Session border controllers are racing to keep up with VoIP market growth and ease the transition to all-SIP environments

Session border controllers (SBCs) have become important elements as the VoIP market makes huge gains. SBCs offer security, quality of service (QoS), statistics reporting and flow prioritization. Plus, they can handle regulatory requirements like emergency calls. SBCs should be fast, with low latency and high availability. Drivers pushing ever more functional and intelligent SBCs are security concerns, service reach maximization, SLA assurance and regulatory compliance, along with cost management.

As the VoIP market continues to grow, ever more SBC devices are needed to handle the increasing traffic volume. Some providers pair SBCs with existing media gateways for hybrid products, and integrating IP routers with SBCs often makes sense, as they are both located at the same spot. As organizations move toward all-SIP (session initiation protocol) to control communication sessions, SBCs have become invaluable as protocol translation devices to achieve VoIP interoperability. 

Best-in-Class Session Border Controller Features:

• Offers integrated self-protection features, high availability and browser-based configuration and call tracing
• Clusters SBCs and manages them as one to meet increasing numbers of sessions and provides adaptive load balancing for subscribers
• Provides secure management tools, with reporting, logging and dynamic configuration change capabilities

Top Considerations before Buying Session Border Controller Products:

Cutting-edge SBC functionality can be run in a variety of form factors, and SBCs can be clustered to manage ever-growing numbers of session requests. Look for advanced routing and policy engines, as well as subscriber load balancing. SBCs may slowly be transitioning into parts of larger solutions, and in the future may be embedded and run on a blade or appliance. Some softswitch vendors have built-in SBC capabilities though full integration may wait until a move to an entirely IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)-based architecture.

Key Products

1. Patton designs, develops, and manufactures electronic communications equipment for network access, connectivity, voice-over-IP, video surveillance and triple play. Their SmartNode 5200 Enterprise Session Border Router (ESBR) controller delivers any-to-any SIP trunking, with secure routing. The controller provides secure connectivity between IP-PBX systems and ITSPs and a built-in firewall. SmartNode won the Internet Telephony Excellence Award in 2009. SmartNode also offers unified communications agents, VoIP gateways, routers and IADs.

2. AudioCodes Ltd. designs, manufactures and sells advanced VoIP and converged VoIP and data networking products and applications to service providers and enterprises. Their nCite 1000 session border controllers are ideal for operators deploying VoIP hosted services or are interconnecting networks with other VoIP carriers. It allows for collapsing of multiple applications in a single platform and allows service layering architecture. Protocol interoperability and network mediation are possible.

3. Ingate Systems provides Enterprise Session Border Controllers (E-SBCs) that enable SIP communications such as SIP trunking and unified communications beyond the protected enterprise network. Ingate offers the Intertex IX78 E-SBC for operator-volume SIP trunking deployments. Their Enhanced Security Module adds security for SIP-based applications, and Ingate also offers firewalls, SIP traversal licenses, quality of service modules, remote SIP connectivity modules and VoIP survival modules. Along with remote connectivity functionality, the Ingate VPN module enables remote worker access.

4. Acme Packet, Inc. enables the delivery interactive communications—voice, video and multimedia sessions—and data services across IP network borders. Their Net-Net product line offers session border controllers, multiservice security gateway and session routing proxies, supporting multiple applications in service provider, enterprise and contact center networks, whether VoIP trunking, hosted enterprise or fixed-mobile convergence situations. The Net-Net 2600 is an integrated SBC for enterprises and IP contact centers requiring control for up to 4,000 simultaneous signaled sessions. Other Net-Net varieties fit different organizational needs.

5. Metaswitch Networks provides scalable carrier systems solutions, including Session Border Controller Software (DC-SBC), designed for system vendors.  DC-SBC includes many of the essential control functions needed in an IMS environment. It’s available as a complete solution or modularized for organizations to use individual components. Both options integrate into existing infrastructures or with field-deployed systems. Features include SLA policing, network congestion avoidance, encryption, bandwidth theft detection and firewall traversal.

Session Border Controllers
Definition: A session border controller (SBC) is a device used in some Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) networks to exert control over the signaling and usually also the media streams involved in setting up, conducting, and tearing down telephone calls or other interactive media communications.