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MissionAcme Packet enables the delivery of trusted, first-class interactive communications—voice, video and multimedia sessions—and data services across IP network borders. Our Net-Net family of session border controllers, multiservice security gateways and session routing proxies supports multiple applications in service provider, enterprise and contact center networks—from VoIP trunking to hosted enterprise and residential services to fixed-mobile convergence. They satisfy critical security, service assurance and regulatory requirements in wireline, cable and wireless networks; and support multiple protocols—SIP, H.323, MGCP/NCS, H.248 and RTSP—and multiple border points—service provider access and interconnect, and enterprise access and trunking.
Customers
Acme Packet has 1105 customers in 105 countries and include 91 of the top 100 service providers in the world; and 11 of the Fortune 25. Announced customers include:
Distribution & support
Acme Packet sells to and supports its customers using both direct and indirect channels. We leverage the expertise of 104 distribution partners including the following who operate worldwide:
Alcatel-Lucent Avaya Dimension Data Ericsson Italtel Metaswitch Networks Motorola
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Markets Our Net-Net family supports multiple applications in service provider, enterprise and contact center networks—from VoIP trunking to hosted enterprise and residential services to fixed-mobile convergence.
For service providers, our Net-Net product family plays a critical role in next-gen, converged fixed-mobile architectures including 3GPP IMS, 3GPP2 MMD, ATIS, ETSI TISPAN, GSMA, the MultiService Forum and PacketCable. It secures the subscriber access and interconnect/peering borders and enables interoperability of heterogeneous endpoints, service infrastructure elements and networks to maximize service reach. It controls admission, overload and IP network transport to assure SLAs, maximize revenues and minimize costs. Lastly, it enables regulatory compliance with emergency service (E911), national government priority service (GETS) and lawful intercept (CALEA) requirements.
For enterprises and contact centers, our Net-Net product family enables the secure delivery of a broad range of interactive communications services and applications ranging from basic VoIP to Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)-enabled unified communications. It secures the borders to the service provider IP network, the private VPN connecting major enterprise or contact center sites, and the Internet for connecting remote offices, teleworkers and callers to the contact center. It ensures interoperability of both legacy IP-PBX equipment and next-generation unified communications platforms such as Microsoft OCS and manages their traffic load and resource availability.
Products
Session border controllers
Session border controllers (SBC), a rapidly growing category of network equipment, provide critical control functions to deliver high quality interactive communications—voice, video and multimedia sessions—across IP network borders.
A “session" is any real-time, interactive voice, video or multimedia communication using IP session-layer signaling protocols such as SIP, H.323, MGCP, Megaco/H.248 or RTSP. The "border" is any IP-IP network border such as those between service provider and enterprise, residential or mobile customer/subscriber; or between two service providers. The "control" functions satisfy the requirements of these next-generation communications in five major areas - security, service reach maximization, service level agreement (SLA) assurance, revenue and cost optimization and regulatory compliance:
Security - SBCs protect themselves, softswitches, IP PBXes, UC servers and other service delivery infrastructure elements, as well as customer networks, systems and relationships. They protect customer networks and session privacy, and provide denial of service (DoS/DDoS) protection from malicious attacks and non-malicious overloads.
Service and application reach maximization - SBCs extend the reach of interactive communications by enabling interoperability to maximize the different types of networks and devices supported. Support is provided for enabling sessions to traverse existing data firewall/NAT devices, bridging private networks using overlapping IP addresses and virtual private networks, or VPNs, mediating between different signaling, transport and encryption protocols, converting between incompatible codecs, and translating signaling-layer telephone numbers, addresses and response codes.
Service level agreement assurance - SBCs play a critical role in assuring session capacity and quality. They perform admission control to ensure that both the network and service infrastructure has the capacity to support a session with high quality. SBCs also monitor and report actual session quality to determine compliance with performance specifications set forth in service level agreements between service providers, contact centers and large enterprises, and their external or internal customers.
Revenue and cost optimization - SBCs can help organizations increase revenues and/or control costs by protecting against both bandwidth and quality of service theft, by routing sessions optimally to minimize costs, and by providing accounting and related mechanisms to maximize billable sessions.
Regulatory compliance - SBCs enable compliance with government-mandated regulations worldwide, including emergency services such as E-9-1-1, national government priority services such as Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS) and lawful intercept such as the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) in the United States.
Session-aware load balancers
Session-aware load balancers (SLB) enable linear, non-disruptive scaling of capacity to 2 million subscribers from a single SIP IP address. They support the delivery of any IMS, RCS or NGN service; any SIP application - voice, video, presence, messaging and multimedia; over any mobile or fixed line access network including the Internet.
SLBs are deployed in conjunction with SBCs configured to create a SBC cluster. The SBC clusters provide dynamic, adaptive load balancing of subscribers based on SBC availability and health score; and subscriber capacity, load, and session state. SBC clusters scale subscriber capacity without requiring architectural forklifts or network disruptions.
SLBs feature carrier-class high-availability to ensure no loss of active sessions in the event of single system failures. Deployed as 1:1 active-standby units, they checkpoint configuration and cluster state. As all cluster elements are SIP subscriber and session-aware, SLBs and SBC clusters provide a superior solution in terms of scalability, dynamic adaptive load balancing, redundancy and management compared to traditional Layer 3/Layer 5 Web load balancers and SIP redirect servers.
Multiservice security gateways
Multiservice security gateways (MSG) are a very specific type of IP network “border controller” used by mobile service providers. A MSG securely connects subscribers to their mobile voice and data services over the untrusted Internet and/or untrusted wireless networks. As a “gateway” they are deployed at the border between the core mobile services network and the untrusted wired Internet and/or wireless networks that use public, unlicensed spectrum such as WiFi. They are “multiservice” in that they transport both voice and data services. Their “security” function authenticates mobile endpoints, secures the voice and data traffic within IPsec tunnels to ensure privacy and protect against theft, and defends against DoS/DDoS attacks on the mobile service infrastructure at the TCP/IP and IPsec networking levels to deliver non-stop service.
Used in conjunction with WiFi and femtocell access points in homes and businesses, MSGs overcome the poor radio access network coverage found in many geographic areas and inside large buildings. Consequently, they can accelerate fixed-mobile substitution - making the wireless phone the only phone - for today’s mobile circuited-switched TDM voice and IP packet data services. This solution also reduces mobile service provider networking costs by using the “free” Internet for backhaul.
MSGs will also help enable new revenue opportunities by delivering enhanced SIP-based applications such as video sharing, video calling, push-to-talk, home monitoring, instant messaging, multimedia collaboration, white-boarding, international toll bypass and others. Eventually, SIP-based voice will replace today’s circuited-switched TDM basic voice service. These SIP-based services are controlled by the SBC, making the integration of SBC and MSG a natural combination.
Session routing proxies
Session routing proxies (SRP) route SIP-based voice, video, instant messaging and multimedia sessions within and between the mobile, fixed-line and transit networks of service providers. Session routing proxies address scaling problems when session routing decisions become much more complex, requiring a dynamic, real-time routing decision for each individual session for multiple sources and destinations within a network. These source and destinations are other SIP signaling elements such as session border controllers, wireless Mobile Switching Centers (MSC), IMS subscriber call control elements, CLASS 5 softswitches, Cable Modem Termination Systems (CMTS) and softswitches controlling media gateways.
Provisioning routing information and control in each of these SIP elements is extremely expensive and error-prone. Enabling each element to make routing decisions also increases capital costs since additional hardware processing is required by each element. The use of a SRP centralizes and consolidates routing control, reducing costs. Since the source and destination SIP signaling elements are session-stateful, a SRP can operate in a stateless or transaction-stateful mode, maximizing routing performance.
Because the routing table size needed to support SIP-based services can be massive, session routing proxies are capable of using both internal and external routing databases. Internal routing databases best support static, localized routing decisions for up to a few million routes. Routing rules that are extremely dynamic, global or exceed a few million routes are best supported using the high-capacity, centralized external databases.
Acme Packet’s Open Session Routing (OSR) architecture features its session routing proxy, the Net-Net Session Router (SR), using industry-standard ENUM, SIP, XML or DNS protocols to access industry-leading routing database products and services from Acme Packet’s OSR partners. This solution provides tremendous deployment flexibility and facilitates network evolution from small to large numbers of border points and from PSTN to IP network-focused connectivity.
Acme Packet Net-Net platforms
Our session border controller (SBC), session-aware load balancer (SLB), multiservice security gateway (MSG) and session routing proxy (SRP) configurations leverage the rich functionality of Net-Net OS on the industry’s most comprehensive and scalable portfolio of hardware platforms. The brand name "Net-Net" reflects the role of our products in interconnecting IP networks to deliver trusted, first-class communications services and applications.
Net-Net 2600 platforms
Our Net-Net 2600 platforms deliver an integrated SBC configuration optimized for enterprises and contact center applications. The 1U Net-Net 2610 and 2U Net-Net 2620 are Acme Packet-supported Intel quad-core servers operating Net-Net OS-E. They provide all of the critical controls for delivering trusted, first class interactive communications—voice, video and multimedia sessions—across IP network borders. Net-Net 3810 platform
The Net-Net 3810 is our integrated SBC for smaller service providers, government defense and security–focused agencies, small enterprises and smaller sites within larger organizations. The Net-Net 3810 supports all of the same SBC functions and features as our higher-capacity SBC platforms and tightly integrates Acme Packet’s custom hardware design with Net-Net OS to satisfy the most critical infrastructure security requirements. Net-Net 3820 platform
The Net-Net 3820 is our SBC and SRP solution for smaller service providers, government defense and security–focused agencies, small enterprises and smaller sites within larger organizations. The NEBS-compliant Net-Net 3820 features Acme Packet’s custom hardware design and offers dual AC or DC power supplies for customers who require carrier-class hardware and flexible configuration options in an entry-level solution. Net-Net 4250 platform
Shipping since 2002, the Net-Net 4250 is the industry’s most widely deployed session border controller, offering extremely rich functionality, architectural flexibility and signaling protocol breadth in a 1 rack unit (RU) form factor. The Net-Net 4250 satisfies the performance, capacity, availability and manageability requirements of many service providers, enterprises, government organizations and contact centers. Net-Net 4500 platform
The carrier-class Net-Net 4500 platform delivers unmatched performance and configuration capabilities in a 1RU form factor. It supports all Acme Packet Net-Net SBC, SLB, MSG and SRP configurations, functions and features supported by Acme Packet’s Net-Net OS. The Net-Net 4500 satisfies all of the functionality, scalability, availability and manageability requirements of service providers, enterprises and contact centers and government security and defense agencies. Net-Net 9200 platform
Acme Packet’s Net-Net 9200, introduced in 2005, offers our highest levels of performance, capacity and availability for service provider and enterprise deployments in a single 7 RU hardware chassis-based system. The Net-Net 9200 also supports high capacity transcoding and transrating for a wide selection of wireline and wireless codecs and may be configured as a dedicated transcoding gateway for standard and high-definition voice services and applications. Net-Net 4500 ATCA blade
This ATCA blade is designed to be easily integrated by wireless and wireline communication systems vendors into their ATCA chassis. The blade supports all Acme Packet Net-Net SBC, MSG and SRP configurations, and all of the functions and features supported by Net-Net OS. Consisting of an ATCA front card and rear transition module, the ATCA blade is purpose-built to enable Net-Net OS functions and exploits the power and capacity of the industry’s best processing and memory components. Management systems Net-Net EMS
Our element management system (EMS) for the Net-Net family supports all required configuration, fault, performance and security management functions for multiple border elements in multiple networks through an easy-to-use, browser-based graphical user interface. Net-Net EMS can efficiently integrate into existing and next-generation operational support systems through industry-standard SOAP/XML, SNMP v2c and syslog interfaces. Other management tools include Net-Net SAS, CLI, telnet, FTP and RADIUS. Net-Net RMC
Our Net-Net Route Manager Central (RMC) complements Net-Net EMS to consolidate and automate the management and distribution of up to 2 million routes per Acme Packet SBC or SRP. It manages routes through an intuitive, easy-to-use, browser-based graphical user interface. This element management application can automatically distribute routing information to all or specific subsets of SBCs and SRPs in the network.
Financial highlightsRevenue (Millions)
Founded
August 2000
Public company
Traded on NASDAQ under the symbol “APKT”.
Management team
Andy Ory - Co-Founder, President, Chief Executive Officer
Patrick MeLampy - Co-Founder, Chief Technology Officer
Dino Di Palma - Vice President, Sales/Business Development
Seamus Hourihan - Vice President, Marketing & Product Management Erin Medeiros - Vice President, Professional Services
Peter Minihane - Chief Financial Officer
John Shields - Vice President, Manufacturing & Operations Employees
503 employees in 31 countries
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