SIP trunking vs PRI

SIP trunking vs. PRI: how to keep your business connected.

When considering enterprise voice services, the choice often comes down to SIP trunking vs. PRI. Both SIP phone service and PRI connect businesses to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and typically require a piece of equipment called a PBX (Private Branch Exchange).

If you’re unfamiliar with the differences and benefits of SIP trunking vs. PRI, here’s a short primer on both technologies and the benefits they provide the enterprise.

SIP trunking vs. PRI: a basic overview.

What is a SIP trunk? SIP stands for Session Initiation Protocol, which is a set of rules that determines how connections between two endpoints are established, managed and terminated over an IP-based network. SIP trunking provides a virtual connection to the PSTN over a physical line that may be shared with existing data connections.

What is PRI? PRI stands for Primary Rate Interface and provides a physical connection to the PSTN over a dedicated line reserved for voice transmission.

The benefits of SIP trunking vs. PRI

When considering deploying SIP trunking vs. PRI, it’s important to look at the upside and downside of each technology.

SIP service is often considered the more cost-effective technology, as it requires little to no hardware to deploy. With SIP lines, customers often pay only for what they use, helping to further reduce the overall cost of business communications. SIP trunking is flexible, too - SIP scales easily, offers portability, supports mobility and enables users to take advantage of Unified Communications technologies.

When it comes to quality of SIP trunking vs. PRI services, PRI lines often get the nod over a SIP trunk service. Because PRI communication travels over a dedicated ISDN, voice traffic isn’t subject to network interference, packet loss or jitter. PRI is often considered more secure as well, as traffic travels over a private telephone network rather than the Internet.

SIP trunking vs. PRI: with Spectrum Enterprise, you can have both.

At Spectrum Enterprise, SIP trunking vs. PRI is something of a moot question – we offer interfaces that serve both technologies.

Our PRI phone service provides a highly reliable voice trunk solution that travels over our extensive, all-fiber network. The services backed by a highly competitive SLA, 24/7 proactive monitoring and our own technical support team. An integrated suite of management, reporting and business continuity features help to keep your business connected and your workers productive.

Our SIP Trunking service provides an IP-based, voice trunk service that connects an IP PBX to the PSTN. Because traffic is routed over our privately owned fiber network, our SIP Trunking service does not expose voice traffic to the public Internet, enabling greater security. And a dedicated bandwidth for voice calls means voice traffic never has to compete with data services.

Learn more about SIP trunking vs. PRI.