Ingate Offers Solutions to Difficult SIP Problems

If there is one thing that we have learned in the last few years of ‘battling’ protocols in the VoIP arena, it is that SIP is definitely here to stay. What once was a rather crude and cumbersome method of connecting multiple voice networks or environments together is now regarded as a trustworthy ‘workhorse’ in the convergence marketplace. The demand for SIP trunking solutions has skyrocketed since the year 2000, and this popularity has propelled forward innovation and interoperability. However, several key headaches still exist with SIP-based trunking and service provider solutions. NAT (Network Address Translation) traversal for SIP-based communications has been, and continues to be a major stumbling block for organizations and entities trying to utilize SIP to its fullest potential. In addition, traditional firewalls found in the majority of organizations aren’t prepared to handle SIP traffic well. Fortunately, there are extremely effective solutions to help organizations through their SIP-centric deployments. I recently had the opportunity to talk with Ingate president Steven Johnson about the challenges that can arise when deploying SIP as a method for signaling in trunking and service provider environments. Steven re-iterated the fact that SIP trunking has the ability to deliver significant ROI opportunities where it is deployed properly, in SIP-aware environments that are established to properly handle and direct this type of traffic. Ingate has several innovative solutions for effectively optimizing difficult environments for SIP-based traffic, including their Ingate SIParator and Ingate Firewall appliances. The SIParator is a device that is installed in parallel with an existing firewall to SIP-enable the enterprise network. The SIParator handles only the SIP traffic while the existing firewall continues to secure all other network traffic. This family of devices is compatible with all OSes and firewalls. Ingate’s line of firewalls are fully SIP-capable enterprise firewalls that properly handle the traversal of SIP traffic alongside other network traffic. Recently at the ITEXPO East 2009 conference, Ingate hosted a multi-day SIP trunking workshop, hosting the best and brightest for discussions, case studies, and presentations. As Ingate’s Steven Johnson iterated, the future of SIP is very bright, including the further adoption and integration of unified communications technologies,and other applications, including widely-deployed video from the desktop. For more information about Ingate’s SIParator or Firewall appliances, please visit http://www.ingate.com