Ingate Systems, a developer of firewall technology and products that enable SIP communications for the enterprise will announce an update to the software it uses in its Ingate Firewall and Ingate SIParator products.

 

Version 4.7, which is available immediately, offers improved diagnostic capabilities as well as a new configuration mode for the SIParator line, adding QoS capabilities for SIP when using a SIP-unaware firewall. According to the company, by using these new tools, carriers and enterprises will be able to ensure maximum voice quality, quality of service (QoS) and reliability in all VoIP deployments, including SIP trunking.

 

Among the new features in version 4.7, Ingate is unveiling new media quality scoring capabilities, designed to help operators gather the statistics necessary to monitor service delivery to maintain QoS. Leveraging an Ingate Firewall or SIParator as demarcation point, the new solution can monitor the RTP stream and compute statistics for the number of packets sent, bytes sent, jitter, number of missing packets and maximum number of consecutive missing packets, which can then be used to compute a Mean Opinion Score (MOS).

 

Ingate is also announcing a new SIParator mode — WAN SIParator — which allows the SIParator to be placed in front of an existing firewall allowing the device to employ QoS rules with the introduction of SIP. According to the company, the SIParator will enable the use of SIP, leave an existing SIP-unaware network firewall in place and still provide the bandwidth management necessary to ensure that voice receives priority, and therefore does not suffer from conflicts with data packets which can stand delay, where voice cannot.

 

“Ingate’s new software version employs the right tools for diagnosing and troubleshooting problems with the VoIP media stream helps avoid potential issues, including QoS issues,” said Steven Johnson, president, Ingate Systems (News - Alert). “This is especially important for enterprise environments — where voice is a mission-critical application — and for carriers, who rely on delivering quality voice service.”

 

Other new features include the ability to use multiple Internet connections, allowing an organization to deploy a dedicated line for VoIP traffic and a second line for ordinary data traffic. Version 4.7 also features improved handling of remote SIP clients behind NAT/firewalls with poor SIP support, a feature designed to enable remote workers who sit behind a home router to utilize the SIP capabilities of the corporate office, including VoIP.

 

The new software allows enterprise users to use multiple IP addresses for SIP signaling, which means that several IP-PBXs can handle both SIP trunking and remote users through the same Ingate unit as the SIP signaling will have different source IP when reaching the IP-PBX (News - Alert).

 

Other features of version 4.7 include configurable display name and P-Asserted Identity on accounts; decreased number of media port changes within sessions; handling of INVITES without offer, and a Proxy ARP, which enables the administrator to use the same public IP subnet on several interfaces.

 

The latest version of Ingate’s software can be downloaded from the company's Web site here.