VoIP News: November 2007

VoIP 'spreading to UK emergency services'

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.

However, there are also beginning to be VoIP services reaching the front line of duty, he suggested.

"Everyone has been talking about IP for the last couple of years and suddenly we are getting a lot of questions from public safety or emergency services about issues surrounding implementation," he told the British Association of Public Safety Communications Journal.

One example of the use of VoIP service by bobbies on the beat are officers in Dumfries and Galloway, where they can now keep in touch with headquarters from local stations across the county and receive calls securely without incurring charges.

Posted on: 2007-11-30, in: General VoIP

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Fibre broadband puts Ofcom and EU head-to-head

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).

"I want regulation to encourage investment in future networks – regulatory holidays are not the solution," said the EU's information society and media commissioner Viviane Reding.

"What we need is appropriate regulation that safeguards competition while creating new incentives for investment."

This follows a summit called by the competitiveness minister Stephen Timms earlier this week which brought Ofcom and the government together with industry groups to work out a roadmap for the future of broadband in the UK.

Posted on: 2007-11-30, in: Broadband

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Enum directory could revolutionise 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.

But after the IP telephony mapping stage has been completed it is hoped that the directory will also link to the Public Service Telephone Network, effectively making it a one-stop shop for any UK-based calls.

Jay Daley, technology director at Nominet - the company that will run the directory - said that the ultimate goal was for Enum to do for phone numbers what the Domain Name System did for the web.

Commenting on the present VoIP situation, whereby independent IP solution providers face difficulties in locating and connecting with users of other services - Mr Daley said: "That bit of magic is missing - there's no way for one to find another if it only has a telephone number."

Industry regulator Ofcom estimates there are over one million active VoIP users in the UK.

Posted on: 2007-11-29, in: General VoIP

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Broadband 'becoming the norm' and driving new tech

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.

"I think it's becoming the norm for people to have broadband, because of the impact it's having," said a spokesperson for ISPA UK.

"In the days of dial-up in the UK, we had lots of technologies that were possible, but not over a 56K connection. Broadband has made these web technologies [possible] – such as streaming media and telephone over the internet."

The spokesperson added that the continuing spread of broadband could have an influence on the working lives of people in the UK as "there are developments going on all the time to improve connectivity" which provides "potential to see more remote working" in the future.

Posted on: 2007-11-28, in: Broadband

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Firms 'should be aware of VoIP security risks'

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.

"The most worrying aspect of this is that the software can be loaded on to a company's internal systems using Trojan horse malware."

Data networks and VoIP services are comparable in terms of their security, which means that firms should pay as much attention to protecting their IP PBX connections as they do on their internal data network.

Outsourcing their VoIP systems to third-party experts may add a greater level of protection as hacking into these specialised systems would likely be more difficult due to the constant monitoring and higher security of the networks.

Posted on: 2007-11-27, in: General VoIP

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