Zoom Phone Cloud Peering & Premise Peering

Author: Liz Fieno

What is Zoom Phone?

Zoom Phone is a cloud-based business phone system developed by teleconferencing provider Zoom. With Zoom Phone, users can make calls from personal computers, desk phones, Zoom Rooms, and cell phones from one app.

A history of Zoom Phone and BYOC

In search of more flexible and cost-effective communications, enterprises have begun swapping their traditional premise-based phone systems for cloud-based Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) and Contact-Center-as-a-Service (CCaaS) solutions. 

Depending on the unique needs of different companies, the features and functionality available from cloud-based solutions have led IT leaders to plug in their own carrier to gain more control over their telephony. This model is known as Bring Your Own Carrier (BYOC), and has risen in popularity in recent years. 

What began as rudimentary SIP integrations have been replaced with sophisticated BYOC programs complete with carrier Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and dedicated support. By using the UCaaS and CCaaS platforms underpinned by the carrier of your choice, organizations receive additional control over moving to the cloud and lower costs by paying only for usage.

At their 2021 Zoomtopia, Zoom announced their official BYOC program: Provider Exchange. With Zoom Phone Provider Exchange, enterprises can unbundle telephony from their UCaaS platform and Zoom Phone to work directly with a carrier for SIP trunking and emergency services. 

How does Zoom BYOC work?

When an organization brings their own carrier to Zoom Phone, they can select a carrier through Zoom Phone’s marketplace, Provider Exchange, to directly power SIP trunking and emergency services. By unifying a best-in-breed network provider with a best-in-breed UCaaS solution, company leaders can deliver enterprise-grade communications to their employees and customers.

Within the Zoom Phone ecosystem, enterprises that BYOC have two options: Cloud Peering and Premise Peering. 

Zoom Phone Cloud Peering 

Through a carrier listed on Provider Exchange, organizations can unbundle telephony from Zoom’s UCaaS platform and Zoom Phone with a peering collaborator. 

Cloud peering completely eliminates the need for on-premise equipment, as businesses benefit from a direct interconnection between their cloud carrier and Zoom Phone’s data centers. 

Many businesses choose Cloud Peering because it can deliver: 

  • Lower costs via per-usage pricing from the carrier
  • No need for on-premise hardware
  • More control over cloud migrations
Zoom Phone Premise Peering

For organizations that wish to keep some on-premise equipment (like legacy PBXs or SBCs), Premise Peering gives IT professionals the ability to BYOC within a hybrid environment. They can connect their SIP trunks to Zoom Phone via their SBC or PBX, thus keeping an added layer of call control and security. 

While maintaining on-premise equipment makes lowering costs more challenging, there are other benefits of Premise Peering: 

  • Connect to existing PBX and/or SBC
  • Simpler migration with more control 
  • Quicker deployment 
  • Global reach and availability 

Migrating to Zoom Phone BYOC 

Regardless of whether you’re using an on-premise or hosted Session Border Controller (SBC) for your telecom, your SBC will be the bridge between your carrier and Zoom Phone. 

To get started with Zoom Phone BYOC, you need: 

  1. A Zoom Phone license, 
  2. A network provider, and
  3. SIP trunks from your communications service provider.

Why choose Zoom Phone BYOC with Bandwidth

In 2021, enterprises likely have many regional telco providers, an expensive comms tech stack, a nomadic or hybrid workforce, and compliance to worry about. To solve these challenges, more and more cloud communications providers have opened up their platforms for third-party integrations with SIP and E911.

Let’s cover why IT leaders choose to BYOC with Zoom Phone.

1. Easier migrations

For Bandwidth customers moving to Zoom Phone, the dial tone still comes from your existing carrier, lowering the risk of downtime when you’re porting over large volumes of numbers. This means more reliability and predictability than shifting your current numbers from other providers to Zoom Phone. 

Organizations that choose Bandwidth to power SIP trunking can also manage numbers through their dedicated Zoom dashboard for a better experience when managing and allocating numbers.  

Pro tip: If you’re currently using Zoom Phone Calling Plans, you may already be using Bandwidth phone numbers. This makes porting much quicker because your dedicated support team will have complete control over numbers. 

2. 24/7/365 support

Coming direct-to-carrier rather than purchasing SIP services from a wholesaler means you have a direct line of contact with your network provider for troubleshooting, development, and innovation. By bringing Bandwidth as your carrier to Zoom Phone, you’ll receive 24/7/365 support from your dedicated team of experts. 

3. Lower costs

With Bandwidth as your network provider, you can pay for usage (rather than seats) and remove the need for on-premise equipment when you migrate telecom and communications to the cloud.

4. Vendor consolidation

Using one carrier across your comms stack means you can streamline vendor management and reduce complexity. Rather than using different regional telco carriers for your UC and CCaaS platforms, you can bring on one global SIP and E911 provider that best fits your businesses’ scope, scale, and has expertise in local regulations, globally. 

Finding a carrier for Zoom Phone BYOC

No matter why you’re looking to bring your own carrier to Zoom Phone, picking a Zoom-certified SBC can open the door to innovation, cost savings, and the right telephony for your business.