The Benefits of SIP Trunking for Your Business: Why You Need It Now

When you consider the benefits of strategic technology decisions for your business, a great metric is the benefits they provide to your employees. As some companies force employees to return to the office, top organizations are looking to enable opportunities for flexible work hours, remote work arrangements, and more freedom.

Gartner cites digital enablement, hybrid workforces, and a culture that embraces remote work as key parts of the future of work. Adopting a cloud-based communications system and working with a SIP trunking service provider are foundational aspects of that modern professional environment.

By switching from conventional PBX lines to SIP trunking for small businesses, you’re already setting the stage for a better workplace. However, this technology switch offers additional benefits for your managerial teams, staff, customers, and bottom line. By identifying the key advantages and benefits—and seeing which ones are the most pivotal for your company—you can start immediately strengthening your business technology and communications strategies.

The Benefits of SIP Trunking Compared to Traditional PBX Phone Lines

Legacy business phones rely on a complex network of physical wires to connect your private branch exchange (PBX) with your public switched telephone network (PSTN). Your local phone company charges for each PRI (primary rate Interface) circuit installed for your business. Each circuit supports 23 calls and one data channel. 

When you need more connectivity, you’ll have to pay the increasingly high cost of installation, activation, maintenance, and system upgrades. There are also additional fees for digital services like remote file sharing, business SMS, and collaboration features.

Stepping away from this traditional, inefficient system is more straightforward than it seems when you adopt SIP trunking services. With the right SIP trunking provider, you’ll continue using your current phone system but in a smarter, more intuitive way. 

Instead of routing calls over your legacy phone lines, SIP trunks form a digital PBX. Approved by the Internet Engineering Task Force in 1996 and standardized in 1999, the SIP signaling protocol was designed to address the evolving needs of IP-based communications.

With SIP, analog signals are converted to data files that can be accessed from nearly any digital device via a user-friendly dashboard. Since analog signals are converted to a digital format, a single SIP session can contain any combination of media, including voice, video, data, and messaging.

How Do the Benefits of SIP Trunking Enhance Business Communication?

Switching to a SIP trunking system allows your business to operate under a cost-effective virtual infrastructure. With internet-based technology, you’re eliminating the complications and costs associated with maintaining phone lines and physical wiring. 

These infrastructural changes, such as moving from hardline SPX networks to a digital SIP trunking setup, may already have you thinking of several benefits. Consider easier system management, greater scalability, and the simplicity of managing everything from an intuitive platform. 

However, making the switch can also seem like a big project, giving decision-makers pause. Any major undertaking should have a long list of quantifiable benefits before your CIO and CFO can sign off on it. Consider the following business-wide benefits and how they can enhance business communication.

Switch to Cloud-Based Data Instead of Conventional Audio

Conventional phone line systems run on audio, which is inherently limiting. You can store calls as big audio files, but you and your teams can’t easily use the data. SIP trunking systems are digitized, and that means all of the call information gets stored as readable, configurable data that can be plugged into any number of CRMs, AM strategy tools, and call monitoring programs. 

As increasing numbers of small businesses switch to cloud-based digital solutions, the advantages become more apparent. 

• Your sales enablement and revenue teams can use call data to optimize processes for better sales results and ROI.
• Information is more readily available through simple functionality, as employees can search unified records for data and relevant information.
• Your management teams can see the metrics regarding calls, call durations, customer trends, and business impacts. 

Reduce the Cost Complexities of Your Phone Systems

Digital phone systems have fewer costs that are simpler to manage. Legacy phone systems require physical phones, wiring, network hardware, and services. These elements are multiplied across every location, and your business requires more of each one as departments experience growth. 

One of the most cited benefits of SIP trunking is scalability, a critical factor in expanding businesses. In essence, digital systems scale better, and your provider can easily add more licenses to your virtual directory. Provided your internet has the bandwidth, your locations can handle simultaneous business calls with greater audio quality, fewer outages, and lower costs. In addition, they can accomplish these changes with less specialized hardware.

If your business operates across multiple physical locations, you also likely juggle multiple phone providers since not every company covers the entire United States, let alone every country. With the right SIP trunking service, you can minimize the number of vendors and vendor-specific AP processes you have to manage every month.

Facilitate Easier Remote Work and Hybrid Work

Due to its high popularity and benefits to employee well-being, remote work is here to stay. Companies that offer their employees the ability to work on their own schedules and in their preferred locations outperform those with rigid RTO and in-office policies. 

The telephony systems you choose play an oversized role in your company’s ability to decide which work policies you have and how well those policies are implemented. Switching to SIP trunking means your staff can securely call customers and collaborate with internal teams from anywhere while maintaining the same business presence as if they were in the office.

Create an Omnichannel Marketing, Sales, and Support System

SIP trunking and modern telephony capabilities are critical aspects of UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service). Combining channels, such as voice, web conferences, instant messages, and emails, allows your revenue teams to better manage internal and external communications through a centralized approach. 

Why does your telephone system impact omnichannel capabilities? With communications delivered via the internet and unified on a single platform, you can:

• Instantly track calls and tie them to customer accounts or project files
• Transcribe calls into searchable text for reference or analysis
• Keep communications organized
• Make sure each communication channel is easy to access

Experience Less Downtime

The benefits of SIP trunking extend to consistent uptime and higher quality calls, which are essential to a solid business continuity strategy. Through SIP failover systems, you can create backup SIP trunks that pick up the slack if the lines go down or aren’t providing the level of service you need. Once your system is set up, this process is automatic, and your team can make calls and connect with customers without worrying about the network. 

Protect Your Data Better

Conventional phone lines don’t have data security and encryption options. This means your external and internal voice communications are at a high level of risk. Unfortunately, bad actors know their best bet is to target small and mid-sized businesses that likely have traditional phone lines. Without adequate security, your phones face risks like wiretapping, which can cause significant problems if you regularly share sensitive or personal information over voice communication.

SIP trunking systems digitize phone calls, immediately bringing them up to the same level of cybersecurity as the rest of your data streams. This makes your business less of a target and protects both your company and customer information. It also means your security teams have more data to stay on top of threats, security gaps, and attempted data theft.

Finding the Best SIP Trunking Provider for Your Business

Now that you know how some of the many benefits of SIP trunking can positively impact your business, it’s time to look at choosing the right provider. Call quality, overall flexibility, and system security can vary significantly from one service provider to the next. The best SIP trunking platforms make it easy to keep your team members connected while slashing your business communication costs by as much as 60%.

While comparing your options, consider the advantages of using a platform provider offering the following features.

• A User-Friendly Control Panel
• With a robust, user-friendly control panel, your employees have everything they need for efficient, effective collaboration. But that’s just the beginning. With the right provider, you’ll also be able to add or delete phone numbers, increase or decrease channels, subscribe to add-on services, monitor incoming and outgoing calls, and more.
• Contract-Free Service
• SIP trunking is of little value if you get locked into a contract with a platform provider that doesn’t provide high-quality service or exceptional customer support. You can protect your business and workforce by sticking with a reputable company willing to offer month-to-month, contract-free service.
• Add-On Services
• Many reputable SIP trunking platforms charge a flat rate per user for a range of essential services. As you’re browsing through options, take a moment to consider some of the other digital features you may benefit from adding to your basic service over time. Successful businesses opt for services like business SMS, widespread DID coverage, and fax-to-email capabilities.
• Dialer Traffic-Friendly Service
• Many SIP trunking providers avoid telemarketing traffic. If that option is vital for your business, look for a provider that clears the way for dialer traffic through a special arrangement with upstream carriers. You can activate your trunk settings with the right provider to avoid surcharges for dialer traffic during your regular service.

Does Your Business Need the Benefits of SIP Trunking?  

No matter the industry, many businesses benefit from a communication system upgrade that helps maximize efficiency while slashing the increasingly high cost of connectivity. A surefire approach is to modernize your phone system by enlisting the services of a reputable SIP trunking platform. 

Although you’re sure to find numerous companies offering a wide range of services, the best SIP trunk providers utilize a Tier 1 network, excel in customer service, and help protect your business with an automated system designed to detect and deter fraudulent activity.To experience the benefits of SIP trunking from a platform that integrates with your existing telephone system, visit SIP.US for a free, no-obligation trial. There’s no setup fee, and you can scale your service as needed from a convenient platform. Get started today to start reaping the benefits of cloud-based communications with affordability, scalability, and security at the forefront.