SIP - Now A Reality

In October last year, it was predicted that 60% of all telephone lines would be replaced by SIP in 2011.  

Modelled on the internet, its openness allows enterprises and carriers to interoperate over IP connections. It is increasingly being regarded as a well designed and mature foundation for VoIP.

SIP trunking technologies are certainly becoming more popular to SME’s as a way to lower costs. Typically, a single ISDN30 line installation could cost in the region of £6,000 and savings could be as great as 40% when replacing a normal BT landline service.

However, there are other benefits too, such as increased flexibility, especially as scaling the number of users is easy to do. There have been problems in the past with the robustness of connectivity for voice packet applications but the technology has vastly improved and it is now considered a viable alternative to ISDN. 

When asked whether SIP trunks are ready to replace ISDN? BT’s Head of Sales Engineering, John Bedwell said; “Yes, though I believe it is a good idea to understand what journey the user is on”

We agree, which is why we encourage users to adopt an auto failover as a resilience mechanism for any potential failures. 

TalkTalk Pays Millions in Compensation

As consultants in the Telecoms industry, we regularly see elements of bad practice from suppliers.  For example, we recently came across a situation where unreasonable connection charges were hidden within the terms and conditions of a suppliers contract.

However, it is a case of bogus billing that has taken to the headlines this week.  Industry regulator Ofcom launched an investigation in July 2010, following more than 1,000 complaints from customers who received aggressive demands for the payment of bills they did not owe.

As a result, two telecoms firms, TalkTalk and Tiscali, have repaid nearly £2.5m to customers in compensation, amounting to an average of £40 per customer. 

TalkTalk put the problems down to a new billing system introduced after it bought Tiscali in June 2009.  Following the complaints, Ofcom have confirmed that the two firms, who together have 4.2 million customers, have now taken steps to fix the problem.