There is a relatively new technology that can be used to bring voice calls into a business telephone system that gives lower monthly bills and a higher level of reliability. It is called a Cisco SIP trunk, and it is worth looking at ways it can benefit your business. The one thing you need to know is that your business has to be using a Voice over IP phone system in order to gain all the benefits, however, in many cases the monthly cost savings from converting to a Cisco SIP trunk with a Cisco VoIP phone system can fund the upgrade to a VoIP telephone system!
Most businesses that have more than sixty phone users have a type of business phone system called a Private Branch eXchange, or PBX. This system allows users to call each other quickly, and to share the circuits that are provided by the phone company for outside calls. The circuit that connects the organization to the telephone company is most often a type of voice T1 called an ISDN PRI, which can have 23 concurrent calls on it, and costs typically $600/month. A T1 can also be used for other reasons, including providing data connections in the form of Internet or a private Wide Area Network such as MPLS. Because all business locations require voice service as well as data service, most typically have multiple T1 connections coming into each of their sites. A Cisco phone system can work with traditional voice T1's as well as a SIP trunk, making the changeover very straightforward.
One of the best advantages of SIP trunking is cost savings. For example, a business that has ten sites, each with a voice T1 and an Internet data T1, can reduce their costs significantly. An Internet T1 is about $600/month, whereas an MPLS T1 costs less at about $450/month. It is possible to reduce a $12,000/month data and voice circuit cost to about $7000/month by putting in place SIP trunking and an MPLS private network instead of voice T1's and Internet T1's. This leaves $5000 extra every month that can be used to pay for the purchase of equipment and installation services for a VoIP phone system. If the phone system is financed over a 3 year period, that provides a budget of about $180,000 for a new telephone system.
There are additional savings from circuit consolidation. SIP trunking is often used to consolidate extra circuit channels from the phone company. With traditional voice T1 circuits, If a location requires that more than 23 calls be completed at the same time, a second T1 has to be added, bringing the total to 46 concurrent calls. The increased capacity is only available for that site. It is very different with SIP trunking; in most cases the SIP trunk is priced for total concurrent calls for the whole organization, which means utilization is higher and costs lower.
Another advantage of SIP trunking is reliability. The SIP trunk phone calls are sent over a data network to a voice gateway that can terminate the SIP call. It is over an IP connection. If the first location the call is directed to is unavailable, then a second and possibly third location can terminate the call. That means if a remote office location is not available due to power outage or natural disaster, the calls can still be sent to a person on the phone system who is available. This allows the business to continue to provide customer service to the caller and not just give a busy signal, which is what the caller would receive if the call was directed to a voice T1 connected to a PBX that was turned off.
Just like any newer technology, there are many details that have to be taken care of during a SIP trunk deployment. When it is combined with a phone system changeover, there are more details and potential issues. For most organizations, the cost savings, better reachability and increased productivity from a new telephone system make it a worthwhile upgrade. SIP trunking combined with a Voice over IP telephone system is a project that should be on every organization's future plans.
Most businesses that have more than sixty phone users have a type of business phone system called a Private Branch eXchange, or PBX. This system allows users to call each other quickly, and to share the circuits that are provided by the phone company for outside calls. The circuit that connects the organization to the telephone company is most often a type of voice T1 called an ISDN PRI, which can have 23 concurrent calls on it, and costs typically $600/month. A T1 can also be used for other reasons, including providing data connections in the form of Internet or a private Wide Area Network such as MPLS. Because all business locations require voice service as well as data service, most typically have multiple T1 connections coming into each of their sites. A Cisco phone system can work with traditional voice T1's as well as a SIP trunk, making the changeover very straightforward.
One of the best advantages of SIP trunking is cost savings. For example, a business that has ten sites, each with a voice T1 and an Internet data T1, can reduce their costs significantly. An Internet T1 is about $600/month, whereas an MPLS T1 costs less at about $450/month. It is possible to reduce a $12,000/month data and voice circuit cost to about $7000/month by putting in place SIP trunking and an MPLS private network instead of voice T1's and Internet T1's. This leaves $5000 extra every month that can be used to pay for the purchase of equipment and installation services for a VoIP phone system. If the phone system is financed over a 3 year period, that provides a budget of about $180,000 for a new telephone system.
There are additional savings from circuit consolidation. SIP trunking is often used to consolidate extra circuit channels from the phone company. With traditional voice T1 circuits, If a location requires that more than 23 calls be completed at the same time, a second T1 has to be added, bringing the total to 46 concurrent calls. The increased capacity is only available for that site. It is very different with SIP trunking; in most cases the SIP trunk is priced for total concurrent calls for the whole organization, which means utilization is higher and costs lower.
Another advantage of SIP trunking is reliability. The SIP trunk phone calls are sent over a data network to a voice gateway that can terminate the SIP call. It is over an IP connection. If the first location the call is directed to is unavailable, then a second and possibly third location can terminate the call. That means if a remote office location is not available due to power outage or natural disaster, the calls can still be sent to a person on the phone system who is available. This allows the business to continue to provide customer service to the caller and not just give a busy signal, which is what the caller would receive if the call was directed to a voice T1 connected to a PBX that was turned off.
Just like any newer technology, there are many details that have to be taken care of during a SIP trunk deployment. When it is combined with a phone system changeover, there are more details and potential issues. For most organizations, the cost savings, better reachability and increased productivity from a new telephone system make it a worthwhile upgrade. SIP trunking combined with a Voice over IP telephone system is a project that should be on every organization's future plans.
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Here is a brief video explaining the benefits of a Cisco SIP trunk, and this is a link to an article about planning your Cisco phone system upgrade.
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