What You Need To Know Before Buying a SIP Phone
SIP phone is not just for the big players but also for the little guys who would like to make their voice an important part of the company that employs them. SIP phone, or Voice over Internet Protocol is a technology designed to enable telephone calls between different IP enabled devices, including Internet telephony services and SIP servers. The basic concept behind SIP is to allow customers from any location to access a call center and make a phone call, without having to switch to a landline line.
The basic principle behind SIP is that there is no difference between the data and voice on your computer or laptop or between your VoIP phone and any other device. When you make a call, you simply send a SIP message to the SIP server, and the server will reply back to you in the form of SIP packets, which are then delivered over the internet to the recipient. SIP phone works exactly the same way as any other computer or laptop or other device. In fact, if you have already a SIP phone with SIP functionality, you might not even need a dedicated SIP phone at all. Most companies will provide a SIP phone which will work as long as you want.
It is true that some companies charge for SIP services. But the reality is that many companies do not need a dedicated phone service and therefore offer a SIP phone for free, and sometimes at no extra cost at all. You just need to know where to look and what to do.
SIP phones come in two basic types: hosted and stand alone. The most common hosting SIP phones include hardware such as a PBX, or Private Branch Exchange. There are some web-based solutions that can be used in place of a PBX.
standalone SIP phones are much less expensive and usually only require installation and software installation. But because of the limited capabilities of the hosted options, you need to carefully consider the features that you really need in your phone, before buying one. Some phones, for example, may offer you call forwarding to a local number, but you really need to have your business number available so that it will forward the call to you.
There are many sites offering hosted SIP phones, so you need to shop around a bit. One good site is the International Small Business Oasis.
A SIP phone should come with a SIP server and support software. This is a small piece of software that is installed on your system and will be responsible for all your SIP phone functions. Once the software is installed, you are ready to make and receive SIP phone calls.
Make sure you buy a good SIP phone, because there are different features that you want for your phone. and this will help you in making the best phone to buy.
SIP phones also come with a SIP gateway, which is a piece of software which allows you to make SIP calls from other systems. Some of the SIP phones will also have video cameras so you can see the people you are talking to, if they are using a phone service that doesn’t allow you to see the person’s number.
The phone should also have a call capture feature so that you can record the phone conversation and play it back later. Most SIP phones will have the ability to send and receive SMS, so you will also be able to make and receive text messages.
Another good feature of a good SIP phone is a call waiting feature so that you can talk to another SIP phone while it is turned off. If you are making a long distance call, and you don’t want to deal with busy signals, then this is a good feature.
A good idea for getting a good SIP phone is to get a package from a company that offers it for a discounted price, because these packages often include all the above features, or at least most of them. You might also want to get a bundle of features that include VoIP service, web conferencing and faxing and data storage in case you need it.