If you run a business that makes a lot of calls, you are probably looking for ways to minimise the cost of them – especially if that business is small or otherwise rather limited in budget. One phrase that might have popped into your head at some point is “SIP trunks”, but… what are they?
No, they aren’t anything you would slip into for the swimming pool. SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) trunks are gateways that can bridge the gap between a conventional phone system and a more modern, VoIP-based solution. Here are ways that SIP trunking can save you money…
You Can Cost-Effectively Add Extra Phone Lines
How many phone lines do you need? Naturally, we will leave you to answer that question for yourself, but the number could be quite high if you rely on both outbound calls, such as to clients, customers or suppliers, and internal calls – yes, calls between members of your staff.
With SIP trunking, you don’t need to implement phone lines in set amounts of, say, 15 or 30, as was the case with traditional analogue lines. Instead, you can allocate exactly as many phone lines as you require, Startups.co.uk explains. This means not having to pay for lines that are left unused.
You Can Potentially Reduce the Cost of Internal Calls to Zero
As BT has indicated that it will turn off its PSTN and ISDN networks as well as migrate all of its customers to IP networks by 2025 as per an IT PRO report, that’s a big incentive for you to “future-proof” your business phone system by digitising it. SIP trunking can be the first step in doing that.
Switching to a VoIP phone system would save you having to install physical hardware for that system at each of the offices where your company operates. However, even before then, SIP trunks could enable your staff to call each other between sites at no financial charge – provided, crucially, that all of these sites use SIP trunks from the same provider, Startups.co.uk has cautioned.
Therefore, it can pay to be careful which provider you choose. Among SIP trunk providers in the UK, Gamma focuses on the business market, meaning that you don’t have to worry about domestic traffic clogging up your phone lines and, consequently, hampering your call quality.
Are You Looking to Expand the Business?
If you would like to start marketing your products or services to a part of the country which your business hasn’t previously reached, you don’t necessarily have to open a new office there. That’s because SIP trunking lets you source a local number for that area even if you lack a base there.
Even international calls could fall in price with SIP trunking in place, as it would rely only on an internet connection and, if you still need a little more hardware to make it all work, that as well. Forget swimming trunks, SIP trunks are the ones that can make your corporate calling go – ahem – swimmingly.
