VoIP News: October 2007

Businesses 'failing' on IP telephony security

Upgrading to voice over internet protocol (VoIP) for phone calls can bring a number of benefits, but firms have been warned that they must secure their network from hackers.

Cisco engineer and IP telephony author Eric Vyncke told a London conference that despite the efforts of manufacturers and providers, VoIP security is being comprised by a lack of knowledge from the firms paying to install it.

"Nearly nobody is deploying secure IP telephony," he said. "Why? It's a lack of information."

Improvements in technology have made sure that the integrity of a device can be checked and an IP phone authenticated before it becomes involved in a call.

Mr Vyncke supported the idea of the IT department in a firm holding certificates for each of the devices used for business, giving them the ability to quickly revoke the access privileges of the device if it is lost, returned or stolen.

Posted on: 2007-10-31, in: General VoIP

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UK workers face longest commute times ever

More than 1.3 million Londoners face a commute of more than an hour a day, new research shows, leading to calls for more flexible working.

According to figures from the Trades Union Congress, workers in the capital are most likely to have the longest commute, but the number of people travelling to work for over an hour is rising all across the country.

In Wales the commutes of over an hour each day have risen by 43 per cent, closely followed by Northern Ireland (up 42.2 per cent) and the south-west (41.4 per cent).

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "We work some of the longest hours in Europe, and on top of this have to endure the second longest daily commute in Europe - on average 54 minutes per day.

"This adds up to a very stressful working week for millions of workers across the UK, and employers could ease this strain for their workers by introducing flexible working."

Firms looking to help reduce congestion and reduce their employees' stress levels could make use of an IP PBX and VoIP to ensure that calls can reach staff no matter if they are in the office or working from home.

In addition, a virtual private server can allow access to sensitive company files over a secure internet connection.

Posted on: 2007-10-30, in: General VoIP

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Big-six broadband providers 'still competitive'

Although the number of broadband ISPs has been whittled down to just six large companies, there remains a healthy spirit of competition, it has been suggested.

Buy-outs of smaller firms have been a feature of the market over the last few months - with BT snapping up Madafish and Plusnet and a sizable part of Pipex being sold off to Tiscali.

Along with Virgin Media, BSkyB, the Carphone Warehouse and Orange, these internet service providers account for 94 per cent of the broadband market.

Normally, this would raise concerns that the companies could work together and raise prices for consumers to boost their profits.

But the director of BroadbandChoices.co.uk, Michael Phillips, said that this has not occurred in the UK as competition between these firms remains fierce.

"Smaller ISPs often struggle to keep their place in the market and the past year has seen a rash of consolidations and take-overs as the likes of BT and Tiscali vie for an ever bigger slice of the broadband pie," he said.

But he added: "As the pool of customers completely new to broadband dries up, providers have to devise new ways of tempting consumers away from their rivals."

Continued competition through good value broadband offers will likely help fast internet connections spread across the country, in turn allowing web services such as VoIP and remote working to become more widely used.

Posted on: 2007-10-30, in: Broadband

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Home working secretaries proving popular

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are more open to allowing secretarial and administration staff to work from outside the office due to technological advances, it has been suggested.

In recent years, the expansion of virtual private networks, wireless broadband connections and voice over internet protocol (VoIP) networks has meant that companies have more options as to where they place their non-essential staff.

According to Richard Phillips of internet-based transcriptions service Outsec, this has resulted in a rapid growth in freelance outsourcing of secretarial work.

"The outsourcing industry for secretarial work is exploding at the moment," he told the Guardian.

"They can work from home, determine their own working practices and have a huge amount of control over what they're doing."

By using an IP PBX, secretaries can receive calls on their computer or VoIP-enabled phone at home and patch calls through to other employees either in the office or away from their desk.

While this clearly adds flexibility to the office communications network, theer are further advantages to home working, such as increased employee happiness, more free office space and a smaller carbon footprint through less worker commuting.

Posted on: 2007-10-30, in: IP PBX

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VoIP home working 'safer' for winter

Avoiding the commuter rush by working from home this winter could save lives, it has been suggested.

Non-profit group Work Wise advised companies to set up virtual private networks and VoIP systems to allow their workers to stay at home to complete their tasks.

The group highlighted official figures which showed the difference in casualties on the roads between the summer and winter months.

Around 20 per cent more pedestrians were killed in the winter last year compared to the summer, while 12 per cent more car users were either killed or seriously injured in road crashes, the statistics show.

Work Wise chief executive Paul Flaxton said: "Workers here already have the second longest average daily commute in Europe: in many cases adding an entire working day each week.

"Add to this the misery, tension and delays of traffic congestion and overcrowding on trains, tubes and buses, and now the prospect of travelling to and from work in the dark for many months: it is no surprise that many succumb to depression and despondency."

IP telephony could be one way of avoiding the rush, while Work Wise also suggested that companies vary their work times to allow their employees to get to work outside of peak travel times.

But home working may be the best idea for many firms as it also carries environmental benefits.

Work Wise claimed: "If all commuters could work just one day a week at home, commuter numbers would fall 20 per cent. This would reduce road congestion and public transport over-crowding significantly."

Posted on: 2007-10-26, in: General VoIP

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