Proxy Server

A proxy server is a server that acts as an intermediary for requests from end systems seeking resources from other end systems. Essentially, it takes a resource request from a client and acts on its behalf to make the request to the server. After the initial request, the proxy server can choose to cache the resource and would return subsequent requests for this resource directly.

Some purposes for a proxy server are:

• To keep machines behind it anonymous for security reasons
• To speed up access to resources through caching
• To apply access policy to network services or content
• To bypass security controls
• To scan transmitted content for malware before delivery
• To scan outbound content
• To circumvent regional restrictions

Proxy servers are particularly helpful for IVR as it aids in the caching process. Audio files being used for an IVR application could be fetched faster if they were already cached in a proxy server.