Session delivery network provider Acme Packet has partnered with VoIP software developer CounterPath to offer a solution based on CounterPath’s Bria softphone and Acme Packet’s Net-Net session border controller (SBC). It is designed to help service providers extend the offerings by enabling tunneled sessions to traverse network borders, even in the presence of strict firewalls.
“Traditional service providers are increasingly concerned with over-the-top [OTT] service providers taking subscribers away from their business,” says Acme Packet CTO Pat MeLampy. “This joint solution enables service providers to compete directly with other OTT offerings and keep customers on their networks.”
Acme Packet and CounterPath designed this solution for service providers looking to provide secure voice, video, IM, presence, and SMS to mobile apps. It is targeted at service providers looking to extend service footprint and increase subscriber base.
With Acme Packet’s tunnel redundancy, the solution improves media quality under adverse network conditions and the Internet, where packet loss is common. Both signaling and media are replicated to ensure the highest possible quality of experience.
The solution also features CounterPath’s Client Configuration Server, which is used by service providers to deploy and provision the CounterPath mobile app.
The joint solution leverages the emerging standard known as Tunneled Service Control Function (TSCF). The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the standards organization that oversees the development of IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), is currently working to standardize the TSCF function.
CounterPath’s Bria mobile edition, a SIP-based softphone for Apple iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Google Android, now integrates tunneling innovations from Acme Packet that enable increased secure connectivity, enhanced firewall traversal, and interoperability with Acme Packet’s SBCs.
Benefits of the solution includes:
- Secure VoIP and video communications for mobile applications on iPhone, Android, and Windows devices.
- Maximum service reach with strict firewall traversal.
- High voice quality and surmount packet loss for off-net or OTT VoIP services
- Call continuity across Wi-Fi and mobile networks.
- Open and standards driven tunneling technology for both signaling and media.
- Service provider-grade IP communications and security leveraging hardware-assisted encryption and tunneling technologies.
- Protection against malicious attacks and non-malicious overloads for OTT services.
- Support for standard codecs, regardless of signaling or media type.
“This partnership with Acme Packet only enhances our Telco-OTT offering to service providers,” says Todd Carothers, CounterPath’s vice president of marketing and products. “As a result, we believe this joint solution will provide a better experience than what Skype and other OTT players currently offer.”
