In today’s fast-paced business environment, consumers prefer to communicate with local organizations using text, chat, and voice options. It’s critical to offer users the communication channels they prefer for business growth. While a multifaceted approach is valuable, many consumers still prefer voice calling to resolve issues and get solutions quickly.
According to UC Today, 77% of consumers believe voice calls are the fastest method to get a response from businesses. A programmable SIP can deliver consistent and scalable voice calling, messaging, and video calling around the world. SIP APIs allow you to integrate a cloud-based communication solution for your client or company with ease.
When you partner with a reputable Communication Platform as a Service (CPaaS) provider, you can ensure reliability for your organization. The platform provides you with programmable APIs to build business-enhancing communication solutions.
What Is Programmable SIP, and What Can It Do?
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a communication solution for transmitting voice, video, chat, messaging, and conferencing data over the Internet. Cloud-based communications travel over SIP trunks, a virtual connection between multiple digital or analog devices.
SIP trunks replace physical connections like primary rate interfaces (PRIs) while providing nearly limitless simultaneous connections compared to the 23 offered by each PRI. Virtual connections are called channels and are unified on the SIP trunk.
While PRI connections depend on a physical copper cable, SIP channels are created virtually, allowing for more scalability and flexibility. Calls can be made using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) for quality and consistency. If your client or business has an existing private branch exchange (PBX) and telephony devices, they are likely compatible with the SIP implementation.
Programmable SIP offers a unique method of implementation for developers. It integrates into software and systems using an application programming interface (API). With a SIP API, you can design business-enhancing solutions from automating inbound voice interactions to enabling voice calling with customer relationship management (CRM) software and mobile apps.
How Businesses Enhance Their Communications With SIP
What can a SIP API help you develop for your organization? An API makes it easy to implement communication into your organization or client’s apps, software, and systems. You can build the following solutions with programmable SIP:
- Enable Calling in Apps or Websites: A SIP API allows you to integrate calling into business apps and websites. You can add a click-to-call button to e-commerce, dating, ride-sharing, financial apps, and more, allowing users to quickly and conveniently reach out to the business. With API microservices, you can deliver a seamless solution with features like phone number masking to keep users’ information private.
- Integrate Communication Features into a CRM: Businesses with high call volumes use a CRM to manage client interactions. Integrating voice calling into a CRM using a SIP API can optimize client interactions, allowing representatives to contact customers directly from the CRM software.
- Automate Answering and Customer Service: A SIP API helps you build automated solutions, such as answering systems and IVRS, to reduce high call volumes by handling simple questions and transactions. For instance, an IVR for a financial institution can verify a caller’s account details before routing the call to a live representative. It can also handle simple transactions like checking balances, locking a debit card, or changing a PIN. IVRs can also provide quick answers for callers requesting locations or office hours without intervention from a live representative.
How Does a Programmable SIP Help You as a Developer?
A programmable SIP makes integrating communication features easier. Integrating SIP into software with a voice API reduces your development time to a few lines of code and offers a seamless solution for the organization in minutes.
The API is secured and maintained by the SIP provider, and an ideal partner will have resources for developers to make integrating and configuring voice and SIP APIs simple. In contrast, developing an API from scratch can take hours of coding and require extensive resources to maintain, update, and secure.
Related: How Innovative CPaaS Solutions Set the Tone for Business Services
A quality SIP provider will have developer resources, including quickstarts for implementing microservices, use case scenarios, articles, and software development kits (SDKs). These resources allow you to implement and configure the API and microservices as desired using your preferred programming language, including PHP, Ruby, and .NET.
An ideal SIP provider will create the voice API using a representational state transfer (REST) architecture. REST APIs can be written in various programming languages and offer excellent compatibility. They use fewer bandwidth resources than other API architectures and rely on simple HTTP operations like “GET” and “PUT.” REST APIs are also compatible with common data formats like JSON and XML, making them ideal for integration.
What Advantages Can a SIP Implementation Provide Businesses?
Now that you’ve seen what SIP can do for organizations and developers, let’s look at the potential advantages that your client or company can gain from this cloud-based communication solution.
Reliability and Business Continuity
Implementing a cloud-based SIP can deliver reliable communication to an organization. Users connect to the SIP over the internet, ensuring consistent communication from anywhere with a stable connection. When a business receives incoming voice calls, the SIP dynamically increases calling capacity to ensure calls are received and delivers outbound calls on the shortest path for optimal reliability and call quality.
Programmable SIP can also be integral to an organization’s business continuity and disaster recovery strategy. Its ability to provide seamless communication to remote and distributed workforces means the organization can continue to use voice features when employees are relocating to another office or working from home. Features like remote call forwarding ensure that calls reach the correct recipient on different devices like mobile or software phones.
Scalability and Flexibility
SIP provides nearly unlimited scalability to an organization’s communications. Your client or company can dynamically scale to meet inbound call demands without investing in additional onsite infrastructure.
Unlike PRIs used in traditional voice communications, cloud-based SIP offers an unlimited number of voice channels based on the internet connection. When the company needs to scale back down, the elasticity of the cloud allows its communications to return to normal levels without any financial consequences.
Cloud-based SIP allows the business to scale worldwide, with rate centers to provide consistent calling regardless of location. Your client or company’s users are no longer limited to using SIP in the office. Authorized users can access it wherever they go, providing improved flexibility for remote workforces.
According to Forbes, over 32 billion Americans will work remotely by 2025. Having a scalable and mobile-friendly communication strategy can bolster current distributed workforces and ensure organizations can transition to remote work seamlessly.
Cost Effectiveness
Programmable SIP provides a cost-effective means of communication for businesses of every size. Your client or company can implement SIP without costly onsite infrastructure or devices as long as it already has a stable internet connection. In most cases, it can use existing devices and PBX systems with the cloud-based SIP.
With a considerably lower investment, SIP allows small and growing businesses to enhance voice communications affordably. Inbound and outbound calls can be made at a fraction of the cost compared to traditional carrier options. Cloud-based VoIP calling using SIP also ensures international and long-distance calls are significantly more affordable.
Considerations Before You Get Started With SIP
SIP is ideal for organizations looking for scalability and flexibility as part of a unified communications solution. When getting started with a SIP API, consider the following factors before choosing a provider to make integration more manageable and improve your organization’s scalability, features, security, and costs.
Implementation
A cloud-based programmable SIP API can give your client or company access to its communication solution in minutes. There’s no need to wait for carriers to install physical lines if the business already has a suitable internet connection. The organization can also port numbers quickly and assign users and phone numbers using a simple web portal.
The API allows you to program the SIP to meet the company’s needs and provide high-demand features, such as E911, remote call forwarding, and CNAM (Caller ID name). It makes setting up communications for remote or distributed workforces as simple as downloading an app.
Scalability
When you choose a SIP provider, it should offer the scalability your business or client requires. A cloud-based SIP provides unlimited capacity to send and receive calls over the Internet. Evaluate the network reliability of your partner to ensure every call receives high-quality voice service.
The SIP provider can dynamically create instances to ensure incoming and outgoing calls go through seamlessly. The business won’t need to build up its infrastructure and resources on-site to respond to user growth, and it can easily scale down if the increased SIP channels are no longer necessary.
When your company or client requires new phone numbers or direct inward dialing (DID) numbers, it can provision them from a configuration portal from the CPaaS partner. An equally flexible payment plan will help your company or client scale up and down quickly without incurring unexpected fees.
Security
While making calls over the internet can seem insecure, a reputable CPaaS partner ensures your business or client’s communications are safe. A SIP provider can protect against fraud and unwanted calls in the following ways.
- Toll fraud monitoring services can protect against unauthorized calls and track suspicious activity on your company’s trunk.
- When enabled, IP-based authentication can ensure calls are placed to approved outbound IPs and block outbound calls that exceed the maximum rate set by the company from its configuration portal.
- A programmable SIP solution can analyze traffic patterns to identify suspicious spikes and destinations, creating a list of restricted destinations to reduce costs and fraudulent activity.
Related: Enhancing Connectivity: Exploring SIP Trunking for Developers
Integrating a communication solution with an API can leave a business’s information vulnerable if the software isn’t maintained. Ensure your communication partner maintains secure and updated APIs and microservices using version-controlled Docker Containers or a platform like GitHub.
Price
In general, a programmable SIP is a cost-effective solution for business communication. It reduces the company’s reliance on costly PRI channels from a carrier. It allows incoming and outgoing calls to be routed over the internet using a DID to reach the correct user. A cloud-based SIP provider reduces the need for onsite infrastructure and IT resources, saving time and money.
Most promising of all, a flexible payment plan will ensure your company or client gets the scalability it requires without stretching the budget. A SIP provider may charge a metered (per minute) fee or a monthly flat rate. Flexible metered plans are ideal for cloud-based communications, ensuring your client or company only pays for the time it uses.
Business-Enhancing Features
Your CPaaS partner can enhance efficiency and streamline business operations with additional calling features. Some enterprise-grade features to look for include DID for delivering calls to the correct recipient without extensions or IVRs and remote call forwarding to route calls to another phone offsite.
Reputable SIP providers enable the developer to integrate services into the solution. Features include CNAM to identify DID phone numbers within the organization and E911 service to identify the caller’s address for emergency services.
If the organization uses Microsoft Teams for collaboration, a CPaaS partner makes it possible to integrate Teams into its SIP. Teams with SIP allows the business to make calls over the provider’s network, reducing the overall cost of using Microsoft Teams. It also provides helpful tools and capabilities inaccessible in the standard Teams platform.
A Programmable SIP Simplifies Integrating and Managing Voice Communications
A programmable SIP can improve communications with an easy-to-integrate, manageable solution. It offers simultaneous and scalable calling, messaging, and fax services using a SIP trunk. SIP dynamically routes calls quickly and reliably using DID and provides clear voice service in standard G.711 or compressed G.729 formats.
The right technology provides security and access to features like Microsoft Teams integration for efficient collaboration and communication. By relying on a metered payment plan, you can get voice SIP at a scalable and affordable price for your client or company.
When you rely on Flowroute for your SIP, you get development resources to help you integrate communication APIs and microservices with a REST architecture. Your organization can enjoy a reliable connection to its SIP trunk over the Flowroute HyperNetwork™. Communications are maintained and secured with instant customization through a simple configuration portal. Get started today with resilient and unified communications for business over a SIP trunk from Flowroute.
