Session Border Controller

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What Does Session Border Controller Mean?

A session border controller (SBC) is an application that applies signaling and media stream control to interactive types of communication. SBC is deployed in Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) networks.

Techopedia Explains Session Border Controller

A SBC manages data session communication between two entities and is associated with the following voice call streams:

  • One or more management signaling exchanges
  • One or more media streams containing audio, video and/or statistical data

Early SBC versions used a peer-to-peer (P2P) system for network border management. This functionality was gradually expanded to manage major service provider and backbone network deployments for residential and enterprise clients.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.