SIP Trunking (Networking Technology Series)

The first complete guide to planning, evaluating, and implementing high-value SIP trunking solutions

Most large enterprises have switched to IP telephony, and service provider backbone networks have largely converted to VoIP transport. But there’s a key missing link: most businesses still connect to their service providers via old-fashioned, inflexible TDM trunks. Now, three Cisco^® experts show how to use Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking to eliminate legacy interconnects and gain the full benefits of end-to-end VoIP.

Written for enterprise decision-makers, network architects, consultants, and service providers, this book demystifies SIP trunking technology and trends and brings unprecedented clarity to the transition from TDM to SIP interconnects. The authors separate the true benefits of SIP trunking from the myths and help you systematically evaluate and compare service provider offerings. You will find detailed cost analyses, including guidance on identifying realistic, achievable savings.

SIP Trunking also introduces essential techniques for optimizing network design and security, introduces proven best practices for implementation, and shows how to apply them through a start-to-finish case study.

Christina Hattingh, member of the technical staff in the Cisco Access Routing Technology Group (ARTG), has been involved with Cisco VoIP technologies from their inception and continues to consult and deliver training in these areas. Darryl Sladden, a Cisco Senior Product Manager, has been a key architect of the Cisco Unified Border Element and the Cisco SIP Trunking strategy as well as a key contributor to the AS5000 product, and several other Cisco VoIP technologies. ATM Zakaria Swapan, Cisco ARTG member of technical staff, has been a key contributor to the Cisco SIP development, Cisco Unified Border Element, VoIP Gateway, Secure Unified Communications, Wireless Voice, QoS & Call Admission Control and several other VoIP technologies.

• Discover the advanced Unified Communications solutions that SIP trunking facilitates

• Systematically plan and prepare your network for SIP trunking

• Generate effective RFPs for SIP trunking

• Ask service providers the right questions-–and make sense of their answers

• Compare SIP deployment models and assess their tradeoffs

• Address key network design issues, including security, call admission control, and call flows

• Manage SIP/TDM interworking throughout the transition

This IP communications book is part of the Cisco Press® Networking Technology Series. IP communications titles from Cisco Press help networking professionals understand voice and IP telephony technologies, plan and design converged networks, and implement network solutions for increased productivity.

Christina Hattingh is a member of the technical staff in the Access Routing Technology Group (ARTG) of Cisco. The ARTG router product portfolio, including the Cisco 2800, 3800, 2900, and 3900 Series integrated services routers and their predecessors, was one of the first Cisco platforms to converge voice and data starting in the late 1990s by offering TDM voice interfaces, WAN interfaces, and critical QoS features. Over time sophisticated call control and routing elements were integrated into the router-based platform making stand-alone VoIP deployments and wide inter-vendor VoIP network interoperability possible. In this role, Christina trains Cisco sales staff and customers and consults widely on voice network deployment and design. She is a long-time speaker of the Cisco Networkers and CiscoLive conferences. Christina holds a graduate degree in mathematical statistics and computer science from the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Darryl Sladden is a product manager at Cisco and has been with Cisco for more than ten years. Currently, Darryl is a member of the ARTG at Cisco. The ARTG responsibilities include the Cisco ISR and ISR G2, AS5000, and the Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE). Darryl has been a key contributor to the AS5000 product, CUBE, and several other VoIP technologies at Cisco for several years. The CUBE and the AS5000 product lines are widely used by service providers and enterprise customers as border elements between SIP, H.323, and TDM networks. Darryl has worked with many service provider and enterprise customers who use CUBE to implement SIP Trunks into both Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) and Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express (CUCME) solutions. Darryl has a degree in mathematics from the University of Waterloo and holds a patent in the use of voice-based network management, and several other patents are under consideration.

ATM Zakaria Swapan is a member of the technical staff in the ARTG at Cisco. The ARTG responsibilities include the Cisco 2800, 3800, 2900, and 3900 Series integrated services routers and the CUBE. ATM has been a key contributor to SIP, Secure Unified Communications, Wireless Voice, Network Intelligence, Network Virtualization, RSVP, and many other developments. ATM has also worked with service providers and enterprise customers who use CUBE to implement SIP Trunks into both CUCM and CUCME solutions. ATM holds an M.S. degree in computer science from Texas A&M University and a B.S. degree in computer science and engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).