SIP trunking is, in many respects, a stepping stone to full Unified Communications.  But what is UC?  And how are SIP trunks ushering in this new era of business communication?

Unified Communications is the use of technology to reach anyone, anywhere in the world, using the method that they prefer.  For instance, from my office in New Hampshire I can pick up my SIP phone and reach a colleague in Sweden, who may be working away from her desk and has all of her calls set to ring simultaneously on her cellphone and home phone.  Another great example: a customer sets up a click-to-call helpdesk for their call center, which also offers realtime IM and VoIP via softphone or SIP phone.  The list goes on – key features are the ability to speed up and simplify business processes all at a very low cost.

Getting started is as easy as deploying SIP trunks, which we demonstrate at the ITEXPO every season with IP-PBX vendors and ITSPs setting up SIP trunks in less than 20 minutes, in the unfamiliar environment of a convention center.  SIP trunks have proven to pay for themselves, in most implementations, in 6-9 months.  That kind of ROI is unbeatable.

The beauty of SIP trunks is that, once the infrastructure is in place (again, a simple process), you’re ready to adopt all forms of SIP-based communication, including Unified Communications.  That means SIP trunking not only cuts costs immediately and pays for itself rapidly, but the network is prepared for all the new UC applications coming down the road.

SIP trunks are fueling interest in, and adoption of, Unified Communications.  That’s why at the next ITEXPO in October, in LA, we’re debuting the new SIP Trunk-Unified Communications Summit, to showcase the close relationship between these two services.  We’re developing a program that helps demystify Unified Communications, just like we did for SIP trunking, and provides you with a roadmap – the information you need to know, now -- on the what, why and how of UC.

SIP trunking is still a focus, so look for some innovative programming on that front as well.