SIP vs. VoIP: Which is Best For Your Business? - Atlantech ...

What is SIP? SIP is a protocol used to initiate, maintain, and terminate multimedia communication sessions in VoIP applications. SIP protocols ... DDoSProtectServicenowavailablefromAtlantechOnline.LearnMore BigTelecomProblems? 5StarTelecom Solutions Fiber DDoSProtection Phone UCaaS Wireless MicrosoftTeamsCalling CCaaS DataCenter/Colocation StructuredCabling Resources Blog Tutorials&Guides Locations PropertyManagers&BuildingOwners BigTelecomProblems? 5StarTelecom Solutions Fiber DDoSProtection Phone UCaaS Wireless MicrosoftTeamsCalling CCaaS DataCenter/Colocation StructuredCabling Resources Blog Tutorials&Guides Locations PropertyManagers&BuildingOwners Support GetaQuote SIPvs.VoIP:WhichisBestForYourBusiness? Postby TomCollins April21,2022 Today'sbusinesscommunicationsinvolvealotmorethanjustvoicecalls.  Whilephonesarestillacriticaltoolforcommunications,professionalsusemanydifferenttechnologiestoconverse.Onagivenday,it'snotuncommonfortheaverageemployeetorelyonphones,email,mobileapps,chat,text,andvideoconferencing. Technologicaladvancementshaveexpandedtheoptionscompanieshaveinbusinessphonesystems.Increasingly,organizationsareswitchingfromdatedoptionslikePrimaryRateInterface(PRIlines)tomoreintegratedoptionslikeVoiceoverInternetProtocol(VoIP)tosavecosts. Switchingtointernet-basedphonesistherightchoiceforsomecompanies,butVoIP-onlyisn’tarobustenoughsolutionformanybusinessestoday.ManyorganizationscanbenefitmorefromaUnifiedCommunicationsapproach,whichsupportsvoice,text,conferencing,mobility,andotherformsofcommunication. Ifyou’reevaluatingnewbusinessphonesystems,youmaybewonderingwhatthedifferenceisbetweenSessionInitiationProtocol(SIP)andVoIPandwhichisbest.Inthispost,you’lllearntheprosandconsofeachoftheseapproachesandhowtoknowwhichisthebestfitforyou. SIPvs.VoIP:What’stheDifference? SIPvs.VoIPisn'tnecessarilyadirectcomparison.WhileVoIPisatermthatcandescribeanyinternet-basedphoneservice,SIPisacommunicationsprotocolusedformosttypesofVoIPdeployments.ThetechnologyforVoIPhasrootsinthe1970sbuthasdevelopedsignificantpopularityasabusinesstechnologyoverthepast10years. InthemonthsandyearsfollowingtheonsetoftheCOVID-19pandemic,moreoftheworkforceismovingtoremoteorhybridworkenvironments.Asaresult,yourbusinesscommunicationssolutionismoreimportantthanever—andneedstobemorerobustandflexiblethanever.  BeforedivingintowhetherVoIPorSIPisabettersolutionforyourbusinessinthecurrentclimate,let'sfirstestablishwhateachsolutiondoes. WhatisVoIP?VoIPisabroadtermusedinreferencetoanyphonecallmadeovertheinternetinsteadoftraditionaltelephonelines.VoIPreliesondataconnectivitytotransmitvoicepacketsinsteadofthepublicswitchedtelephonenetwork(PSTN). WhatisSIP?SIPisaprotocolusedtoinitiate,maintain,andterminatemultimediacommunicationsessionsinVoIPapplications.SIPprotocolssupportthesignalingandcontrolofvoice,video,andmessagingapplications.HostedSIPTrunkingserviceisgenerallyprovidedbyahostedUnifiedCommunicationsvendorwhomayofferVoIPandUnifiedCommunicationsasaService(UCaaS). SIPvs.VoIPisNottheMostEffectiveQuestion WhileallSIPisusedtosupportandscaleVoIP,notallVoIPisbackedbySIPtechnology.SIPisjustoneprotocolthatcanbeusedinbusinessVoIPtoscalecommunicationsbeyondvoice-onlycallingtosupportvideoconferencing,instantmessaging,text,andothermultimediacommunications.Itdoeshappentobethemostprevalentprotocol,thoughsomevendorsinterpretSIPindifferentways.Thisischanging,though,asinteroperabilityhasbeencriticaltolong-termbusinesssuccess. Voice-OverIP(VoIP) VoIPisabroadtermthatcanbeappliedtodescribeanyinternetphoneservice,fromlow-costresidentialservicetocompleximplementationsofUnifiedCommunicationstoolsfortheenterprise.SincethequalityandfeaturesofVoIPcanvarysignificantly,eachoftheprosandconscanalsodependonthetypeofservice. However,evaluatingtheprosandconsofVoIPcomparedtoSIPisnotuseful.TobestunderstandhowVoIPstacksuptoVoIPwithSIP,it'swisesttoevaluatetheprosandconsofbusinessinternetphoneservicethatincludesonlyvoicecommunications(VoIP-only)insteadofmultimediafeatures(VoIPwithSIP). VoIP-onlyPros Lowinitialinvestmentcost. Ongoingcostsavingswithpredictable,flat-ratemonthlybilling. VoIPsystemsarehighlyportableanddon'tneedon-siteinstallation. ManybasicVoIPserviceplansofferlimitedfeaturessuchascallerID,callwaiting,andcallforwarding. MostVoIPprovidersdonotrequirelong-termservicecontracts. VoIP-onlyCons Requiresbandwidthforserviceavailabilityandsufficientcallqualityofservice(QoS). SomebasicVoIPservicesmaynotoffermobileintegrationormobileapps. Voice-onlyservicelackssupportformultimediacommunications. CannotbeintegratedwithapplicationssuchasSalesforce,DropBox,orMicrosoftOffice. SessionInitiationProtocol(SIP) SwitchingtoSIPfromtraditionalPRIscanofferorganizationstheabilitytoachieveimmediatecostsavingsandscaletounlocknewfeaturesandproductivitytools.ToeffectivelycompareSIPtoVoIP,it'sbesttoexaminehowSIPcanenhanceVoIPintoamultimediacommunicationsexperiencecomparedtovoice-onlyinternetphoneservice.  VoIPwithSIPPros OffersthepotentialforimmediatecostsavingsonbusinessapplicationsbyallowingcompaniestoconsolidatetechnologiesintoUnifiedCommunications. Providesfailovertoemployeemobiledevicesifdataconnectivityislost. Canprovideextremeflexibilityinpricingbyallowingbusinessestopurchaseadd-onfeaturesandlinesbyneed. Includesuser-friendlyadministrativetoolsforaddinglinesandfeatures. CanseamlesslyintegratewithcloudapplicationsforUnifiedCommunicationsimplementations. Mayofferbuilt-inintegrationwithcommonbusinessapplicationsandsoftwareforenhancedproductivity. CouldbeintegratedwithexistingPRIlinestocreateahybridphonesystem. VoIPwithSIPCons SIPrequiressufficientinternetbandwidthtosupportqualityservice. ThequalityofserviceofferedbySIPproviderscanvary. ThefeaturesprovidedbySIPvendorsvaryandmaynotincludefullUnifiedCommunicationsofferings. Insteadofadedicatedfiber-opticinternetserviceofferedbythesamevendorasyourSIPcarrier,SIPoverapublicinternetservicecouldpresentqualityandsecurityrisks.   SIPvs.VoIP:FindingtheBestFitForYourBusiness Ifyou'reaskingwhetherSIPorVoIPisthebettertechnology,you'velikelycommittedtoconsideringaswitchtoInternet-basedphonesystems.However,SIPvs.VoIPisn'tadirectcomparison.Themostusefulquestioniswhethervoice-onlyVoIPphoneservicebestservesyourbusiness'sneedsorifaSIPimplementationwithUnifiedCommunicationstoolsisabetterfit. Formanybusinesses,VoIPvs.UCaaSisabettercomparisonthanVoIPvs.SIP.FactorsthatcouldshapeyourunderstandingofwhetherUCaaSistherightmatchcanincludeyourbudgetanddesiretoadoptmultimediacommunicationstools.IfyourorganizationisalreadyusingcollaborationappsortechnologieswhichareacomponentofUnifiedCommunications,youcouldhaveastrongusecaseforSIPadoption. SIPenhancesbasicVoIPcapabilitiesbeyondjustvoicecallingbyallowingbusinessestoexchangemessages,video,files,andotherformsofdataoveraninternetconnection.MovingdirectlytoSIPandUnifiedCommunicationscanoffercostsavingsandproductivitygainsformanycompanies. It’snoteasytounderstandyouroptionsorevaluatequalitywhenshoppingforanewbusinessphonesystem.Tolearnhowtofindavendorwhooffershigh-valueservice,downloadthefreeeBook:10QuestionstoAskBeforeYouBuyPhoneServiceforYourBusiness. Tags: BusinessPhoneService Postby TomCollins April21,2022 TomistheDirectorofEnterpriseSales&MarketingforAtlantechOnline.Hehasover20yearsofprofessionalexperienceintheInternetServiceProviderindustryandisknownfortranslatingtechnologyintopositiveresultsforbusiness.AnativeofWashington,DC,agraduatefromUniversityofMaryland(degreesinGovernment&PoliticsandSecondaryEducation),Tomisalsoafive-timeIronmanfinisher. Followmeonmywebsite FollowmeonLinkedIn FollowmeonTwitter × RequestaQuote BusinessFiberInternet,UCaaS&Phone,andHostingServices Fiber Phone Wireless MicrosoftTeamsCalling CCaaS UCaas StructuredCabling DataCenter/Colocation