SIP Trunks provider in the UK

SIP trunking

Frequently asked questions

• What is a SIP trunk used for?
  SIP trunking is a way to deliver voice services over the internet. It works with a SIP enabled communication systems and handsets. SIP trunking is used to replace standard phone carrier services like ISDN, PRI and PSTN. SIP Trunk is mostly used if you have VoIP/SIP enabled onsite phone system.
• What is the difference between SIP trunking and VoIP?
  VoIP is a broad term which refers to any call made over the internet rather than over a standard phone line. VoIP depends on IP (data connectivity) to transmit voice packets. SIP is a protocol used to initiate, maintain, and terminate voice communication sessions in VoIP applications. SIP protocols support the signalling and management of voice, video, and electronic messaging applications. SIP (Session initiation protocol) is used in VoIP (Voice over IP) technology.
• What are the benefits of SIP trunks?
  SIP Trunks is a way of getting your onsite phone system connected to the outside world. SIP trunk replaces older PSTN and ISDN phone lines and uses the Internet to transmit voice data. Key benefits of SIP Trunks is lower cost compared to older PSTN / ISDN connections, ability to easily scale up or down with the number of channels (or simultaneous calls required). It is also easy to relocate as you could use your SIP Trunk anywhere you can get access to the internet. SIP Trunks can be configured to encrypt all voice data before transmission and allow for HD voice codes with significantly better voice quality to be enabled. SIP Trunks are also significantly cheaper compared to older PSTN or ISDN lines.
• What are SIP trunk channels
  A SIP channel is used for one incoming or outgoing call. You can think about it as a sort of a standard phone line. Every SIP trunk can support multiple SIP channels. Number of channels is limited by your Internet connection speed, but most of the modern broadband connections are capable of supporting dozens of channels. E.g. 10Mbps connection could support about 100 simultaneous calls.
• How does a SIP trunk work?
  SIP trunking was designed to effectively replace older T1 or PRI lines. They allow you to connect your onsite IP phone system to the outside world. Rather than routing voice calls over copper lines and dedicated circuit-switched networks, SIP trunking involves sending the voice calls over data networks like the Internet or enterprise local area network.
• How many channels can a SIP trunk handle?
  Number of channels supported by SIP Trunk is limited by your Internet connection speed, but most of the modern broadband connections are capable of supporting dozens of channels. E.g. 10Mbps connection could support about 100 simultaneous calls. You would also need to order required number of SIP channels via customer billing portal.
• Do I need internet and how fast?
  VoIP (Voice over IP) requires data connection between your premises and our servers. In most cases it would be public internet. However you only need a tiny amount of bandwidth – connection speed in order to use VoIP. Each channel requires 80Kbps (0.08 Mbps), or using compressed codec even smaller – 0.03 Mbps. Quality of VoIP will highly depend on the reliability of your internet connection. It does not have to be very fast, but it must be reliable and stable. We also recommend using dedicated internet link for setups with over 5 phones.
• What happens if my internet goes down?
  We have multiple solutions that can make sure you can continue to receive calls even when your internet goes down. You can have calls diverted to your mobile phone if you are offline, this way you can continue to receive calls without any internet. You can also have multiple internet connections for redundancy so if one connection fails you can continue to use the other.
• What is the quality like?
  Simply speaking – it is better than using traditional phone lines. We use G722 (High Definition Voice Codec). Connection will be crystal clear and better compared to normal PSTN services. Also, unlike many other services, all our equipment is hosted locally, meaning that there will be no delays in voice transmission.
• Is it reliable?
  Our systems are optimized for reliability, not price. We guarantee 99.9% SLA backed uptime on all our systems. All parts of the system are fully redundant, meaning that there is no single point of failure. This is not just words. We use independent monitoring company called hyperspin.com to monitor our server uptime. Visit our system uptime page.
• Why is there a minimum monthly spend?
  We offer lower rates for larger call volume accounts. For services with minimum monthly spend we deduct the minimum monthly spend amount on the 1st of each month and this amount becomes call credit on your account. There are no extra charges for calls up to the minimum monthly spend, calls over are charged at the call plan rates.
• Do you have references?
  We have client testimonials on our testimonials page.
• Where are you based?
  Our head office is in London, United Kingdom with our servers located in Reading, Berkshire datacentre. All sales and support is handled by our highly trained staff.
• Can I port my number in or out?
  Almost all UK telephone numbers can be ported into our system. Any UK numbers that we provide or are ported into our service can be ported to another provider as long as that provider is willing to take on the number.