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How to Never Pay a Hotel Phone Bill Again
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Session
Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a signaling protocol for
establishing sessions in an IP network. But if you are like
most of us, that means nothing to you. In layman's terms,
SIP is a method by which various computers can talk to one
another so that they can complete voice calls. The protocol
is increasingly being adopted as the standard means by which
computers communicate to facilitate VoIP or Voice Over
Internet Protocol. So you can imagine SIP as a common
language for new generation operators to speak to connect
calls. However, there are no operators there is only your
computer (or other hardware) and that of the person you are
speaking with. That brings this introduction to some of the
many benefits of SIP communication.
The goal of SIP was to provide users with many of the
functions and features they typically expect with making
phone calls, such as familiar rings, hearing the ring back
tone when a call is placed, and the process of dialing a
number. SIP goes beyond this however, also implementing a
number of advanced features. Despite its’ convenient
interface that mirrors that of a typical telephone call, SIP
is based on an internet protocol rather than that of the
telephone industry. Because of this, SIP is able to work
seamlessly alongside other internet based protocols. This
has allowed the technology to uniquely establish a user
location, meaning that you can tell the IP address or
"location" from which a person is making a call,
something vital for offering emergency services. It also
allows for coordination amongst the various participants in
deciding upon what call features will be supported, as well
as providing the protocol for call management which allows
for adding, dropping, or transferring call participants.
One of the most exceptional benefits of Session Initiation
Protocol (SIP) is its application with Private Branch
Exchange (PBX). A private branch exchange is a private
telephone network used within an enterprise in which users
share a certain number of outside lines for external
telephone calls. This provides a significant cost savings to
the company because it allows companies to quickly and
easily make calls within their institution, as well as save
by limiting the number of external phone lines that must be
maintained. SIP can extend these cost savings dramatically
by offering users free long distance calls worldwide. Once
again, because SIP is internet based rather than running
over traditional telephone lines, the cost of call
transmission are as cheap as say sending an e-mail, that is
to say, Free! While PBX is already an efficient use of
office resources incorporating SIP into a PBX means taking
such savings and capabilities to a new level. Incorporating
SIP gives users’ access to free interoffice
communications, long distance calls, as well as huge savings
in setup and transaction costs. These transaction cost
savings are due to the fact that SIP is based on internet
protocol allowing for the ability to physically move phones
without any need for rewiring or new setup costs. Because
that the system is peer-to-peer rather than cog and wheel
like hardwired telephony means that there is no complicated
setup necessary, but rather users can simply plug the phone
into any available broadband connection and without the need
for any complicated hardware or software, calls are ready to
be made and received.
This brings us to what is potentially the greatest savings
that SIP provides. We all hate to have to pay $2.00 for
making a simple local call from a hotel room. But for those
of us that have had to pay exorbitant long-distance charges
from hotels, the level of angst felt reaches new heights.
Add to this the fact that often companies require conference
calling for their employees, a service that hotels are all
too happy to charge a high premium to provide. For companies
that have a lot of their employees traveling or practicing
in various locales, the overhead costs of making such calls
can really put a damper on year end profits. SIP offers a
solution to hotel bills, and for that matter all telephone
bills whatsoever. Just as sending an e-mail is free whether
you are sending that e-mail to a person across the street or
around the world, so making a call using SIP from any locale
to any other locale in the world is free. All that is needed
is a broadband connection. And just as one can send an email
from wherever the internet can be accessed, SIP users can
make their free calls from the office, the home, or even
(gasp) the hotel room. Not to mention the huge savings in
regular long-distance charges, the simple fact that long
distance and local calls can be made for free from hotel
rooms (most of which offer complimentary broadband service)
is an enormous long-term cost savings. But add to this the
fact that conference calls are available at no additional
cost, which can be explained by following the principle that
sending an e-mail to many individuals at the same time is
just as cheap as one to one communication. Altogether these
savings mean that companies who have in the past been laden
with high local and long distance phone bills will be able
to have their employees keep in close communication no
matter their location for free.
SIP goes beyond this, however. Because SIP uses peer-to-peer
connections there are no extra costs for having hundreds or
even thousands of employees making SIP calls whereas the
management costs for such a system under traditional
telephony would be astronomical. This is never the case with
PBXs that utilize SIP in a peer to peer connection format,
however, where structural costs do not increase as your
business grows and your usage of the PBX increases.
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) offers customers of
traditional telephony fantastic cost savings, the
flexibility to make free calls from anywhere in the world at
any time, and the ability to expand a PBX system with no
setup costs. Because there is no complicated hardware or
software necessary to setup SIP in a PBX, implementing the
technology is as simple as having access via broadband to
the internet. Due to these benefits as well as innumerable
others, expanded use of SIP in PBX and in a variety of other
settings is simply a matter of expanded customer exposure to
the possibilities of SIP.
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