Let’s face it; telecom resellers often have a tough job, as they are faced with many difficult challenges. Not only are they dealing with an increasingly competitive marketplace, but they’re also being forced to don several different hats including operations manager, salesperson, and marketer—all of which can be extremely overwhelming.

Luckily, resellers no longer have to worry about driving more sales, as there is an attractive technology which they can leverage that does just that—SIP trunking. Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking is the most widely used protocol in IP telephony. In simpler terms, SIP trunks are telephone line trunks delivered over IP using the SIP protocol.

Using this standard protocol, telecom service (VoIP) providers connect one or more channels to the customer’s PBX. Phone numbers and DIDs are linked to the SIP trunk. In many cases numbers can be ported to the SIP trunk.

For businesses, saying goodbye to PSTN and hello to SIP trunking affords many attractive benefits such as cost effectiveness, efficiency, more flexibility, and easier maintenance. For instance, instead of using old TDM lines in which companies had to purchase more lines than they needed in order to anticipate heavy call loads, businesses can scale up and down when they want with SIP trunking. What’s more, companies can move offices and keep the same number as well as add more geographical and international numbers, as SIP trunks are not bound to a specific location.

Due to the benefits mentioned above, SIP trunking has grown in popularity. According to Infonetics Research’s “SIP Trunking and SBC Strategies: North American Enterprise Survey,” the percentage of respondent companies saying they use SIP trunking grows from 38 percent now to 58 percent in 2015, while the percentage using T1 lines declines from 71 percent now to 55 percent in 2015.

“We surveyed close to 300 businesses about their SIP trunking and enterprise SBC plans and one trend is clear: SIP trunking adoption is growing as businesses seek to improve the reliability and lower the cost of communication services," notes Diane Myers, principal analyst for VoIP, UC, and IMS at Infonetics Research and author of the study.

So what does this mean for resellers?

For resellers, adding SIP trunking to their portfolio opens the door to a whole variety of other services, as SIP is more than just voice. SIP enables consumers to receive quality complementary services including cloud PBX, video conferencing, and more. Armed with these popular services you can grow your business and improve existing relationships with your customers.

Don’t wait on the sidelines and watch as your competitors take more and more customers away from you. Build your portfolio by partnering with a SIP provider who can help take your business to the next level and grow your bottom line. After all, competition is just going to continue to become fiercer.