When we were in college we all guzzled down lots of beer because it was readily available. As we have grown up we have found it is preferable to sip a full-bodied wine or a smooth-as-silk bourbon. The same could be said for the way we consume communications technology.  For decades we have used what the big communications companies have given us. What they give us is what is easy and profitable for them—POTS, Internet and, more recently, Ethernet. There are other systems available that are more economical for you, the business customer, than for the communications companies. The catch is you have to be able to understand what is available, how it works and how it will save you money.

SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) is not really a new concept. It has been around for a while however, many communications sales reps did not understand it well enough to offer it to their customers. SIP is garnering resurgence in Telephony applications today because the general public’s knowledge of communication applications has increased. Yes, we are smarter now than we used to be, so it will be easier for business consumers to understand what SIP is and how they could benefit from it.

We have all seen the commercial where the dad is video chatting with his child while sharing a cookie from half way around the world. With SIP Technology we are talking about a better quality and more secure version of the technology that makes that video chat possible. SIP packages voice into a digital signal that is then enabled to transfer through the internet. According to my cable company, who made me rent digital converters for all my tvs, digital provides the best clarity and quality possible. SIP enables telephony over your internet network. This means you can eliminate the cost of maintaining two networks, your POTS and your Ethernet, by putting your phone traffic on your Ethernet network. So you can see where the money savings come from.  By now I am sure you have a few questions about what SIP really is and how it works. I will try to break it down with some simple points of what it is and what it does.

• SIP allows us to packetize and prioritize voice traffic over digital circuits.
• SIP digs a channel in an IP network so voice and/or video can flow between two or more places. When you finish talking, SIP shuts the channel down making it more secure.
• SIP is the technology protocol designed to make computers communicate with one another through streaming. It is still the standard by which they communicate.
• SIP is an internet protocol like HTTP (which we use for web browsing); however SIP is used to make a phone-like connection between computers, pda, VoIP-phones or other devises that talk over the internet.
• SIP is the new PRI (Primary Rate Interface) and is more cost effective from a trunking perspective.
• SIP really has nothing to do with the internet; it is what differentiates voice from all other data regardless of how it is transmitted.
• SIP is a business-class integrated voice and data service with IP-PBX (a telephone switch that supports voice over IP) connectivity.

In simpler terms SIP technology allows you to make calls between devices over a local network or the internet (managed or un-managed). Callers and Callees are identified by a SIP address just like you are identified by an IP address when you use the internet. SIP is a standards based technology that acts like your plain old telephone line but it uses the internet as its medium instead of old antiquated phone lines.

Now that you know the basics of what SIP technology is and what it does should you find yourself needing additional help of a more technical nature deciding what SIP solution will work best for your company please contact us at nimboip.com.  We can help you with SIP Technology, but as for what wine or bourbon to sip everyone has different tastes and that may be even more complicated than SIP.