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LightEdge, a hosted services partner providing a suite of communications and IT solutions for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), today rolled out LightEdge SIP Trunking.

 

For SMBs and businesses with multiple sites, this SIP trunking service can reduce the complexity and costs associated with providing voice systems. LightEdge will provide the solution as part of its Advanced Voice Solutions suite in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Missouri and Illinois over its privately managed Cisco (News - Alert) Powered IP network.

“LightEdge is continually developing voice alternatives which simplify administration and reduce overall costs for small and medium-sized businesses,” said Jeff Springborn, president and chief operating officer of LightEdge. “At a time when there is such turmoil and uncertainty in the market, we feel fortunate to be able to offer a service that can positively impact a company’s bottom line.”

With SIP trunking, a business can exchange voice traffic between an IP PBX and an Internet Telephony (News - Alert) Service Provider (ITSP) over a dynamic broadband connection rather than physical line or PRI with the traditional phone company. The ITSP then connects to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to end the call. A SIP trunk can significantly reduce costs and streamline operations in several ways, including:

-- Traditional PRI circuits can manage up to 23 channels. Businesses needing 5 channels or 25 channels have to buy enough PRI circuits to meet their needs, leading to wasted capability and additional costs. In addition, PRI termination hardware is expensive and may not support future capabilities. On the contrary, SIP Trunks can be purchased in any quantity and additional trunks can be added as the company expands. IP PBXs do not need an additional PRI port and can leverage an affordable Ethernet port to interconnect.

-- Because SIP trunking is a converged technology, both voice and data traffic are streamed over the same broadband connection. Bandwidth over an Internet connection is dynamically allocated between both voice and data using a process known as QoS (Quality of Service) to make sure that voice traffic is routed with priority. This convergence lets a business fully take advantage of its Internet investment.

-- SIP trunks, Internet service and long distance are delivered from a single provider for a single support contact and users get one bill for all services.

“SIP Trunking allows businesses to leverage an existing IP PBX (News - Alert) to reduce costs, but it is also possible to get additional features not available through their existing PBX,” remarked Mike McHenry, director of product development for LightEdge. “The LightEdge Personal Mobility Pack allows users access to incredible mobility options such as Simultaneous Ring, Sequential Ring and Remote Office over their SIP Trunk.”

LightEdge SIP Trunking is works with select IP PBX systems from Aastra, Adtran, Asterisk, Avaya, Cisco, Digium, Microsoft Response Point, Mitel, Nortel (News - Alert) , Panasonic, Toshiba and Vertical.

LightEdge claims to be the only hosted services partner completely dedicated to the providing a complete suite of communications and IT services to small and medium-sized businesses that are looking for a better way to focus on their core business, not the technology that supports it.