January 22, 2025 by viva
Modern enterprise communication systems are at constant risk of threats and attacks. It is crucial to protect and control real time communications. Traditional private branch exchange (PBX) systems are replaced by Voice over IP (VoIP) and Unified Communications (UC) deployments to enhance collaboration and performance. Employees are no longer attached to their office phone systems as they are constantly on the move and require a reliable communication system to process their requirements. While making the transition into VoIP and UC, it is important to follow safe practices, and Enterprise Session Border Controller (E-SBC) is designed to overcome security issues, service challenges and interoperability.
E-SBCs operate at the session later and connect the enterprise communication system to the public internet, private IP networks and one or multiple Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunk service providers. Each communication session is re-originated terminating the existing one allowing the E-SBC to manage and control traffic, apply policies and provide secure and efficient UC solutions.
Using VDI and VPN models, it is easy to connect a Work From Home employee to the office network. However, there are many challenges to VDI sharing for multiple applications, including internet bandwidth availability and stability. For example, a telecom service provider in Voice Over VDI can provide seamless voice and data consumption delivery. So, it is the responsibility of the customer to choose a service provider where both external voice-over VDI provider and in-house VDI are both good.
E-SBCs are used especially to connect and control traffic flow via the enterprise real time communications system to public internet and other private IP networks, also from single or multiple SIP trunk service providers. Using E-SBCs businesses can connect to legacy PBXs, UC systems and call center environment.
IP firewalls are designed for data applications, and they are tolerant to delay. During the RTP packet process, delays and jitters reduce the quality of voice or video services. While E-SBC is designed to process media packets with less delay and jitters hence, the quality of transmission is not compromised. Firewalls offer basic support and provide Access Control Lists configured to allow or reject SIP traffic depending on the addressing information contained in the SIP signalling messages. Moreover, firewalls cannot manipulate or control real-time IP communications sessions like E-SBCs.
IT organisations face issues with interoperability and interworking during real-time IP communication. SIP specifications are highly flexible and give engineers a variety of implementation choices. Moreover, they offer many features and functions. The interoperability challenges can threaten VoIP and UC projects, as well as result in cost hikes and drain resources. On the contrary, E-SBCs help in building an enterprise UC architecture to accommodate new systems and functions. It allows you to scale while controlling and securing your communications. It consolidates real-time communications traffic by providing a central control point for prioritising and classifying different types of traffic like voice or video.
Moreover, the E-SBC serves as the focal point for service level agreement (SLA), prioritising monitoring and allocating limited bandwidth resources across applications. It is not a simple task to accommodate existing systems, emerging IP-based functionality and legacy applications to build secure and comprehensive communications. The biggest challenge comes in the form of adhering to regulatory requirements and security using limited IT resources.
Viva Digitally SBCaaS is suitable for business to protect and control real time communications. To know more on the service, contact our experts for a demo.