Sonus Networks released the results of a global study which quantifies large enterprises deployment status, plans and attitudes about SIP Trunking and, by extension, Session Border Controllers. Commissioned by Sonus and conducted by Webtorials Editorial and Analyst Division, the “2012 SIP Trunking State-of-the-Market Report” found that while VoIP is a fully mature technology within corporate networks for intra-company communications, SIP Trunking, by contrast, is still in the early stages of deployment. In fact, roughly two-thirds of the respondents reported either “Significant Use” or “Extensive Use” of VoIP, while only about one-third of the respondents reported either “Significant Use” or “Extensive Use” of SIP Trunks. Among those using SIP Trunks, significant cost savings have been realized, with an average savings on the order of 33%.

Key Drivers: Direct Cost Savings and Ability to Add SIP-Based Features

The study featured responses from IT professionals at nearly 300 large enterprises. Among those respondents who have “Significant” or “Extensive” use of VoIP the study found that saving money is most important, but increased functions are also important.

• 68% of respondents indicated their decisions are driven “Mostly by cost savings” or “About equally” by cost and capabilities.
• 73% of the respondents indicated SIP Trunks and consolidation were a strong purchase driver.
• The ability to “Add new SIP-based features” was a strong driver for 50% of the respondents.
• VoIP (89%), Unified Communications (69%) and video conferencing (65%) are the most important types of media to be controlled via SIP.

The top inhibitor among “non-implementers” was not surprising, as 29% responded that services were not available at all of their network locations.

The Session Border Controller - An Essential Component of SIP Trunking

With the second generation of SBCs emerging, a number of additional features beyond security are now becoming available. Because of the critical role of SBCs in all types of communications, unrelated to security, “Reliability” ranks as the most important SBC feature for users at 88%. “Scalability” is a very strong second – at 78%, the high rank underscores that respondents understand multimedia communications mandate scalability for both multiple users and modes of communication. On a related note, 59% of respondents stated that their SBC must be “Capable of handling different types of multimedia traffic.” “Support for trunks with SIP and non-SIP traffic” was also significant at 58% as users clearly desire the capability to support both SIP and non-SIP traffic on the same trunk, allowing for dynamic utilization of all available bandwidth.