Channel Capacity: What Is a SIP Channel?

How to Set Up Your SIP Trunk the Right Way – Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers are often asked the same question: “How many SIP channels do I need?”

What is SIP Trunking?

SIP Trunking, or Session Initiation Protocol Trunking, is a virtual connection between the internet telephony service provider and the business. Using SIP Trunks, businesses can operate their phone systems over an internet connection instead of a traditional phone system. In other words, SIP Trunking has transformed the telephone communication process within organizations around the world.

Rather than relying on traditional phone systems, businesses can simply deploy and scale their virtual phone system as and when required. SIP Trunking works simultaneously with a VoIP connection, wherein the business VoIP system is converted into a virtual phone network.

What is SIP Channel Capacity?

Think of a SIP channel as a path between two points on a telephony system. It requires one channel for making a call and transferring data from one end to another. The channel is an official term used within the VoIP industry and refers to the data capacity that businesses are actually using. For simplified purchasing, the data capacity is packaged within the term “channel.”

Think of SIP channels as telephone lines, wherein each available channel will support a single call. Therefore, the higher the number of channels, the more calls can be made and received.

How to evaluate the needed channel capacity?

The number of SIP channels needed to support customers depends on the frequency of calls a business needs to make and receive at the same time. For instance, users will require a single SIP channel for every given call to take place at a given time. Therefore, 20 simultaneous calls will need 20 different channels.

To evaluate the required channel capacity, look at the overall call volume along with the concurrent calls which tend to occur within your business. This will help you determine the approximate number of needed channel capacity. However, in reality, evaluating the necessary channel capacity is a bit more complex process than this.

One important point to take into consideration is that you will most likely not be using all of your available channels at the same time. However, you will have to consider peaks in voice traffic, whether that is the seasonal influx of calls over the festive period or a Monday morning surge in voice activity. All of these factors have to be considered to effectively evaluate the needed channel capacity at a given point in time.

What happens when you do not have enough channel capacity for your call volume?

When you do not have enough channel capacity to handle the call volume at a given time, calls will simply not connect. For instance, imagine that you have a channel capacity of 60. On a random Monday morning, you receive a higher than normal call volume and all of your channels are occupied. Therefore, when caller number 61 calls or anyone thereafter tries to connect, they will simply receive a busy signal.

Therefore, these individuals will have to call again sometime later and hope that the line is clear. However, when this happens, it will create a negative impression toward your business, as you cannot be reached in time of need. Moreover, it will give your competitors an edge over you, as their business is the next place where your customers will potentially go. Therefore, it is imperative that your business has enough channel capacity for every call that comes your way.

How do usage-based providers like VoIP.ms help MSP scale up?

VoIP.ms is a pay-as-you-go provider, meaning we allow you to pay only based on your usage. This feature allows you to create whatever capacity you need to handle the peak periods when a business is expecting more calls from customers. With this flexibility, you can forecast cash flow and forget about capacity. Furthermore, you also get capacity without any commitment. This way, you don’t have to buy a large number of channels that you’ll end up not using.

Final Thoughts

Knowing that your business has sufficient channel capacity saves you both time and money. Moreover, the ability to scale channel capacity as needed gives you extra peace of mind.

Now that you have all the information you need to evaluate the required channel capacity, all you need is the right provider. Get in touch with VoIP.ms today and take advantage of our knowledgeable staff to choose the right path for growing your business.