Today Acme Packet announced the addition of new management tools and over 20 new features to its session border controller family. These newest tools and features provide optimized control functions that make it even easier for service providers to deploy SBCs for advanced IP communications. The tools employ an expansive set of troubleshooting and analysis capabilities to help network administrators keep their services running smoothly.

I'm doing a podcast briefing with the folks from Acme Packet on April 3rd, so we'll have more info here soon.

New Acme Packet Management Tools Move and Mine Information
Over 25 new Acme Packet management tools and features facilitate session border controller delivery of trusted, first-class interactive communications

BURLINGTON, MA, MARCH 15, 2007—Acme Packet® (NASDAQ: APKT), the leader in session border control solutions, today announced several new management tools and over 20 new features for its Net-Net® family of session border controllers. They augment Acme Packet’s existing set of robust configuration, performance, fault and accounting management controls. This expanded set of management capabilities enhances a service provider’s ability to command both small or very large Acme Packet SBC deployments to deliver trusted, first-class interactive IP voice (VoIP), video and multimedia communications.

Acme Packet’s new management tools and features include:

• Net-Net Session Analysis System (SAS) - new management system that leverages RADIUS call detail records (CDRs) to provide in-depth session troubleshooting, performance analysis and traffic monitoring
• Historical Data Recording (HDR) - new tool that enables efficient retrieval and easy time-based analysis of SBC performance statistics for uses ranging from troubleshooting to capacity planning
• Packet trace - new utility that reduces the time and cost of isolating and troubleshooting problems by tapping into the signaling and media flows controlled by the SBC
• Enhanced endpoint management - new tool that reduces the time and cost to isolate and troubleshoot endpoint problems by providing greater registration cache visibility and control
• Other management enhancements - over twenty other new features and enhancements designed to ease configuration, fault, performance and accounting management
• Net-Net Element Management System (EMS) scalability - new enhancements that support large tier one SBC deployments

“The management controls enabled by the Net-Net EMS, Net-Net SAS and the Net-Net OS embedded management system are very powerful in several dimensions,” said Seamus Hourihan, Acme Packet’s vice president of marketing and product management. “In addition to moving large amounts of information, Acme Packet’s management tools simultaneously mine that information for important insights into not only SBC performance, but the performance of the overall service.”

More insight into Acme Packet’s new management tools and features

Acme Packet’s Net-Net Session Analysis System (SAS) is a new management system that provides in-depth session troubleshooting, performance analysis and traffic monitoring. It complements the Net-Net EMS by leveraging the information-rich RADIUS CDRs generated by Acme Packet’s SBCs. The Net-Net SAS integrates a RADIUS server, database and application server and offers a web-based GUI for accessing both tabular and graphical reports. Numerous built-in reports are available as well as the ability to create custom reports. All reports may be exported as CSV files into other applications. Administrators can “drill down” from summary views to detailed reports to a single CDR.

Historical Data Recording (HDR) is a powerful new tool that enables efficient retrieval and easy time-based analysis of SBC performance statistics for uses ranging from troubleshooting to capacity planning. It eliminates the inefficiencies of continuous SNMP-based statistics polling and provides external visibility to CLI-only accessible statistics. Every statistic available on the Net-Net SBC is retrievable through HDR including signaling interface, realm, session agent, network interface, general system and environmental statistics. HDR is supported by new functions in both the Net-Net OS embedded management system and the Net-Net EMS application platform. The embedded management system now supports the bulk sampling, collection and FTP transmission of SBC SNMP and CLI statistics as CSV files. Configuration in terms of the statistics to be collected, the sampling frequency, the file transfer interval and the destination server(s) may be performed via both the CLI and EMS. The destination for the HDR data may be any server or the Net-Net EMS, which now provides numerous built-in HDR reports and supports HDR file management procedures.

Packet trace is another new tool focused exclusively on reducing the time and cost of isolating and troubleshooting problems. It eliminates the need for separate packet tracing equipment by leveraging the SBC’s control of signaling and media flows. Up to 16 concurrent sessions per SBC can be directly replicated to a trace server such as Ethereal/Wireshark or an equivalent application without additional plug-ins. Sessions may be isolated based upon source or destination address or port of endpoints, SBC or any other element.

An enhanced endpoint management tool reduces the time and cost to isolate and troubleshoot endpoint problems by providing greater registration cache visibility and control. It provides the ability to show or clear the SIP, MGCP or H.323 registration caches. Caches may be queried or cleared by individual endpoint IP addresses, SIP URIs/phone numbers, MGCP endpoint names or H.323 terminal aliases; as well as SIP registrars or MGCP call agents. The tool can also be used to generate endpoint reachability test messages using the relevant signaling protocol.

The latest release also includes over twenty other new features and enhancements that ease configuration, fault, performance and accounting management. They are supported by both the Net-Net OS embedded management system and the Net-Net EMS.

Lastly, the scalability of many dimensions of the Net-Net EMS has been improved in the newest release. This release supports tier one SBC deployments spanning up to 100 nodes with the largest configuration files managed by tens of network administrators.

Acme Packet will be exhibiting its new management tools and features at Spring 2007 VON Conference & Expo from March 19 to 22, 2007 at the San Jose Convention Center in booth #1509.

About Acme Packet
Acme Packet, the leader in session border control solutions, enables service providers to deliver trusted, first class interactive communications—voice, video and multimedia sessions—across IP network borders. Our Net-Net family has been selected by over 360 service providers in 75 countries to satisfy critical security, service assurance and regulatory requirements in wireline, cable and wireless networks. Our customers include 23 of the top 25, and 72 of the top 100 service providers in the world. These deployments support multiple applications—from VoIP trunking to hosted enterprise and residential services to fixed-mobile convergence; multiple protocols—SIP, H.323, MGCP/NCS and H.248; and multiple border points—interconnect, access network and data center. For more information, contact us at +1 781.328.4400, or visit www.acmepacket.com.

Acme Packet Safe Harbor Statement
Statements contained herein that are not historical fact may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements may relate, among other things, to our position in the session border control market, our expected financial and operating results, our ability to establish and maintain intellectual property rights, our ability to build and grow Acme Packet, the benefits and advantages of our products, including any enhancements or new features, services and programs and our ability to achieve our goals, plans and objectives. Such forward-looking statements do not constitute guarantees of future performance and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These include, but are not limited to: difficulties in growing our customer base, difficulties leveraging market opportunities, difficulties providing solutions that meet the needs of customers, poor product sales, long sales cycles, difficulty developing new products, difficulty in relationships with vendors and partners, higher risk in international operations, difficulty managing rapid growth, and increased competition. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially form those projected or suggested in any forward-looking statements are contained in our recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in such filings.
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