Hosted PBX vs. SIP Trunking

If you are setting up or upgrading your business phone system and you have track into these two terms, Hosted PBX and SIP Trunking. At first glimpse, they sound quite technical, maybe even interchangeable. But once you break them down, they function different purposes depending on how your company works, your budget, and how much control you want.

Let's be straightforward, not everyone enjoys digging into telecom terminology. But if you are a business owner or IT manager, it's significant to know where your calls are coming from and going to, and more essentially what you are paying for.

What is Hosted PBX?

Hosted PBX is basically your entire phone system hosted in the cloud. You don't manage servers, you don't have a rack cabinet full of hardware, and you don't need a full-time administrator to keep it running. It's plug-and-play for the maximum part. You get features like voicemail, IVR, call forwarding, call recording, Queues, call groups, CDRs, reportings and all that stuff without worrying about physical infrastructure. Your Hosted PBX provider (like TrioPBX) handles all on the backend. If something breaks, it's TrioPBX job to fix it. This is great for businesses that want simplicity, remote work possibilities, and foreseeable monthly billing.

What is SIP Trunking?

SIP Trunking, on the other hand, is more like replacing the traditional old-style phone lines for a phone system you already have typically an on premise PBX. Think of it like giving your old system a modern backbone. Instead of using analog lines or PRI circuits (E1, T1 Lines), SIP trunks use the internet to transmit your calls. You are still managing your PBX, hardware, software updates, and maybe even your own firewall configurations. It gives you little more control, and sometimes a bit more complication. But for larger companies with an IT section, that is often not a problem.

Cost Considerations

Here is where it gets tricky. Some people think SIP Trunking is cheaper because the cost per call or per minute can be low. But what they don't count is the cost of hardware maintenance, IT staff or VoIP experts, updates, and failover, backup or secondary sip connections in case of primary provider failure. Hosted PBX combine all that into one service. No surprise bills for emergency repairs or replacement parts.

Remote Work & Flexibility

Another thing to consider, if your team is working from different remote locations, roaming or travelling, or fully remote, Hosted PBX is just easier to manage. On the other hand SIP trunks need to terminate to a physical or virtual PBX somewhere, which may create issues with flexibility and scalability.

That is not to say that SIP is not good. In fact, SIP is what powers every Hosted PBX systems behind the scenes. Whereas Hosted PBX as a product or service for end users is more of an all-in-one solution, while SIP Trunking is more of a component or an element.

Making the Decision

Now, if you are deciding between the two, ask yourself this:

• Do you want to manage your own system?
• Do you already have a working PBX?
• Do you want full control or convenience, simplicity and scalability?
• Is your team working remotely or all in one place?

Either way, it really depends on your business requirements and technical comfort level.

If you're still not sure, we help companies all over the US, UK, Europe, and Asia make that decision every day. Feel free to get in touch with us, no pushy sales pitch, just solid advice.