What is SIP Trunking?

SIP Trunking is the modern, digital method for connecting your business's IP PBX (phone system) to the public telephone network over the internet. It serves as the virtual equivalent of the traditional, physical phone lines (like ISDN or analog trunks) that were once provided by a telephone company.

The "trunk" in the name is a carryover from traditional telephony, where a physical trunk was a bundle of phone lines shared by an organization. A SIP trunk is a virtual version of this. It's a single, logical connection through which your business can run multiple simultaneous voice channels. Instead of needing a separate physical line for every concurrent call, you simply purchase the number of channels you need from a SIP Provider, and they are all delivered over your existing internet connection.

With the global decommissioning of older networks like ISDN, SIP Trunking has become the standard for modern business voice connectivity. It offers numerous benefits:

• Cost Savings: It eliminates the high cost of renting physical phone lines and typically offers more competitive call rates.
• Scalability: You can easily increase or decrease the number of call channels you need on-demand, without waiting for a technician to install new physical lines.
• Flexibility: It unties your phone numbers from a physical location. You can have a London number that rings in your Manchester office, or move offices without having to change your primary business numbers.
• Unified Communications Ready: Because it uses the powerful SIP protocol, a SIP trunk can support more than just voice, laying the foundation for integrated video, messaging, and other collaboration tools.