SIP Trunk International Rates

[TonyU]

I was very much looking forward to rolling out 3CX with a SIP Trunk, but every provider has very high international calling rates. We currently use Spectrum Voice and South Africa is $0.015/min, Saudi Arabia is about $0.07/min. What are the best options for Trunk service if you are an international company? Is there another option to get outside access other than a trunk?

 

[VoIPTools]

There are only two options: (1) a traditional gateway (analog/T1/GSM/etc.) or SIP trunks. The cost of international calls is going to come from your entry point (typically your SIP provider).

However, you are not limited to a single SIP provider. If you have one provider that is really good for "local" traffic and you can find another provider that is good for international calls, you can use both and route calls to the different carriers based on your outbound rules and the number (country code) you are dialing.

You will just have to research providers available in your area to see who provides the best rates for the countries you need to call.

For really old guys like me, I remember the days when a T1 connection cost about $1,800.00 a month plus usage so ... it could be worse

 

[leejor]

Some providers can offer better rates, however, they only go so low to some countries, where the national phone system is (strictly) controlled by the government. In many of those cases, they set the minimum rate.

 

[TonyU]

Thanks. We have decided to build our own trunk to the analog PSTN so we can keep the current rates. I am sure it won't be as clear call quality going from digital to analog back to digital but the main purpose is to move off the decades old hardware/phones we are currently using.

 

[N_G]

You dont need to build your own trunk, you just buy a quality gateway say Patton and you will have the same voice quality as you have now over the analog lines

 

[VoIPTools]

I agree with @Nick Galea. I suggested the same alternative in my post above. Use a supported gateway and as Nick indicated, the voice quality will be the same as your current analog phone calls. Personally, I don't notice that much difference between analog and digital unless I have separate phones on each ear with one being a digital call and the other analog. Only then does my brain really notice the difference, but it's not common to be talking on two separate phone calls at the same time

 

[TonyU]

What I mean by build our own trunk is just install a TDM410 in a FreePBX server. I have checked every SIP provider and none of the have competitive rates. SIP.us immediately told me they weren't competitive as soon as I asked him for a rate table. So, we will keep out current provide in just update the internal phone system.

 

[VoIPTools]

We are talking about precisely the same thing. Get a supported analog gateway (hardware device), register it to 3CX, and start making analog phone calls.

 

[N_G]

@VoIPTools Oh you are right - sorry about that i didnt see your post

 

[VoIPTools]

Hey @Nick Galea, to be clear, I was referring to the post by @TonyU where he proposed putting a gateway on FreePBX. My point was that he can do precisely the same thing with 3CX that he was proposing to do with FreePBX. You and I are in complete agreement