Posts Tagged ‘hosted pbx’

Wonder what exactly is VoIP and SIP and why VoIP the buzz word in telecommunications market today?

VoIP is an acronym for ‘Voice Over Internet Protocol’, or in more common terms ‘a phone service over an IP network such as the internet’. VoIP can allow you to make a call directly from a computer, a VoIP phone, a traditional phone connected to a special adapter or a PBX system. SIP or Session Initiation Protocol is a signalling protocol used for VoIP services. It is an application layer protocol similar to HTTP (www), DNS or DHCP on an IP network. SIP leverages the enormous reach of the public Internet and of course offers telephony features like:

• Call conference

• Call hold

• Call or media transfer

ADVANTAGES OVER ISDN:

Businesses today have many reasons to use VoIP services because of its flexibility and advantages to regular ISDN options. In fact in the enterprise corporate sector it is the standard choice over traditional ISDN services.

Some of the biggest reasons are:

• Cost savings: VoIP lines (SIP Trunking) cost about 60% less. Where a typical PRI with 30 channels may cost a company around £450 per month in line rental, a VoIP service (SIP Trunk) with 30 channels would cost £120.

• Flexibility: Ease of changing and moving phone numbers by businesses geographically.

• Services: ISDN supports limited range of services and adding extra features is expensive. Massive range of services are available with VoIP systems and adding features is easy.