For much of North America, it was a holiday week. But even with a day off, it wasn't near enough to shut down the flow of news in session initiation protocol (SIP) trunking. A shortened week still meant plenty to cover, and with a more normal weekend on hand, it's a great time to catch up on all the latest news. We'll make it a lot easier to do so with our Week in Review coverage!

First we had a look at VoIP Supply, who announced that it was bringing the Grandstream VoIP Resellers' Demo Kit to its product roster. Containing several pieces of Grandstream technology in one handy, portable package--and including an IP-PBX (News - Alert) system, a multimedia IP phone, an IP camera, a four-port PoE switch and several other items--the demo kit allows resellers to show off just what Grandstream technology can do, and the kind of value in turn it can offer for potential buyers.

Next, GL Communications stepped in with a new solution geared toward stress testing networks. The Message Automation and Protocol Simulation (MAPS) platform is designed to simulate a bulk-calling environment and observe the effects on a network. More specifically, it generates a substantial quantity of traffic, which allows network operators to discover if the network has enough capacity to meet the demand required.

The carrier IP and IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) market dominated the next piece of news, as a report from IHS (News - Alert) spelled out just what kind of market was in play for the short term. The global market for such equipment reached a hefty $1.3 billion in 2015's first quarter, which was up 29 percent over the same time in 2014. A big part of the market's growth in North America, meanwhile, could be attributed to Alcatel-Lucent (News - Alert), though it was far from alone in the field like BroadSoft and Sonus.

Then we had a look at ShoreTel and its ongoing success with the public sector. With several such agencies as clients to ShoreTel (News - Alert)'s credit, the company's brand of easy-to-use, low-cost phone and unified communications (UC) systems proved to be hard to pass up for agencies from the Atlanta Department of Transportation to the Little Falls Police Department, covering areas as narrow as a 911 call center to as distributed as 22 separate sites for the City of Beaumont in Texas.

Finally, we had a look at the three features that your next network emulator needed to have on hand to get the most out of such a device. It needed not only the best in reporting capabilities, but also the ability to customize it from the top down, and the ability to readily connect to internal devices. One such emulator that seems to do the job nicely on these fronts is the Valid8 M3 4G emulator, which offers complete call flows, a wide array of reporting tools, and the ability to simulate network impairment to stress test systems.

That was the week that was in SIP trunking, and plenty of news was on hand even if the week was unusually short. The slimmed-down week didn't stop the news any, and our global online community was right in the thick of it. So be sure to join us back here next week for all the latest, and every weekend for our Week in Review coverage!