trunks. SIP Trunks come without the risk of huge investment and gives instant ROI. You can see the instant difference between your analog bills and the amount you need to pay monthly. 
  • Geographical Flexibility: SIP Trunking has a lot of advantages over your PBX lines. SIP Trunks expands your growth limits worldwide. You only have to increase or modify your bandwidth. SIP Trunks eliminate the unnecessary purchase of local Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) gateways and Primary Rate Interface (PRI) lines. SIP combines voice services and data into a single network. It in turn combines your remote offices and workers. 
  • Strong Presence: SIP Trunks help companies to have a strong presence locally. It helps companies in setting up their phone numbers with local area codes. Traditionally, companies used to use generic toll-free numbers, such as 800 numbers. These numbers are not customized for local customers and supporters. But with SIP Trunks, you can set up a local number for local customers and supporters, enhancing your local presence.
  • Enhanced Productivity: Projects do not always fail because of development issues, sometimes projects fail because of communication issues. If the communication system is not seamless, there is a high chance that the teams are not able to work seamlessly. And because of poor communication, deadlines and goals can suffer. Using SIP trunks makes it easy to communicate effectively without worrying about the communication gap.
  • Reliable Service: The major concern related to SIP Trunking that is seen among businesses is what will happen if the internet stops. SIP Trunking comes with the solution to this concern. It provides redundancy for power outages or system failures. Your system provider lets your business maintain continuity by rerouting the calls to employees’ mobile devices automatically or the other mobile devices available.
  • Employee Mobility: SIP Trunks provide the high advantage of mobility and flexibility. If you are not using SIP Trunks, you can only receive or make calls when you are near the phone. But SIP Trunks made it easy to receive and make calls by routing the calls to your mobile phones. It made the life of employees working remotely easy.
  • Easily Manageable: SIP trunking makes it easy to remove phone lines, add or remove features, extensions, and many more. SIP Trunks can be managed easily. Also, it is time-saving as you don’t need hours to learn them. You can easily make changes in minutes.
  • Security: SIP Trunks are highly secure and provide high security for all your communication. You can have dedicated resources or connections to you, ensuring your security. It protects your business from potential hackers. Not only that, SIP Trunks keeps track of all call activities. If someone somehow gains the access to your data network and tries to misuse it, they can easily be tracked and caught easily.  
  • High Call Quality: The quality of calls does matter a lot in businesses. You do not want to give your clients a bad communication experience. Poor communication systems can give a poor impression to customers. If you are facing any problem like call fading, call dropping, or any noise, you need to switch to the SIP Trunks. SIP Trunks maintains the call quality and keep the quality of calls high even during high traffic and gives your customers a great communication experience.
  • Real-time Analytics and Insights: SIP Trunks are cloud-based systems that give you real-time access to analytics. You can easily access the call logs and check their accuracy. You can put the data into machine learning services which can make your business more intelligent and smart. Not only that, you can get the statistics of each employee and check the access of their communication with clients. It helps you improve employee performance and grow the business. 

Features that you should consider when choosing a SIP Trunk Service

Different SIP providers offer different quality SIP trunking services. Here are a few features that you consider before choosing any SIP Trunk provider.

  • Real-time Data Analysis
  • Security
  • Number Management
  • Call Metrics
  • Interoperability

Let us discuss each point in detail now.

Real-time Data Analysis: It is crucial to check the data that your SIP provider offers and view it in real-time. The more information you can collect before choosing the SIP provider, the easier it will be to make a decision.

Security: Your SIP Trunk provider must offer high security. The SIP provider needs to use encryption to secure your phone calls and other communication. 

Number Management: While using the service, if you decide to change the provider, your SIP Trunk service must be portable. So, before choosing any SIP service ensure to choose the portable service that can port all your existing phone numbers from a central platform.

Call Metrics: Know what information you will be offered while making the calls. Most SIP Trunk providers offer data about call completion percentages and voice quality.

Interoperability: Many providers offer customizable services that suit your business. So you must understand your needs in detail before choosing your SIP provider. Make sure that you are getting services like video conferencing, instant messages, and other communication features. 

The Final Thoughts

SIP Trunking is a great way to improve your company’s communication systems. A seamless communication system not only lets your employees work efficiently and effectively. But also give your customers a user-friendly and smooth way of communication. Organizations while choosing SIP trunking for their businesses will need equipment and proper assistance from telecommunication professionals for the implementation of services.

If your organization has ever suffered from huge phone bills or balancing on-site phone calls or unreliable phone lines, you can benefit a lot by switching from traditional communication systems to SIP Trunks.