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How Many SIP Trunks Do I Need? Start by Knowing Your Organization

This article was published on August 3, 2021

"How many SIP trunks do I need?" is one of most common questions businesses ask their SIP trunk provider. But it's not a one-size-fits-all answer. In fact, the only way to know the right answer is to understand your organization's needs, company type, and size.

Have the right answer ready when asked the inevitable question, "How many SIP trunks do I need?"

SIP trunking services enable your company to update legacy phone systems and access voice, video, data and text over the cloud. This means you can eliminate many subscriptions and fees. SIP trunking decreases costs by making it cheaper to communicate between your business and the ITSP. Additionally, you no longer need a traditional public switched telephone network.

Not only will your chief financial officer be a fan of SIP trunking, but your customers will as well. Because all numbers are now local, your customers no longer need to use a 1-800 number because they will have access to local numbers. While SMB's will see significant cost and administration savings, SIP trunking will have an even bigger effect because of its larger scale.

The Small-to-Medium Business Customer: The Case for Multiple SIP Trunks

As an owner of a small-to-medium business (SMB), it's likely you typically search for flexible phone systems that can grow with your business. But most importantly, your budget is a top concern, and growth is unpredictable. You may experience rapid growth almost overnight, or you may stay at the current size for years. Many SMBs use virtual work arrangements to save costs, letting remote employees work from different locations. Depending on the nature of the business, some SMBs have little IT expertise and may not have dedicated telecommunications support on-site.

One of the biggest selling points of SIP trunking to an SMB is the flexibility. With Primary Rate Interface (PRI), the standard circuit's 23 channels usually exceeds the number of an SMB's employees. But with a SIP trunk, you can purchase six trunks if it only employs six employees. This way, SMBs can scale quickly as the company grows, but won't waste money if anticipated growth projections aren't met. Additionally, a SIP trunk supports remote workers in a way that's simply not possible with a PRI due to cabling and circuits. Instead, employees can access the business communication system from any location.

When you first research it, it might be difficult to answer everyone's most important question: "How many SIP trunks do I need?" But by understanding your needs and concerns, you can can sign up for the right package that meets your needs.

The Mid-to-Large Enterprise Customer: Reliability is Key

If this applies to your organization, you likely look at telecommunications solutions through a much larger lens. It's not about six SIP trunks — it can be hundreds or thousands. Enterprises have many locations and can span the globe. Your employees are coming, going, and moving to new locations on a daily basis, so you need the flexibility to move as quickly as business does. This means you need the ability to add new locations and features quickly.

While budget isn't as big of a concern as it is for SMBs, it's still a consideration because of the sheer volume of phone lines needed. When everything is multiplied by the hundreds or thousands, even small savings can be significant. Using SIP trunking reduces capital expenses and turns telecommunications into an operating expense, which is often helpful for enterprise with budgeting and forecasting. And don't forget, SIP trunking brings down the total cost of ownership for hardware as well, which is always an important enterprise metric.

Reliability is key for enterprise customers. You have high expectations, and you probably won't be receptive to delays in customer service. Because features are deployed from the cloud with SIP trunks, the result is high reliability and continuity. Disaster recovery and backup are also top concerns for enterprises. Because the trunking features reside in the cloud, unaffected locations can still operate, even when headquarters is down. With SIP trunking, calls and employees can be automatically rerouted to another location if a call center is taken offline — keeping your customer service as efficient and effective as ever.

Subscribing to SIP trunking can be a very effective way of saving money and gaining flexibility. But when you first research it, it might be difficult to answer everyone's most important question: "How many SIP trunks do I need?" But by understanding your needs and concerns, you can can sign up for the right package that meets your needs.

Contact Vonage Business to learn more about SIP trunking services for your business, big or small.

Vonage Staff

Written by Vonage staff

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