Sonus Introduces Industry’s First Full-featured, Unlimited Scale Software Session Border Controller

New Software Edition Session Border Controller Delivers Same Exceptional Performance and Functionality as Hardware-based SBCs

Key Takeaways:

The Sonus SBC SWe (Software edition) is the industry’s first software-based Session Border Controller (SBC) that delivers unlimited scalability with the same advanced features and functionality of hardware on a virtualized platform
Sonus is the only vendor on the market with a common, hardened code base across its hardware and software SBC portfolio, providing customers holistic investment protection
Scalable from as few as 25 to an unlimited number of sessions, the SBC SWe is feature equivalent to Sonus’ award-winning hardware-based Sonus SBC 5000 Series
The Sonus SBC SWe addresses service providers’ requirements for network functions virtualization (NFV) and software-defined networking (SDN) enabled SBC technology to scale Cloud-based delivery platforms

WESTFORD, Mass. – Sonus Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq: SONS), a global leader in SIP communications, today introduced the Sonus SBC SWe, the industry’s first software-based Session Border Controller (SBC) that delivers unlimited scalability with the same advanced features and functionality of hardware on a virtualized platform.

The SBC SWe is feature equivalent to Sonus’ hardware-based SBC 5000 Series. The only difference between the Sonus SBC SWe and the Sonus SBC 5000 Series is how customers choose to deploy it: on industry-standard servers or in virtualized environments. Scalable from as few as 25 to an unlimited number of sessions, the user-defined scope of the SBC SWe means that Sonus customers get to choose where they reside on the performance curve. Sonus will provide customers with a set of performance specifications for customers’ host platforms, and customers can then rapidly expand capacity, calls per second, features, transcoding and security capabilities with a simple license key as business demands change.

Sonus is the only vendor on the market with the same hardened code base across its hardware and software SBC portfolio, giving customers complete investment protection and peace of mind about the security of their communications network. By leveraging the same codebase and management interfaces, customers can seamlessly add the SBC SWe to networks with existing Sonus hardware-based infrastructure. For customers looking to leverage new and existing platforms to support network functions virtualization (NFV) functionality, the SBC SWe will allow customers to deploy a fully featured SBC co-resident with other applications.

The SBC SWe can be readily deployed into existing virtualized infrastructure. The portability and flexibility of the SBC SWe solution makes it the ideal choice for service providers and partners that have invested in virtualization technology, prefer pre-packaged “solutions in a box,” require remote network deployments or want to expand opportunities into new geographic markets where deploying a hardware solution would be impractical or cost prohibitive.

Infonetics Research estimates that more than 60 percent of enterprise SBCs – forecast at $243 million for 2013 – ship with 800 SIP sessions or less. With the Sonus SBC SWe, enterprise customers can now get the high-performance SBC capabilities they want – robust security, superior voice and video quality, centralized policy management and broad interoperability for Unified Communications (UC) – without paying a high upfront price.

For larger enterprise customers that might require a physical SBC in their data centers, the Sonus SBC SWe enables them to extend the same SBC capabilities to remote locations and branch offices without deploying more hardware at each location. The ability to almost instantaneously increase session count with a license key will be a tremendous asset for enterprises. Retail call centers often experience an influx of communications – voice calls, video chats, instant messaging, etc. – at the onset of the holiday season. However, there are times when call centers can’t predict volume peaks, such as retailer offers or new product introductions. In instances such as these, new sessions can be quickly enabled on the SBC SWe with a license.

Quotes:

“Sonus customers can now move seamlessly between hardware and software solutions, with assurance that their existing communications and network investments are fully protected,” said David Tipping, vice president and general manager, SBC Business, Sonus. “Unlike most virtualized SBCs on the market today, with the Sonus SBC SWe, service providers and enterprises are not ‘boxed in’ by hardware and no longer have to compromise on features or functionality when moving to software. Put simply, the Sonus SBC SWe sets a new bar for what customers should expect in SBC performance.”

“Security was recently cited by enterprises as the second leading barrier to Unified Communications deployment. New types of traffic – voice, video, messaging – traverse the IP network, and unsecured borders could lead to unwanted attacks,” said Diane Myers, principal analyst, Infonetics Research. “One of the strengths of the SBC SWe is that Sonus incorporates security and interworking experience into a ‘bring your own’ platform approach.”

“More than 67 percent of companies have virtualized Unified Communications applications to reduce costs, improve resiliency and enable more efficient utilization of server resources. The ability to run Unified Communications infrastructure on virtual servers is critical buying criteria,” said Irwin Lazar, vice president and service director, Nemertes Research.

Other Facts:

Sonus and industry analyst Zeus Kerravala of ZK Research will host a webinar on Wednesday, October 9, 2013 at 12:00 p.m. ET for enterprises and service providers to learn more about the Sonus SBC SWe and the impact of virtualization on Unified Communications. Register for the webinar, “Three Keys to UC Virtualization,” here.
Sonus is the fastest growing brand of SBCs (Source: Infonetics Research, 2011 – 2012)
Sonus is positioned in the Leaders quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Session Border Controllers, published October 9, 2012 by Gartner, Inc.
By adopting SIP trunking, many enterprises save as much as 50 percent, enabling them to help fund the adoption of advanced Unified Communications technologies

Additional Resources:

For more information about the SBC SWe, including product videos and executive interviews, visit the new product site here
Click here to download electronic copies of Sonus’ reference guides: Lync Enterprise Voice for Dummies, SIP Trunking for Dummies and Session Border Controllers for Dummies
Calculate SIP trunking savings with the Sonus SIP trunking ROI calculator

Tags/Keywords:

Sonus, SONS, SBC SWe, software SBC, SBC, session border controller, SIP, SIP trunking services, media transcoding, Unified Communications, UC, SBC 5100, SBC 5200

About Sonus Networks:

Sonus helps the world's leading communications service providers and enterprises embrace the next generation of SIP-based solutions including VoIP, video and Unified Communications through secure, reliable and scalable IP networks. With customers around the globe and 15 years of experience transforming networks to IP, Sonus has enabled service providers and enterprises to capture and retain users and generate significant ROI. Sonus products include session border controllers, policy/routing servers, subscriber feature servers and media and signaling gateways. Sonus products are supported by a global services team with experience in design, deployment and maintenance of some of the world's largest and most complex IP networks. For more information, visit www.sonus.net or call 1-855-GO-SONUS.

Important Information Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

The information in this release may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding future events that involve risks and uncertainties. Although Sonus believes that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are only predictions and are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this report are forward-looking statements. Our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. For further information regarding risks and uncertainties associated with Sonus' business, please refer to the "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Risk Factors" sections of Sonus' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements represent Sonus' views only as of the date on which such statement is made, and should not be relied upon as representing Sonus' views as of any subsequent date. While Sonus may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point, Sonus specifically disclaims any obligation to do so, except as required by law.

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