alex_aldo - Fotolia
What are the benefits of centralized SIP trunking?
More efficient management and lower costs are just some of the advantages of centralized SIP trunking. Find out why it's better to place trunking components in one place.
In a centralized deployment model for Session Initiation Protocol, or SIP, all trunks, telephone numbers and direct inward dialing are consolidated to a single location. In a nutshell, centralized SIP trunking is more cost-effective, easier to manage and more secure than distributed SIP trunking. Let's examine how.
Cost. With centralized SIP trunking, hardware, software and licensing costs are confined to a single location and most likely lower than decentralized trunking. In a decentralized deployment, physical or virtual appliances must be duplicated at each site. This means higher capital expenses and initial licensing costs, as well as the likelihood of ongoing software maintenance fees.
In addition, centralized SIP trunking optimizes hardware, software and licensing costs. Installation, setup and configuration are also simplified as central site technicians, already present, can do those jobs.
Management. Managing a single, centralized SIP environment is manifestly easier -- and less costly -- than trying to oversee a deployment of distributed SIP trunking sites. Some vendors offer sophisticated cloud management platforms that enable physically distributed sites to be managed from a single console, but these tools are the exception rather than the rule.
Ongoing system maintenance, configuration updates and troubleshooting are likely to be quicker and easier when performed through a single, centralized SIP trunking system. There is no need to log on to multiple systems, nor is it necessary to juggle firmware or software updates that might be required to maintain myriad components. Centralized trunking avoids a lot of the management complexity inherent with overseeing distributed systems.
Security. Organizations cloak their central sites with the most extensive and secure defense perimeters. As such, centralized SIP trunking would be protected by the company's most technologically sophisticated security tools -- among them next-gen firewalls, intrusion protection/prevention and network detection and response systems. While a SIP gateway may provide some level of security -- such as distributed denial-of-service protection -- security is not a primary function. By colocating the function at the principal computing site, organizations can enhance both the performance and safety of centralized SIP trunking.
