What is SIP?
SIP stands for “Session Initiation Protocol”. It is the technology used for establishing a voice communication session on a data network such as the Internet. SIP controls the communication sessions that make up VoIP calls. A SIP based VoIP phone call between two participants is considered a SIP “session”.
What Is SIP Trunking?
A SIP Trunk is essentially a phone line, providing the same service as a traditional analog phone line. Unlike traditional phone lines where you are limited to the number of physical circuits on your PRI, SIP Trunks are incredibly easy to scale up or down because they are based on bandwidth availability. SIP Trunking uses your data circuit such as cable modem or T1 line to connect your phone system back to your ITSP (Internet Telephony Service Provider) network. This connection can happen over a dedicated SIP Trunking line, a line that carries SIP Trunking with other IP traffic, or through a VPN over the Internet. No matter which method your SIP calls are delivered, SIP Trunking has been proven to be highly cost effective for businesses and agencies.
SIP Trunking not only handles VoIP calling but can also manage any SIP-based communications such as
- instant messaging
- multimedia streaming
- video
- chat
- E911 calls
- presence information and more
All of these features combined with VoIP calling are often referred to as Unified Communications.