As the VoIP and SIP phone market continues to expand and develop, so does the range of phones that become available to cater for the different needs and demands that arise. To follow is a summarised list of the different type of VoIP / SIP phones that are available in today’s marketplace, with a brief explanation as to their business use.

Hardware SIP / VoIP phone
A hardware style VoIP or Sip phone resembles and operates just as any other digital business telephone, with just one core difference, in that they communicate to the main telephone system control unit using a data connection with VoIP / SIP technology. There are many different manufacturers that supply SIP phones, the most popular being Cisco, Linksys, Aastra, Mitel, Samsung, Inter-Tel, LG Nortel, Toshiba and Siemens. Please note, however, many of these VoIP phones run as proprietary devices, designed to work solely on the manufactures own IP platform.

VoIP Softphone
A business softphone can be used to replace or as an accompaniment to a hardware phone solution. A VoIP or SIP softphone is a program that runs on a PC allowing the user to have full control over their telephone calls using just keyboard or mouse clicks. The actual sound is carried via either the PC’s microphone / speakers or by connecting a suitable telephony headset. Most manufactures of business hardware SIP / VoIP phones also have developed a softphone with their IP solution, again running as a proprietary.

USB phone handset
USB phones are widely available today and are used often by business workers that need to travel. The phones themselves are often quite basic looking and provide the user with a straightforward looking device to make and receive calls when plugged into a lap top. The USB device needs to be used in conjunction with a VoIP or SIP calling service to be able to operate.

ATA
An ATA or Analogue Terminal Adapter is a relatively small solid state device that enables a standard analogue or DECT cordless phone to be connected to a VoIP or SIP data network solution. VoIP or SIP ATA’a have their own IP address and allow more traditional phone devices to ability to call over the newer IP networks. As with the hardware VoIP phones mentioned earlier, many of the main manufactures build there own, propriety units to compliment their existing VoIP / SIP phone range.

VoIP / SIP mobile phones
As mobile phones shift more towards the Smartphone design many software programmers are creating mobile SIP clients that enable the phone to call over the internet as oppose the cellular network using Wifi, GPRS, EDGE or UMTS. Often users are able to select which method they would prefer to use when opening the SIP application itself. Popular SIP mobile phone programs include Vippie, O-Fone, Fring and Jajah.