The Best Business SIP Voice Providers

January 8, 2016 Aerocom

“SIP is SIP, right? If we are quoting SIP for our company’s voice, what feature differences can there be between providers?”

During the month of December, (in between my Amazon shopping sessions), I set out to answer this question for IT decision makers by reaching out to over 60 of the business SIP service providers that are listed on AeroComInc.com and asking them about their service offering and it’s differentiators. I had countless email exchanges and phone conversations with engineers and salespeople from these providers, asking them a list of questions that usually started with “Is your SIP service able to…?”

What I found was that saying “SIP is SIP” is like saying “An SUV is an SUV.” Once you dig down, you start finding that there are plenty of differences in how these providers deliver SIP service and which one is best depends on your needs. No duh, right?

I will be creating a few different blogs summarizing my findings but for my first blog, I think it makes sense to list a some of the providers I spoke with and give you a quick overview of “my take” on their highlights.

Access Point
This is a provider that can offer SIP, in addition to a multitude of other services, including all types of voice, Internet and Private Networking Services. They can deliver their SIP service over either Dedicated Bandwidth or 3rd Party Internet and if you specify, they will allow you to burst your call paths.

Alteva
Alteva is able to deliver SIP over both dedicated or 3rd party bandwidth and has a unique approach to delivering superior call quality on their SIP service. They separate the RTP (media) and SIP (data) portion of your SIP call and keep the RTP portion local to limit network “hops” and preserve call quality. The RTP routes to the nearest of their 75 media gateways, strategically positioned throughout the US.

Appia
Appia has several different SIP product offerings that they can offer over either dedicated or 3rd party bandwidth, catering to nearly every need in the marketplace. They offer almost every desirable, including international DID’s, unlimited and burstable call paths, wholesale SIP and they even have a separate platform for dialer customers (which is one of their specialties).

AT&T
If you are a small to medium size business with AT&T in place for your voice or data service, you may also want to consider adding their SIP service. They only deliver it over an AT&T circuit in order to make sure you have great call quality and their pricing is very competitive.

Broadvoice
With a narrow focus on Hosted VoIP, Unified Communications and SIP, rest assured that Broadvoice’s support will never lack knowledge on VoIP. Their SIP offering has different pricing plans to meet various customer requirements, including a plan with 5 call paths and bundled minutes, call paths with unlimited minutes and plans that only bill for usage and have unlimited call paths. Their portal is pretty slick too, allowing you to add numbers to your SIP service, at will.

Dynalink
As a nationwide reseller, Dynalink offers SIP over 3rd party bandwidth, almost anywhere in the US. If you have multiple locations within the US, Dynalink is a great way to unify all of your services (i.e. SIP, Internet, POTS lines, cellular, etc.), under a single provider, single bill.

First Communications
If you are a small to medium sized company in the Midwest, shopping for SIP, First Communications should definitely be on your list of service providers to quote. They can offer their SIP service over either dedicated bandwidth or 3rd party bandwidth and are committed to delivering exceptional customer service.

Fusion
With 72 Network to Network Interface agreements (NNI’s), in place, Fusion is committed to making sure your SIP calls have high call quality and experience the fewest amount of networks hops possible. They can deliver their service over dedicated or 3rd party bandwidth, offer bursting and international DID’s and multiple pricing plans but their portal is absolutely their shining star. Their customer portal puts you in complete control of your SIP service and a demo is a must for anyone shopping SIP.

Granite
Granite is a well known telecom service provider for large companies with multiple locations spread out across the US that want to unify all of their various telecom services under one provider and one bill. Their SIP service caters to the same clientele and is a great add-on to any business that fits that mold. They can deliver the service over dedicated or 3rd party bandwidth, they offer burstable call paths and can give you a native SIP, analog or PRI handoff to your phone system.

Impact
Impact’s SIP service is primarily aimed at small businesses with 25 or less employees. They can deliver SIP over 3rd party bandwidth, they have extremely competitive pricing and they can provider SIP, PRI or an analog handoff for your phone system.

Intelepeer
If your company is going to spend at least $250/month or you have a call center, Intelepeer may be worth quoting for SIP service. Some of their highlights include a fantastic customer online portal, international DID availability in over 50 countries, burstable call paths and domestic DID availability in 96% of the US.

Intermedia
Intermedia is so confident in their SIP trunking service that they do a Month to Month agreement. They also provide an SLA of 99.999%, which (especially considering they only deliver over 3rd party bandwidth), is putting their money where their mouth is. This is a good provider to quote if your company has basic needs and is looking for an overall solid SIP provider over 3rd party bandwidth.

Level 3
No question this is a provider that is well known for having one of the largest fiber backbone networks in the world, so needless to say, your SIP calls are going to find Level 3’s backbone pretty fast no matter where you’re at… which means less hops and higher call quality. They can deliver SIP service over both dedicated or 3rd party bandwidth and will pool your “call path” charges between multiple locations and even between different technologies, such as that PRI you have at one site.

Masergy
With the highest “Net Promoter” score in the telecommunications industry, Masergy’s SIP service comes with confidence that you’re with a provider that cares about service. They can deliver their service over dedicated or 3rd party bandwidth and have a particular niche when it comes to international phone numbers. They have the ability to give you international DID’s in many countries but taking it a step further, they can also port international numbers from many of those same international countries. Their online customer portal is another highlight, allowing you to see your voice call quality, real time.

Powernet
Although they have a good offering for all types of companies, Powernet has always been an especially strong service provider for call centers and companies with a large amount of long distance traffic, so it only makes sense that their SIP service is also tailored to be a great fit for that same niche. An additional developing niche for them is retail and public venues because of their exciting and unique WIFI offering, which couples well with their SIP service.

Sonic
If Sonic is available in your area, you may want to take a peek at their SIP service as well as their other services. With a standard 21 calendar day install timeline on Ethernet over Copper, they are a great provider for a small to medium size company, needing not just SIP, but a good Internet connection as well.

Star2Star
If you’re looking for a SIP service delivered over 3rd party bandwidth, with a strong SLA, make sure to take a look at Star2Star. Many people know them as just a hosted VoIP company but they also have a very cool SIP service with a 99.999% SLA and burstable call paths. They also have the unique ability to connect multiple devices and phone systems on the same service and create extension dialing plans between cell phones, your new phone system and old phone systems.

Suddenlink
If your company is in a Tier 2 or Tier 3 market and needs SIP and a big Internet connection, Suddenlink is a good option to consider. They only deliver SIP over their own circuit, however, so you must be in one of their markets in order to get the service. If you’re in one of their markets, the great news is they have incredible pricing on big Internet connections and have solid pricing on SIP voice service.

TPx (formerly TelePacific)
If your company has normal, everyday business needs and has locations in California, Nevada or Texas, your search for a SIP provider should definitely include TelePacific. They have a strong SIP service with all of the basic features you need and they also have a ton of different ways they can deliver you bandwidth, including fiber, EoC, T1 and even Fixed Wireless. To top it off, they have a strong commitment to customer service and have the reputation to prove it.

TNCI
TNCI can deliver SIP over either 3rd party bandwidth or their own private circuit. Their SIP service is competitive but they are particularly a good fit if you are a call center or if you are looking to purchase more than just SIP (i.e. Internet, Private WAN, etc). They put their call center SIP traffic on a separate network, so that the heavy call volumes don’t interfere with their enterprise clients.

TouchTone
This is a great service for any business but a fantastic provider for a call center using a dialer or any business using a lot of voice services. If you are a company and using a dialer, (and you’ve not heard of TouchTone), it’s time to give them a look. They pride themselves on very high ASR (call completion), rates, which is a hidden thorn in the side of many companies using dialers.

Spectrum Business (formerly Time Warner Cable Business Class)
The highlight of Spectrum’s SIP service is obvious… if you are one of the many many thousands of small and mid-size businesses that have them for your ISP, you can now layer your voice on top of that high bandwidth, cost-effective service, for a competitive price. Putting your SIP service over your ISP will also give you a slightly lower likelihood of voice quality problems.

Vellis4
Whether you are a regular business or a call center, Velis4 has many flavors of their SIP service that can be delivered over either a dedicated circuit or 3rd party bandwidth provider. They offer burstable call paths, domestic DID’s, International DID’s, PRI and analog hand-off options and can also set up “call forward unreachable” alternate phone numbers for every DID, individually. Flexibility is something they pride themselves on so don’t be shy about approaching them with your unique needs.

VoxOx
A SIP provider with an average support hold time of only 34 seconds, that can turn up in 1 day is obviously doing something right. Trunks can be provisioned on existing internet service (BYOB) or dedicated connections. They also have excellent disaster recovery options. If your PBX is unreachable because of an internet outage, power outage or down PBX the system will automatically reroute calls to an alternate IP or off-net DID. The off-net DID can be a cell phone, ring group of multiple phones or a customized voicemail box.

West IP
Are you a large company with 100+ employees that is wanting to add hosted VoIP at some sites and SIP at others (until they are ready to transition to hosted VoIP)? If so, West IP should be on your list to investigate. They specialize in hosted VoIP for mid-size and large businesses and they offer SIP to their hosted VoIP clients who have a legacy phone system or two at different sites that aren’t quite ready to make the transition. For those sites, they can deliver SIP but hand off analog lines or PRI to your legacy phone system.

Exhausted? I am, so that’s going to be a wrap for now. Stay tuned for some different break downs of what I learned.

About the Author
Mike Smith is the Founder and President of AeroCom and has been helping companies with telecom and cloud services since 1999. He has been the recipient of numerous business telecommunications industry awards and in 2011, he was honored as one of the top 40 business people in Orange County, CA., under 40 years old. Follow Mike on LinkedIn, Twitter or SpiceWorks.