The Cavell Group Discuss ISDN to SIP Switching in the UK

SIP Switching for the UK

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isdn to sip
Unified Communications

Published: February 2, 2017

Rebekah Carter - Writer

Rebekah Carter

Now that BT has finally announced their intent to close the ISDN network in 2025, the UK market is considering where they can go next to ensure that their customers migrate properly, and which services they can offer. BT’s most recent announcement may mean that the average consumer not only considers migration into SIP solutions, but also look into cloud-based opportunities too. In Germany, where the date for ISDN eradication was originally established at 2018, the country is seeing a number of people migrating directly from ISDN into SIP with only a small amount considering hosted solutions. However, there’s always the possibility that UK customers will have more time to think about the options available to them.

The Migration Revolution

It’s clear to see that the move to migration has hit the UK market with full force, with around 2,175,065 SIP trunks installed in the UK as of December 2015, according to Cavell Group research. However, the question that analysts are asking is whether the larger portion of the market to move has already moved, and whether the remaining market may be harder to migrate. Some SIP providers indicate that the majority of call centres have already migrated into a hosted or SIP solution, which means that most larger wins have already been had. Cavell believes that the momentum leading the switch to SIP will stay strong, but they also think that changes will happen as providers search for ways to add value to their offerings and consider new technical and commercial solutions to make the switch more compelling. We have already started to see providers offering added value services such as Gamma, linking their inbound services to SIP trunking solutions. However, the overall expectation is that providers will be adding more hybrid capabilities and services that connect with their cloud offerings.

Cavell’s Take

While SIP capacity trunks represented a direct replacement for ISDN, converting the benefits that were offered by SIP in terms of numbering and flexibility, Application trunks were intended to offer more advanced applications like FMC. In recent years, SIP Capacity has been the solution most accepted by the market, but SIP application services are also continuing to grow. Cavell and other providers are also seeing customers that are more difficult to move into SIP directly. In part, this complication may be because the customers have PBXs that aren’t directly compatible with SIP services, or it may be that they are expensive solutions for upgrading. With that in mind, more Gateways may be offered as an effort to fix the problem. Additionally, Skype for Business has also increased the requirement for SBCs and gateways. As we approach 2025, Cavell believes that they may see providers get more aggressive with the bundling and pricing of their services. However, today, we have begun to see some interesting pricing for trunks in the UK, with a price that’s been largely stable overall. Additionally, Cavell believes that the providers of hosted cloud communication solutions will begin targeting the ISDN base to help them to consider hosted solutions rather than PBX. That means that the migration from ISDN will continue in full force with many moving to SIP. There’s certainly going to be some competition in play when it comes to establishing the hosted telephony and SIP trunk market share in the coming years, and there will be many commercial decisions to be made by suppliers that will determine the stake they achieve. Cavell, and many others believe that the territory that suppliers choose will be crucial to their longevity at this stage.

UC Today Opinion

Is the natural step for ISDN customers SIP trunking or a fully hosted cloud solution? Are any customers staying on ISDN, if so why?

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