Another month, another conference. Having been to several over the past few months, it’s clear that every company has a different take on UC&C, and as UC Experts, we try to convey that here for our readers. After all, if you’re moving along the buyer’s journey for UC&C, it’s important to understand not just the technology and solutions on offer, but also how each vendor is approaching the problem set.
On the heels of Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC), I had a chance to speak with David Tipping, Vice President and General Manager of the SBC Business, at Sonus. Tipping shared his views on Microsoft's "mobile first, cloud first" strategy and the role of Session Border Controllers (SBCs). Here's an overview of our Q&A discussion.
Pleasant: Microsoft's new CEO Satya Nadella introduced the company's "mobile first, cloud first" strategy at WPC. What does this mean to unified communications (UC) customers?
Smart businesses know that one key to success is to find a niche that has an unmet need and fill that need. That is exactly what Microsoft is doing with its CityNext program. CityNext brings next-gen communications to cities to enable various sectors, such as fire, police, administration services, libraries, schools, etc., to improve and streamline communications and collaboration.
Willie Sutton robbed banks in the United States for 42 years. When asked why he committed the robberies, his response was, "that is where the money is at." If Willie Sutton were alive today, he would focus his efforts on the telecommunications industry. Malicious subscribers constantly attempt to make phone calls at the expense of service providers worldwide. This is defined as toll fraud, and the global impact has soared to more than $46 billion as recently as 2011. To put that into perspective, credit card fraud was $23 billion.
Cloud, CaaS and UCaaS (UC as a Service) solutions are exploding. With the advances in bandwidth and reliability of the internet today, a decision to move the communications control systems off the premises and to the cloud is getting easier. Deployment options vary, from so-called "private clouds" to a full-blown UCaaS solution where the only equipment on the enterprise site are endpoint devices. The reasons for moving to the cloud for communications are varied.
When I speak with enterprise customers and resellers about unified communications, two of the biggest issues and challenges mentioned are interoperability and security. Most organizations, especially those that have gone through mergers and acquisitions, have multiple PBXs and switches that need to be integrated together, and demand a safe and secure environment for their business communications. One solution to both of these issues is the use of Session Border Controllers (SBCs), which establish trusted connections at both ends of the IP session, as well as authenticated identity.
The Session Border Controller (SBC) can be a puzzling device. There's just no equivalent to it in traditional telephony. It is the unique characteristics of VoIP and the Internet that make implementing SBCs a modern best practice. SBCs protect and simplify voice communications, and now with its latest release Sonus takes the SBC further with multimedia services.