Session Border Controller Featured Article

August 11, 2012


TMCnet Session Border Controller Week in Review


By Ashok Bindra
TMCnet Contributor

This past week, the news in the session border controller (SBC) space came from Sonus and Cisco. While the research agency Dell’ (News - Alert)Oro Group provided some revenue numbers for service provider voice core equipment over the next five years. And NetworkWorld magazine cautioned about phony vendors entering the SBC space.


To maintain a stronghold in the market, it is necessary to educate customers about your technology and new products. Sonus did that by organizing workshops and panels sessions around the country to educate enterprise about session initiation protocol (SIP) and its place in the telecom world, reported TMCnet managing editor Juliana Kenny. The company explained the role of SBC controller in communications processes between the access layer and application layer of a Network, added Kenny.

The managing editor’s column indicates that the aim of the Sonus road show was to clear any misconceptions about SIP. One such session was held in New York ,where Mykola Konrad described how the session management layer of the network is vital in preserving uptime and allowing for scalability within enterprise networks. As per this report, Sonus is planning similar presentations at the upcoming Oppenheimer 15th Annual Technology, Internet & Communications Conference in Boston.

In other news, Cisco (News - Alert) offered VoIP security tips for the enterprise to protect users from hackers.

“It's important to remember that VoIP risks don't just stop at toll fraud and voicemail hacks; IP phones can be used as entry points onto a company's network,” commented TMCnet contributing writer Rory Lidstone. Fortunately, he added, “VoIP experts like Cisco exist to help strengthen IP telephony security.” This report by Lidstone brings Cisco’s strategies to ensure IP phone security.

Likewise, TMCnet contributor Rajani Baburajan provided some encouraging numbers from market watcher Dell’Oro. Per Baburajan’s report, the research agency is expecting the service provider voice core equipment spending for the next five years will touch approximately $8 billion per year. The voice and data segments, which include IP Multimedia Subsystem (News - Alert) (IMS) Core equipment, Voice Application Servers and Session Border Controllers are expected to grow at nearly 20 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next five years.

Lastly, with growth in the market for IP communications services, SBC controllers are gaining momentum. And with increase in both Voice-over LTE and SIP communication, more and more SBC controller vendors are coming out of the woodwork. In her column “Session Border Controller Vendors Have More to Offer than Their Phony Competitors”, TMCnet contributing editor Susan J. Campbell points to a NetworkWorld report that cautions service providers about vendors who are not really SBC providers. The report indicates that not all vendors are created equal.

Campbell’s column indicates that a few vendors are trying to break into the SBC service sector and yet offer little value to customers in this space. “In order to qualify as a session border controller vendor, there needs to be a correlation between how signaling and the media communicate. A good vendor will have both despite the overwhelming amounts of media gateways,” wrote Campbell. 

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