Traditional ways of business communications are still very relevant. Project management and other tools used in organizations send email notifications to their employees. However, when it comes to communication, businesses are using voice calls and video calls. Mobile phones have become a critical tool for both voice calls and video calls. Every employee relies on his phone for voice calls, email, text messaging and video conferencing.
Businesses now have more options when it comes to business phone systems. More integrated options like VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) are much better, safer and cost-effective than outdated Primary Rate Interface lines. However, Voice over Internet Protocol is not the only solution. There is a Unified Communication approach supporting different forms of communication including voice, text, conferencing, mobility and more. If you are considering an advanced business phone system then you might want to know the difference between Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Shall you look for SIP trunk providers? Are both competing technologies? This article explains the difference between SIP and VoIP.
SIP vs VoIP
The term Voice over Internet Protocol describes internet-based phone services. SIP is a communication protocol. Most types of VoIP deployments use this communication protocol. Voice over Internet Protocol transmits voice packets using data connectivity.
On the other hand, SIP is used in VoIP applications for the initiation, maintenance and termination of multimedia communication sessions. This protocol supports voice, video and messaging applications. SIP trunk providers in Canada provide hosted SIP hosting services.
Not all VoIP use SIP technology. However, SIP supports and scales VoIP. SIP is the most prevalent protocol to support voice calls, text, instant messaging, video conferencing and other multimedia communications.
What are the Pros and Cons of VoIP
The term VoIP is used to describe any internet phone service. It can be a low-cost residential service, complex implementations of Unified Communication and so on. The features and quality of Voice over Internet Protocol vary significantly. Therefore, different types of services come with their own pros and cons.
Comparing the pros and cons of VoIP and SIP is not useful. Let’s evaluate the pros and cons of VoIP only and VoIP with SIP.
VoIP-Only
Pros
- Low initial investment
- Flat rate monthly billing
- No on-site installation required and highly portable
- Long term service contracts not required
Cons
- Requires bandwidth for sufficient call availability and quality
- Lack of mobile integration on mobile apps in basic VoIP services
- No support for multimedia communications
- Lack of integration with Microsoft Office, DropBox, Salesforce and other applications
VoIP with SIP
Switching from traditional PRIs to SIP offers immediate cost savings. You can unlock new productivity tools and features.
Pros
- It allows you to consolidate technologies into Unified Communication and as a result, it offers cost savings on business applications.
- In the case of loss of connectivity, it offers failover to employee mobile devices
- Provides flexible pricing with the availability of add-on features and lines
- Allows to add lines and features with user-friendly administrative tools
- Supports integration with cloud applications for the implementation of Unified Communications
- Offers built-in integration with software and business applications used to enhance productivity
- Support the creation of a hybrid phone system by integrating with the existing PRI lines
Cons
- Requires sufficient bandwidth for quality services
- Varying service quality depending on SIP trunk providers in Canada
- Varying features by SIP trunk providers
- Quality and security risks as SIP is over a public internet service
Shall you use VoIP or VoIP with SIP? The answer to this question depends on your business needs. You can get in touch with a SIP trunk provider in Canada for more details.
