In a recent implementation, Sydney-based Symbio (News - Alert) Networks, which provides managed and networked VoIP services based on E-SC, achieved success in the Asia/Pacific region by adapting to the changing market. Using the cost-effective, feature-rich, flexible, and scalable Stratus solution, Symbio had been able to expand and mature as a provider.

The ability to support multiple, geographically dispersed locations made Symbio’s recent business initiatives logistically simple. The company was able to deploy a PoP in Singapore, thereby bring wholesale services to that country, Indonesia, Malaysia,  and the Philippines.

In addition, admission control and security are two of the most important features of a session controller, like the Stratus’ E-SC. Such a product can solve the technical issues of connectivity, session control, security, and regulatory compliance. The ideal product would be affordable, easy to use, and able to evolve with the network.

In a study, Stratus discussed how the E-SC can provide connectivity and interworking for the call control, transport, and application layers of the network.

The E-SC’s admission control features provide several benefits:

·         Resource group attributes and routing policies can be set up to limit real-time sessions in each direction, as well as to determine the correct mix of real-time sessions allowed. Other policies can be used to determine such things as how emergency calls are handled.

·         The E-SC can control admission by accepting or rejecting new real-time sessions on the basis of policies and session counts.

·         Real-time media packets can be explicitly marked for prioritization by IP routers and switches.

·         Real-time media sessions can be monitored as they pass through the session controller, and the number of sessions is monitored and controlled.

In terms of security, the Stratus E-SC can be used by service providers to allow only authorized users to access their services and protect their internal infrastructure from denial-of-service attacks. The E-SC works with the provider’s signaling infrastructure for access control based on Layer 5 signaling messages. It can hide network topology by performing network address and port translations on signaling and media IP packets. To defend against infrastructure overload, call counts can be established to throttle inbound and outbound traffic.

The study concludes that ENTICE solutions, because they are flexible, modular, highly customizable, and programmable, can be used to build solutions that bring security and control to customers.