It is a basic prerequisite of every business organization to have an Internet connection on which they can depend blindly and a communication medium through which they can connect with their employees and clients as and when required. Integration of VoIP in the telephony sector has enabled the businesses to enjoy a more reliable, sophisticated, versatile, and cost-effective way of communication.

Selecting the most appropriate VoIP phone service is a very tough and tedious task, but if you properly analyze your needs and budget, you will surely choose the best and the most apt IP telephony solution for your business.

VoIP in day-to-day language is known as Internet telephone service. The technology of VoIP depends on high-speed Internet connection instead of the traditional Copper lines for letting its users make and receive calls. This technology works by converting the voice into small data packets which are further delivered to the receiver over the Internet. IP-PBX and SIP Trunking are two most prominent types of VoIP telecommunication system.

IP-PBX or Hosted PBX

PBX stands for Private Branch Exchange. IP-PBX or Hosted PBX is a communication system that allows the users to enjoy all the advanced VoIP features and services without deploying an on-site hardware. PBX in simple terms is a system which routes all the incoming calls to the desired destinations. When this PBX system is hosted in the cloud, you are rendered free from installing an on-site setup. This type of VoIP system is managed and updated by the service provider himself.

Following are some benefits offered by a Hosted PBX system:

• Call routing
• Call holds
• Call transfers
• Provision of connecting more than one person through a single business number
• Management of unanswered incoming calls
• Advanced VoIP features such as Voicemails, Faxes, Call records, Automated welcome greetings, Voice conferencing, etc.

The best part of Hosted PBX is that it is very cost effective and prevents you from spending a lot of money in the initial stages for purchasing the hardware. You not only save in the initial stages but also save in the later stages as well. You do not have to spend money for upgrading the hardware or for buying a newer version of hardware. For small businesses, IP-PBX is indeed a blessing. They can easily avail this service without any hassles. If you are managing an organization having 20 employees or less, Hosted PBX is the best communication solution for you.

SIP Trunking

SIP stands for Session Initiation protocol. SIP Trunking is a service which is eradicating the PRIs (Primary Rate Interfaces), BRIs (Basic Rate Interfaces), POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service), local PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) gateways, and other such traditional elements and modes of communication. This service has remarkably maneuvered the quality and efficiency of telephony. SIP Trunking depends on the virtual trunks for connecting a PBX to the Internet. These trunks are the main source of VoIP.

In order to deploy SIP Trunking, organizations must have:

• An ITSP (Internet Telephony Service Provider)
• A PBX system which connects all the employees
• A gateway which acts as an interconnecting platform between the ITSP and the PBX.

In the traditional modes of communication, copper lines connect all the tolls in the entire system and convey a number of signals from source to destination at a time. SIP Trunking simply replaces these traditional lines through the Internet. This helps the users to connect with other mobile and fixed phone users throughout the world. SIP Trunking offers all the features that are offered by the Hosted PBX. This technology has an added advantage of integrating the data, voice, and video over a single line. This feature helps in the elimination of additional trunks for both data and multimedia. Because of this, users save a lot of money. SIP lets you enjoy the services of multiple vendors depending on the charges and time of day. This technology lets you communicate in a very secure ambiance.

Which is better: Hosted PBX or SIP Trunking?

Major drawback of Hosted PBX is that it not as secure a SIP Trunking system. In an IP-PBX system, ports are often left open. As a result of this, even the Firewalls are not able to protect the system from security threats. On the contrary, SIP Trunking offers a very secure and well-protected system.

As far as the Bandwidth is concerned, Hosted PBX uses 6 to 8 times more bandwidth than SIP Trunking. This means that SIP Trunking can even work when the bandwidth is low or is distributed.

If we see individually, both the services offer a number of sophisticated features and advantages. However, if we compare the two, SIP Trunking undoubtedly has an upper hand. Most of the businesses nowadays are going for SIP Trunking because it offers a more secure platform for communication, better QoS (Quality of Service), high scalability and flexibility, and greater cost-effectiveness. But that does not means that Hosted PBX is of no use. Hosted PBX also offers a lot of benefits. So, it is ultimately your decision to choose between the two keeping in mind your requirements, size of your business, and your budget.