SIP vs VoIP – everything you need to know
As business communication continues to evolve beyond traditional phone lines, it can feel hard to keep up with what’s best for your business – especially when the terminology is used so interchangeably and without clear definitions.
But don’t worry, we’re here to help.
In this article, we’re taking an in-depth look at two communication technologies – SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). And we’ll explore the similarities, differences, and what that means for you.
What is VoIP?
VoIP is the technology that enables voice communications over IP (Internet Protocol) networks.
Rather than using traditional circuit-switched telephone networks to transmit the voice signal, it transforms it into digital data packets. These packets then travel over IP networks before being converted back into sound when they are received.
It’s worth noting that when businesses talk about VoIP, they’re usually talking about hosted VoIP – ready-to-use, hosted phone packages. And that’s the definition that we’ll be using on this post.
What is SIP?
SIP is a signaling protocol that manages real-time communication sessions, including VoIP sessions.
Essentially, it works as a handshake between the devices that use VoIP to transmit calls, but it doesn’t transmit the voice signal itself.
When businesses refer to SIP as a practical solution, they typically mean SIP trunking – a way of connecting SIP services to existing PBX (Private Branch Exchange) systems – and that’s what we’ll be doing here too.
What are the differences between hosted VoIP and SIP trunking?
Aside from their technical distinctions, there are several other differences between hosted VoIP and SIP trunking, including:
Multimedia capabilities:
- Implementation needs: SIP trunking is ideal for organizations that want to modernize their current setup without new investment. But businesses that want ready-to-go solutions that don’t rely on their existing technology may favor hosted VoIP services.
- Technical flexibility: Because it uses open standards, SIP trunking offers greater interoperability between vendors and systems. While hosted VoIP can use proprietary implementations as well as SIP to transfer voice signals.
Hosted VoIP’s advantages and disadvantages
Advantages
- Simplicity: Hosted VoIP is ready to use, quick to deploy and adopt, and has its maintenance, updates, and troubleshooting handled by the supplier.
- Comprehensive features: From mobile apps that extend capabilities to other devices to fee-free updates, the comprehensive features that come with hosted VoIP’s base packages are a big advantage.
- Minimal expertise required: With 24/7 support, automatic updates, and built-in redundancy and disaster recovery, hosted VoIP makes it easy to keep setups secure with minimal input.
- Modern UC capabilities: Integrated video, collaboration, and productivity tools, alongside presence information, help keep experiences consistent across devices.
- Flexibility: Hosted VoIP is easy to add to new locations without new investment, enabling businesses to maintain existing phone numbers on mobile devices.
Disadvantages
- Less control: Hosted VoIP has fewer options for customization, with potentially limited configurations and a dependence on the provider’s update schedule. Proprietary implementations can mean there are costs for switching.
- Feature limitations: To access advanced features, you may have to commit to higher-tier plans.
SIP trunking’s advantages and disadvantages
SIP trunking’s advantages
- Easy to scale: Channels can be added and removed quickly without service calls, meaning capacity can be scaled according to need rather than user count.
- Advanced UC: SIP trunking supports multimedia and enhanced call routing, and it integrates with business and CRM systems for smoother workflows.
- Interoperability: As an open standard, SIP works with any compliant device, software, or platform – making migration between providers easier and helping to future-proof investments.
- Enhanced continuity: Failover capabilities and redundancy options make it easy to maintain service, with call forwarding supporting reachability for mobile teams.
- Greater control: SIP trunking offers direct control over quality-of-service configuration, with the ability to customize security policies and integrate with legacy business systems.
SIP trunking’s disadvantages
- Complex solution: SIP trunking can require dedicated IT resources and technical expertise to implement, configure, and manage.
- System dependent: SIP trunking needs an existing PBX system to run.
- Limited provider support: SIP trunking providers tend to only offer support for their own service.