June 05, 2013

Increasingly Popular SIP Trunking should be Used Properly by Enterprises

By Ed Silverstein
TMCnet Contributor

Session Initiation Protocol (News - Alert) (SIP) trunking is expected to skyrocket in use worldwide – over the next several years.

SIP trunking, which provides Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and streaming media services to those with unified communications (UC) software or SIP-based private branch exchange system (IP-PBX (News - Alert)), will jump from 2.6 million SIP trunks in the first half of 2011 to close to 22.3 million by 2015, according to a recent Metaswitch study, cited by TMCnet. That’s an estimated 770-percent growth over five years.

“SIP trunking is now the fastest-growing area of the VoIP marketplace, and all indications point to sustained growth for the foreseeable future, making it a very attractive business for both telco and cable providers,” Hamid Qayyum, vice president of MSO Sales at Metaswitch, said in a recent statement. Yet, TMCnet warns that SIP trunking needs “a solid infrastructure if providers plan on carrier-grade SIP products.”

“There's no question that SIP is an extremely powerful communications enabler,” Alsbridge CEO Ben Trowbridge adds in a recent statement. “As a result, Session Initiation Protocol is becoming an increasingly ubiquitous game-changer for businesses. Yet, many enterprises fail to harness its full value, especially in the cost savings and technology arenas.”

Too often, businesses move from a public switched telephone network (PSTN), and reconnect their SIP trunks to legacy systems. They also reuse the carrier's “antiquated architecture, limited definitions, and dictated price points,” Alsbridge said.

In reality, a SIP strategy should leverage “multiple providers” such as wireline and wireless carriers, partners and VoIP peering providers, Alsbridge said.

Also, Tier 1 telecommunications providers (full-service providers) narrowly define SIP deployment “as it plays to their value pitch, per the outdated architecture, and provider-mandated pricing inherent with the PSTN,” Alsbridge said.

Yet, SIP also provides “session interoperability, leverage, and reach enterprises attain across multiple providers, partners and customers,” Alsbridge said.

The issue comes as the PSTN – especially the circuit-switched portion of the public telephone network – should likely be “sunsetted by 2018,” the FCC (News - Alert) has recommended.

Edited by Alisen Downey