SIP Trunking Providers: What Makes GoTrunk Different

The pace of VoIP adoption has accelerated in the past five years and growth is expected to continue for the next decade. Until now, many organizations have postponed the transition due to a number of reasons but the impending PSTN switch off in some countries (the US, the UK, France and Germany to name a few) is forcing everyone to think about the future.

Naturally landlines in these countries will not stop working immediately but the year 2020 or 2025 – which is when many operators will phase out the PSTN – is not far off. While individuals may be able to sign up with a VoIP provider and get started quickly, organizations often have to plan in advance. There are many considerations to keep in mind such as upfront costs, in-house expertise, the needs of the business and so on.

Why Opt for SIP Trunking?

Even though hosted VoIP services have grown exponentially in the past, it is not always the best option for each and every business out there. There are many reasons why organizations may opt for SIP trunking including:

• They already have expensive PBX systems that they don’t want to throw away
• They have high call volume, especially international calls
• The organization needs extensive customizability which is either not available or too expensive with hosted VoIP providers
• They are constrained by regulation, legislation or otherwise need to maintain control of the phone system for security/privacy concerns
• They have the in-house expertise that can manage phone systems
• The organization wants to be in charge of upgrades, especially for office equipment like IP phones or PBX features

Hosted VoIP vs SIP Trunks

At first glance, hosted VoIP may appear to be the better solution since it requires less maintenance and is inexpensive to get started. But for organizations with large volume of calls, SIP trunks offer better ROI and total cost of ownership  over the long-term. Some companies even use hosted VoIP as a temporary stopgap to try out the technology before moving onto SIP trunks.

With hosted VoIP, everything is in the control of the vendor including the PBX features, the phone service, call quality and reliability etc. With SIP trunks, the organization can continue to use the existing PBX system IP trunks instead of regular copper lines (T1, PRI etc.) This arrangement provides the benefits of VoIP calling for businesses along with extensive customizability and control.

Comparing SIP Trunking Providers

Just like in the hosted VoIP market, competition in the SIP trunking space is also fierce. If you are researching and comparing vendors prior to purchasing SIP trunks, you are likely to come across a few names over and over such as 8×8, Nextiva, ShoreTel, MegaPath, GoTrunk etc. It can often be difficult to compare providers directly as the pricing, features and bundles will not be exactly the same.

For instance, one provider may offer only unlimited calling plans while another separates local and long-distance charges. One vendor may provide business process integration with several enterprise applications for free i.e. included in the price, while another will charge extra for each connection.

Top SIP Trunk Vendors

The difference between the top SIP trunking providers in the market may appear to be merely one of degree but it is these small differences that can make the phone experience good or bad for clients. One of the biggest – and perhaps most crucial – distinction between GoTrunk and other providers is that the product and company is focused on only one thing.

Quite a few providers offer different solutions under the same brand such as hosted VoIP and contact center software along with SIP trunks. Some even provide hybrid solutions that live partly on site and partly online. Most organizations are convinced that this is a better option, so you can get the best of both worlds so to speak. However it also means that the company’s concentration is split between different services and you may not always get the best quality that is available.

What Makes GoTrunk Different

GoTrunk in direct contrast does only a single thing – SIP trunking – and does it extremely well. Owned and operated by Level 7 Systems, the service is dedicated to fulfilling the SIP trunking needs for any size and type of business. But that doesn’t mean you cannot enjoy the advantages of hosted VoIP either. With GoTrunk, you can use the same account for SIP trunks and hosted VoIP services with VoIPstudio. It brings together hosted VoIP and SIP trunks in a sensible manner rather than combining the two in ways that simply don’t make much sense.

GoTrunk is a service that caters to both technical and business users. By combining features that are important to both areas of the organization, GoTrunk offers a more comprehensive solution. Engineers will appreciate the technical implementation, ease of setting up and configuring various features as well as the robust data centers that provide the service. Business users on the other hand will love features like per second billing, disaster recovery options, no contract plans and other tools that help with call management.

When making the switch from landlines to VoIP, it is easy for organizations to get overwhelmed with the number of choices and different types of systems available. However once you have selected a provider that matches your requirements, your business can be up and running within a few days at most. Since VoIP is scalable, the system will easily grow/shrink to accommodate your needs as and when required.