A new category of network equipment called session controllers made a splash last year as Acme Packet, Jasomi Networks, Kagoor Networks, Netrake, Newport Networks Ltd. and NexTone Communications moved into the VoIP space with new boxes designed to help service providers better control real-time communications among service provider networks, and between enterprise and carrier networks. Now, softswitch vendor Sonus Networks has added session controller functionality to its popular softswitch/ gateway products, a move that at least one analyst believes will be the wave of the future and that could spark the combination of session controller companies and larger VoIP infrastructure vendors.
Christine Hartman, research director of the voice over packet market at Probe Group, tells xchange she believes all the softswitch companies will add border session control functionality to their equipment over time, and that many of them may do it by purchasing session controller companies. “I can see acquisitions coming up,” she adds.
As for Sonus, the company added session border control and other functionality to its softswitch/gateway products with its 5.1 software release, says Bob Dye, vice president of strategic marketing at Sonus.
In addition to traditional session control capabilities such as H.323./SIP protocol translation, network address translation and firewall, Dye says the new Sonus solution also adds “true carrier-grade” functionality, including control over service features, SIP-T, the ability to handle call congestion, the ability to deliver network records in a format billing systems can understand, end-to-end call management, CALEA support, media format and more, all possible because it also delivers the softswitch piece of the infrastructure.
Dye explains that the Sonus solution can trigger special tones and announcements in various calling scenarios. For example, if an individual making a call doesn’t use caller ID and the person that individual is calling only accepts calls with caller ID, the Sonus solution can deliver a call message explaining why the call was not accepted.
As for SIP-T, that’s an IETF standard that enables SIP-based networks to carry SS7 messages and deliver them in SS7 format for IP calls that terminate on the PSTN, Dye explains.
Dye would not provide pricing for the new functionality, but says Sonus is offering it at a price comparable to what session border control vendors offer in small configurations and at a lower relative price per session for larger deployments.
AT&T, BellSouth, China Netcom, Deutsche Telekom, Global Crossing, Level 3 Communications Inc., NTT, Qwest Communications International Inc., Time Warner Telecom and XO Communications are among the 70-plus companies that use Sonus products.
