Sonus Simplifies Deployment, Management, Configuration of Real-Time Communications for Service Providers, Enterprises

15 Oct 2014

New Sonus Session Border Controller Software Releases Expand Interworking, Management and Multimedia Capabilities across Voice, Video and Collaboration Platforms

Key Takeaways:

  • Sonus expands video support with interoperability between H.323 and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) protocols on the Sonus SBC 5000 Series, SBC 7000 and SBC SWe (Software edition) Session Border Controllers (SBC).
  • Video pass-through on the Sonus SBC 1000 and SBC 2000 Session Border Controllers enables enterprises to initiate and receive SIP-based video calls so communication beyond traditional network boundaries is seamless and more collaborative.
  • Sonus' end-to-end SBC portfolio can be fully managed and configured using the Representational State Transfer (REST) application programming interface (API) for simple and fast orchestration of communications.
  • Sonus' Global Services portfolio now features Real-Time Communications Monitoring as a Service, helping customers proactively address and avoid potential network issues.

Sonus Networks, Inc., a global leader in enabling and securing real-time communications, today announced new enhancements to its Session Border Controller (SBC) portfolio, designed to simplify network design, reduce costs and help service providers and enterprises more effectively deploy advanced Unified Communications (UC) features. From the corporate headquarters to branch offices, these new software releases offer expanded video and management support, as well as new network monitoring capabilities available from Sonus Global Services (SGS).

Securing Real-time Video Communications

Due to hybrid UC environments, most enterprises face interworking challenges as video endpoints range in capability from room-based video conferencing systems to smartphones. Moreover, video conferencing vendors use a range of standards that are often not interoperable, creating unneeded complexity for users. For example, some endpoint vendors only support H.323 protocol, while newer endpoints will support both Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and H.323 and desktop endpoints often only support SIP.

An SBC's ability to interwork and secure multiple protocols across different modalities and vendor platforms is foundational to the success of a cohesive video implementation. Sonus SBCs enable SIP-to-SIP interoperability in video environments and now, as part of software Release 4.2, Sonus fully supports interoperability between H.323 and SIP protocols on the Sonus SBC 5000 Series, SBC 7000 and SBC SWe Session Border Controllers. With Sonus, organizations can now fully leverage existing investments in hardware and software by making video solutions from different vendors wholly interoperable. By negating the need for a forklift upgrade of a company's video assets, the investment protection provided by Sonus can be substantial.

At the edge of the network, the Sonus SBC 1000 and SBC 2000 Session Border Controllers enforce security policies, allowing only authorized video and voice traffic to pass through the border. Software Release 4.0 for the Sonus SBC 1000 and SBC 2000 introduces secure pass-through for video calls using the same SIP implementation on both ends of the session. As a result, enterprises can now use the SBC 1000 or SBC 2000 to initiate and receive SIP-based video calls so that communication beyond traditional network boundaries is seamless and more collaborative.

Enabling Real-Time Communications

The comprehensive breadth of the Sonus SBC portfolio enables enterprises and service providers to deliver rich media transcoding and centralized policy/routing management quickly and consistently across multiple locations on-premises or as a managed service.

Sonus' complete SBC portfolio can be managed and configured using the Representational State Transfer (REST) application programming interface (API), a Web management interface that uses Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) protocol to simplify connections between machines. Sonus previously announced REST support on the SBC 1000 and SBC 2000 in 2013; now, software Release 4.2 introduces REST support on the SBC 5000 Series, SBC 7000 and SBC SWe. By choosing Sonus, developers can use REST APIs to bridge Web applications and telecommunications devices for easy orchestration of communications sessions. In addition, Sonus customers can also use the API to auto-provision SIP trunks or users in an automated way.

Monitoring Real-Time Communications

To ensure that customers can communicate simply and seamlessly, across any device and platform, Sonus introduces Real-Time Communications Monitoring as a Service. As part of the Sonus Global Services portfolio, this new Cloud-based capability provides a single point of proactive fault surveillance for customers' managed SBCs. By taking a "follow the sun," 24/7/365 model, Real-Time Communications Monitoring as a Service is designed to reduce and eliminate costly network outages by proactively observing the traffic for potential issues that could impact customer service. This new service not only removes ambiguity if a network alarm is triggered, but also speeds incident resolution by proactively working issues as soon as the alarm is identified, rather than waiting for a customer-initiated trouble ticket.

Quotes

"We are constantly driving innovation to make the communications experience of our customers rich and collaborative - helping enterprises and service providers reduce hardware expenses, simplify implementations and use fewer resources without sacrificing exceptional capability, scale or security," said David Tipping, vice president and general manager, Products, Sonus. "Whether voice, video or other forms of collaboration, the speed and simplicity of the Sonus portfolio gives customers confidence that their real-time communications are seamless, secure and reliable - on any device, at any time."

"Unified Communications continues to proliferate the workplace as companies strive to lower communications costs while increasing collaboration and productivity," said Jim Burton, co-founder, UCStrategies. "Enterprises are faced with the challenge of providing interoperability for multivendor UC environments, exacerbated by the growing adoption of disparate video platforms. SBCs are critical in delivering interoperability between disparate vendors and multiple protocols across different modalities. Sonus' broad portfolio of SBCs is allowing enterprises to enable, secure and successfully scale their UC deployments."

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