If your organization is impacted by a poor-performing phone solution, it can be difficult for your employees to communicate effectively.
This can adversely affect employee productivity and negatively impact relationships with customers.
In addition, if your phone solution is not secured well, your organization could become the victim of a cyberattack.
An SBC will help improve your phone solution’s performance and security, enhancing communication, productivity, and security.
Coeo knows how important reliable communication and network security is to an organization and has delivered thousands of SBCs and phone solutions to customers to improve their organization’s communication.
We want you to understand the ways to leverage an SBC so you can determine if an SBC is the right solution for your organization.
By the end of this article, you will understand what an SBC is, the four ways to leverage an SBC, and if an SBC is the right solution for your organization.
What is an SBC?
A Session Border Controller (SBC) is a dedicated software or hardware device that controls how phone calls are initiated, conducted, and terminated on a voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) network.
While there are many different kinds of SBCs available on the market offering different features and functionalities, most act as routers between a network and a carrier service.
SBCs ensure that all calls are secure and enable your phone service to perform at the highest quality of service possible.
An SBC can also serve as a purpose-built firewall specifically for voice that can identify incoming threats.
SBCs often provide access control and data conversion for voice and video calls. SBCs are typically deployed at the edge of the network as well as at the demarcation points between users and other service providers.
4 Ways to leverage an SBC
It is important to understand the different ways that your organization can leverage SBCs to improve your phone service performance and security.
There are a variety of SBCs that can improve the quality and security of many different phone solutions.
Knowing the four ways to leverage an SBC will allow you to determine if your organization can benefit from using SBCs. The four ways to leverage an SBC include:
1. On-premise phone system
If your organization has an on-premise phone system, you should be using an SBC.
An on-premise phone system is a physical phone solution that is installed at the location of the customer and is owned and operated by the customer.
Implementing an SBC into your on-premise solution will not only improve the quality of calls but also improve security with the ability to include voice encryption to protect important data and avoid cyberattacks like toll fraud.
2. Microsoft Teams
Contrary to popular belief, Microsoft Teams is more than just a collaborative platform that allows you to chat with employees and host video conferences.
Microsoft Teams telephony allows your organization to make and receive calls over the Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN).
Implementing an SBC into your Microsoft Teams phone solution can be much more cost-effective than having a portal-based solution.
An SBC will also provide you with more flexibility and allow you to have more control over your phone solution than you may have currently.
3. UCaaS and Zoom offerings
An SBC can improve your UCaaS and Zoom offerings by enabling you to utilize whatever carrier your organization would like for the solution.
An SBC will improve voice and video call quality and security while using Zoom or your UCaaS platform.
In addition, SBCs allow you to lower the cost of call routing and receive a better experience from your carrier while hosting your PSTN solution.
4. Highly compliant ecosystems
If your organization is in a highly compliant ecosystem, SBCs can help you with these compliances.
For example, hospitals and other healthcare facilities have compliances where they are required to maintain internal registrations between all of their endpoints in the case of a power or internet outage.
Because of requirements like this, hospitals and other organizations have been unable to utilize cloud communication.
For example, if you’re using a cloud phone system and lose power, you will be unable to connect back to the system which makes a hospital or healthcare facility non-compliant.
However, an SBC can help with these compliances by maintaining your route tables without having to drop a call during a power or internet outage while using a cloud phone system.
This enables hospitals and other organizations to utilize cloud phone systems while still meeting their mandates and compliances.
Is an SBC a good fit for your organization?
Now you understand the four ways to leverage an SBC and the use cases for it. It is also important for you to understand if an SBC is the best solution for your organization.
If your organization uses a phone system that has reliability and security issues, an SBC may resolve those issues.
An SBC can improve the quality and security of your organization’s phone solution and improve your network security.
Additionally, if your organization must maintain a highly compliant ecosystem because of HIPAA or other compliances, an SBC may help your organization comply with these rules and regulations.
If your organization is in the healthcare industry and you’re looking for a better-performing phone system, an SBC will also enable your organization to utilize a cloud-based phone solution preventing dropped calls caused by a power or internet outage.
Next steps to installing an SBC into your network
Now you know what an SBC is, the four ways to leverage an SBC, and whether an SBC is the right solution for your organization.
This will help you determine if you should invest in SBCs to improve your organization’s phone solution.
A poor-performing phone solution can cause productivity and efficiency issues and can hinder employee relationships with each other and with customers as a result of poor communication.
Additionally, a phone solution that is not secure is susceptible to cyberattacks such as toll fraud and can cost your organization hundreds of thousands of dollars. SBCs, however, can improve phone solution security.
Coeo knows how important a reliable and secure phone solution is to an organization and has delivered thousands of SBCs to customers to improve their phone solutions.
We want you to know the ways to leverage an SBC so you can determine if SBCs are the right fit for your organization.
If you would like to speak with our team to learn more about SBCs or ask any questions you may have you can schedule an appointment.
