If you work in a large or small business, it’s no secret that tons of voice calls take place on a daily basis, proving that phones are still incredibly vital for many professionals. Recent technology has given large corporations plenty more options when it comes to choosing a reliable phone service to use. Many businesses have begun to make the switch from their old outdated phone systems to newer phone systems like Session Initial Protocol (SIP) systems, and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) systems, in order to save costs, increase productivity and upgrade features.
If you are looking into new phone systems and evaluating the pros and cons of these superior phone systems, this article will give you a better insight into these two top phone systems.
What Are The Main Differences Between SIP and VoIP Systems?
When looking into these two phone service types, the differences aren’t as straightforward as you might hope. It will be beneficial to note that VoIP describes all internet-based telecommunication systems, whereas SIP is actually a specific branch off of VoIP phone services.
Voice over Internet Protocol systems is a broad term that includes all calls made over the internet or cloud operations, instead of the traditional landline. In order for this type of phone system to work, a stable internet or data connection will need to be in place. On the other hand, SIP is a protocol, or form of VoIP, that initiates, maintains, and terminates multimedia communication sessions. This type of protocol supports voice and video management over phone lines and also on internet applications. In order to fully understand what this means, it is worth understanding what protocol means. Simply put, a protocol is a system of digital rules for communication exchanges between phones, computers, or smartphones. Therefore, when it’s said that SIP is a form of VoIP protocol, it means that they are derived from the same system, just with different benefits and features.
The bottom line is that because these are one and the same with different types of phone benefits, differentiating between them isn’t the most straightforward comparison you could ask for. SIP can be used to scale and support VoIP systems, but all VoIP systems are backed by SIP technology. Both systems have beneficial features, but choosing the right system for your business will be entirely up to what services you are most looking for. When making a decision, it is more beneficial to look solely at each system and weigh the pros and cons separately.
The Pros and Cons of Using Solely VoIP Phone Systems
- The Pros: VoIP has an initial low investment price, which is attractive for many businesses looking to make the change. With the ongoing costs mostly predictable and flat monthly fees, this is the cheapest offer. There is no on-sight installation needed and is incredibly mobile for most businesses to set up. Most of the plans you will be able to choose from provides basic options like caller ID, call routing, call forwarding, and voicemail options, with more advanced features needing to be purchased. The last benefit in choosing this type of system is the fact that most of the VoIP systems don’t require long service contracts, making it easy to change or update if needed.
- The Cons: As you may have guessed, VoIP phone systems will require a higher level of bandwidth for their services. With that in mind, you may also need to implement a QoS, or quality of service, network traffic rule, in order to preserve call quality. Because this is a voice-only service, this system does lack support for multimedia communications, which might pose a threat to some businesses that need this form of support. If your company needs to integrate mobile apps or mobile phone integration, then VoIP won’t be the system for you.
The Pros and Cons of Using SIP Phone Systems
- The Pros: There are many pros of utilizing SIP systems and making this choice can offer extreme flexibility for businesses. Allowing businesses to add on lines is a huge plus of SIP and can provide fail-over to mobile devices in the case of an internet connection or data being lost. The administration tools are also easy to use and allow users to change numbers, configure their system, and add lines if needed. A huge plus of this sort of system is that SIP can be integrated with existing PRI lines, which is an outdated type of communication system, making an updated hybrid transmission system that can increase productivity in the workplace.
- The Cons: Similarly to the VoIP systems, SIP systems will need a high bandwidth in order to support quality services. Depending on the provider your business chooses, call qualities and service qualities will vary. When sending documents and making calls over SIP systems, from phone lines and web services, there is a greater security risk involved.
Choosing A Reputable Phone System for Your Business
Before making a final decision on which phone system to use, you need to look at a few things. Going over your business needs, budget, in-house expertise, and long-term factors will all be important to discuss prior to hiring a service provider. Whichever type of service your business ends up choosing, you won’t be disappointed in the features offered by both types of systems. While these two options are technically different, they are both beneficial to businesses in their own ways.