SIP Trunks Explained – What Are They?
An Online SIP phone service is a tool for making telephone calls over the Internet, without having to use a conventional phone. It is a very simple idea, in fact, it’s quite brilliant actually. The problem comes in when you have to figure out which company supplies you with the best SIP gateway or phone system. Once you discover that there are only a handful of companies that provide such a service, then you’re in a pickle. How can you choose which one is right for you?
This is one of the biggest dilemmas of beginning an online sip phone service provider. If you are new, you want to start off easy and just find a few companies that you think you’ll be able to work with. However, there are a lot of things that make a company trustworthy. One thing that most people ask themselves when they start looking for an online sip service provider is, “Will they allow my URL to be removed from their servers?” The answer to this question depends on a few factors.
Some companies will simply not have any provision for allowing your URL to be removed, even if they insist that doing so is part of their security process. There may be a way to configure their server to accept ICMP Echo Request, or send an ICMP echo reply from another IP, but most companies don’t want to expose their user base to that level of complexity. Therefore, you should do some research and find an online sip phone service that allows you to set up a caller id and port number that you’re happy with.
Some companies will provide a Caller ID that allows you to see who is calling, but you must remember to activate it before you can leave your message. In other words, you can’t leave a message and then forget about it. Most standard PSTN phone services do allow you to set up Caller Id and port numbers, but many also have limits on how long it takes for your message to arrive. You’ll need to do your homework to make sure that you’ll be able to configure these features before using them. Most standard companies won’t configure Caller Id or port numbers for free, so you should consider this before signing up.
Online phone services differ from conventional ones in that they allow conference calls to take place between two or more phone lines. They also allow multiple participants to connect to the same phone service providers and send phone calls simultaneously. This is different from conventional phone services, which are restricted to one connection at a time. However, there are service providers that provide phone services that can be used for both conference calls and conferencing calls.
Some of the characteristics of the Internet phone systems that are available vary depending on the provider. The ones that are provided by SIP trunking companies (TLS) are much more efficient than ones that are offered by other companies. TLS is also considered by many to be more private and secure. It provides the IP phones with what is called an edge connection that is only accessible within a small range of the main Internet connection.
One feature that is offered by all Internet phone companies is the ability for their clients to create their own web-based portal where people can log in and use their service. The idea here is for webmasters to offer their own applications and services on this web portal and have others’ visitors’ log in using their personal IP addresses. When they make any conference call they will have their own IP address instead of the IP address of the caller. Another good feature of the Web based SIP trunking system is that anyone can access it, even if they don’t have a web browser.
The company that provides you with Internet phone service usually has a web site where you can access your account information, view your records, and have your voice mail and any other features that are available. You may need to create a SIP account which is free but usually requires that you enter your user name and password and then create your own SIP account key. Creating your own SIP account key allows you to set up your own system so that others can’t change your password or cancel your call.