IP telephony and SIP telephony: what is the difference?

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Content
Principles of IP telephony
Types of IP telephony
Why does business need SIP telephony?
Pros and cons of IP telephony
What equipment is needed for IP, VoIP and SIP telephony
Why Choose UIS
Confused by the complex terms, he dialed my number and asked lebanon phone numbers an interesting topic for conversation:

— Tell me, how is IP telephony different from SIP telephony? It seems to be the same thing, but there are probably differences.

- You are right, there is. I will explain it to you briefly and very clearly. Answer me, please, what is the difference between an iPhone and a smartphone?

- Well...

— Here, too, the situation is similar. Just as the iPhone is a specific model of smartphone, communication based on SIP protocols is just a type of IP telephony.

My friend was pleased with the answer, and I decided to expand on the answer a little in the article.

Principles of IP telephony
IP telephony is based on the ability to compress a voice signal into a data packet, which is quickly transmitted over the appropriate networks. After the operation is completed, it is decoded and presented to the addressee in its original form. Reliability of data transmission is ensured by a large number of auxiliary protocols. IP telephony is replacing traditional telephone networks due to the speed and ease of deployment, cheaper call costs, ease of configuration, connection security and high quality of communication.

Types of IP telephony
The basis for classifying different types of Internet telephony is the protocol model. Let's note the three most popular ones:

H.323. This type of network protocol was developed in 1996. Its constituent elements are a terminal, a gateway, zone controllers and multipoint conference control units (MCU). This protocol has become very popular in the organization of operator networks and inter-operator exchange. The connection diagram based on H.323 looks like this:


MGCP. The first development of this protocol dates back to 1999. Its main idea is that the CCU (central control unit), completely separated from media streams, is responsible for signaling control. They are processed by subscriber terminals or limited gateways capable of executing only a narrow list of commands coming from the controlled device. The MGCP protocol is oriented towards organizing operator nodes for interfacing IP networks with city telecommunications and SS7 networks. The structural connection diagram looks like this:


SIP. This protocol appeared in 1999 and continues to develop actively at the present time. It was developed on the basis of HTTP and SMTP and borrowed a lot from them. Without going into deep technical details, it can be imagined as a client-server protocol, the work of which consists of a constant alternation of questions and answers. At the same time, SIP transmits headers in ASCII text format, which avoids difficulties with reading. The structural connection diagram looks like this:



Note that communication via the SIP protocol goes through six stages:

INVITE (invitation). At this stage, a new connection is established and the user is thus invited to participate in the communication session.
BYE (disconnection). At the user's request, his connection with another person is disconnected at any time.
OPTIONS (options). This stage is necessary for transmitting information about supported technical characteristics either directly between users or via the SIP server.
ACK (confirmation). After the INVITE command, the user must give a positive response to the invitation to enter the dialogue.
CANCEL (cancellation). At this stage, the search for the user is terminated.
REGISTER (registration). Here, information about the user's geolocation is transferred to the SIP server. If necessary, it can be transferred to all local addresses.
Thus, SIP technology is one of the most promising ways to develop IP telephony. A SIP number is not tied to a specific geographic location, but to a person. It will be in touch wherever there is Internet with a speed of 64 Kbps. At the same time, the SIP protocol supports the transmission of not only voice, but also video streams.

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Why does business need SIP telephony?
Behind the complex technical terms lies the main question that any manager will ask: "How profitable will this be for me?" The benefit will be serious. See for yourself.

Reducing communication costs will allow you to achieve an extremely high level of optimization of income and expenses. Optimization will allow the company to combine all resources and funds within one contact center. Even if you have a huge company and several call centers, you can manage a team of operators from one place. This significantly increases the efficiency of using the company's resources, increases the possibilities for effective customer support, and allows you not to purchase expensive equipment. Intelligent redirection of voice calls increases the growth of the number of promptly resolved problems and increases customer loyalty. Along with all this, the company's profits also grow.

Pros and cons of IP telephony
A conversation about the pros and cons of IP telephony can begin with the following advantages:

Basic scalability of the telephone network.
No need to be near the phone at work all the time. You can communicate with clients via mobile, as well as from a computer/laptop from anywhere.
Multichannel - simultaneous processing of many calls.
Connecting the functionality of the Virtual PBX. Call forwarding, recording conversations to monitor employees, integrating telephony and CRM and other digital systems, and much more.
Mobility, access to the capabilities of the Virtual PBX anywhere in the world where there is Internet. No binding to a geographic address or mobile operator coverage area (except for cases of using FMC services and call forwarding to a mobile phone, when mobile communication is required).
High connection quality regardless of the signal transmission distance.
IP telephony is better than analog telephony in many respects, but this technology also has its drawbacks, for example:

Dependence on the availability of a stable Internet. Today, this does not seem to be a serious problem, since good Internet is available in most office premises. As for traveling employees, the FMC service comes to the rescue here , for calls through which only a mobile connection is needed.
Complexity of settings. The UIS provider easily solves this problem thanks to round-the-clock support, which responds very quickly to requests and can perform all settings remotely.
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What equipment is needed for IP, VoIP and SIP telephony
Is your company about to switch to IP telephony? Then it's time to think about choosing equipment. Let's look at several types of phones for IP telephony and two types of applications.

VoIP phones with a wired handset and wired internet connection. They are stable, do not require "crutches" to connect to SIP (except for a router), are charged by electricity, withstand SIP registration well and serve for a long time. Connecting and setting them up is quite simple.
VoIP phones with a wired handset that connect to the network via Wi-Fi. This type of equipment is distinguished by the fact that there is no need to run a wire to each phone, which reduces costs.
IP phones with a radio handset. The handset is connected to the base unit, which in turn is connected to the Internet by a wire (up to 8 handsets can be connected to 1 unit). Such a phone allows you to make calls away from your workplace, saving space in the workplace.
Regular analog phones connected to the Internet via an IP gateway. This communication scheme eliminates the need to purchase new equipment.
Analog handset phones connected via an IP gateway. This method has the same features as in point 3, except that such phones are not connected to the network directly.
Application for calls from a computer/laptop (softphone). Allows you to process calls using a computer and a headset. The UIS softphone provides statistics for the manager, as well as a system of employee employment statuses, which makes the work of operators transparent and allows for the correct distribution of calls across the department.
An application for making calls from a smartphone. UIS uses the CallGear mobile application, which allows you to use IP telephony away from your workplace and without a handset. The application can also record a call when the Internet connection fails and when the device is in sleep mode.
Why Choose UIS
A simple comparison of IP telephony with the traditional method of communication shows the superiority of the former, even in terms of equipment capabilities. The next important task for you will be finding a provider. Which IP telephony to choose?

UIS is both a telephony operator and a cloud PBX developer. You can choose any of the tariffs, and each of them includes communication services and IT solutions in one package. Also on one platform with communication services is a set of tools for Internet marketing: advertising analytics service , call tracking for the site , widgets for attracting customers from the site, etc.

Most of the clients we interview to form cases highlight the impeccable work of support among the main advantages. The stability rate of telephone communication is 99.97%.