The only way to find out was to contact two of the largest SIP Trunk providers myself and hear with my own ears what they had to say.

One throbbing headache later, the two reps gave me completely different definitions – one of which left my eyes glazed over as I tried to comprehend the complex language he was spouting. I was left with no choice but to continue my own research in hopes I could piece meal some information together that made sense.

After much digging I found the simple explanation to be quite refreshing. Let’s start with the basics:

When you pick up the phone of your land-line, you can place local or long-distance calls with the later incurring a set long-distance fee by your provider. When you use the Internet however, you can search the web and visit overseas sites without a “long distance” surcharge, right? If you combine these two concepts you’ll start to understand SIP Trunking as it allows your phone calls to go over the Internet lines, resulting in considerably less long distance fees and ultimately saving you or your business money.

There is a caveat however. Each trunk, or channel, is similar to one phone line. If you own a business in which ten operators are on the phone at any given time, you’ll need ten trunks. Here comes the caveat. Trunks require bandwidth, something some online providers either fail to mention or act like is not important. But – if you or your office resides in an area in which obtaining enough bandwidth from the local provider isn’t an option, guess what, SIP Trunking isn’t an option for you either. At least not for all ten of your operators.

But before you give up on SIP Trunking all together, let’s break it down even further with a simple formula designed to give you an on the spot look at your current situation:

Maximum bandwidth

Bandwidth per call = number of possible trunks/concurrent calls

First, make a note of your maximum upload and download bandwidths. Your average DSL line will be 256 Kbps up and 768 Kbps down. Take the lower number and cut it in half, in this case it would be 256 divided by 2. Why divide by two? Because when utilizing trunks you’ll be combining voice and data on one line. The resulting number, in this case 128, becomes your maximum bandwidth.

Second, make a note of whether you are using G.711 or G.729 as your voice settings. If you are using G.711 your bandwidth usage per phone call will be 90 Kbps, if you are using G.729 your bandwidth usage per phone call will be 32 Kbps.

For those of you who suddenly got massive wrinkles in your forehead at the mention of G.711 and G.729 let’s quickly cover what these two settings mean and the difference between them: G.711 and G.729 refer to codec settings with the purpose of transforming audio data into digital form. Basically it’s prepping your words to go over the Internet lines and into the ear of your eager listener who is surely hanging on your every word.

G.711 is uncompressed but requires more bandwidth while G.729 is compressed, uses less bandwidth, but only retains about 90% original sound quality. The decision on which codec setting to utilize can include many variables and depends on the structure of your company, available bandwidth from your local service provider, and number of employees. The good news, however, is when you purchase an all-in-one system, from Telegato LLC of course, the calculations are done for you and you end up with the perfect settings for your situation. Saving you time, money, and multiple bottles of Advil.

Now back to our mathematical fun….

Pop your corresponding numbers into the formula and WHALA – you’ve got the maximum number of calls you can handle at any one time utilizing SIP Trunking. Continuing with using an average DSL line as an example, the simple math shows it would work for an office of 4 using G.729 or 1 using G.711. If you’ve got an office of 10 however, and you’re stuck with an average DSL line you’re also going to be stuck in a situation where SIP Trunking won’t behoove you or your company.

I personally know business owners on both sides. Owners who were able to save considerable amounts of money via SIP Trunking and owners who found it unfeasible to use due to local provider restrictions.

The trick is to do your research before blindly ordering SIP Trunks from an online provider. Many come with hidden contracts that will keep you paying even if you find out your bandwidth allotment is too scarce.

Just like you would never order a Prada suit straight off the runway without making sure they could replicate your size, doing your own research before you fall victim to the glitz and glamor of SIP Trunking can make all the difference!

People make fun of the fashion industry saying it’s “complex”, “ambiguous”, and “completely based on artistic bias” but in the end a cashmere sweater is a cashmere sweater. Put twenty designers in a room together and chances are they will all agree the piece in question is, you guessed it a cashmere sweater. BUT – put twenty telephony experts in a room and it’s likely they will all have different definitions and classifications for SIP Trunking. Don’t believe me? Google “definition of SIP Trunking” and enjoy the hours of reading ahead of you that will not only leave you confused but also leave that brand new bottle of Advil you just bought – completely empty.

At least there’s one company willing to admit the craziness surrounding the topic. Like a team of fashion police spotting a train wreck on the Red Carpet, BandTel admits the SIP Trunking arena is nothing short of a hot mess and not the good kind of hot mess that lands you your own reality TV show…

“For a service that was forecast last year by Gartner to be part of a more than two billion dollar market segment by 2011, SIP Trunking remains one of those technical phrases used in vendor circles, marched out with pride to prospective distributors and customers, and received by the marketplace with bewilderment… even so-called industry experts – analysts, reporters, and others – can not agree on the definition for SIP Trunking.”

So where does this leave the lay-person level consumer? The small business owner who needs to figure out what the hell SIP Trunking really is and whether or not he needs it? We all like the concept of something that “enhances productivity” and ultimately makes us money. We all want to look like the wealthy executives we see in the private jet ads of luxury magazines. Yes – some websites tout SIP Trunking to be that much of a necessity even though they can’t adequately tell you what it really is.

I’ll tell you where that leaves us. It leaves us all in the position of wanting a Louis Vuitton handbag but not knowing where to go when suddenly a gentlemen approaches us with “Louis Vuitton” pieces for sale out of the back of his beat up station wagon. Do they look like the LV handbag you’ve been dreaming of? Pretty much. Does it smell like the Louis Vuitton you’ve been eyeing in all the magazines? Who knows, you’ve never actually seen one before. The price seems good and you want it so badly, partially due to the trumped up glossy ads you drool over,  but in the end you’re paying for some piece of junk that was managed to look like the real deal. Unfortunately thousands of fashionistas and couture lovers fall for this old trick every year. Louis Vuitton is the most knocked-off collection in the fashion industry, which makes Louis Vuitton fans prime targets for misplaced judgement. Unfortunately that’s exactly the position most people are in when it comes to SIP Trunking. If you are interested in SIP Trunking in the slightest you’ll quickly fall victim to the presence of contextual hype, bogus monthly plans, and a myriad of seemingly convincing definitions. It looks like a good deal, the SIP Trunk sales person/rep seems to know what they are talking about, the text on whatever website you found sounds convincing, but the truth about what it really is and whether it can really put cash in your pocket remains unclear.

Just like the underground market for fake Louis Vuitton handbags, there also exists a market of companies geared to take money from those who don’t quite understand telephony. The fact a million and one definitions for SIP Trunking exists amongst the different providers seems to provide even more of a playground for such organizations. If you are in the market do your homework, until then I’ll keep researching…

A survey conducted at the 2010 ad:Tech digital marketing conference by EPiServer revealed that nearly 60 percent of the respondents realized the highest marketing and sales Return On Investments (ROI) from corporate email and websites over any other form of social media channels.

As a result of the survey’s findings and due to other market indicators, marketing executives are still hesitant as 2010 comes to a close to invest heavily in social media over traditional digital channels.

The EPiServer survey was conducted at ad:Tech 2010 among CEOs, vice presidents, directors and digital marketing managers of more than 65 attending organizations including large corporations, small and medium-sized business and marketing and digital agencies.

Traditional Marketing And Sales Channels Top The List

Traditional marketing and sales channels continue to top the list for future investment moving into 2011 among 46 percent of those responding to the EPiServer survey.

“The survey results clearly illustrate what many in the marketing world already suspect — that while marketers are experimenting with social media, they are also struggling with the practicality and ROI of these channels” said Bob Egner, VP of global marketing at EPiServer.

“The reality is that as marketers we’re still early in our understanding of how to best use social channels such as Facebook and Twitter and that clearly more work needs to be done to effectively connect social and mobile marketing to lead generation and revenue growth” Egner added.

He continued, “In 2011, we expect to see more detailed analytics related to social behavior and sentiment that is closely coordinated and synchronized with the other online marketing metrics. In order to drive greater investment by marketers in the social channels, we also encourage digital agencies to take an integral role in bridging the gap between marketers and technologists to drive greater understanding of social media, and to paint a clearer road map to conversion and ROI.”

Impact Of Cloud Computing

The survey further also inquired about the involvement of the IT department in marketing technology purchasing decisions. Despite the era of Cloud Computing and the ease of technology procurement, 54 percent, or more than half, of the respondents revealed that the IT department is involved “very frequently” or “frequently” in technology purchase decisions.

Social Media For VoIP Business Promotion?

The ad:Tech survey brings up an interesting question about the compatibility of highly technical business industries with the more casual, carefree and informal world of social media. How easy will it be to integrate the more complex workings of the world of telephony and/or VoIP into highly interactive social media platforms which are designed to promote mass appeal and interaction? Can a sophisticated high tech telephony business find happiness on Twitter, Facebook or YouTube? Only time will tell.

The ease of integrating more complex technologies like those found in the world of telephony, VoIP or similar, into highly interactive social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or similar may be even more challenging then for some other industries.

About Telegato LLC

Since 1995 Dallas based Telegato has been providing telephony products which encompass a wide range of sophisticated solutions including IP/PBX, Automated Attendant, VoiceMail, IVR, ACD, and more. All Telegato products are SIP (RFC3261) compliant. For interfaces requiring PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) connections, Telegato offers a selection of analog and T1 (E/1) interfaces. Products are delivered as a total solution and range from small appliances to rack mounted servers. Telegato also offers White Box solutions, software only purchases and reseller partnerships.

Please follow Telegato on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Telegato or visit our website at http://www.Telegato.com

About Karen Marie Shelton

Karen Marie Shelton is the founder and visionary behind Telegato LLC. Her experience in the telephony, telecommunications and related industries spans 20+ years. In April 2001, Shelton “was honored at the Working Women’s Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards and named Entrepreneur of The Year – Best Employer – by Working Women Magazine”. That same year she was also named a 2001 Tech Titan as Emerging CEO by the Technology Business Council.

If you’re looking for a VoIP solution or to purchase a VoIP IVR and/or PBX, then you’re in the right spot.