How Much Can SIP Trunking Really Save a Business?

One of the main benefits to having SIP Trunking deployed in your business is to be found in cost savings. These have been fairly well-documented by analysts and web commentators. However, the potential savings that can be achieved vary with every report that you might come across. Some will cite savings of up to 90% of your traditional telephony costs, whilst others place the figure at 50% and others still at 25%.

This disparity in the figures are to be expected to some extent. Every business is different and will have varying needs. Add to this that some businesses will have legacy equipment that it will be necessary to adapt for SIP Trunking, and it’s easy to see why savings might vary.

With this in mind, before embarking on installing SIP Trunking, businesses should create a plan which covers the state of the existing network and what — if anything — will need to be added. For the reseller, there are SIP Trunking ROI calculators available that can help you to come up with a realistic cost saving figure for each business where appropriate.

SIP Trunking Costs to Consider

A quick search in Google will reveal that SIP Trunking costs still vary quite considerably from vendor to vendor. The amount it will cost a business ranges from anywhere around the $10 mark, up to around $60. This will also depend on the minutes needed monthly and the number of users requiring a line.

You should also consider that the following charges might apply:

• Set-up costs — vary depending on the vendor; some charge per user whilst others don’t charge at all.
• PBX configuration
• International calling costs
• Toll free use
• Directory listing
• DID
• Number porting

All of these can add to the costs each month; however, not every business will require them all and as such, this can be reduced in some cases. It’s also worth considering that the cost of configuring a PBX (for example) will be hugely lower than the cost of installing a traditional telephone system. Further to this, with PSTN systems you have to purchase 23 lines at a time, whilst with SIP Trunking, you can purchase one line at a time, meaning that the customer only ever pays for what they need and doesn’t waste money on redundant lines.

SIP Trunking solution doesn’t require any hardware to be installed at the premises either, as it’s a virtual product, and this also reduces set up costs when compared to a traditional system.

SIP Trunking and Existing PBX

Even if a business has an existing older PBX, they can still save money with SIP Trunking. A VoIP gateway will need to be used to connect the interface, and it will have to be properly configured. In this scenario, for the reseller, it’s worth checking that the overall business network is SIP-ready.

The business may already have an IP-PBX too, which may need to be upgraded to ensure that it can take full advantage of the benefits offered by SIP Trunking provider. In this case, it will be necessary to check security and where appropriate, deploy a Session Border Controller (SBC) which will help to secure the network and guard against threats such as toll fraud and DDoS attacks.

Questions for Calculating ROI

So all of the above will need to be considered as well as the below if you’re to work out the ROI for each buyer.

1. How much bandwidth will the business need
2. How many users will need to be added
3. Is there more than one location to consider
4. Does the business have an IP PBX or will it need to have a gateway installed
5. Does the business have SIP-enabled handsets already

This will give you a good basis for working out monthly costs and comparing them to the previous system. You should also consider how SIP Trunking can potentially save further costs. For example, a company might find that using SIP it can better collaborate through web conferencing. This can boost a business’s productivity and further increase the savings for the business overall.

SIP Trunking also tends to be more reliable than traditional telephone systems, so more savings can be made in productivity as the business might have overall less downtime.

There is no one answer to the question how much does SIP Trunking save a business as savings and costs will vary from company to company. However, there’s no denying that SIP Trunking and IP telephony does save significant amounts on an ongoing, year-on-year basis. In order to come up with a figure, simply calculate what the business needs and compare the cost of this with a traditional system — including ongoing maintenance and initial installation costs — to come up with demonstrable proof that your customers are doing the right thing when making the switch.