Learn · What is a SIP trunk?
What is a SIP trunk?
A SIP trunk is a phone line that runs over the internet instead of over copper wires. It connects your business phone system to the regular phone network, so you can make and take calls. SIP is the set of rules that makes those calls work.
What SIP means
SIP stands for Session Initiation Protocol. It is a set of rules for phone calls that go over the internet. The rules tell phones how to start a call, make it ring, and hang up.
You never see SIP. It works in the background, the same way you never see the rules that send an email.
What a SIP trunk does
- Replaces your old phone lines. Your calls travel over your internet connection, not over a bundle of copper wires.
- Carries many calls at once. One SIP trunk can hold many calls at the same time. Your phone company sets the limit.
- Keeps your phone numbers. Your local and toll-free numbers point at the trunk, and you can usually move numbers you already have.
- Works with the system you have. It plugs into an office phone system, call center software, or an AI agent that answers for you.
SIP and VoIP are not the same thing
VoIP means any phone call that travels over the internet. SIP is the most common set of rules for setting up those calls.
So a SIP trunk is one way to get VoIP: it is the line between your phone system and the phone network.
What you need
- An internet connection good enough to carry your calls.
- A phone system that understands SIP. Most business phone systems and call center software do.
- A phone company that sells SIP trunks. It gives you the line, your phone numbers and a price for each minute.
Where Kurrent fits
Kurrent sits between your phone numbers and the people who answer. It runs on your own phone company account. That can be Telnyx, or the phone company you already use. You pay the phone company’s price for minutes, with nothing added.
Each phone number has its own rules. Kurrent checks the caller first, then sends the call where you want it: a phone, an AI agent, or a SIP trunk to your call center. Every call is logged with where it came from.
Kurrent is 50% off the call tracking bill you pay today, with a minimum of $1,795 a month.
Questions
- What does SIP stand for?
- Session Initiation Protocol: the set of rules phones and phone systems follow to start, ring and end a call over the internet.
- What is a SIP trunk?
- A phone line that runs over the internet. It connects your business phone system to the regular phone network so you can make and take calls.
- What is SIP trunking?
- Using SIP trunks, in place of old copper phone lines, to carry your business calls over the internet.
- Is SIP the same as VoIP?
- No. VoIP means any phone call over the internet. SIP is the most common set of rules for setting up those calls, and a SIP trunk is the line that carries them.
- How many calls can a SIP trunk carry?
- Many at the same time. The limit is set by your phone company and by how much your internet connection can carry.
- Does Kurrent work with SIP trunks?
- Yes. Kurrent runs on your own phone company account and can send each call to a phone, an AI agent or a SIP trunk. Kurrent is 50% off the call tracking bill you pay today, with a minimum of $1,795 a month.