Controller mixes WAN failover with SIP capabilities for VoIP |
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By Tim Scannell, Site Editor
12 May 2009 | SearchEnterpriseWAN.com |
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Ecessa, a maker of WAN link controllers for small-to-medium size businesses, today unveiled an appliance that combines its failover controller technology with SIP management software, allowing users to channel VoIP traffic across multiple WAN and service provider networks.
ClariLink: Controlling the front end
ClariLink functions as a front-end controller, managing multiple WAN links and balancing bandwidth capacities to improve the quality of service (QoS) characteristics of VoIP calls. The appliance employs the company's real-time failover capabilities to maintain call and data session, as well as keep these sessions alive in the face of service provider outages. The converged package includes a SIP Proxy, SIP Registration Server and Network Address Translation (NAT) Proxy which work to intelligently route traffic through a WAN and service provider networks.
Applying inbound and outbound failover capabilities to ISIP traffic over a WAN essentially eliminates the problem of dropped calls and having to redial, says John Addington, director of technical services for Ecessa. "It is a big step in terms of the resiliency of VoIP," he noted.
Cutting overhead costs with calls over the WAN
ClariLink can also make use of less expensive WAN connections for calls, rather than dedicated voice lines, which is a strong motivator for businesses looking to apply VoIP to cut overhead in this economy. This is one reason why revenues in the VoIP services market are expected to grow roughly 20 percent this year, according to market researcher IBISWorld.
Bundling Ecessa's failover technology with SIP technology in a single platform may also give a boost to SIP trunking service-level agreements (SLAs), notes Nemertes analyst Irwin Lazar. A SIP trunk lets a company replace traditional PSTN lines and gateways, as well as costly dedicated communications cabling, and route communications over the Internet.
Using a SIP link to upload traffic and eliminate dedicated services and equipment can potentially reduce costs by 20-60% over traditional PSTN charges, noted Lazar at a recent conference in Boston.
ClariLink also integrates the SIP proxy with the WAN firewall, to intelligently control the flow of voice traffic and protect the security while maintaining the QoS of the network, added Brad Johnson, lead product developer at Ecessa.
ClariLink is expected to be available in Q3 this year. Pricing was not available at press time.
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