What is SIP Trunking: Answers to Common Questions About SIP

You’ve likely heard someone talking about SIP trunking at work when discussing your business’ phone service. Odds are good that when someone brought it up you found yourself thinking – “What is SIP trunking?”

Good question. Let’s talk about it.

What is SIP trunking?

In the days before the internet, a trunk was what you called a dedicated line that directly connected a business to its traditional phone provider. A SIP trunk provides that same connection, but between a business and its Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP).

Why use SIP Trunks?

There are several reasons businesses use SIP Trunks over legacy options. Not only is it low-cost and easy to integrate, it offers other ways of connecting your enterprise communications kit to the global PSTN.

1. SIP Trunking offers configuration simplicity

Since SIP is an Internet-based protocol it’s not bound by copper wires like traditional phone services. This means that wherever there’s Internet access, you can utilize SIP trunking, allowing your business to quickly setup phone services anywhere.

2. SIP Trunks offers wide integration options

SIP, being an IP-based service, integrates with existing infrastructure, as well as enterprise software and applications, making it a more flexible option to traditional analog and digital circuits that require you to build out infrastructure or have limited integration options.

3. SIP Trunks are reliable

Thanks to built-in redundancies and failovers, SIP trunks provide businesses with high up-times that traditional analog circuits can’t match without requiring you to contact your provider to setup forwarding should something go down – it all happens seamlessly with SIP.

4. SIP Trunks enable Virtual Presence

SIP can offer your organization local numbers in any area of the country, allowing your business to appear local in any market you do business in.

Who should use SIP Trunking?

SIP Trunking makes sense for businesses of all sizes – big or small. For smaller businesses, SIP provides the ability to converge networks, reducing the costs associated with managing multiple networks and allowing businesses to grow their telephony services at a rate that makes sense for them, not in the bundles traditional providers still require.

For larger companies, the ability to centralize PBXs and to quickly scale without the need for additional physical infrastructure helps to reduce costs and allows enterprise businesses to dynamically change their services based on real-time information about usage.

Why use Bandwidth for SIP Trunking?

For both large and small companies, Bandwidth provides world-class SIP trunking services. We provide low calling requirements for small businesses, while large enterprises can take advantage of predictable usage. For companies of all sizes, Bandwidth owning our own nationwide all-IP network ensures reliability and a single point of contact for all your telephony needs. Still trying to find the best SIP Trunking provider? Talk with one of our experts!