Hybrid

Hybrid solutions have become the most common way for businesses to receive and utilize voice services. Technologies like Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) have made it so you no longer have to separate voice and data circuits. Combining them into one circuit allows for greater cost-effectiveness and optimization.

VoIP
VoIP – also known as Internet telephony and IP telephony – involves delivering voice services using an IP network. VoIP technologies have become common for businesses since they present a more efficient and cost-effective option for voice services. Before VoIP emerged as a popular method, home and remote workers used digital extender devices that rode over ISDN-BRI lines. This resulted in high usage costs since the second ISDN-BRI channel had to always stay connected to the phone systems to function as the control channel, resulting in a bill for an eight-hour usage call on top of charges for inbound/outbound phone calls.

Alternatively, remote workers used a computer application (GUI) that allowed for a dual connect mode. Businesses with multiple locations that wanted to allow communication and resource sharing among the multiple sites used point-to-point T1 circuits (one for data and one for voice), which were priced according to distance.

After VoIP became available, businesses were able to use a single point-to-point T1 circuit to send voice or data. Internet pricing fell and always-on Internet connections also became available. Additionally, as service provider pricing went down, service providers began offering VoIP T1 circuits/dynamic T1s. These circuits presented a relatively inexpensive way for small to midsize companies to make phone calls.

Eventually, as more VoIP service providers entered the market and the technology evolved, hosted VoIP solutions emerged as an option for business communications. Hosted VoIP means the hardware and PBX are housed off site at a different location than the one using the VoIP services. The introduction of SIP raised hosted VoIP service standards and led to more service providers making hosted phone system offerings an option.

SIP
The emergence of SIP resulted in more optimized Internet circuits and allowed for more flexibility. SIP phone service has become the primary way for service providers to deliver dialtone because of the cost effectiveness of SIP trunks, among other advantages:

  • Reliability. Because SIP sends voice packets over Internet connections, it has more intrinsic failover capabilities. If the primary path is blocked, voice calls can re-route to a secondary path/Internet connection. Additionally, there’s less equipment involved in SIP phone service, which means fewer failures. Non-legacy technology (newer infrastructure) and phone system failover capabilities also add to SIP reliability.
  • Faster turnup. For businesses that need voice connections quickly, SIP offers short turnaround times.
  • Burstable for peak times. It’s simple to turn up SIP trunks to accommodate higher call volumes during certain time periods (e.g., the holiday season for retailers).
  • Proactive monitoring and support. Monitoring Internet connections is easier for service providers, so it’s possible to spot bottlenecks and outages faster, in addition to assigning voice calls a Mean Opinion Score (MoS). To avoid degradation and future outages, providers can then implement automated workflows.
  • Number flexibility and portability. Businesses have the option of buying non-local numbers to expand their coverage.
  • Bundled services. It’s easier for SIP providers to offer unlimited calling plans and block minutes for long distance calls at a lower cost. Businesses with multiple locations increasingly centralize calls at their main site/headquarters and use the WAN to connect remote sites so that they can use dialtone at the main location.

Getting SIP for your business
You don’t necessarily have to upgrade your phone system to take advantage of the benefits of SIP phone service. We can hand off SIP trunks to your legacy phone system, PBX emulating POTS lines, or PRI trunking. Additionally, we can leverage session border controllers (SBC) to give you an extra layer of security against hacking and fraud.

To learn more about how a hybrid solution can help you enhance communications in a cost-effective way, contact our expert team at SteadyLink today. We can help you review your options and decide what’s best for your business.