SIP trunking and VoIP are two extremely popular choices of communication for businesses, however, it can be difficult to understand the differences between the two and which is the right choice for your company.

Our telecoms guide is a useful resource to start with, and below we go into detail about what exactly SIP and VoIP are, how they work and the main differences between them.  With over 40 years in telecoms, we’re in a position to provide you with the best solutions – just get in touch with your enquiry.

What is SIP?

SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) trunking is a method of communication that uses an Internet connection, to deliver voice rather than a traditional phone line. SIP allows users to communicate across the world using voice, data and video over a single connection.

It is a preferred method of communication by larger businesses as it is easily scalable and cost-effective. Delivering over SIP enables businesses to benefit from investment in large data connections as, using SIP, they also enable voice to be delivered over the internet (VoIP).

What is VoIP?

VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol, is a term that refers to the transfer of voice communications over the Internet, rather than a traditional phone line. VoIP however, differently to SIP, is only able to initiate voice communications, not multimedia too.

VoIP tends to be used by small to medium-sized businesses, with a dedicated circuit for voice connectivity. VoIP is often used to support hosted telephony which is easy to budget for on a monthly basis at fixed costs over an agreed term.

Key differences

Whilst you may now understand what SIP and VoIP are, you may not know the exact differences between the two technologies. Below, we have put together some of the key differences, to help you understand which is the best option for your business.

How they work

Whilst they both use the internet to make phone calls, there is one main difference in the way that SIP trunks and VoIP work.

VoIP can only carry voice communications, so you can only make voice phone calls to other users, whereas SIP trunks can carry all forms of media, including video. This means you are able to have video calls with team members in other offices, or with clients.

Costs

There is one major difference in the costs associated with SIP trunks and VoIP that may impact your decision on which to choose.

VoIP tends to not have any upfront costs, whereas SIP trunking does have upfront costs associated with setting up the connection. For small businesses, these upfront costs may not be viable, so VoIP would be the best option.

Both options are cheap to upscale, adding extra bandwidth and SIP trunks being extremely cost-effective. VoIP is also great for budgeting, as each bill is the same each month, based on your initial connection choice with no surprise fees.

Upscaling

As stated above, upscaling is quick and easy on both options. Extra SIP trunks can be easily added or removed, depending on your staff levels. This means if a team member suddenly leaves or if you are experiencing rapid growth, you don’t need to worry about unused phone lines or waiting for new ones to be installed.

Who are they best for?

VoIP tends to be preferable to smaller and medium-sized businesses, this is because it can be supplied as part of a hosted telephony solution which offers predictable monthly billing that is easy to budget for with minimal upfront costs and easy scalibility.

SIP trunking is usually favoured by larger businesses, this is because it can easily deal with large communications, especially multimedia and can share the same connections as data traffic, with rules applied to ensure voice quality. Smaller companies tend not to prefer SIP trunks as they can be quite difficult to manage as they often do not have the IT departments and resources to manage the connections.

ISDN switch off

In 2027, the ISDN network is going to be switched off. This means that anyone on an existing ISDN network will need to find alternative communications, with SIP trunking and VoIP to support hosted solutions being the two main alternatives available to businesses.

In April 2017, BT Openreach announced that they will be switching off their existing ISDN network in 2027 (and will no longer have ISDN lines available for purchase from 2020), as they focus on a single IP network. ISDN stands for Integrated Services Digital Network and provides a high quality voice circuit with the ability to add features such as DDI services that are not available on analogue lines.

As a result, businesses will need to look to alternatives for their communications – keeping personalised numbers, managing a high number of concurrent calls, audio conferencing – and many see the switch as an opportunity to improve their telephone systems and even save money.

The two natural alternatives to ISDN are SIP Trunks and Hosted VoIP systems, both of which are advanced telephony options already used by small, medium and large businesses. Southern Communications offer an ISDN replacement service and can advise businesses on the best upgrade options, on a bespoke basis, based on your current infrastructure.

To help you know your options, what do SIP and VOIP mean and which is right for your business?

What is SIP?

SIP stands for Session Initiation Protocol and enables voice to be carried over the internet, rather than a traditional phone line. SIP is set-up and uses SIP trunks to enable voice traffic to be sent over a data connection without loss of quality .

To use SIP, a business is assigned a virtual SIP address and will access the system with handsets and other internet enabled devices. Once you’re using SIP, new channels can be created and removed at any time to meet demands and reflect your capacity or seasonal trends.

Main benefits include:

• Affordable monthly rental costs
• High definition voice quality
• Number of lines based on users
• Ideal for office moves/relocation

What is VoIP?

VoIP is Voice over Internet Protocol and can be accessed using SIP Trunks on an on premise system or via a cloud based hosted telephony system, where your telecommunication system is hosted off-site, rather than in your office. As it’s all in the cloud, the system is maintained by a telecoms provider, updates are carried out for your and the system can be accessed using multiple devices, such as smartphones and tablets.

It’s already a very popular alternative to ISDN and once on VoIP, your communications are future proofed.

Main benefits include:

• Cost savings over ISDN
• Advanced telephony features
• Scalability and flexibility

SIP vs VoIP

Both SIP and VoIP are ideal alternatives to ISDN and will upgrade your telephony system to be flexible, advanced and more cost-effective.

As both can be tailored to your usage, you don’t need to pay for more than you need or use – which is why it’s a good financial decision to switch before 2027 as you will benefit from cost savings for an additional seven years.

As both SIP and Hosted VoIP systems work for small, medium and large businesses, it will depend on your specific setup, budget, and needs. Here is an overview comparison of the two:

Consideration	SIP	VoIP
On premise?	Requires an on premise system	Can be used as on premise or a hosted system
Expenditure	Capex expenditure (upfront)	Opex expenditure (monthly subscription)
Maintenance	Ongoing maintenance	Maintenance included in monthly fee
Upgrades	Not included	Included
Training	May be an extra charge depending on your provider	May be an extra charge depending on your provider
Expansion	May be costly	No upfront cost
Pros	– Free internal calls – Simple process to add or remove SIP trunks – Secure connection – Add further UK numbers at any time – Great return on investment – Advanced features – Ideal for multi locations	– Does not require a dedicated staff member onsite – Provider handles installation and upgrades – Secure connection – Add further UK numbers at any time – Easy and fast enhanced features – Simple relocation process – Advanced features – Ideal for multi locations
Cons	– Loss of Internet results in loss of phone service (can go to voicemail or routed to mobile) – Will require a maintenance contract – Cancellation fees may occur	– Voice quality relies on Internet connection – Loss of Internet results in loss of phone service (can go to voicemail or routed to mobile) – Cancellation fees may occur

SIP would be the best option if:

• Your preference is upfront cost
• You don’t expect your telecoms requirements to change over the years
• You have a lot of users on just one site
• You like to keep in house resource to maintain your telephone systems

VoIP would be the best option if:

• You do not want to incur high upfront costs
• You do not have additional IT resource to manage the system
• You have remote offices and mobile workers
• You’re a small or medium sized business

Get in touch

If you would like to find out more about the best option for your business, or would like to discuss your requirements, give our team a call on 01256 391 046 and we would be happy to help you.

Businesses and organisations are likely to be aware of online fraud, but are less informed about the risks surrounding telephone fraud. Essentially, at any time fraudsters may attempt to hack into your telephone systems to make a high volume of high-cost calls to obscure locations for large financial gains.

Typically, experienced hackers will attack Private Branch Exchange systems remotely during the night and out-of-hours, when staff are most likely to be unavailable to check the system and respond. This affects a wide range of sectors, from schools to charities and hotels and retail.

The high cost of telephone fraud

Unfortunately, this type of fraud costs businesses millions of pounds a year and the cost can even force companies to close down; for a small to medium company spending £200 a month on their telephone system, an unexpected attack costing thousands can make them financially vulnerable.

Without the right protections in place, it can be surprisingly easy to become a victim of telephone fraud; cloud-based systems are at risk the same as traditional PBX set-ups.

How can you protect yourself from this type of fraud?

• Ensure adequate firewalls are in place
• Use secure password protection (never the default)
• Regularly update passwords
• Bar unnecessary phone numbers
• Look out for unusual activity

It’s vital that businesses protect themselves from attack by choosing telephony systems with built-in protection. A provider should be able to detail the  firewalls in place and the system should be password protected.

Additionally, restrictions on the system, such as barring unnecessary international numbers, out of hours calls and access to your voicemail system from external phones are essential. It’s also recommended that companies set-up voicemail passwords (never use the default) as this is a common route for attackers to enter a system. These passwords should also be changed regularly. Such a proactive approach should limit the ‘worst case scenario’ should a hacker successfully attack.

Unusual call activity can be a change in the patterns you typically see, such as a sharp increase in outgoing calls during off-peak hours.

Our message to businesses is to be proactive and aware of the dangers. Making and receiving calls is a key business component to success and customer service, so it’s important that it’s a top priority to keep them secure.

As added protection, our customers benefit from, VoiceSafe, which will credit the cost of  fraudulent calls up to an agreed amount.  A real help to fraud victims hit with unexpected costs. In the situation where a company is attacked without a service like VoiceSafe, the responsibility of paying for the calls sits with the business that has been hit by the fraud.

Read our case study with the BWI Group to see how we saved them over £5,000 of costs from PBX fraud.

Check your current security

If you believe your telephone system – either a PBX, IP or hosted system – is vulnerable to attack and is missing the necessary protections available, it’s important to take action quickly to protect your business. Any form of hack can be disruptive to productivity as well as to your finances.

As a general rule, implement a frequent review of call logs and call reporting to assess that calls are genuine and ask your provider to let you know when updates to security features occur. Updates are able to further secure your system from the developing threat from hackers who will be looking to advance their methods and success rates.

Contact us for solutions

Any concerned business can contact Southern Communications for a review of their security measures. Solutions from a review can include updated software and hardware, as well as proactive monitoring practices. These can be cost effective in the long term and if possible, it’s worth seriously considering financial insurance to minimise the economic strain should the worst happen.

BASINGSTOKE, UK – Business-to-business communications specialist, Southern Communications Ltd, will join Fitbit as a major sponsor for Francis Benali’s latest challenge in support of Cancer Research.

Francis Benali announced his latest challenge to complete 7 Triathlons in 7 days, in Southampton, home of Saints FC where he was a respected player for 20 years. The challenge will see Francis, affectionally known as Franny, travel the UK, stopping along the route, completing a 26.2mile run, 112 mile bike ride and a 2.4mile swim each day. The challenge known as “Iron Fran”, will take place 29th April – 5th May 2019, with stops across the country from Manchester to Southampton.

Southern Communications, previous sponsors of Benali’s Big Race, have taken on the supporting role once again in this epic challenge to raise funds for Cancer Research.

Paul Bradford, Southern Communications CEO, said: “We are delighted to be sponsoring such a fantastic challenge and supporting all the wonderful work that Cancer Research do. It is a charity close to many of our hearts and we have absolute admiration of Franny and the commitment he is making.”

About Southern Communications

Established in 1965, Southern Communications is one of the oldest telecoms companies in the UK. Since 1995, led by Paul Bradford (CEO) and supported by a dynamic management team, the business has grown from a turnover of just £4.3m in 2006/7 to £43million 2017/18.

Today, Southern Communications is a Tier 2 ISP, supplying communications products and services, including telephony and cloud computing, to SME customers. The company employs more than 250 staff in a range of disciplines from engineers and sales to customer services and accounts.

Website: scgconnected.britwebtest.co.uk
Address: Glebe Farm, Down Street, Dummer RG25 2AD

About Francis Benali:

Francis Benali started his football career with Southampton training team at the age of 13 and signed as an apprentice to the club at 16. He turned professional at 18 and enjoyed a further 20years playing for Saints before retiring. On retiring from professional football his drive to achieve has continued and he is now undertaking his third big charity push for Cancer Research. This follows two previous challenges. Benalis Big Race in 2016 and Benalis Big Run in 2014.

For further information please contact:
Sue Michaelwaite
Marketing Manager
DDI – 01256 391 081
E: suem@southern-comms.co.uk

Cloud environments, are a fantastic way for businesses to manage their business applications on virtual servers, removing the need for costly on-site servers, which need regular maintenance and a controlled environment.

The benefits of Cloud Technology

Migrating to the cloud may seem like a difficult process, but it is one that we have simplified meaning your small, medium or large business can benefit quickly and easily from making the switch.

For most businesses, the benefits of being on the cloud make it incredibly appealing. Here are some of the improvements you can expect:

High quality and flexible communications

• Accessible from anywhere, anytime of year (including the holidays)
• Easy to add and remove users

Fully managed by your provider

• Reduce the strain on your team

Opex model

• Only pay for what you need

Future-proofed and ready for expansion

• Be set for business growth

Resilient, secure and backed-up

• Never lose work again
• Built in business continuity

The process of migration

To obtain the benefits of using better technology, we migrate your business over after stages of planning and assessment to ensure minimal disruption to your productivity. As we’ve completed numerous migrations, you have peace of mind that our data will be secure and that you will have as much control as you wish and peace of mind.

Training

Once we understand the critical data and applications being migrated, we work with you to transition them.

Creating a cloud environment

The cloud system itself will be flexible and created for your business, based on your needs and the solutions we have discussed with you. Our expert technical specialists have years of experience in migration and will be able to answer questions every step of the way.

On going support

Once you have migrated to the cloud the data centre teams take care of the environment, with 24/7/365 monitoring and depending our your requirements, we can offer access to authorised users or carry out maintenance on your behalf to allow you to focus on your most important business goals and being productive.

Hybrid cloud solutions

Not sure you want all of your applications based in a cloud environment? We also offer hybrid cloud solutions, whereby some applications  can be migrated to the cloud, whilst others  stay on-site.

This solution works well as both a permanent setup for your business, or as a pathway into a full cloud environment. This again is very flexible and created to maximise the benefits to your working environment.

Is cloud computing right for your business?

Cloud technology is ideal for most businesses, small, medium, large, local and international, due to the fact it’s flexible, reliable and secure.

It’s scalability is definitely a factor in migrating to the cloud for companies who have plans to expand in the future, and removing the servers and maintenance responsibility to a provider saves key members of staff time to concentrate on other factors.

Find out more about a hybrid cloud environment and see if it’s right for your business, or get in touch with us today.

Make an enquiry

If you’re looking to migrate your business to the cloud, either to a full cloud environment or a hybrid solution, get in touch with our team to discuss your requirements.

Call us on 01256 391 046, or email our team on sales@southern-comms.co.uk for more information.

We’ve been providing businesses with high quality hosted telephony solutions for over a decade and are delighted to launch the future of data communications – Evonex.

The Evonex is one of the most feature rich solutions on the market and will put your business above the competition, with intuitive communications and reporting between staff, suppliers and clients.

Here, we take a look at some of the most impressive benefits of Evonex to help you understand if it is right for your business aims:

The top 5 benefits you can enjoy

Advanced functionality

• Intuitive user portal
• HD voice and video
• Selective CLI presentation
• Hunt groups and call queue management
• Failover should your connection go down
• Desktop, smartphone, handset compatibility

Evonex is a reliable, high performance system that includes all the standard features such as call waiting, voicemail, call forwarding and music on hold, as well as an incredible range of advanced features. It is through these advanced features that you can truly impress your customers and deliver professional communications at all times.

One major point to consider is that it has a built-in failsafe; should your connection go down for any reason, you will still be contactable and won’t miss those all-important calls.

In-depth reporting

With the system’s Wallboards (dashboards), you can view call performance data including call activity and handler information, from any internet enabled device or in the office. Once this data is reviewed, it provides invaluable insight into call level performance and ultimately, areas of improvement.

This software allows you to view performance based on different departments and groups in your business. Displayed in quick and easy to understand visuals, it’s ideal for project managers and directors to assess productivity in a timely fashion.

Significant cost savings

There is absolutely no capital outlay for the system as you are invoiced on a monthly basis for an agreed amount. You only ever pay for what you use (typically per handset), so you’ll never be overcharged on your communications.

The value of Evonex is extremely high when you take into account both the cost savings from a traditional PBX system and the functionality gained.

Flexible communications

As Evonex allows you to easily communicate from office handsets, connected mobiles and home telephones, staff are always reachable and with features such as voicemail to email, there are a number of ways to get in touch with the opportunity of a quick response.

Telephone numbers can also be routed across a number of devices; you can be out of the office or working from home but the caller won’t need to know a different number to reach you, or even learn that you’re away from your desk.

Improved customer experience

Combined, the features of the system provide your staff with the tools to better manage and improve client relationships, with the possibility to increase client retention. In particular, the IVR call queuing and routing plans are very effective, as well as the high voice quality of calls and always being contactable with failsafe measures in place.

For more information, please see our Evonex product brochure.

How can you get access to Evonex?

To benefit from this system, the installation is quick and easy once your premises have been checked by our engineers. Installation can take place at a time to suit you that causes the least disruption to your workflow.

To make the most of the functionality, we will also install the best choice of handsets and train staff on how to use both the software and hardware. Most companies see a prompt increase in productivity and the reporting features frequently highlight areas of improvement.

Discover the Value of Mobility with Evonex

Evonex is our bespoke hosted telephony platform and has proven incredibly popular with our business clients across multiple industries. It delivers a range of advanced features that allow businesses to communicate, between teams and customers, whilst being easy to use, track and report on.

Based in the cloud, Evonex has been designed to improve efficiencies and is cost effective to install. One aspect of the platform that makes it so appealing to businesses is it’s mobility with the Evonex Mobile Softphone.

Discover how you can make your business more mobile with Evonex by utlising it’s smartphone app in and out of the office:

The app is quick and easy to use and once downloaded and logged in, you have access to the cloud based system and can stay in touch with your colleagues and clients, access your contact lists and call logs.

Essentially it lets a user’s smartphone become an extension of the phone system and simplifies communication. By having so much potential in your pocket, you’ll never need to miss a call, conference call or instant message again.

Benefits

• Be contacted on a single number in or out of the office
• Communicate easily out of the office
• Choose which number to present to callers
• Manage call forwarding
• Simultaneous ringing
• Track, record and share conversations

This app is available to download on both iOS and Android via Apple App Store and Android Apps on Google Play, meaning the vast majority of people wanting to access it on their smartphones will be able to.

Functionality

The app means you will never need to miss a call again; it alerts you to voicemails and text messages, whilst storing calls on the local mobile device for your records. Storing logs is useful as it allows you to easily return calls.

Other core features include push notifications saving battery life, seeing colleagues availability, instant messaging, call history, quick dials and conference settings.

Ease of use

With the aim of simplifying communication on the go, the app itself is very easy to use and allows you to update your preferences to tailor it to your own needs.

The menu has been designed to be user friendly and once you’re logged in, you can make calls within just a few seconds.

Be more competitive

In today’s highly connected world expectations have changed; clients have more of an assumption that staff will be reachable and able to help them; by using the Evonex hosted telephone system and with the Evonex mobile app, you’re increasing your potential for customer satisfaction as well as staff productivity.

Speak to our team for a free telecoms review

At Southern Comms we have a dedicated team and over 50 years’ experience in providing award winning telecoms solutions. We’re incredibly proud of Evonex and its exclusivity to us.

Call us today on 01256 391 046 to arrange a free telecoms review where we can create a bespoke solution based on your specific needs. As Evonex is a hosted telephony system suitable for all business sizes, it may be the ideal upgrade to enhance your communications.