Streamlining your Enterprise Communications with a Flexible, Fully-Managed Cloud Solution
Migrating to the cloud is a strategic process that requires careful planning. For businesses wanting to modernize their communication systems, Session Border Controller as a Service (SBCaaS) offers a revolutionary approach to traditional communication infrastructure.
Session Border Controllers (SBCs) are like the gatekeepers for voice and multimedia calls in your network, usually set up on-premise with dedicated hardware or software. They safeguard your network communications and make sure things run smoothly, but this also requires a fair investment and ongoing managementent effort.
Opting instead for SBCaaS (Session Border Controller as a Service) takes the same capabilities and moves them to the cloud. This means you have the same benefits of an SBC, but without the heavy upfront costs or the hassle of managing physical equipment in-house. With SBCaaS, you’re getting a more flexible solution that grows with your needs, plus freeing up your IT team to focus on other important tasks, making your communication setup more streamlined and efficient.
Key Differences Between SBC and SBCaaS
| Features | SBC (on-premise) | SBCaaS (cloud-based) |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment/Installation | On-premise (hardware/software) | Cloud-based service |
| Management | In-house (IT team) | ifonica |
| Scalability | Limited by physical capacity | Easily scalable based on business needs |
| Cost | Capital expenditure (CapEx) | Operational expenditure (OpEx) |
| Maintenance | Requires a dedicated IT team | Included |
| Updates | Manual updates/upgrades | Automatic (ifonica) |
Why Using SBCaaS Pays Off
SBCaaS provides businesses with a secure, cloud-based gateway where voice, video, and messaging are encrypted. It also imposes specific regulations and assists companies in complying with standards (e.g. GDPR or HIPAA). Since the service is on-demand, it’s easy to add or subtract capacity to meet spikes in call volume without purchasing additional hardware. The subscription model removes high costs, maintenance contracts, and dedicated personnel. The deployment is quick and can be completed within a few hours with a web portal or API. It allows businesses to bridge legacy PBX systems, SaaS UC systems, and carrier networks without complex on-premise deployments.
The Strategic Way Forward
As businesses are more frequently moving their telecoms to the cloud, they may not be able to move all of their infrastructure at once or some environments at all. A phased migration from legacy phone systems to cloud-based environments using SBCaaS makes the transition much smoother and less risky for businesses. Instead of ripping out your entire phone system overnight, you can gradually move while keeping everything running, spreading costs over time, and avoiding a massive upfront investment. SBCaaS acts as a bridge between your old and new systems, handling the technical heavy lifting like security, encryption, and making incompatible systems talk to each other without buying expensive hardware. This approach lets you train your team in manageable chunks, roll out changes by department or location and learn from what works (or doesn’t) in early phases before going all-in. If something goes wrong, you’ve got a safety net to fall back on and you’re not stuck abandoning perfectly good equipment until you’re confident the new system delivers. Basically, it’s a smarter, less stressful way to modernize your business telecoms by adapting to your real-world needs instead of forcing you into a high-stakes, all-or-nothing gamble.
USE CASE
Moving On-Premise Communications to the Cloud with SBCaaS
This common scenario involves a CIO wanting to move their entire company’s business communications to Microsoft Teams, because cloud-based solutions offer better collaboration with reduced costs. However, the CFO says their current on-premise system required a major CapEx investment and can’t be migrated for another 2 years. The CIO decides to move only one department to Teams as a pilot project. This will ultimately showcase the benefits of an enhanced collaborative solution inside one platform combined with the ability to seamlessly communicate with the rest of the company.
The Challenge
How to connect Teams (cloud-based) to the legacy on-premise system?
The primary challenge is in creating a unified communication system that enhances collaboration between the Teams’ environment and other departments while minimizing disruptions and operational costs. The CIO’s IT team needs a strategy that allows them to streamline communications during the integration process.
The Solution
Choosing SBCaaS
Ifonica, a leading SBCaaS provider offers customized integration by setting up translation tables right inside an SBC, so users from one environment can connect with their colleagues in another by simply dialing an extension. All of this takes place without having a DID for each person (which is expensive on a monthly basis). Large telecom providers are not able to offer this type of integration, instead you’ll have to pay for a DID per person to communicate with each other.
The Outcome
Seamless Connectivity
By using SBCaaS, The CIO was able to successfully show the benefits of not only using a cloud-based solution like Microsoft Teams for better collaboration, but seamless connectivity between departments was easy without having to move the entire company to the cloud all at once.
The Future of SBCaaS
UCaaS migration using SBCaaS is expected to become the standard approach for businesses wanting to enhance their communication flexibility, improve security, reduce their operational costs and experience seamless global communication capabilities. The convergence of UCaaS, SBCaaS, and emerging technologies like AI will continue to reshape how organizations approach their communication infrastructure.
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Ifonica delivers collaboration and communication tools that are beneficial to your entire business. Easily keep up with the ever-changing market demands and emerging technologies thanks to our tight integration with UCaaS services like MS Teams, Webex Calling and Zoom Phones. Our innovative technology allows for seamless collaboration and integration of phone calls, emails and video conferencing, plus other essential tools—all bundled into one cohesive platform. Talk to one of our experts to learn how you can modernize your business communications with ease.
