VoIP, softphone, SIP trunking — what is what?
- VoIP: voice over IP, the underlying technology
- Softphone: software that turns a computer/phone into a deskphone
- SIP trunking: replaces PRI/POTS lines with IP connectivity
- Hosted PBX: cloud-delivered phone system, no on-prem hardware
Where this fits in the stack
Voice/telephony tools are the entry point for SMBs (10–50 employees) before they grow into a full contact center. Many CCaaS vendors (RingCentral, 8x8, Vonage, Nextiva) bundle UCaaS phones and CCaaS.