Acme Packet Inc. (Nasdaq: APKT) has long dominated the session border controller (SBC) market, but with two announcements on Monday, the company signaled its plans to broaden its product base and put its recent acquisitions into play.

Acme has added one very specific product -- the Net-Net Interactive Session Recorder -- and a middleware approach to allowing applications to be integrated with IP communications in its Net-Net Application Session Controller. (See Acme Packet Adds Recording, Session Control Products.)

The Net-Net ISR is based on technology Acme acquired with its purchase of NewFound Communications, and allows businesses to easily record sessions -- not just voice calls, but also IMs, data and multimedia interactions -- for regulatory compliance, quality assurance and other reasons.

The Net-Net ASC is based on Covergence Inc. technology and has been developed in-house over the past two years, says Stephen Collins. It is intended to provide a vendor-neutral and network-technology-neutral way of integrating applications into IP communications using service-oriented architecture (SOA) development tools. (See Acme Packet Acquires Covergence.)

Why this matters
SBCs were key products when VoIP first took off, as they were needed to link the islands of VoIP that were scattered about. But as the industry pushes to an all-IP world, Acme Packet needs to stay relevant, and these two products are a glimpse into the company's future. The company is also making major moves on the wireless side, addressing the femtocell world and the voice-over-LTE market.

For more
Check out these stories for a closer look at other Acme Packet diversification efforts:

— Carol Wilson, Chief Editor, Events, Light Reading