What is a SIP Provider?
A SIP provider is simply a company who supplies SIP trunking. SIP stands for Session Initiation Protocol, which is basically a way of sending and receiving communication over the Internet. SIP providers are usually hosted telephony businesses, although sometimes video communications can be included as well.
Hosted telephony works in the same way as traditional fixed line telephony, except that rather than being dependent on physical hardware, all the technology is hosted in the cloud. As broadband connections have become faster and more reliable, hosted telephony has become the standard telecommunications option for businesses of all sizes.
SIP providers are able to offer their customers advantages that traditional phone providers cannot. For a start, hosted phone solutions are a lot cheaper than traditional options. Not only are call costs generally cheaper, but there are great savings to be made as there is no expensive hardware to buy. This also cuts down on maintenance and repair bills.
Cloud hosted telephone solutions also generally come with more options. A phone system typically bills around a virtual PBX switchboard. Incoming calls are then handled according to rules set up by the company receiving them. A number of add-on services are usually available giving the business a great deal of choice and control over how they deal with their incoming calls.
Hosted phone systems are usually combined with one or more virtual phone numbers. These work the same way as regular phone numbers but aren’t tied to one specific physical location a wide range of virtual numbers are available covering regional numbers, national numbers, toll-free numbers, and even international numbers. A SIP provider can usually offer a full range alongside their other services, such as VoIP.
As you can see, it makes sense to consider a hosted phone system for your business, no matter how big or small it is. You won’t regret making the switch.
