SIP trunking stands for Session Initiation Protocol trunking, which is a digital method of making and receiving phone calls and other digital communication over an internet connection. SIP trunking is a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology and streaming media service based on the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) by which Internet telephony service providers (ITSPs) deliver telephone services and unified communications to customers equipped with SIP-based private branch exchange (IP-PBX) and unified communications facilities.
Here are some key features of SIP trunking:
- Virtual phone lines: SIP trunks are virtual phone lines that you can use to make phone calls over the internet to anyone with a phone number.
- Multimedia communication: SIP trunks not only carry voice calls, but they can also be used for multimedia communication that combines voice, video, and messaging services.
- Replacing traditional phone lines: SIP trunks are replacing analogue and ISDN phone lines, with many countries now scheduling in the termination of ISDN services.
- Call setup, management, and teardown: SIP trunking is used for call setup, management, and teardown. It’s flexible, reliable, and quite lightweight.
- Partitioning of the unified communications network: The architecture of SIP trunking provides a partitioning of the unified communications network into two different domains of expertise.
- Cost-effective: SIP trunking is a cost-effective solution for businesses that need to make a lot of phone calls.
- Greater purchasing power: From the customer perspective, SIP trunking offers greater purchasing power.
SIP trunks utilize a packet switch network, in which voice calls are broken down into digital packets and sent across a network to the final destination. SIP trunking is typically sold as a replacement for digital Primary Rate Interfaces (PRIs), which are based on time-division multiplexing (TDM) .
