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Heard of VoIP and SIP but are unsure about their differences and how each technology can impact your business? This post explains the difference and how they work together to provide business communications.
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The key to efficient, smooth-flowing operations in your business is to have streamlined communications in place. This is why businesses search for easy-to-use and effective technologies to make and receive calls. You may have heard the terms 'VoIP' and 'SIP' (you may even be familiar with the words but not their differences. In this article, we'll define both, so you can understand how they work and can impact your business.
VoIP and SIP are heavily intertwined; however, they are not the same. Defining and understanding the differences between the two will give you a tremendous advantage when deciding what type of communication system will work best and is most practical for your business. Within this article, you'll discover the differences between VoIP and SIP, the advantages of each and how to decide the best communication system for your business.
As a business looking for effective communication systems, you've probably heard of VoIP and SIP. But you may be thinking, what are these two communication systems, and how could they benefit my business communications?
VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. VoIP is a term for a call that's made over the internet rather than using a fixed-line communication system.
SIP stands for Session Initiation Protocol. SIP is a signalling protocol that enables the Voice Over Internet Protocol. SIP supports the signalling and management of voice, video, and electronic messaging applications. Simply put - it is used to manage multimedia system communication sessions in VoIP applications.
Businesses with an onsite VoIP phone system will usually also have something called "SIP Trunks", which run over your internet connection.
Session Initiation Protocol is just one of the possible protocols you can use for VoIP communications. SIP provides a way to convert voice signals into data that devices used by a caller can decode. 'Trunking' refers to an interconnection between phone lines and a shared communications network. SIP trunking allows us to partition the network into public and private domains. It securely delivers communication services to users equipped with private branch exchange.
The more concurrent phone calls you want, the more SIP trunks you'll need. When a business opts for a cloud-hosted phone system, they don't need to think about SIP, as that's all the provider's responsibility. Only if you have an onsite phone system or host your VoIP phone system in your company's private cloud will you need Session Initiation Protocol trunk channels.
Now you know all about VoIP and SIP technology, what is the difference between them, and is it beneficial to have one or both for your business communications?
VoIP is a collection of technologies. It supports the sending or receiving of voice messages through the internet. SIP is an application used to carry various digital media, including voice, video and instant messages. By definition - SIP is a specific technology that supports VoIP calls.
There are multiple plus points for integrating VoIP and SIP into your business, and the flexibility of SIP makes it an excellent choice for many companies. SIP enhances basic VoIP capabilities beyond just voice calls. It allows firms to exchange multimedia communications, including messages, video, files, and other forms of data, over an internet connection. By allowing your communication systems to enhance further and increase their features, your business can unlock new productivity tools and scale more quickly. SIP can also be integrated with PRI lines for a combination phone system that suits your business needs. Think of it like this: you're enhancing the technology and features when implementing SIP into your VoIP system.
If you're wondering whether your business fits into the category of requiring SIP technology, then here's our answer: every business in any industry can benefit from SIP technology. SIP is a great tool that can both cut costs and make your business more streamlined and efficient. VoIP offers a cost-effective voice-only solution for effective communication over the internet. This effective communication method can be further enhanced by implementing SIP, as it provides further flexibility and advanced features with multimedia communication.
Are you a business looking to get the most out of your VoIP system, or are you looking to get started with VoIP? Then get in content with T2k today. T2K has been helping many businesses get the most from their telephone systems for more than 25 years. Our expert advisors help you find the most beneficial VoIP System with the right features for your company. We're here to assist you in finding the easiest, most beneficial VoIP systems for you and your employees. For a jargon-free conversation on how VoIP can make your construction business run better, contact T2K today.
Having worked for T2k for nearly 25 years, it's fair to say that Lee is an expert when it comes to all things telephony and business communications. Overseeing the commercial side of the business, he has helped the company evolve and grow through the decades. In recent years, and with the advent of VoIP and hosted telephony, Lee has made sure that T2k is at the forefront of technological developments. With a firm interest in helping businesses navigate the world of telecoms, Lee is responsible for the majority of the content on this website.
