Cost savings continues to lead as the reason for transitioning from TDM to SIP based facilities. The decision may be driven by the lower cost per voice path or the fact that SIP Trunks can be provisioned in units of one up to the capacity of the available broadband. This is in contrast to a T1, which is deployed in units of 24 and normally turns up as a fractional T (approximately 12 voice paths) or a full T. SMBs and enterprise branch offices can be deployed and supported much more efficiently and cost effectively with a SIP Trunking based network architecture than a TDM architecture.

In Infonetics' most recent study, they also concluded that two additional reasons are offered by IT Directors.

The first is Simplification.

TDM circuits are essentially physical facilities tied to physical locations. IP communications consist of virtual circuits supported by physical elements. The virtual nature of SIP Trunking provides for easy centralization of communications tying any number of remote locations to a centralized IP PBX or corporate network hub. This increases the availability of converged services while decreasing the need for regional or application specific service providers. Moving to fewer service providers and potentially a centralized bill is a major benefit to larger companies.

This leads to the second reason, New Applications.

Although most studies, including this one, refer to the new applications as just beginning, it is important to note that Unified Communications, HD Voice and advanced video applications have measurable levels of penetration.  Moreover, they frequently require an IP based infrastructure in order to take advantage of all the new features. For example HD Voice cannot transit from and IP network to PSTN. It is only works as an IP call end-to-end today.

Finally, a service that Broadvox has always offered as a SIP Trunking option, call bursting, is gaining market awareness. Call bursting allows a business to have a variable number of voice paths or concurrent call sessions based upon current traffic. This is especially useful to companies that have traffic flow that vary greatly based upon time of day, seasonal or even marketing activity such as "call now" offerings.

The IP ecosystem may have areas that are negatively impacted by the current economic conditions, but we also have areas that are flourishing, such as SIP Trunking.

See you on Friday.