Today, digital communication has become indispensable. The facts are that digital methods of communication are faster, more versatile, practical, and streamlined, so it is perhaps unsurprising that as the technology becomes more commonly used, we continue to push further into the digital age.
Companies now require the most secure, reliable, and efficient form of digital communication to stay connected with their consumers, as well as keep their employees connected.
For most companies today, this secure and efficient form of digital communications usually takes the form of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), a proven technology that lets anyone place phone calls over an internet connection. With the rise of broadband, VoIP has become extremely popular, with roughly 3 billion users worldwide.
However, there are still those that rely on the public switched telephone network (PSTN), the world's traditional circuit-switched collection of interconnected voice-oriented public telephone networks, in order to meet their communications demands. And, there are those who, if possible, want to take advantage of both communication options, in order to keep employees connected, and enhance their customer experience.
Regardless of which form of communication a company uses, the need for a capable Session Border Controller (SBC) is essential to having an optimal digital communication network. An SBC is a network function which secures VoIP infrastructures while providing interworking between incompatible signaling messages and media flows (sessions) from end devices or application servers. They are designed to deliver greater control over the various media streams and signaling generated by businesses communication channels, which is what makes them a necessity for organizations today.
Recently, Ribbon Communications (News - Alert) Inc., a global provider of real time communications software and IP Optical networking solutions to service providers, enterprises, and critical infrastructure sectors, announced that it is extending its support for Microsoft’s (News - Alert) recently introduced Operator Connect for Microsoft Teams service. Ribbon is adding Professional Services capabilities including Operator Connect API integration, configuration, provisioning, and automation support to complement its market-leading portfolio of Direct Routing certified SBCs.
The newly added Professional Services capabilities combine with Ribbon’s Direct Routing certified Operator Connect SBCs to enable service providers to reduce the time and resources required to bring Operator Connect to market. Operator Connect is a program which builds closer alignment between Microsoft Teams and qualified Telco Operators’ offering PSTN access to Microsoft Teams users, to deliver an enhanced customer experience. Operator Connect enhances integration between the Telco network and Microsoft Teams streamlining provisioning and management of users and enhanced support models that will augment QoS.
“Operator Connect offers an innovative way for service providers to immediately meet the strong demand from Teams users around the world to have the ability to seamlessly connect to the PSTN,” said Taimoor Husain, Modern Workplace Strategy and GTM Lead, Telcos at Microsoft. “The support of ecosystem partners like Ribbon is key to the Operator Connect service and will assist in increasing the adoption rates as we continue to onboard more service providers.”
Ribbon’s Product and Professional Services teams have nearly a decade and a half experience supporting multiple generations of Microsoft products. The company understands Operator Connect requirements and can support carriers as they on-board the solution, including helping with specific Operator Connect APIs. Many service providers participating in the initial Operator Connect launch are already Ribbon customers including Pure IP.
Ribbon SBCs already provide security and interoperability for hundreds of SIP Trunking, Direct Routing and cloud Unified Communications (News - Alert) (UC) services. The company’s SBC portfolio supports multiple Microsoft Teams calling deployment models including Direct Routing and Operator Connect. Their core SBCs including SBC Software Edition (SWe), SBC 5400 and SBC 7000 deliver the carrier-grade reliability, scale, resiliency and interoperability that is critical for Operator Connect deployments.Ribbon also supports enterprise Teams Deployments with its SBC Software Edition Lite (SWe Lite), SBC 1000, SBC 2000, EdgeMarc Intelligent Edge portfolio and Ribbon Connect, a fully managed service that Ribbon Partners can use to migrate enterprises to a Teams Phone (News - Alert) System in hours.
Overall, as the world continues to become more and more digital everyday, the need to have a fast and reliable form of digital communication will only grow as well. This will continue to drive organizations that use either VoIP, PSTN, or both, to find a digital communications solution that fits for their company and meets all their communications needs.
“Ribbon is a market leader in carrier interconnect and SIP Trunking, which ideally positions us to help service providers quickly adopt Operator Connect,” said Tony Scarfo (News - Alert), EVP & General Manager of Ribbon’s Cloud & Edge Business Unit. “Combining Ribbon's SBC portfolio with our extensive global Professional Services capabilities, gives service providers the tools they need to get their new Operator Connect-based services to market sooner and reduces the risk of losing customers to more agile competitors.”
Edited by
Luke Bellos
