SIP Trunking for Dummies: Can I Keep My Old Phone System?

How to Squeeze a Few More Miles Out of that Old PBX

If you interested in the cost saving benefits of SIP Trunking but aren’t ready to give up your old PBX just yet, you’re in luck. You don’t have to. Here’s how you can do it.

SIP Trunking on Analog Lines

PSTN Gateway

To utilize SIP Trunking on a PBX connected to analog lines, a gateway is needed to convert the SIP signal coming in from the Ynternet into an analog line.

Cisco SPA8000 IP Telephony Gateway

Our choice is the Cisco SPA8000 providing enhanced communication services via a broadband connection to the Internet.

From the diagram, you can see the Cisco SPA8000 gateway placed in-between your ISP (internet service provider) and your PBX. What’s nice about the gateway is that when you’re not using the phones, it manages your available bandwidth to use for your regular data applications when your employees aren’t using the phones.

3 Benefits To Keep Your Analog Phone System

  1. No new training
  2. No new capital outlay (other than the SIP/Analog Gateway)
  3. No reprogramming of phones

5 Benefits of Using SIP Trunking to Replace Analog Lines

  1. Monthly savings of up to 70%
  2. Choose local phone numbers from anywhere in the US or Canada
  3. Maintain high business level voice quality
  4. Smart Trunks allow migration to Hosted or Premise VoIP phone system when ready
  5. Easier to provision new lines

Where NOT to Use SIP Trunks

While the cost savings are many, but there are a few applications where good old fashioned POTS (plain old telephone service) analog lines should be used.

Though there are adapters that claim to work most of the time with VoIP, our recommendation is to not use them.

  1. Alarm Lines
  2. Fax Machines
  3. Credit Card Machines (analog only)

Plumbed for the Future

One of the great benefits of installing SIP Trunks to your business today is that you will be fully prepared for the future. The phone companies, with the full support of the United States Federal Government, have anticipated the shutdown of the old analog communication system for 2018. While this is still years away, it shows the inevitable direction towards VoIP and the ultimate demise of analog circuits. The phone companies are now begining to demonstrate their resolve and their strategy by steadily raising the price of analog circuits.

Whether you eventually choose a premise based VoIP system, a hosted system or send your employees remote, you will be able to use your SIP trunks without interruption or upgrades.

We offer business-class communication solutions with responsive local support

To learn more, call us today at (510) 785-2480