Back to Basics: What is Elastic SIP Trunking?

Businesses are looking for advanced communication technology to improve their customer experience and overall internal operations. This is the reason why SIP Trunking has become the go-to technology for companies.

Because of this, many businesses are opting to switch towards a more flexible communication technology known as Elastic SIP Trunking. In this article, we will explore how it works and its advantages.

So, What Is Elastic SIP Trunking?

As compared to traditional SIP Trunking, elastic SIP Trunking is more advanced and scalable. It makes use of a cloud-based virtual connection to include flexibility to the SIP Trunking experience. Because of the virtual connection, your business can scale up and down as needed during peak times. This flexibility is especially imperative for companies that have seasonal or punctual spikes in their call volumes.

Additionally, because of its cloud-based nature, businesses can also integrate elastic SIP Trunking with other cloud-based services. This functionality is useful for all types of corporations that have a unified communication system architecture.

Elastic SIP Trunking and How It Works

Elastic SIP trunks work similarly to traditional SIP trunks. It connects IP channels to the standard PSTN network or other VoIP-based communication channels. As a result, a business can make and receive calls to other companies and customers on a landline or a mobile. Elastic SIP Trunking specificity is the possibility to “burst over” the predetermined number of channels that is contained in a standard SIP trunk.

Elastic SIP Trunking at VoIP.ms

VoIP.ms offers two different billing methods for incoming calls: Pay per Minute or Pay per Channel (also called a Virtual PRI). The Virtual PRI allows a business to purchase a predetermined number of channels based on its average concurrent incoming calls (not the peak) then simply pay it monthly. To ensure the caller does not get a busy tone due to channel limits, here comes the “elastic” variable: on top of the predetermined number of channels, VoIP.ms allows its customers to establish a maximum “burst” level. This way, whenever a customer peaks its predetermined number of channels, calls still go through. A net advantage of VoIP.ms over competition is that, at VoIP.ms, the “elastic” portion of the virtual PRI channels is billed daily. This means that customers only pay for the daily prorated portion of a channel when bursting over the predetermined number of channels. Moreover, a business can assign one or all its local DIDs to its Virtual PRI to share the pool of channels (as long as in the same country).

Two Benefits of Elastic SIP Trunking

1.Call Concurrency

Call concurrency is one of the biggest advantages of Elastic SIP Trunking for businesses. There are no restrictions when working with an elastic framework. Therefore, when experiencing growth, businesses can quickly access to new lines as they expand their operations.

2. Pay Only for What You Use

Another benefit of elastic SIP Trunking is that businesses pay only for what they are using. As a matter of fact, a traditional PRI limits business to pay for a full 23-channel PRI whether they use those channels or not. Standard SIP Trunking partly overcomes this limitation by allowing businesses to purchase additional connectivity, but it might not necessarily be used when the call volumes are low.

However, when a business decides to opt for an elastic SIP approach, it does not pay for useless calling capabilities when the call volume is somehow smaller than usual. It only pays for what the team is really using.

Final Toughts

SIP Trunking has become the go-to communication technology for most businesses. Elastic SIP Trunking only adds to the traditional SIP trunks. It provides companies more flexibility and overcomes some of the limitations of standard SIP trunks. That said, this communication technology is suitable for businesses that are looking for a more dynamic calling capacity.