Why Do You Need Session Border Controllers (SBCs)?

A Session Border Controller (SBC) is a purpose-built application that monitors and controls a VoIP network system when a call is generated, conducted and ended. To help you understand why you need SBCs, let’s take a glance at the two main functions of a SBC – Security and Interoperability.

Security

One important role of a SBC is to protect your VoIP network from malicious activities. You may wonder why we need SBCs when we already have firewalls. In fact, although SBCs and firewalls seem to have similar roles, they are based on different foundations.

A firewall controls and screens network data to prevent traffic overload and stop suspicious activities from entering your system from any end points. Nonetheless, a firewall only has very limited awareness of SIP signaling while a SBC really focuses on scanning SIP-enabled traffic.

That being said, a SBC offers stricter protection that can block intruders at higher levels such as video and audio streams. Without a SBC, you put your VoIP system at risk of have intruders eavesdrop, steal your identification, and other malicious activities.

Interoperability

A SBC also acts as a facilitator, making sure different SIPs are working with one another smoothly. There are a lot of different VoIP solutions with different SIP variations. Without SBCs, your system might have hard time communicating with other systems. But here comes the question again – why can’t I just use a gateway?

It’s true that gateways and SBCs share some similar roles such as voice transcoding. However, they sit at different places in a VoIP system. A gateway’s main role is to provide a conversion between a circuit-based interface and a pack-based service; meanwhile a SBC is a the border between two packet-based networks.

In a nutshell, SBCs play unique roles in a VoIP system and are indispensable for a well-functioning IP communication system. Without SBCs, you might experience communication interruptions and security issues rather than save a fortune in the long term.

Do you have any thoughts about how SBCs work for your VoIP system? Do you think it’s worth it to reduce costs by not deploying SBCs? Share with us in the comment box below!