Transcript
Acme Packet solutions for Cisco Unified Communications Manager
solutions note
Overview Enterprises that deploy Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM), formerly known as Cisco Call Manager, understand the need to improve collaboration and reduce telecommunications expenses. Concerned about IP telephony security and reliability, many CUCM customers continue to interconnect sites and access the PSTN using legacy TDM trunks – an inefficient and costly approach.
By implementing an all-IP voice network, enterprises can: • Leverage SIP trunks, private WAN networks and the public Internet to interconnect independent IP telephony islands, reach teleworkers, small offices and mobile professionals • Eliminate the inefficiencies associated with conventional TDM-based network architectures • Enjoy lower costs and greater business agility But all-IP networks pose a variety of challenges: • Interoperability – SIP specifications are less rigid than traditional ITU telecom specifications. SIP implementation variances lead to service incompatibilities and interoperability issues. Interoperability challenges can show up in multi-vendor environments as well in the SIP trunking interface to different service providers. • Reliability – All-IP networks must deliver the high reliability and service levels to which PSTN users are accustomed. Enterprises must deliver high quality voice and video services and maintain mission-critical business communications in the event of infrastructure failures, office closings and disasters. • Security – Real-time IP communications are different than TDM and other traditional data application flows. Conventional firewalls and application layer gateways (ALGs) aren’t well suited for real-time interactive communications and leave enterprises vulnerable to DoS attacks, viruses, spam, and other threats. Comparing Acme Packet and Cisco solutions Cisco recommends the use of a border control element to address the interoperability, reliability, and security challenges of an all-IP network. Cisco and Acme Packet both offer products which fulfill this role. On the surface the solutions may appear similar, but different implementation choices, functional capabilities, strategic objectives and company heritages have yielded different platforms which address distinct requirements and customer profiles. Only Acme Packet Net-Net® session border controllers provide the complete set of security, service interworking and service quality assurance features required to construct large-scale multi-vendor all-IP networks in a highly secure and reliable fashion.
Benefits Opportunity for OPEX and CAPEX savings • Cut local, long distance and international calling costs • Eliminate legacy TDM gateways • Consolidate trunks, service providers and billing • Simplify ongoing operations, administration and management • Significantly reduce the need for expensive MTP resources by leveraging built-in SBC media transcoding • A single border element providing connectivity for SIP trunking and remote workers Assure service integrity • Proven interoperability with Cisco UCM and UCC solutions • Extensive delay-offer / early-offer (DOEO) conversion capabilities • Address interoperability issues when using third-party endpoints • Enhance security by implementing encryption technologies as the edge of the network • Fault tolerant high availability with stateful signaling and media failover support • Facilitate disaster recovery and business continuity Interconnect diverse systems, vendors and service providers • Interoperate with SIP and H.323 elements from any IP telephony or UC vendor • Construct a unified corporate communications system • Protect and extend telecom investments • Improve collaboration and worker productivity • Leverage Acme Packet’s SIP trunking deployment experience in hundreds of service provider networks
Some of the Acme Packet advantages include: • Acme Packet’s Net-Net SBC is a purpose-built solution which offers inherent scale, fault tolerance, and price/performance advantages over alternative solutions. Examples include SBC platforms that scale to over 20,000 concurrent calls and high availability support for stateful signaling and media failovers. • Session border control has been Acme Packet’s sole focus since 2002. Deployed by over 1,000 of the largest service providers and enterprises worldwide, Acme Packet solutions are proven to meet the most stringent reliability and performance requirements. • As an independent manufacturer Acme Packet offers a feature-rich, fully integrated, vendor-neutral border element. The Net-Net SBC is specifically designed to address common multi-vendor SIP interoperability issues, including problems that may arise when utilizing third-party SIP endpoints with Cisco UCM. Net-Net SBCs offer proven interoperability with CUCM solutions in a wide range of IP telephony deployments throughout the world. SIP trunking with service providers is an example of how Acme Packet’s experience can benefit enterprises. Acme Packet SBCs are used as part of the SIP trunk service infrastructure by the majority of service providers throughout the world. This means that in many instances, when Acme Packet SBCs are used as part of enterprise IP telephony and UC deployments, these enterprise SBCs are communicating with Acme Packet SBCs in the service provider network at the other end of the SIP trunk. This activity has allowed Acme Packet to develop an extensive interoperability knowledge base of how to optimally deploy these services in conjunction with a diverse landscape of IP telephony and UC solutions. Acme Packet Net-Net SBC solutions for Cisco UCM implementations Acme Packet Net-Net SBCs enable a variety of IP telephony and UC applications including SIP trunking, SIP services for teleworkers, mobile users and small offices, and business-to-business federations. SIP trunking – Eliminate the need for legacy TDM trunks. Leverage cost-effective and flexible SIP trunks for PSTN access, to interconnect sites and to connect to VoIP service providers. Reduce costs and eliminate inefficiencies by delivering all forms of interactive IP communications – voice, chat, and video – over a common infrastructure. Improve business agility by adding capacity and users dynamically. Minimize the need for expensive MTP resources by leveraging built-in SBC media transcoding and media parameter manipulation capabilities. Ensure complete interoperability with service provider SIP trunk services with extensive DOEO (delayedoffer, early-offer) conversion and DTMF translation support. Remote workers and offices – Leverage the ubiquitous availability and economics of the public Internet to extend corporate communications services to teleworkers, remote offices, and mobile professionals. Enable home-based workers to maintain normal business communications during emergency office closings. Incorporate small offices into the corporate voice network. Pool resources and leverage economies of scale. Make mobile workers more productive and accessible. Acme Packet Net-Net SBCs also address any interoperability issues that may arise when using third-party SIP endpoints with Cisco UCM. Advanced bandwidth-aware connection admission control capabilities (CAC) are also available to support the optimal use of network resources. B2B interworking – Support business-to-business (B2B) federations by peering with suppliers and partners connected via a common IP infrastructure. Integrate disparate IP telephony and UC systems to enhance communications, eliminate inefficiencies and improve productivity. One border control element for multiple applications – Cisco requires the use of the Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE) for SIP trunking and a different element, the Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) for SIP-based remote workers. With Acme Packet Net-Net SBCs, SIP trunking and SIP-based remote workers can be supported on a single border control element.
100 Crosby Drive Bedford, MA 01730 USA © 2010 Acme Packet, Inc. All rights reserved. Acme Packet, Session-Aware Networking, Net-Net and related marks are trademarks of Acme Packet. All other brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. The content in this document is for informational purposes only and is subject to change by Acme Packet without notice. While reasonable efforts have been made in the preparation of this publication to assure its accuracy, Acme Packet assumes no liability resulting from technical or editorial errors or omissions, or for any damages resulting from the use of this information. Unless specifically included in a written agreement with Acme Packet, Acme Packet has no obligation to develop or deliver any future release or upgrade or any feature, enhancement or function.
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