VoIP News: November 2007

Government departments and public services such as the NHS have recently chosen to upgrade their communications systems to VoIP, but a further growth area is the emergency services, according to reports. Arno Sybrandy, global marketing director of digital voice recording firm CyberTech, said that back office installations of IP PBX systems have led the way for the police, fire and ambulance services.

A contretemps is reportedly emerging between the European Union and the UK's telecoms regulator Ofcom over the issue of super-fast fibre broadband lines. With the British government showing concern that waiting for the industry to naturally bring in fibre-to-the-home connections could mean the economy suffers it seems that faster broadband is on its way in the UK. But the EU is reportedly refusing to allow concessions by Ofcom to help kickstart the implementation of fibre optic lines, which could improve download speeds and the quality of bandwidth-heavy service such as video or voice calls (VoIP).

Work has begun on an ambitious new project which aims to integrate the various telephony networks British consumers and businesses use to communicate with each other. The Enum directory will initially target just the UK's internet telephony networks, collating all numbers into one single directory and network which can then be used like a virtual switchboard to locate and dial up individuals or companies.

Growing numbers of people are signing up to broadband deals and the popularity of the connections are driving innovation of new technologies such as online gaming and VoIP, according to the Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA). The most recent official statistics show that 88. 4 per cent of all UK internet connections are using broadband technology, which helps the spread of IP telephony as the reliability and clarity of a voice call is greater than with dial-up.

Firms 'should be aware of VoIP security risks'The importance of vigilance over VoIP security has been highlighted by behavioural analysis IT security software vendor Tier-3. According to the firm, research shows that some VoIP lines can be compromised by eavesdropping hackers using an application named SIPTap. "This type of application sounds a warning because it demonstrates the ease with which VoIP networks can be hacked and intellectual property stolen," said Geoff Sweeney, chief technical of Tier-3.