What is an E-SBC?

Enterprise communications is in a state of transformation. Businesses are replacing conventional PBX systems with VoIP and Unified Communications (UC) solutions and cloud-based services to improve collaboration and productivity, as well as to contain capital and operating expenses. No longer tethered to the office phone system, today's mobile information professionals can conduct business and interact with colleagues and customers from any place, at any time.

As IT organizations make the transition to VoIP and UC, they must implement new systems and practices to safeguard IT infrastructure, secure communications, and preserve the high service levels users have come to expect from the corporate phone system and the public telephone network. The Enterprise Session Border Controller (E-SBC) is specifically designed to overcome the complex security, interoperability, and service quality challenges IT teams encounter when implementing VoIP, UC, and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiatives.

Operating at the session layer, E-SBCs connect the enterprise communications infrastructure to the public Internet, private IP networks, and to one or more Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunk service providers. Significantly, they terminate and re-originate each communications session, enabling the E-SBC to manage and control traffic, apply enterprise policies, and provide the cornerstone for a secure, efficient UC solution.