New Software Version 4.7 - Ingate Adds Diagnostic Tools for Superior QoS, Voice Quality

The new software offers carriers and enterprises powerful tools for ensuring maximum voice quality, Quality of Service (QoS) and reliability in all Voice-over-IP (VoIP) deployments, including SIP trunking. Software version 4.7 also introduces a new configuration mode for the Ingate SIParators, adding QoS capabilities for SIP when using a SIP-unaware firewall.

New Ingate software version 4.7 can be downloaded here.

New features in 4.7 include:

• Media quality scoring
  For carriers who want to use the Ingate as a demarcation point between their network and the enterprise network, media quality scoring will gather the statistics necessary to monitor service delivery to maintain QoS. This allows carriers to see the primary statistics for determining the quality of the call through the network and diagnose whether problems are caused on the public or private side.

  With the Ingate Firewall or SIParator as demarcation point, it can monitor the RTP stream and compute statistics for the number of packets sent, bytes sent, jitter, number of missing packets and maximum number of consecutive missing packets. This information can be gathered as separate data for each direction and reported individually. It can also be used to compute a Mean Opinion Score (MOS).

• New SIParator mode
  A new SIParator mode, WAN SIParator, allows the SIParator to be placed in front of an existing firewall allowing the SIParator to employ QoS rules with the introduction of SIP. The SIParator will enable the use of SIP, leave an existing SIP-unaware network firewall in place and still provide the bandwidth management necessary to ensure that voice receives priority, and therefore does not suffer from conflicts with data packets which can stand delay, where voice cannot.
• Multiple Internet connections
  This feature makes it possible for an organization to have a dedicated line for VoIP traffic and a second line for ordinary data traffic. The dedicated VoIP line can be configured to handle all or a subset of the SIP traffic.
• Support for remote clients behind NATs with poor SIP capabilities
  Ideal for enterprises looking to expand the number of home routers that can leverage Ingate’s Remote SIP Connectivity software, Ingate version 4.7 features improved handling of remote SIP clients behind NAT/firewalls with poor SIP support. Many residential routers and firewalls have limited SIP support. This feature allows anyone with a home router to utilize the SIP capabilities of the corporate office, including VoIP.
• Multiple IP addresses for SIP signaling
  It is now possible to use a dedicated IP address on the inside for remote users. This enables several IP-PBXs to handle both SIP trunking and remote users through the same Ingate unit as the SIP signaling will have a different source IP when reaching the IP-PBX. It is also possible to configure that a certain local IP address should be used when communicating to a specific server on the inside.

  Configurable display name and P-Asserted Identity on accounts Accounts, used in SIP trunking scenarios, can now be configured to add desired Display Name and P-Asserted Identity.

• Decreased number of media port changes within sessions
  As settings are added, they can now reuse the same media port in e.g hold scenarios, reducing the overall number of ports needed. Ringback generated on the Ingate are now also sent using symmetric RTP.
• Handling of INVITES without offer
  A template offer will be added to offer fewer INVITEs when using the B2BUA and the SDP will be renegotiated once the call is set up. This further increases interoperability as some IP-PBXs use empty INVITEs which many ITSPs do not support.
• Proxy ARP
  Proxy ARP enables the administrator to use the same public IP subnet on several interfaces.

New Ingate software version 4.7 can be downloaded here.