SIP trunking, simply put, is a way for you to accomplish something that you already do, for less money, with equal or better quality, and with greater functionality. A Guide to SIP V4
An Introduction to SIP SIP Trunks allow your businesses to retain the advantages of your existing telecoms equipment, whilst gaining the additional functionality and benefits of IP Telephony. You can retain your existing handsets and have the flexibility to add remote or central IP users when needed. Although not the first VoIP trunking technology available to small and midsize companies, SIP trunking will be the first to have a widespread impact on phone communications for enterprises. You can also choose to deliver your data services over the same SIP trunk meaning that only one connection is needed for voice and data. Reduced connections means there are less interfaces, reduced hard costs, better efficiency and increased reliability. Why SIP Trunking Makes Sense SIP trunking provides voice connectivity for your workforce via a connection to our Next Generation Network and removes the need for ISDN 30 Lines (see fig 1). This produces a number of immediate tangible benefits: Number Portability - allowing customers to relocate their office and keep their existing number Number Flexibility - supporting Business Continuity plans for customers at a fraction of existing ISDN costs Scalability - an additional number of SIP channels can be added to a site at the fraction of the cost and time that deploying ISDN would entail Cost Reduction - you no longer need to buy and maintain ISDN 30 lines Cost Reduction - internal calls are free and external calls can be routed via the cheapest call provider from our Datacentre Figure 1 SIP Trunking Delivering Voice and Data Services to an Office Page 2
How SIP Transforms Enterprise Communications SIP will fundamentally improve the efficiency of communications between you, your other offices (see fig 2), your partners, suppliers and customers and is accelerating the adoption of IP Telephony on a worldwide basis. SIP trunks can be enabled immediately unlike ISDN lines, and offer the same or better functionality at a substantially lower cost. They also allow you to maximise the use of available bandwidth allowing voice, data and even video to be carried efficiently across the network. Furthermore SIP delivers presence and this application lets users inform others of their status, their availability, and how they can be contacted before a communication session even begins. Further savings are realised by eliminating the cost and maintenance of cumbersome, expensive legacy phone systems and analogue channels. Business-Quality Voice is associated with high Quality of Service (QoS). QOS is a defined level of performance in a network that is measured across three main performance parameters: packet loss, jitter and latency. If problems occur in any of these areas, the primary source of the issues is network congestion. To ensure business class voice, we provide dedicated Internet connectivity, which guarantee minimal latency, packet loss, and jitter. Figure 2 Multi-Site Connectivity Page 3
Features and Benefits Cost savings can be made in implementing a SIP trunk connection, especially if deployed across multiple sites, where site-to-site calling cost reductions can apply. However the main benefits of deploying SIP trunking are not price. SIP can also provide levels of voice clarity and reliability that equals, or even out perform those of traditional phone service as well as enable a host of applications to enhance business processes. Below are a list of key features and benefits of the Excell SIP Solution. Ease of Migration Preserve existing capabilities with seamless integration into existing systems. Implementations are transparent to end-users, with few (if any) service disruptions IP Trunking works with your site s installed IP PBX and IP telephones so all the current features are retained Staff re-training is unnecessary Interoperability between solutions in our Business Portfolio allows you to migrate at your own pace New users simply plug their phone into the wall. The phone will configure itself in seconds with their number, profile, hunt groups etc. Network-based IP Features to Improve Productivity and Mobility Sophisticated Feature Sets - Time of day routing, centralised reception, hunt groups, hot desking, call diverts/call forwards, SIM Ringing, Auto attendant, one number, find me/follow me, call pick-up, presence, instant messaging, video calling, outlook integration and other advanced features are all available Network-based customer dial plans and inbound call routing provide an easy way to add more intelligence to your voice network Out of Area Geographic Numbers. SIP Trunking allows your London office to have a Manchester number delivered directly. This allows you to publish local numbers around the UK without having to pay diversion charges back to the main office. Cost SIP trunks are a fraction of the cost of ISDN line rental Economical local and long distance call charges calls Reduce or eliminate costs associated with purchase, support and maintenance of hardware Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity In the event that the service is compromised, Excell Call Forwarding Not Reachable can be applied to all devices. The on-site router will switch to survivability mode until normal service resumes Extensive Global Coverage Broad geographic coverage plans with full service capabilities, including support for number portability and emergency calls solution takes account of country-specific look and feel (e.g. ring tone, dial tone, language support) Manageability Secure web access for all moves, adds and changes without the need for specialist Telecoms knowledge New services or users can be added almost immediately Where an existing PBX reaches capacity, SIP trunking allows for deployment of further extensions alongside the existing system. All users can have a common numbering plan and deskto-desk dialling. This blended solution is popular with our clients Number Porting - Port any BT number across to Excell, regardless of where the user was or is going to be Enabling Flexible Workers Excell sees home workers as just another endpoint on the existing client numbering plan. Provision of home workers is not dependant on system resource deployed elsewhere Page 4
The Excell Next Generation Network Our Next Generation Network (NGN) successfully combines the most advanced technologies with the latest services and applications to create a network which has no boundaries or limitations. Totally flexible, our NGN s capability is defined by the individual requirements of each customer, making it a truly bespoke solution. Our network was built to deliver voice services and therefore isn t a data network adapted to cope with voice. Our data centres are connected directly into the core of both the BT and Cable & Wireless networks. Our own QoS enabled network runs with six nines (that s 99.9999%) reliability which means that you benefit from our flexible, responsive and reliable services 24/7. We have data centres across the UK and have further UK & International expansion in development. Our network and services are continuously monitored, incorporating the latest technology to deliver you leading edge performance. Significant investment has been made into the latest networking innovations, allowing us to become one of the first service providers in the UK to provision VPLS networking on this scale. Our Global interconnects mean that we have Points of Presence (PoPs) globally, and our Ofcom registration enables us to host your numbers and deliver them to any worldwide location. Our network and service wrap, enables a robust endto-end hosted solution that is setting the standards in the industry and destroying myths regarding the quality of service delivered by SIP and IP telephony. Excell offer a cost-effective, flexible, scalable and secure alternative to in-house solutions, operated by our professional team of voice, data and systems specialists. The Excell Next Generation Network Page 5
The World of Convergence Drivers for Change There is a technological revolution taking place in the workplace. Data pouring into our working lives everyday is relentless and while businesses are dependent on email, the Internet and other electronic communications tools they still need to talk. The challenges some enterprises face is knowing how to use both voice and data communications effectively. The solution is to converge; the bringing together of voice and data services to run over a single network. For enterprises, convergence means a reduction in operating costs because only one network is needed. Also, an integrated network offers more flexibility so as a business grows so too can its communications infrastructure. Excell has been delivering innovative and ground breaking converged solutions to companies throughout the UK over the last few years, enabling a flexible, costeffective, high-bandwidth IP platform for wide area voice and data communication over a single network. Excell s MPLS solution simplifies the management of network traffic and offers its customers business grade Quality of Service (QoS) depending on the profile of the network traffic. With MPLS, businesses can satisfy their connectivity and usage needs through several converged IP-based data, voice and video services. The whole purpose of convergence is to simplify networks and increase bandwidth flexibility. What is clear is that a next generation MPLS solution looks set to make business life simpler, cheaper and more efficient which is just what technology is supposed to do. The World of Convergence Legacy Cooperative Intelligent Voice Data Voice over Ethernet IP Trunking MPLS QoS VoIP VOB Softswitch Internet Hosting Applications Network Intelligence Hosted Firewalls Flexible Bandwidth Single Bill Customer Controls Managed CPE Disaster Recovery Network Storage Backup Single Supply Network Real-Time Scalability Customer Control Single Pipe QoS Organisational Change LAN Upgrades NGN Applications Gaining Effectiveness Page 6
Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Another key benefit of SIP is greater flexibility when disaster strikes. Through SIP, enterprises can control their redundant platforms and fail-over paths. By creating a SIP account for a customer s phone system the VoIP telephone numbers associated with that account are now hosted with the SIP providers network. Usually Voice Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery solutions are implemented at trunk level (ISDN or SIP) and are only instigated if a whole trunk becomes redundant. Excell s unique solution is implemented on the DDI and the handset/mac address it points to. Therefore, if the handset becomes disconnected or unavailable, the selected divert function will become applicable. This provides a total Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity solution. This solution has been developed due to demand from our customers and is the latest benefit for customers that have numbers ported to Excell. This feature is managed within our NGN (Next Generation Network) and is available to all customers (new and existing) who port their numbers to Excell. SIP trunking extends the notion of seamless connectivity within a business to customers, remote employees, anyone working outside the corporate network. This is the next evolution of telecommunications we look forward to sharing it with you. Connectivity Hardware Voice Voice & Data Data Data Business Centre Solutions Mobile Managed Service Applications Cloud Voice Hardware Connectivity Page 7