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As current research has shown, businesses are moving to SIP trunking providers for their voice solutions to lower costs, improve infrastructure and more. Now that we’ve introduced you to some basics of how SIP works and what SIP trunking is all about, it’s time to explore reasons businesses are choosing SIP trunking providers as their preferred voice solution. Here are seven key planks to construct and support your argument.

SIP Trunking Providers Can Lower Calling Costs

Sometimes, the cost-benefit analysis for SIP trunking begins and ends with the price. But, it’s important to understand how companies can cut their bills in half by moving to a SIP trunking provider.  Let’s briefly examine where the savings occur:

• Calls: Traditional phone companies, including AT&T and Verizon, are slowly responding to the competitive threat posed by SIP. They may offer unlimited minutes, but what does that break down to in actual per-minute cost? You get what you pay for, and unlimited may mean you’re paying for much more than you’ll ever need. A good SIP trunking provider will offer per minute rates where you pay a fraction of the cost for what you actually use. With an unlimited plan you pay for what you might use.
• Equipment: Aside from the cost of using the service, traditional phone carriers require trunks and gateways that cost money to maintain. SIP trunking saves money by decreasing or eliminating the need to operate separate voice and data circuits.

SIP Trunking Providers Offer Greater Flexibility and Agility

Say you were running a call center with 20 agents, using a traditional phone carrier with an ISDN that supported 23 trunks. Things are running smoothly until you find out ten new agents will be coming on board next week.  Aside from your concerns about preparing and training the new hires, you would need to have a second ISDN installed.  You would be dealing with the additional time and expense, while in the back of your mind you might wonder, “Why do I have to pay for 46 trunks when I only have 30 agents?”

A SIP trunking provider can offer a much finer level of control since it can be adjusted to meet the fluctuating needs of your business.  If you have 20 agents, you can have 20 trunks.  If you have 30 agents, you can have 30 trunks.  You could add hundreds of trunks, if necessary. Your only limitation is your network bandwidth.

SIP Trunking Providers Enable Geographic Presence

“Who do I know in Omaha?”

Many of us have probably asked a similar question when receiving a call from an unfamiliar location or area code, and have opted to let it go to voicemail.  One of the fastest ways a call center agent can lose a lead is by dialing them from an unknown number.  SIP trunking providers allow companies to establish geographic presence anywhere, even if they have only one physical call center.  Agents calling from 2000 miles can appear to be next door.

SIP Simplifies Your Infrastructure

In many industries, moving from one solution to another incurs a switching cost.  A cable TV subscriber wanting to switch to satellite will need a service-person to install the dish. Plus, don't forget the time it takes for the appointment.  However, moving to a SIP trunking provider is much less painful. SIP runs on computer network infrastructure, which most companies already have in place.  Setting up SIP can often be as easy as installing software and plugging in the phones.

SIP Trunking Providers Aid in Disaster Recovery

Hailstorms in Houston?  Flooding in Fargo?  The one thing you can predict about these unpredictable events is that they challenge business continuity plans.  If you have a traditional phone service and a standard PBX, your business is at the mercy of the elements.  SIP trunks are virtual, so if an ice storm cripples your call center in Indianapolis, a good IP Telephony service provider can route around these trouble areas.  If the disaster is severe, SIP also provides trunk-based call forwarding to alternative numbers to ensure every call is answered. Add an end-to-end IP PBX solution into the mix, and your situation improves greatly.

SIP Trunking Providers Make Virtual Call Centers Possible

These features allow you to set up virtual call centers, with customer support and sales agents working from any location.  This allows businesses to hire the most qualified agents regardless of geographic location while eliminating the overhead associated with a physical call center. Plus, if you want to offer various levels of service—such as video calls or instant messaging—a SIP trunking provider can provide an edge with Teams or other solutions.

SIP Keeps You Ahead of Fraud Management

Toll fraud is a serious issue, costing nearly $5 billion a year across the globe.  Even if you run a small-to-midsize call center operation with little or no international business, hackers could target your business.  And if they succeed, you could be hit with a whopping bill.

SIP allows you to set daily or weekly spending limits, and receive notifications before exceeding the limits.  SIP trunking providers can also shut off service if limits have been exceeded with no action taken. They can even restrict outbound calls by IP address.  A good SIP trunking provider can also shut service off to specific geographical areas, block usage based on time of day, or monitor good, normal traffic and alert you when observed traffic does not fit your profile.

With these talking points in place, you should be well on your way to framing your SIP trunking business case.

Still need more information? Contact one of our specialists today to learn more about reliable and scalable SIP trunking solutions that will dramatically impact the bottom line of your business.

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