Reviewing the SIP trunking news this week, Ingate Systems President Steven Johnson (News - Alert) wrote that deep packet inspection is a powerful way to protect not just SIP traffic, but also the network. Deep packet inspection is a form of computer network packet filtering that examines the data (or datagram) and UDP/TCP header part of a packet as it passes through an enterprise session border controller.

When SIP traffic reaches the E-SBC, the E-SBC searches it for non-protocol compliance, viruses, spam, intrusions or other criteria that’s been predefined to decide if the packet can pass through, or if it needs to be routed to a different destination. Also, the E-SBC can examine the packet for the purpose of collecting statistical information.

This is in contrast to shallow packet inspection (usually called just packet inspection), which only checks the UDP/TCP header portion of a packet. Shallow packet inspection is the kind of inspection commonly found in most NAT firewall devices.

Paula Bernier (News - Alert) noted that TMCnet recently asked some of the leading lights in the industry for their thoughts about 2011 and what’s in store for the year ahead, reporting what Andy Ory, co-founder, CEO and president at Acme Packet, had to say.

Q: What was your company’s greatest achievement in 2011?

Ory: 2011 was a year where we gained market share in all the major segments of our business, where we continued to add both enterprise and service provider customers, where we established exciting partnerships with industry leaders, and one where we introduced innovative new solutions that build on our powerful Net-Net family of products. Most importantly, though, 2011 was a year where Acme Packet was able to drive an even greater understanding, interest, and adoption of session delivery network solutions in the marketplace – something that both our customers and partners will benefit from.

Q: What are your business’s goals for 2012?

Ory: We’re looking to continue build out session delivery networks with our customers and help them realize the powerful benefits that such solutions can provide. In the enterprise space, we’ll be working to help customers take advantage of SIP trunking services and unified communications – dramatically lowering costs, increasing productivity, and enhancing business agility as a result. In the service provider space, we’ll continue our efforts in enabling the end-to-end adoption of IP communications in both mobile and fixed line arenas. We will also continue to refine, simplify and augment connectivity between the enterprise and the service provider in both cloud-based and premises-based deployments that drive end-to-end IP communication usage.

And Arvind Arora wrote that the world of business communications has been witnessing new challenges and demands with growing market pressures and expectations. Session Initiation Protocol (News - Alert) technology has evolved as a vital telecommunications infrastructure platform to allow the enterprises realize added benefits at much lower costs and complexity.

The SIP School, a provider of advanced education about Session Initiation Protocol technology, has selected OnSIP, a business phone service by Junction Networks (News - Alert), a company offering enhanced business VoIP service to small and medium-sized businesses as its new SIP service. As the issuing authority for the SIP School Certified Associate Certification endorsed by the Telecommunications Industry Association along with many manufacturers of SIP devices and providers of SIP based services, the SIP School has more than 5,500 students registered for its training programs.

Until now, students of the SIP School were asked to create a SIP address with any free service during their first session. With the new development, each student will have an alternative option to get a SIP address on thesipschool.com domain using the OnSIP API.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO, click here.

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