The pandemic changed the nature of business communications. Many organizations that had gotten by on traditional technologies like Primary Rate Interface (PRI) calling found that they were unable to support communications between their employees and customers in remote or hybrid work environments.
Session initiation protocol (SIP) and SIP trunking enabled many of these businesses to connect their existing on-premise PBX phone systems to the internet using Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP). This, in turn, offered the opportunity to upgrade to omnichannel communications through communications platform as a service (CPaaS) solutions like IntelePeer’s Atmosphere® Platform.
While the pandemic is behind us, hybrid and remote work (as well as heightened customer expectations for connectivity) are here to stay. Likewise, many businesses that adopted SIP during the pandemic still use the same communications setups today. So if you’re using SIP and SIP trunking, ensure that your communications meet today’s performance standards and are prepared for the future.
Consider the Following Three Technologies to Take SIP and SIP Trunking Performance to the Next Level
Business-Grade Routers with Quality of Service (QoS) Monitoring
Business-grade routers are built with robust materials, components, and operating systems to maintain high performance, 24/7, under heavy workloads. Most are integrated service devices, meaning that they simultaneously provide network connectivity, applications, and security.1
But not all business-grade routers provide Quality of Service (QoS) capabilities. QoS is an advanced feature that controls the network’s data flow. This enables admins to prioritize critical applications and services over others. With QoS, the quality of data-intensive applications like video conferencing can be maintained even when bandwidth is stretched.
This offers control over SIP trunking connections to maintain peak communications performance. In practical terms, this helps admins prevent, identify, and resolve problems like packet loss, latency, and jitter.
SIP over WebSocket Capabilities
WebSocket is a protocol that enables applications in web browsers to maintain duplex (two-way) communications.2 SIP over WebSocket is a protocol that enables SIP data to flow over a WebSocket connection.
This combines the best of both SIP and WebSocket, providing interoperability with traditional VoIP hardware like PBX phone systems and real-time communication capabilities from within a web browser.
This enables businesses to extend their communication capabilities to web-based apps while taking advantage of their investments in SIP technologies.
Centralized Routing and Policy Management Systems
These systems allow organizations to set rules from a central location for company-wide dynamic call routing. This enables real-time, automated control over how incoming and outgoing calls are prioritized, optimized, directed, and distributed across all business locations—regardless of geographical separation.
In traditional SIP setups, each location can set its own local routing and policy configurations. If a new branch or office opens, call routing rules will need to be set and implemented again.
Centralized routing and policy management systems streamline the process, enabling an organization to improve efficiency, reduce the risk of misconfigurations, and considerably increase call quality and reliability.
While some session border controllers (SBCs) offer routing and policy management capabilities, software-based routing and policy management platforms are expressly designed for centralized SIP trunk routing and policy management. These platforms provide a far greater degree of control over routing decisions, policy enforcement, and call handling.
Do Your Communications Meet Today’s Performance Standards? Are They Prepared for Tomorrow’s Challenges?
While the first question is straightforward to answer, the second is certainly not. As we have seen over the past three years, the landscape of business communications can change dramatically in a short time. As remote and hybrid work environments persist and customer expectations continue to change, it is critical to ensure that your communications evolve.
SIP is simply a protocol, and equipment manufacturers and service providers take different approaches to implementation. However, optimizing an organization’s SIP infrastructure requires a high level of expertise. And while the leading unified communications (UC) platforms generally support SIP, they may only support some of the SIP features you need.
1 https://iticollege.edu/blog/business-router-vs-home-router-whats-the-difference/#:~:text=Business%20routers%20are%20designed%20to,ease%20of%20connectivity%20and%20access
2 https://vocal.com/webrtc/websockets-and-sip-over-websockets/
We Can Help You Take SIP and SIP Trunking to the Next Level
Future-proofed SIP trunking requires detailed planning and careful configuration. After delivering communications solutions for more than 40 years, we have the experience for your success. To dive deeper, watch this detailed training video on SIP trunking planning and considerations. But if you want to start working toward an efficient, reliable, and future-proof communication solution, contact us today.