The Life and Times of Seattle’s Small Business Systems Consultant. Articles and advice on small business phone systems, phone and internet services, VoIP, and all things technology related.
Selkowitz Technology | Seattle’s small business network and telecom consultant
Highest Rated
-
(4.11 out of 5)Click stars to vote (left is low, right is high)
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
Loading ...
Most small businesses are happy with normal phone lines and a receptionist or autoattendant to route calls. But some small businesses want numbers which ring directly to certain extensions, best known as a DID.
Traditionally to have DIDs you need a T1 or PRI plus a compatible phone system. The issue here is cost, a T1/PRI is in the $500/month ballpark and T1/PRI capable phone systems cost significantly more than phone systems using phone lines or VoIP - for example a T1 capable Allworx 24x is nearly $4000.
SIP trunking is the other way you can accomplish DIDs and instead of paying for an expensive T1/PRI, SIP trunking packages start at just $30/month. Admittedly you still need more bandwidth, I like to toss in a dedicated DSL for VoIP which runs another ~$60/month. SIP trunking phone systems cost less than T1 phone systems, for example an Allworx 6x with VoIP is $2250, or SIP trunking Talkswitch 248vs is just $1095.
SIP Trunking (VoIP) isn’t always the right answer and doesn’t always cut costs, but depending on the situation it can bring DIDs to small business for an irresistible deal.
The Author: Kevin Selkowitz
About: Kevin Selkowitz is the founder and lead consultant for Selkowitz Technology, a Seattle-area small business systems consulting company. We focus on the four major technology needs of small businesses - phone systems, phone and internet service, servers/network infrastructure, and business applications.
This entry was posted by Kevin Selkowitz, on Thursday, April 3rd, 2008 at 7:32 am and is filed under Phone Systems. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response on the right, or trackback from your own site.
