Welcome to the first real blog from Merge Communications.
The subject of our first blog, naturally, seeing as it’s what we sell, relates to network based SIP services.
So what is SIP you ask, why does it being network based have relevance, and what does it mean for small to medium businesses?
First up is SIP.
SIP is possibly one of the most important three letter acronyms in the telecommunications space today, and if it doesn’t mean much to you today it certainly will in the next few years.
SIP stands for Session Initiation Protocol (not that you really wanted to know) and is an Internet protocol that underpins the delivery of integrated voice, video, instant messaging and presence services (and more recently file and desktop sharing) over broadband.
It is, as some industry observers have put it, destined to be the dial tone of the 21st century, expected to have largely replaced the current public telephone network, or PSTN, within the next decade or so.
It is being adopted by telcos, network providers, ISPs, and equipment manufacturers throughout the world and appears to be the only serious game in town.
And what relevance does it have to New Zealand small to medium businesses?
In other markets further progressed in the uptake of SIP, small to medium business are finding that these enhanced media services are freeing them from the shackles of old world communications constraints and allowing them to do business in a whole new way – having a single integrated communications service which allows them to choose which media service they use depending on need.
It is putting affordable enterprise tools in the hands of small to medium business, and allowing them to function more effectively and efficiently in an increasingly communications intensive business world.
And this is where the network based services come in!
While many small to medium businesses, when they realise what advantages SIP offers them, would love to purchase a SIP system, they often find the cost prohibitive.
Not only do you have to purchase equipment and systems, you need to house it in your premises and maintain it, and as your company grows or shrinks, find that significant capital outlay may be necessary to scale the system to meet your changing needs.
Network-based SIP services address this in many ways.
- little or no initial capital outlay is required (use your capital in developing your business instead)
- grow and shrink your communication services to meet your changing business requirements without needing additional equipment or systems (or significant capital expenditure)
- connect to and use your SIP service from any suitable broadband connection, not just from your office (you can take your communications service home or on the road with you)
- free up the space you would have otherwise used to house your equipment and system
- remove the need to keep investing in your system to keep it up-to-date
- remove the need for high cost technical support or maintenance personnel – your SIP service provider maintains the service within the base service cost
So if you see advantage to yourself in network based SIP services, give us a call, we’d be happy to discuss your needs.
