SIP Phone
You might have heard people talking about a SIP Phone and have been wondering what the term refers to and how it can benefit your business.
These modern devices have become one of the hottest topics in the telecommunications industry, and for good reason. They are an excellent option for improving the quality of your phone services and expanding your telecommunications offerings into multiple locations, both within Australia and globally.
What is a SIP Phone Line?
SIP stands for Session Initiation Protocol, as a type of communications protocol used to integrate multimedia communications sessions. This means that once it has been connected to your IP network, you can use your online SIP phone systems to integrate basic telephone capabilities with web, online chat, email and much more.
These phones are an excellent option if you intend to unify all your communications within a single platform.
In a world where companies are increasingly embracing the opportunities and benefits afforded by remote working, SIP telephones are a fantastic option. As cloud-based services, they can equip your staff with the tools they need to communicate effectively with both colleagues and customers no matter where in the world they are.
What’s more, these systems can offer you significant cost savings on your communications. For these reasons, SIP systems are an invaluable tool if you plan to expand your operations, especially into new markets.
So if your organisation is looking for scalability, reliability, and effective communications with remote customers, clients, and employees, these phones are hard to beat.
Types of SIP Phones
There are several different types of SIP-based phones available.
SIP Soft Phone / Software SIP Phone
An SIP softphone isn’t actually a physical phone at all. It’s a software application installed onto your computer or smartphone that allows you to complete phone calls over the internet using the device’s in-built microphone.
If you have configured your SIP systems to use softphones, we recommend using headsets and microphones to get the best possible calling experience.
Hardware SIP Phones
As the name suggests, these phones are actual pieces of physical hardware that look no different from any other traditional handset. They’re very similar to regular phones in how they’re used, too. However, instead of making calls through a traditional phone network, calls made by SIP hardware-based phones are routed over the internet.
These phones can use your office’s existing data network, too, which means that you won’t need to pay for extra internet service just for your phone system.
If you would like SIP systems that offer your employees greater flexibility around the office, there are cordless models of these hardware phones available, too.
There are three main classifications of hardware SIP telephones:
Basic
These starter phones are what you might see in a call or a contact centre. They have dial pads and are capable of making internal and external calls. These budget-friendly models also offer incredible ease of use.
Intermediate
Intermediate SIP telephones offer more robust functionality than their basic counterparts. For example, they often include browsable directories that feature multiple extensions.
They may also have more physical buttons connected to extra features. These SIP systems can usually be used at home, too, making them a great choice if your employees need to work remotely.
Advanced
Advanced SIP-based phones are, as the name suggests, top of the line in terms of the features and functionality they offer you and your employees. They often include full-colour displays, multiple extensions, and even Wi-Fi or Bluetooth compatibility. They’re the type of phones you can expect to see on a company executive’s desk.
They are likely to have a slimmer, sleeker physical design featuring fewer buttons, as the display usually allows access to all the applications the user of the SIP systems might need.
The benefits of SIP Phones
These telephones can offer your business numerous fantastic benefits. Here are just a few of them:
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SIP Phone Meaning Better Calls
When you introduce a SIP telephone, your regular call quality automatically adapts to changing network conditions. Through SIP, you can ensure consistent clarity while on the line.
SIP stands for Session Initiation Protocol, and is utilised by organisations to begin and finish their multimedia communication, such as video calls, instant messaging and voice calls for unified communications. SIP is a specific protocol designed for achieving VoIP; Voice over Internet Protocol, where a SIP enabled PBX service is a cost-effective way to improve your business’s phone systems for effective communication.
Whether you have an office server or require a hosted IP PBX, the SIP protocol will elevate your telephone network for unified multimedia communication sessions.
Because SIP-based phones route calls over the internet, the signalling protocol technologies offer significant cost savings over traditional phone systems, especially when making long-distance calls. These savings are even better when you leverage your office’s existing data networks with cloud PBX systems.
As its operations are conducted off online systems, SIP systems do not require the same extensive hardware or server supplies that a traditional phone line does. Consequently, you won’t have to pay for heavy installation or maintenance costs, nor should you have to wait for a technician to visit your office to set up or service your equipment.
If you require changes to your phone system (such as to adapt to a rapidly growing business or changing industry), the ease-of-use of these phones usually means you can make any amendments yourself, even without extensive technical knowledge.
Take Your Communications Around The Globe
You’ll be able to make phone calls anywhere in the world – without paying the astronomical prices traditional providers charge for international calls.
Best of all, if your SIP provider partners with local networks within your destination country, you will have the option of making your call appear to be coming from a local number.
Customers prefer making calls and receiving calls from numbers that are familiar to them. This means that this form of routing can help your business gain consumer trust when you enter the new market.
For these reasons, if you plan on extending your business globally, SIP systems are an excellent tool for expanding your operations with minimum capital outlay.
Some SIP telephone models are able to integrate their systems together with a wide range of other applications, including CRM systems, Outlook contacts, and numerous mobile business apps.
As a result, you can manage a vast range of communications from a single, convenient place.
SIP applications are featured in many communications products these days, including online meeting software solutions. The minimal costs of upgrading your existing, legacy systems to a SIP-based network are worth the price, for the numerous benefits they will offer your company.
A SIP hardware phone may look no different from any other everyday public switched telephone network office handset. That’s because it’s beneath the surface where its upgraded functionality comes in, powered by the in-house/ hosted IP PBX hardware and business phone plans.
What is the SIP Trunking Feature Set?
SIP trunking offers an extensive array of features that go well beyond simply communicating with different multimedia interfaces. This feature set includes advanced call centre operations, such as placing callers on hold, while transferring them to different extensions. SIP is an industry-standard method of achieving a more scalable functionality than VoIP phones.
Exceeding the Benefits of a Traditional VoIP Phone System
The Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system simply offers the most basic internet protocol (IP) phone systems functionality, exceeding that of traditional phones with a VoIP system which is limited to voice calls.
Organisations will typically be deploying VoIP telephone services in conjunction with an application like Skype or Google Meet, using IP-enabled PBX hardware. Conversely, SIP trunking allows for voice and video calls, integration with mobile and more benefits rather than basic phone capabilities.
With SIP trunking, it’s easy for your business to manage calls and ensure your customers or employees are connected to the right person for the right task.
Additional and Extensive SIP Phones Set of Features
Other features offered by SIP systems include:
- Call forwarding
- Hold, with optional music
- Video calls
- Conference calls
- High-Definition phone calls
- Auto-attendant
- Call recording
- Shared call appearance
- Custom caller ID
- Integration with mobile and desktop apps
Get Started On Extending Your Unified Communications With SIP Phones From Aatrox Communications
Once you switch to using SIP systems from traditional phone lines or basic VoIP phone systems, you’ll no longer have to depend on prices set by your local provider. With SIP systems, you can free your business maintenance and installation costs, removing the hassle of waiting for an external supplier to come out every time you need something changed.
Instead, you can benefit from greater connectivity, instant messaging, increased call security via encryption features and instant delivery thanks to cloud-based management.
Our Aatrox Communications Vision: Complete Assistance and Systems for Our Customers
Here at Aatrox Communications, we can help you set up a suitable SIP Trunking system to get your new SIP telephone network up and going and your business moving better.
If you have any questions about the SIP trunks, IP PBX hardware phone systems we offer, please contact us at 0383972990.
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