SIP Or ISDN, Which Telephony Solution Do I Choose?
Within the ever-changing telecommunications industry, new solutions for telephony arise frequently. With the ISDN switch off set for 2025, businesses need to consider alternative options. The majority is set to choose VoIP, which gives you the ability to route call traffic over your broadband services, other businesses are considering SIP solutions.
Defining SIP
(Session Initiation Protocol) – This solution manages multimedia communication sessions which includes voice, imagery & video calls.
What Will I Need For Successful SIP Deployment?
✓ Your own server proxy server
✓ PSTN & dial plan
✓ A stable internet connection
✓ A suitable IP phone system
✓ Will you need simultaneous call needs?
✓ Will you need backup lines?
Benefits & Drawbacks Of SIP Trunking Solutions
✓ SIP solutions can help your business lower costs, SIP trunking will meet any business requirements. You can either scale up during busy peak calling times or scale down during notorious low call volume periods.
✓ Easy maintenance, SIP trunking solutions are generally easy to manage due to the solution being virtually based. Scalability of maintenance is much more efficient & effective.
✓ Data integrated with simplified engineering.
– Your business will 100% need to have effective broadband, very similar to VoIP solutions you need a consistent connection.
– Your business will also need to consider restrictions on porting numbers, DID numbers & simultaneous calling.
Defining ISDN
(Integrated Services Digital Network) – This solution is very traditional when it comes to telephone lines, it is the digital correspondence to VoIP. ISDN tends to use around 64 kilobytes of data per second where voice is concerned.
What Will I Need For Successful ISDN Deployment?
✓ LAN internet connection
✓ Cables & wiring
✓ Suitable for PBX
✓ A suitable location which supports ISDN
✓ Requires a terminal adapter internet connection
✓ A backup power supply system for business continuity
Benefits & Drawbacks Of ISDN Telephony Solutions
✓ ISDN has a strong track record, it is extremely traditional, it has been proven to have a reliable quality of service when it comes to voice calls.
✓ ISDN is very flexible, it can be incorporated within old or new state of the art telephony systems.
✓ ISDN lines can be very costly compared to other solutions where telephone systems are concerned.
– With ISDN there is sometimes limited options to keep your inbound and outbound calls in service if, for example, your system is unavailable.
– One of the most common limitations of ISDN tends to be around the limited options for phone numbers, as they must be geographical.
Drawing A Conclusion On Which To Choose, SIP Or ISDN?
ISDN support for business is set to be discontinued by 2025, your business really should be thinking about alternative options. Some businesses may not want to switch as it over 9 years away. Businesses may wish to go with a traditional phone system which supports SIP in wake of the switch off. We can only conclude that if you are looking to upgrade your system, you should really be moving to SIP or VoIP, we would recommend VoIP over SIP, however, if your business owns a telephone system that was recently installed, then SIP would be recommended over VoIP. There is no harm in going with something traditional, but in the near future this will not be supported, so why not future proof your business today with VoIP or SIP.
