In meetings with industry representatives, the White House, and U.S. senators, senior FBI officials argue the dramatic shift in communication from the telephone system to the Internet has made it far more difficult for agents to wiretap Americans suspected of illegal activities, CNET has learned.

The FBI general counsel's office has drafted a proposed law that the bureau claims is the best solution: requiring that social-networking Web sites and providers of VoIP, instant messaging, and Web e-mail alter their code to ensure their products are wiretap-friendly.

"If you create a service, product, or app that allows a user to communicate, you get the privilege of adding that extra coding," an industry representative who has reviewed the FBI's draft legislation told CNET. The requirements apply only if a threshold of a certain number of users is exceeded, according to a second industry representative briefed on it.

The FBI's proposal would amend a 1994 law, called the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA, that currently applies only to telecommunications providers, not Web companies. The Federal Communications Commission extended CALEA in 2004 to apply to broadband networks.

FBI Director Robert Mueller is not asking companies to support the bureau's CALEA expansion, but instead is "asking what can go in it to minimize impacts," one participant in the discussions says. That included a scheduled trip this month to the West Coast -- which was subsequently postponed -- to meet with Internet companies' CEOs and top lawyers.

A further expansion of CALEA is unlikely to be applauded by tech companies, their customers, or privacy groups. Apple (which distributes iChat and FaceTime) is currently lobbying on the topic, according to disclosure documents filed with Congress two weeks ago. Microsoft (which owns Skype and Hotmail) says its lobbyists are following the topic because it's "an area of ongoing interest to us." Google, Yahoo, and Facebook declined to comment.

In February 2011, CNET was the first to report that then-FBI general counsel Valerie Caproni was planning to warn Congress of what the bureau calls its "Going Dark" problem, meaning that its surveillance capabilities may diminish as technology advances. Caproni singled out "Web-based e-mail, social-networking sites, and peer-to-peer communications" as problems that have left the FBI "increasingly unable" to conduct the same kind of wiretapping it could in the past.

In addition to the FBI's legislative proposal, there are indications that the Federal Communications Commission is considering reinterpreting CALEA to demand that products that allow video or voice chat over the Internet -- from Skype to Google Hangouts to Xbox Live -- include surveillance backdoors to help the FBI with its "Going Dark" program. CALEA applies to technologies that are a "substantial replacement" for the telephone system.

"We have noticed a massive uptick in the amount of FCC CALEA inquiries and enforcement proceedings within the last year, most of which are intended to address 'Going Dark' issues," says Christopher Canter, lead compliance counsel at the Marashlian and Donahue law firm, which specializes in CALEA. "This generally means that the FCC is laying the groundwork for regulatory action."

Subsentio, a Colorado-based company that sells CALEA compliance products and worked with the Justice Department when it asked the FCC to extend CALEA seven years ago, says the FBI's draft legislation was prepared with the compliance costs of Internet companies in mind.

In a statement to CNET, Subsentio President Steve Bock said that the measure provides a "safe harbor" for Internet companies as long as the interception techniques are "'good enough' solutions approved by the attorney general."

Another option that would be permitted, Bock said, is if companies "supply the government with proprietary information to decode information" obtained through a wiretap or other type of lawful interception, rather than "provide a complex system for converting the information into an industry standard format."

A representative for the FBI told CNET today that: "(There are) significant challenges posed to the FBI in the accomplishment of our diverse mission. These include those that result from the advent of rapidly changing technology. A growing gap exists between the statutory authority of law enforcement to intercept electronic communications pursuant to court order and our practical ability to intercept those communications. The FBI believes that if this gap continues to grow, there is a very real risk of the government 'going dark,' resulting in an increased risk to national security and public safety."

Next steps

The FBI's legislation, which has been approved by the Department of Justice, is one component of what the bureau has internally called the "National Electronic Surveillance Strategy." Documents obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation show that since 2006, Going Dark has been a worry inside the bureau, which employed 107 full-time equivalent people on the project as of 2009, commissioned a RAND study, and sought extensive technical input from the bureau's secretive Operational Technology Division in Quantico, Va. The division boasts of developing the "latest and greatest investigative technologies to catch terrorists and criminals."

But the White House, perhaps less inclined than the bureau to initiate what would likely be a bruising privacy battle, has not sent the FBI's CALEA amendments to Capitol Hill, even though they were expected last year. (A representative for Sen. Patrick Leahy, head of the Judiciary committee and original author of CALEA, said today that "we have not seen any proposals from the administration.")

Mueller said in December that the CALEA amendments will be "coordinated through the interagency process," meaning they would need to receive administration-wide approval.

Stewart Baker, a partner at Steptoe and Johnson who is the former assistant secretary for policy at Homeland Security, said the FBI has "faced difficulty getting its legislative proposals through an administration staffed in large part by people who lived through the CALEA and crypto fights of the Clinton administration, and who are jaundiced about law enforcement regulation of technology -- overly jaundiced, in my view."

On the other hand, as a senator in the 1990s, Vice President Joe Biden introduced a bill at the FBI's behest that echoes the bureau's proposal today. Biden's bill said companies should "ensure that communications systems permit the government to obtain the plain text contents of voice, data, and other communications when appropriately authorized by law." (Biden's legislation spurred the public release of PGP, one of the first easy-to-use encryption utilities.)

The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment. An FCC representative referred questions to the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, which declined to comment.

From the FBI's perspective, expanding CALEA to cover VoIP, Web e-mail, and social networks isn't expanding wiretapping law: If a court order is required today, one will be required tomorrow as well. Rather, it's making sure that a wiretap is guaranteed to produce results.

But that nuanced argument could prove radioactive among an Internet community already skeptical of government efforts in the wake of protests over the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, in January, and the CISPA data-sharing bill last month. And even if startups or hobbyist projects are exempted if they stay below the user threshold, it's hardly clear how open-source or free software projects such as Linphone, KPhone, and Zfone -- or Nicholas Merrill's proposal for a privacy-protective Internet provider -- will comply.

The FBI's CALEA amendments could be particularly troublesome for Zfone. Phil Zimmermann, the creator of PGP who became a privacy icon two decades ago after being threatened with criminal prosecution, announced Zfone in 2005 as a way to protect the privacy of VoIP users. Zfone scrambles the entire conversation from end to end.

"I worry about the government mandating backdoors into these kinds of communications," says Jennifer Lynch, an attorney at the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has obtained documents from the FBI relating to its proposed expansion of CALEA.

As CNET was the first to report in 2003, representatives of the FBI's Electronic Surveillance Technology Section in Chantilly, Va., began quietly lobbying the FCC to force broadband providers to provide more-efficient, standardized surveillance facilities. The FCC approved that requirement a year later, sweeping in Internet phone companies that tie into the existing telecommunications system. It was upheld in 2006 by a federal appeals court.

But the FCC never granted the FBI's request to rewrite CALEA to cover instant messaging and VoIP programs that are not "managed"--meaning peer-to-peer programs like Apple's Facetime, iChat/AIM, Gmail's video chat, and Xbox Live's in-game chat that do not use the public telephone network.

If there is going to be a CALEA rewrite, "industry would like to see any new legislation include some protections against disclosure of any trade secrets or other confidential information that might be shared with law enforcement, so that they are not released, for example, during open court proceedings," says Roszel Thomsen, a partner at Thomsen and Burke who represents technology companies and is a member of an FBI study group. He suggests that such language would make it "somewhat easier" for both industry and the police to respond to new technologies.

But industry groups aren't necessarily going to roll over without a fight. TechAmerica, a trade association that includes representatives of HP, eBay, IBM, Qualcomm, and other tech companies on its board of directors, has been lobbying against a CALEA expansion. Such a law would "represent a sea change in government surveillance law, imposing significant compliance costs on both traditional (think local exchange carriers) and nontraditional (think social media) communications companies," TechAmerica said in e-mail today.

Ross Schulman, public policy and regulatory counsel at the Computer and Communications Industry Association, adds: "New methods of communication should not be subject to a government green light before they can be used."

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57428067-83/fbi-we-need-wiretap-ready-web-sites-now/

Not only will it charge for the services, TeliaSonera said that it plans to charge more for VoIP than it does for other data.

The telco said it will bump prices in Sweden and in its Spanish market, too, in an effort to recoup revenues lost as the free services increasingly encroach on voice and SMS revenues.

"We have been in the forefront stating that while prices for voice will continue to come down there must be a stronger correlation between usage and pricing of data," the company wrote in its interim report. "We have been early in introducing tiered pricing of data, lower costs for data roaming and recently openly communicated that we will start to charge for mobile VoIP."

VoIP and Skype have sometimes faced a tough go in Europe as some operators have looked for ways to make it less appealing to consumers.

In March, a European telecom regulator accused telecom companies of routinely using traffic management rules to interfere with VoIP traffic as well as peer-2-peer file sharing.

Data from some 400 European operators--250 fixed and 150 mobile--shows blocking of VoIP calls, especially on mobile networks, is common, according to a study from the Body of European Regulators of Electronic Communications (BEREC).

http://www.fierceenterprisecommunications.com/story/swedish-operator-teliasonera-charge-voip-skype/2012-04-23

“VoIP is the utilization of Internet connectivity to make phone calls. It can transform the way you do business,” says Michael Gray, a senior sales executive with Ohio.net.

Smart Business spoke with Gray and his client Ken Fanger, president of Solar Systems Networking, about VoIP, the advantages such a platform provides, and what advances are envisioned in the future.

How does VoIP translate to tangible benefits for an organization?

Gray: It depends on what a client’s needs are. Typically, however, businesses see benefits ranging from being able to connect multiple people back to the core office to being able to build customized call routing protocols to eliminate any geographic restrictions they may face. For example, remote salespeople who telecommute are provided with the ability to connect to their home office, which saves in commuting costs for the employee and overhead costs for the employer. VoIP can benefit a business in many ways.

Fanger: The biggest advantage for us is we are able to use the VoIP solution combined with forwarding to our cell phones so we don’t have to have our people tied to a phone system. We are a consulting technology firm so we aren’t usually sitting in the office. VoIP has helped us take advantage of having people connected and working while presenting one type of sales face to the world. It makes it much easier for us to manage all of the virtual clientele that we work with without having to have a physical location.

What advantages does VoIP provide in terms of releasing businesses from office space?

Gray: VoIP frees business from having to be tethered to a physical location. For example, our organization has salespeople who telecommute and can work from anywhere. When they receive a phone call it appears as though they are in the office although they might be a million miles away. I have a client who was able to realize savings of $250,000 per year on office space and associated overhead costs because they made the switch to a VoIP platform.

Fanger: VoIP provides a virtual platform so you can have employees and phone numbers anywhere in the United States. We have an employee who works in Texas and has a local Texas number, but it still connects to our VoIP solution. So when customers call in they have a local contact, but access to our company. It provides us a great opportunity to reach out to new markets that we couldn’t have reached any other way. We are a six-person company so being able use a cost-effective VoIP platform is vital to our ability to grow.

How can a brick-and-mortar feel still be replicated?

Gray: Customers can still receive the live contact they crave. With VoIP, you have the ability to transfer phones so people can get a live answer. The environment feels the same, but is conducted through a virtual atmosphere.

Fanger: When a person calls in they can’t tell the difference between the virtual environment and a brick-and-mortar structure. It’s nice because we don’t have infrastructure costs, but when people are calling our company we have a full-functioning phone system that allows us to do business in a manner advantageous to us.

How has VoIP changed over the past several years?

Gray: VoIP has become more dynamic in supporting other applications such as smartphones and tablets. It gives companies the ability to essentially hand off a smartphone to an employee which equates to an extension within their world. The need for an actual desk phone is going away. We are moving away from a phone-line environment to a cloud-based, virtual phone model.

Fanger: We’ve been using VoIP for six years. The feature sets have been growing and there is more functionality, which allows us to stay in touch within our organization. Also, it now works really well for adding to smart devices units.

How do you envision it evolving in the future?

Gray: I see VoIP becoming more of a cloud-based application, which would lead to it being able to work better with devices such as smartphones and iPads. It will be more software based in the sense that traditional handsets will no longer be applicable in our world. VoIP will be much more dynamic and will continue to provide businesses with a brick-and-mortar feel, but without the physical brick-and-mortar overhead.

Fanger: VoIP will definitely move toward combining phones with different types of applications, such as customer relationship management. As people embrace devices such as the iPhone and iPad, there will be greater integration between work applications.

http://www.sbnonline.com/2012/04/how-voip-can-reduce-infrastructure-costs/?full=1

Whether individuals choose their home or office number, that code can be connected to all of their mobiles, PCs and VoIP-enabled devices.

The tool that will make this possible is BT Voice, which is the result of work by the telecommunications firm with the technology it attained through the 2008 acquisition of Ribbit.

Android, BlackBerry and Apple models, as well as all VoIP handsets that support the session initiation protocol standard, will be in a position to take advantage of the equipment.

Martin Rolls, programme director at BT Voice, told Information Age that the tool will be available to consumers in the next four to five weeks, with the pricing strategy yet to be determined.

BT has already deployed the system within its own internal operations, with Mr Rolls explaining it is particularly useful as the company's workers do not tend to sit at their desks all day.

"Day to day they are in different buildings, sometimes mobile, sometimes fixed. Having a single number that is accessible from wherever you are is a very important thing," he stated.

The good news for BT is that there are plenty of potential customers, especially those using VoIP. A recent study by TechNavio, published by Research and Markets, showed the VoIP market in Europe, the Middle East and Africa is set to grow between now and 2015.

BT noted that using its solution will help it to cut mobile telephony costs, which are currently "fairly significant".

Mr Rolls went on to suggest that a key factor in the potential success of the product is the fact BT owns all of its network infrastructure, meaning it can run BT Voice at a low cost and "give that advantage to our customers".

http://www.telappliant.com/voip-news/801313655/voip-users-can-use-same-number-for-all-devices

John Knight, audio visual expert at Smarterinteractive.co.uk, said that virtual meeting rooms will become much more common.

He explained that the costs of implementing these technologies will not be a burden for businesses at all because the amount of money they will save on fuel and other operational costs will more than cover the price of setting up a VoIP system.

"Then there'll be a range of different services available for multi-way calling to be managed through the cloud," said Mr Knight.

He explained that such technology would not mean employers are confined to the office though, as the videoconferencing systems could easily be installed on to smartphones and mobile devices.

Frost & Sullivan recently stated that videoconferencing and VoIP will become incredibly common and important to businesses.

http://www.telappliant.com/voip-news/801310245/businesses-need-to-adapt-to-voip-and-videoconferencing

One hundred US government employees participated in a pilot of Motorola hardware running encrypted VOIP, called 'Project Fishbowl'.

The phones were developed as part of the NSA's Mobility Programme, which was designed to respond to the growing need among government agencies for secure methods of communication, WebProNews states.

Although NSA does not want to be fixed to one mobile operating system platform, its investigations into suitable choices have so far led it to Google Android mainly because the NSA can change the underlying OS, CIO says.

Technical director in NSA's information assurance directorate, Margaret Salter, says in an ITProPortal report: "The beauty of our strategy is that we looked at all of the components, and then took stuff out of the (Android) OS we didn't need. This makes the attack surface very small.”

http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52287:nsa-develops-secure-voip-system

The key driver for enterprises choosing VoIP is that it provides an integrated phone system across multiple locations, the report prepared by TechNavio said. The traditional phone systems, on the other hand, need several lines, several different networks and hence the whole system works as a separate system.

Key vendors dominating enterprise VoIP equipment market in North America market space include Avaya, Cisco Systems, NEC, and Mitel Networks.

The "Enterprise VoIP Equipment Market in North America 2010-2014" report finds that one of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the fact that it provides an integrated phone system across multiple locations.

The Enterprise Network Equipment market has also been witnessing increased collaborations due to the integration of telephony and data services. However, blockages caused by network address transversal and firewall transversal could pose a challenge to the growth of this market.

"Turning voice messages into text is gaining popularity. It enables users to read their voice mail messages in any order rather than having to negotiate a tedious key-press menu to listen to them in sequence which would take time and also might affect the quality. They can also send replies for delivery as text or email messages," according to an analyst from TechNavio's Telecom team.

Meanwhile providers are equally attracted to this opportunity: they can almost always get away with charging for transcription, some $5 and up for about 30 messages per month. This service would reduce human intervention and increase the demand for VoIP in enterprises where it is needed the most.

http://telecomlead.com/inner-page-details.php?id=7416&block=News

Vonage has become a veritable player in the home phone industry in the US, thanks to ultra-cheap rates for its Voice Over Internet Protocol calling system. Now it’s making that service mobile via Android, and making a real case for VOIP-based service, if not VOIP-only phones. Customers who subscribe to Vonage at home can make domestic calls to anyone else with the app for free, and even those without an existing account can use the app to make calls to regular cell and landlines on a per-minute basis, Skype-style. The best part? It works on WiFi or mobile broadband, making Vonage a true mobile VOIP provider with no restrictions.

Dr. Leo Burd and his team have created a collection of modules called VoIP Drupal. You can visit the sandbox site at VOIP Drupal and actually play with the VoIP Drupal setup and see/hear it in action. You can even peruse the PHP scripts that are behind the VoIP Drupal module. Download the scripts and hack them to create your own scripts!

The VoIP Drupal modules are packaged and downloadable as a bundle and include the API’s to some popular VOIP services like Tropo.com and Twilio.com along with a few comments about upcoming availability using FreeSwitch, an Open Source VOIP option.

Read more at http://www.learncomputer.com/voip-drupal/

Business leaders have realized VoIP service’s many benefits, such as much more affordable domestic and international calling and the elimination of the need for in-house PBX hardware and related maintenance required for traditional telephony systems. In fact, 75% of all international calls are being made over the Internet

The massive transition to this cost-effective technology is more than a trend; it’s a glimpse into the future of business telephony. And, it’s a money-making opportunity for VoIP service providers … if they give customers what they want.

WhichVoIP, a company with expertise in VoIP and telecommunications services, recently surveyed current business VoIP customers about their needs and expectations from service providers.

When asked, "What items are the most important to your VoIP business service purchase decision," the responses were as follows:

• Nearly 80% of those surveyed said the price of the service was an important consideration in their decisions to select VoIP instead of a traditional telephony system
• Slightly more than 60% of those surveyed said the value-added features and functionality --- offered with VoIP service at no extra charge --- appealed to them when considering VoIP in their business phone service purchasing decision
• Nearly 60% said "knowledge of sales staff"
• Slightly more than 30% said "friendliness of the salesperson."

This is real data from customers telling us what they would like from providers --- not only in terms of service, but also in terms of the sales process. Business VoIP service providers who seek business customers can benefit greatly from the information our survey revealed.

For potential customers who are still skeptical about VoIP and its many useful features, service providers and their sales team should have other selling points ready to share in efforts to close the deal. Here is a couple:

Hosted VoIP phone systems involve a substantial cost savings by enabling a company’s workers to make and receive calls via the Internet using a headset and microphone.

The VoIP system also enables calls to be directed to mobile devices, so company employees can conduct business while travelling or otherwise away from the office location.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/1/prweb9081606.htm

As health care organizations update their computing capabilities in order to support electronic health record (EHR) systems, interoperability and standardization, many are considering whether to replace their existing phone system. As with any product purchase, IT executives are looking for real ROI in order to justify the cost.

In recent years VoIP providers have been making their products more flexible, to the point where many may be integrated with business applications. With the line between "phone" and "desktop" fading, enterprises are in some cases eliminating the need for handsets and moving toward application-based phones, also known as softphones.

While the total cost of ownership was high for many VoIP early adopters, those figures are dropping -- and there are several immediate, prolific benefits to gain though from VoIP implementation. Vendors such as Cisco Systems Inc., Avaya Inc. and ShoreTel Inc. now offer telephony systems that enable strong integration with hospital systems, including EHRs, patient registration, appointment scheduling, collections and patient calling.

Health organizations always focus on identifying platforms and solutions that will ensure enhanced patient care and streamline clinical workflows while still help reduce operational costs. Using a VoIP system help achieve these goals.

However, one key factor cannot be overlooked -- some of the auto attendant functionalities reduce the personal interactions among staff and patients. Convincing these users that talking to a machine is actually an improvement will be difficult, but it is an important step in effectively using VoIP in health care.

Ten tips for using VoIP in a clinical setting...
Eight more tips: Using VoIP for patient registration and billing...

Read more at http://searchhealthit.techtarget.com/tip/Using-VoIP-to-improve-clinical-billing-registration-processes

Driven by increased smartphone penetration and a growing breadth of offerings, mobile VoIP usage is on the rise. As the addressable market increases with smartphone penetration a greater number of providers are introducing services, including a growing handful of mobile operators that are beginning to embrace, to some degree, mobile VoIP. The research reports that active mobile VoIP subscriber rates will triple in 2011, growing from 9 million in 2010 to 29 million.

"While VoIP is a well-defined market, mobile VoIP is still in its infancy, with most offerings only being developed over the past several years, and because it's in its nascent stage, there are significant opportunities for companies to develop the market," says Amy Cravens, Senior Analyst. "However, there are also a number of uncertainties, which is not surprising in a new market."

Key analysis includes:

• The primary distribution channel utilized by respondents to access mobile VoIP offerings is through the OS application store.
• The largest concentration of mobile VoIP users is in Western Europe.
• Revenues associated with mobile VoIP usage will increase to over $4 billion in 2015.
• LTE operators are not likely to have a significant impact on the mobile VoIP market until 2013.

Read more at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/01/04/prweb9075761.DTL

Business VoIP utilizes voice over IP technologies that allow calls to be made over an IP network such as the Internet rather than a traditional PSTN. VoIP phone systems are typically used by small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) and offer users a cost-effective way to make and receive calls, while simultaneously gaining access to multiple features that seamlessly integrate with the company’s resources over the Internet.

Outdated phone systems required circuits to be switched by PBX equipment and phone lines to be connected to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). However with business VoIP, the system can quickly convert the signal digitally and sends it by voice data packets through an Internet Protocol (IP). In addition, VoIP can also utilize the PSTN which enables calls to be connected to l land lines, according to a recent piece.

VoIP technology is extremely important as it combines voice and data into one unified network. This helps to dramatically increase mobility, as the system can be accessed wherever an internet connection is available.

Some features typically associated with business VoIP are advanced call forwarding and electronic messaging, auto-attendant, three-way conferencing, Advanced Call Distribution (ACD), call routing and more.

On the other hand, Cloud PBX is a phone service that is connected via the internet, and the phone service provider is required to maintain and manage the overall cloud PBX system.

Cloud PBX boasts many capabilities that go above and beyond what a conventional telephone system can offer such as caller ID, voicemail and call routing.

A huge reason to implement a Cloud PBX solution in your business is the increased scalability it offers. “It is enough if you initially buy the base system and add extensions and features as your business grows. With normal telephone systems it is necessary to pay more or install additional wiring to add another phone line, but this is not the case with a Cloud PBX system,” the article revealed.

Cloud PBXs also enhance mobility, as they work no matter where you are and can call a mobile phone directly.

Moreover, there are several different types of Cloud PBX systems including Public Cloud PBX, Private Cloud PBX, and Hybrid Cloud PBX. Each of these Cloud PBX systems rely on business VoIP technology to work successfully.

If you haven’t already begun to leverage these technologies, now is most definitely the time.

http://www.tmcnet.com/channels/business-voip/articles/249301-how-business-voip-cloud-pbx-differ.htm

Every organization considering a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone system deployment hears the same dire warnings: "Routing voice calls over a data network exposes calls to eavesdropping."

While it’s certainly true that any telephone call carries a certain degree of eavesdropping risk, is it true that VoIP calls have an inherently higher degree of risk? In this tip, we explore the ins and outs of VoIP eavesdropping.

VoIP eavesdropping is possible
...

Switch security is essential
One of the most important things that network administrators can do to reduce VoIP risks such as eavesdropping is to apply basic security controls to network switches. While endpoint security is important, the network switch is the point where traffic is aggregated. Widespread eavesdropping attacks possible through the malicious use of a switch’s span port, which can mirror all traffic traversing the switch, as opposed to the voice traffic from a single endpoint.

Here are some switch management best practices that can help to protect this vital component of network infrastructure.

• It’s important to ensure the switch is physically secured within a locked closet and has the appropriate access controls. If an attacker is able to gain physical access to a switch, all bets are off.
• Organizations should use a separate network for the management of switches and other critical infrastructure devices. It shouldn’t be possible for an attacker who gains access to one general purpose network to attempt to gain access to the management port of a network device.
• Organizations must update switch firmware as frequently as possible in order to patch known vulnerabilities corrected by the vendor.

Naturally, there’s much more to secure switch management than this basic advice.

Encryption greatly mitigates VoIP risks
...

Despite the high-tech gadgets and cellular phones that we now carry, a landline phone provider is still very important for business and residential use. Landline phone providers and VoIP providers offer the same services. However, there are certain services that are more similar to traditional landline phones. These types of VoIP services are hardware and subscription based. They are designed primarily for both personal and small businesses.

Once a user signs up for subscription, an adapter and a phone number will be provided. In most cases, an Internet connection is required. This adds up to the expenses although technically, the overall cost is not expensive. Benefits are added depending on the provider.

One of the first things to do in looking for the right provider is to check if they are delivering the goods. In most cases, these kinds of services are not low but they are not high either. The overall call qualities, features, and customer services should be taken into great consideration.

It is also best to go for providers that offer free tryouts. Obviously, a provider that is confident with the quality of their service will not think twice about offering tryouts. This only means they can provide the best service and they can show it to you by giving you time to realize how great their offer is.

Other providers offer unlimited calls to certain areas in the world. These providers also give a money-back guarantee should you feel that their service is not as good as they promised. There are also those who compete in terms of providing low prices and huge amount of features.

Some providers are better in terms of international calls and these companies offer service plans that are made for people who make a lot of calls outside of the US. At the same time, they provide the same quality of service when it comes to local calls.

It is important to subscribe to services and providers who do not just offer cheap services. Remember that a poor service creates more hassle than those expensive but efficient ones. In other words, choosing a VoIP provider should be based more on the quality of service than its price.

Some subscribers also take customer service for granted. The quality of customer service should be as important as the service itself. Providers that cannot attend to their customers' needs tend to lack integrity and they are not worth your hard-earned money.

To sum it all up, the best VoIP providers are the ones whose qualities transcend the basic service they are offering. These providers do not just take care of the quality of calls, they also care for your budget and overall customer experience.

http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Makes-the-Best-VoIP-Provider?&id=6766188

PSTN Advantages

Some of its advantages include:
- It uses technology that is well established.
- It has easy maintenance
- It's set up process is easy
- It has simple procedures of usage

However, it has its disadvantages too.

PSTN Disadvantages

PSTN disadvantages include:
- Limited scalability
- It requires a dedicated line for a call to be completed
- It does not allow optimum use of bandwidth
- It also has high calling charges

On the other hand, VOIP is the latest phone technology. It uses Packet switching technology for the transmission of data. As such, it has increased rate of transmission. VOIP has several advantages which you should know before switching to it.

Advantages of VOIP
- It has a concurrent data transmission capability, video and voice
- It has a better scalability
- It has a better utilization of bandwidth. This is because data is compressed to a better format as pass over the network.
- VOIP uses the World Wide Web as its backbone. Since this is a public domain, the network has minimum hardware requirements.
- It also has reduced call charges as a result of maximum utilization of bandwidth.
This makes VOIP a modern, cheap and effective means of communication.
- VOIP also has free value added call services

It also has disadvantages.

VOIP Disadvantages
- Sometimes the sound quality becomes unpredicted
- It may also require you to have some knowledge of emerging communication technologies to use it effectively.

Therefore, if you are at a fix not knowing whether to use VOIP or PSTN, you can consider the advantages and disadvantages of each to come up with an informed decision. However, it is advisable to use VOIP since it is overtaking the existing means of communication. This is because with VOIP you will experience modern technology and save on the cost of making your calls.

http://cheapestvoipcalls.net/voip-vs-pstn/

Next year will see the tipping point for true mVoIP (mobile Voice over IP). With 4G finally rolled out across the U.S. and technology improvements from companies like Rebtel and Viber, dropped calls will become a thing of the past. mVoIP will therefore go from being a fad, to something that is embraced beyond the digerati, and finally catching on with the mainstream.

Juniper reports that mobile VoIP clients downloaded to the smartphone will account for four fifths of 640 million mVoIP users by the end of 2016, while alliances between carriers and mVoIP specialists will remain relatively few in number. In the short term, operators will respond with their own services, partnerships with over-the-top (OTT) service providers and following on more rumors of consolidation, eventually buying them.

http://venturebeat.com/2011/12/24/2012-mobile-predictions/

Tariff Consultancy has released a new report that suggests the cost of connecting to such hi-tech internet links will fall over the years to come.

Indeed, it is predicting a 60 per cent decrease in charges between now and the end of 2016.

It studied prices for the technology from about 30 providers – spread across Europe, Asia and North America – before reaching its conclusions.

"Although it is clear that LTE subscribers and revenues will grow substantially over the next five years, LTE mobile broadband services will start to adopt the same mass market characteristics of existing fixed broadband," explained Margrit Sessions, managing director of the research body.

Eurostat recently revealed 47 per cent of European Union businesses are now using broadband services, up from 27 per cent in 2010, which could allow more to run VoIP solutions efficiently.

http://www.telappliant.com/voip-news/801244206/price-declines-to-make-mobile-voip-solutions-more-affordable

Sprint filed the lawsuits in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., and alleged that the companies are violating VoIP patents Sprint has held since the 1990s. The companies "have realized the great value in this technology and have misappropriated it without Sprint's permission," Sprint said in each complaint.

Representatives from all of the cable companies declined to comment, according to Bloomberg.

Although Sprint has sued other companies in the past for violating its VoIP patents, the timing of the lawsuits against the cable companies is notable. Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) recently said it will pay the SpetrcumCo venture made up of Comcast, Time Warner and Bright House Networks $3.6 billion for AWS spectrum. Verizon will also resell the cable companies' services and the MSOs can become MNVOs of Verizon Wireless. Verizon also said it will pay $316 million for Cox's AWS spectrum and struck a similar reselling deal.

The cable companies' teaming with Verizon is a reversal from their previous wireless dealings. Until 2008, Sprint and several cable companies worked on a wireless resale agreement under the "Pivot" brand. And for the past several years, Comcast, Time Warner and others have resold WiMAX service from Clearwire.

Some of the patents that Sprint is asserting in this new case include ones that were at issue in a similar case against Vonage. Vonage agreed to license the technology for $80 million after losing a 2007 trial. Sprint has also reached settlements over VoIP patents with smaller companies, including in 2009 with Big River Telephone and Paetec Holdings.

In 2010, Time Warner decided to end its wholesale VoIP relationship with Sprint and offer its own services, which cost Sprint around $10 to $11 per subscriber per month.

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sprint-sues-comcast-time-warner-cable-and-others-over-voip-patents/2011-12-20

Maybe it should happen more often, though, since replacing a "legacy" telephone system with VoIP can improve quality and save money.

So, how can you tell whether your company is ready for VoIP? Here are six signs:

1. You think VoIP has something to do with "very important persons." What is VoIP? VoIP turns voice information and data into digital information that's transmitted in the same format as information that passes over the Internet (VoIP includes other packet-switched networks besides the Internet). It has become a standard technology for large companies and is increasingly becoming one for small businesses.

2. Company voice mail says, "Your call is very important to us," yet it's impossible to reach a real person. How much business can you lose when a potential customer calls and gets lost in an endless loop of voice-mail options? ("Press 1 if you’re sick of wasting time and want to reach an honest-to-God human being.") With VoIP, key contacts can be literally a call away, no matter where they are.

3. You think "unified communications" means everyone is talking at the same time. VoIP can provide unified communications (UC), integrating voice (landline and mobile), email, instant messages and conferencing. Having all communication over one network is more efficient and eliminates duplication of wiring and switching equipment. By combining voice and data, you can also allocate bandwidth based on varying traffic requirements, which can improve productivity and lower costs. In addition, users can access all voice messages in one place.

4. Every facility your company owns has its own system. How ironic is it that some phone systems won't talk to each other? Different systems result in high maintenance and management costs, and low functionality. Compatible technology is as important for telephones as it is for computers. If your company has multiple locations, VoIP enables them to all be on the same system easily. Your phone system will be scalable and can grow with your business.

5. The only function your phones have is a busy signal. VoIP is feature-rich and user-friendly. Users can access all features using a PC-based application. In addition, system administration can be handled through a standard browser. There’s no complicated programming, so trained technicians are not needed.

6. Your PBX lease is up for renewal. Why invest more in old technology? You'll likely find it increasingly difficult to purchase parts for your system and maintain it, and your monthly usage charges are probably higher than they should be. Your outdated PBX system will have to be replaced sooner or later, so why not replace it now?

You can wait for your phone system to crash and burn. Or you can take advantage of the new technology that's available today and create a competitive advantage for your company. It's your choice.

http://www.wbjournal.com/news50401.html

In an effort to cater to the increasingly digital age, ITP VoIP developed the Mobile VoIP phone app for its customers who want the option to easily expand their internet phone services to their mobile phones. With the app, users can make and receive digital calls from and to their smartphones without using their cell phone minutes.

Though anyone can benefit from the Mobile VoIP app, those who travel often represent the ideal demographic. ITP VoIP’s impressive international rates apply to internet phone calls made with the app - perfect for those who have friends or family abroad, or frequently go abroad themselves. Mobile VoIP users also have the option of forwarding their home or office calls to their smartphones. When placing calls, the ITP VoIP phone number can be set as the caller ID number, making it easy to conduct business even when out of the office.

ITP VoIP’s mobile internet phone service plan is just $9.99/month and includes 500 free minutes, a free phone number based anywhere in the United States, an additional free voicemail box, and online account management, including a regularly updated record of in- and outbound internet phone calls.

The low cost also makes the Mobile VoIP calling plan ideal for people who don’t necessarily use up the minutes they’re allotted by their big-name service providers, many of which charge up to four times as much for the same amount of minutes. ITP VoIP’s mobile internet phone plan, combined with a different provider’s texting and data plan, can offer users significant savings each month. The large amount of minutes also provides a sense of comfort for those who might occasionally worry about exceeding their limits.

To use the Mobile VoIP app, existing ITP internet phone service customers must sign up for the VoIP App Calling Plan, install the original ITP App - also free - and then install the new Mobile VoIP phone app.

For more information about ITP VoIP, visit http://www.ITPVoIP.com or call 1-888-ITP-1110. To preview or download the mobile app, visit the iTunes Store or the Android Market and search “ITP VoIP." The VoIP provider is also available on Facebook and Twitter, at http://www.facebook.com/ITPVoIP and http://twitter.com/ITPVoIP.

http://www.prurgent.com/2011-12-16/pressrelease214879.htm

Citing findings from a new study on mobile VoIP by Infonetics Research Inc as well as new research by Ofcom, Vyke Chief Executive Tore I. Hellebo said: "All the indications are that with growing mobile internet connectivity through smartphones, more and more consumers and businesses are rapidly recognising the potential cost savings of mobile VoIP for their international calls and text messages."

According to the Infonetics Research study, the number of active mobile VoIP users worldwide has almost doubled over the last year to more than 91 million. This number is forecast by Infonetics to soar to over 400 million by the end of 2015, representing a third of all smartphone users by then.

The study shows that growth of mobile VoIP is currently fastest in Europe and North America, where there are large, installed bases of fixed-line VoIP users who are now migrating the service to their mobiles with the use of free, downloadable apps from providers like Vyke. The number of users in the EMEA region of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, is currently estimated at over 38 million and expected to be almost 142 million by 2015 (see chart). Meanwhile mobile VoIP growth in Asia is rapidly gaining momentum and by 2015 there are expected to be as many active users in that part of the world as there are in the EMEA region.

Research by Ofcom earlier this year shows that VoIP is already actively used by tens of thousands of families in the UK who need an affordable way to stay in touch with relatives, friends and loved ones overseas. Nearly a quarter of UK households have access to a fixed-line VoIP service at home and more than three quarters of these households are regular users of VoIP. The same Ofcom research shows that for respondents in 46 per cent of households, mobile phones are now the main method of making and receiving calls. Even when they are at home, 40 per cent of respondents say they rely on their mobiles and most households own more than one mobile, with over a third owning three or more.

Already some three per cent of UK mobile users have migrated VoIP to their mobiles. This proportion doubles for mobile users aged between 16 and 34. Based on current trends, Vyke believes that up to a third of UK mobile owners could be VoIP users within the next few years.

At present free or low-cost mobile VoIP is offered almost exclusively by over-the-top providers rather than licensed network operators, who fear the potential loss of revenue generated by their comparatively more costly international calling and texting rates and roaming charges. Whilst Skype is the dominant provider of mobile VoIP worldwide, Vyke is among more than twenty other providers competing for a share of the market.

Despite the growing popularity of mobile VoIP, some network providers are trying to frustrate its development by putting limitations on its use. However, most European regulatory authorities discourage this. In the UK Ofcom issued a statement on 24 November calling for complete transparency by providers, including information at the point of sale 'on any specific services that are blocked, resulting in consumers being unable to run the services and applications of their choice'.

The revenue generated by over-the-top and network provided paid-for mobile VoIP is expected to grow to almost $2 billion (£1.3 billion) in the EMEA region by the end of 2015, according to an Infonetics Research breakdown for Vyke. This represents an average of around $15 (£10) per active user and reflects the large element of free communication as well as the low cost of VoIP-based calls and texts.

"The availability of cheaper VoIP services like ours is a welcome lifeline for countless families with loved ones in different parts of the world. Many small to medium-sized businesses trading across borders can also benefit from huge savings on their international calls because they too are increasingly reliant on mobiles."
According to Ofcom research last year, more than two thirds of the 95 billion minutes of business calls made in the UK originated on mobile phones and the trend is accelerating.

http://www.prlog.org/11747181-mobile-voip-set-for-explosive-growth.html

Basic Method of Working

The basic working technique of VoIP technology is to convert the voice signal, an analog one into the digital signal (Computer understandable language) which is then transferred to the other computer through internet connection and is again converted in to the analog signal which is understandable by human (listener).

Salient Features of VoIP

VoIP is getting very popular day by day.

VoIP technology has proved to be an amazing invention and has created a new mode of communication by using internet connection. VoIP technology has many salient features that have attracted many people towards it.

1.) Making and receiving phone calls has become very easy and cheap. International calls, local calls or any long distance calls are easily made through VoIP internet telephony at a very low cost. That’s why most of the businesses prefer VoIP service.

2.) One can easily get the details of incoming and outgoing calls from his computer by using VoIP.

As all the numbers are stored in the calls record feature in the computer so one can get the details of the incoming and outgoing calls.

3.) You can use this VoIP phone service at any place of the world where you can get the internet connection. Even you can also use the same number from anywhere but the only requirement is to have the internet connection. For example; if you are on tour to any other country and you have carried your laptop with an internet connection along with you then you can attend your phone calls or business meeting there also without any issue of the place.

4.) VoIP is economically very beneficial. The call rates are very cheap. Even if you have to make overseas calls then also it is very cost effective. One can talk for long hours at a very low cost. By using VoIP, you can save 80-90% on your regular monthly phone bills.

5.) You can shift your business from one place to another if you have VoIP telephone service. As there are lots of troubles come on the way of shifting in case of landline phones because of the wires attached. By using VoIP, there are no issues of wires or any heavy hardware equipments.

6.) By taking a single VoIP connection, you can create many internal numbers for every employee. Also, the internal calling between the departments within the office is absolutely free of cost.

7.) There are many other advanced optional features provided by various VoIP service providers. Some of them are: 3-way conference, call forwarding, call waiting, simultaneous ring, speed dialing, voice mail facility, caller ID, caller ID block, do not disturb, anonymous call rejection and many more. All these features are almost free in the basic plan of service providers. Moreover, one can also manage their VoIP account online from any place of the world.

http://technology.ezinemark.com/7-salient-features-of-voip-phone-that-attract-people-7d3292377e94.html

Business VoIP continued to fuel the growth categories in the wireline voice core market as enterprise session border controller (E-SBC) and voice application server (VAS) sales partially offset declines in other wireline voice core product categories.

"The SBC market continues to experience strong growth and to attract investment. Metaswitch recently entered the market with its new Perimeta product line and Avaya acquired security and E-SBC vendor Sipera to bolster its Aura unified communications portfolio and specifically its SIP Trunking solutions," said Greg Collins, Founder and Principal Analyst at research firm Exact Ventures. "Such investment is likely to continue, as VoIP services still comprise less than one quarter of fixed lines and a negligible amount of wireless lines. As the transition to VoIP continues, so will the growth of the SBC and VAS market segments," Collins added.

Despite contracting on a sequential basis, the IMS core equipment market was up year-over-year. Market growth is forecast to accelerate in 2012 as IMS continues to gradually displace NGN voice equipment and as voice-over-LTE deployments begin to boost the market

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/15/4124479/business-voip-helps-boost-wireline.html

With integrating special VoIP security VoIP providers can make their costs manageable.

How to deploy VoIP securely?

Take a Proactive Approach. VoIP networks require a proactive security strategy which enables enterprises identification and elimination of potential threats to VoIP networks until it is impacted.

Ensure Systems-Level Approach. While firewall- type approach ensures the security of the network, the systems-level approach ensures the security of all parts of the network, making penetration impossible for intruders. Systems-level approach helps VoIP providers avoid financial loss.

VoIP-specific Security Technologies. Unlike data communications, VoIP is business that requires availability at 24/7. VoIP users can use the services anywhere at any time so they expect high availability. When choosing security technologies for VoIP, make sure that they are designed for telephony networks security i.e. applications such as telephone handsets, conferencing units, call processors, call managers, gateways, mobile units, routers, firewalls and protocols as they crucially differ from any other networks.

Be educated; ask for security experts’ help. VoIP security experts have enough experience and background in telephony networks. Any VoIP provider or individual can use the services of VoIP security experts to ensure that he deploys VoIP securely.

By taking the above-mentioned tips into account, VoIP companies will definitely avoid budget and client loss.

http://www.voip-catalog.com/voip_release_1079.html

The conventional phone systems use circuits switched by PBX equipment and phone lines connected to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). VoIP, on the other hand, transmits voice over the company’s existing data network. The system converts the signal digitally and sends it by voice data packets through an Internet Protocol (IP). The fact is VoIP can also access the PSTN, allowing calls to reach conventional land lines.

The strength of Vo IP technology is the convergence of voice and data onto a single unified network. Thus business VoIP is mobile and you can access the system wherever there is internet connection. This anytime, anywhere access is crucial for field staff, travelling executives, and employees stationed in different locations.

Many useful features that are either costly or absent with traditional PBX systems are just standard with VoIP. These features include advanced call forwarding and electronic messaging, auto-attendant, three-way conferencing, Advanced Call Distribution (ACD), call routing etc.

If you are a medium to large company, or even a small and expanding one, you really should seriously consider using a VoIP system for your business.

Cloud PBX – If you are running a business you have a lot of other things to worry about than be bothered about maintaining a telephone system. The one simple solution to this complex problem is availing a Cloud PBX. If you are not already aware, Cloud PBX is merely a phone service which is provided through the internet, and it is the phone service provider who is responsible for the maintenance of your cloud PBX system.

Cloud communications are Internet-based voice and data communications where telecommunications applications, switching and storage are hosted by a third-party outside your business premises.

Cloud PBX has all the features of a conventional telephone system including Caller ID, Voicemail and call routing. In fact, there are several, additional benefits to a Cloud PBX which are not possible with a regular telephone services.

A big benefit of Cloud PBX is scalability. It is enough if you initially buy the base system and add extensions and features as your business grows. With normal telephone systems it is necessary to pay more or install additional wiring to add another phone line, but this is not the case with a Cloud PBX system.

In view of the fact that Cloud PBX operates through the internet, you can have a telephone connected to the Cloud PBX without geographic limitations. Regardless whether you stay in the office or move around, if you have a Cloud PBX phone service you will not miss your calls. You can automatically have the Cloud PBX system call your mobile phone.

There are different versions or services available with the Cloud PBX system – Public Cloud PBX, Private Cloud PBX, and Hybrid Cloud PBX. Each of these Cloud PBX systems uses VoIP- technology, and offers a host of benefits. A cloud PBX phone system also allows users to get connected to VoIP handsets.

VoIP and basic Cloud PBX technology have been around for a few years, but the technology is still advancing making PBX systems increasingly popular. In recent weeks, numerous technology companies have promoted cloud PBX and hosted VoIP services.

http://cmvlive.com/technology/gadgets/difference-between-business-voip-and-cloud-pbx

Google had promised to offer US-based user free calls through the end of 2011. The company usually announces its free offers using one of a number of its blogs, and in this case no such announcement has been made. But the new service message, first publicly disclosed via a user post on the slickdeals.net bargain-shopping site, appears to confirm that the popular free calling plan will continue at least another year.

US-based Google Voice users can place the free calls through a number the company’s web pages, including directly from a users Gmail page.

But many VoIP users have been taking advantage of Obihai Technology OBi110 and OBi100 analog telephone adaptors, which easily allow the use of Google Voice over a regular handset. In fact, it is the OBi’s popularity among the thousands of slickdeal.net users that likely led to the site breaking the news even before Google did.

While free calls is attracting many users to Google Voice, the service is not a full replacement to feature packed phone calling offerings from established VoIP companies, such as VoicePulse, which rely on the SIP protocol. Google voice quality, delivered using the less common XMPP protocol, while acceptable to many users, is often not on par. In addition, Google Voice does not offer E911 emergency services calling, which is offered by VoicePulse and other low-cost internet calling companies.

http://voxilla.com/2011/12/10/google-voice-continues-free-us-canada-voip-calling-through-2012-2942/gv_free_2012

Of course there’s a way out. VOIP are calls which carry voice communication through the internet. One can make more than one call, you do not need your mobile network to be there, and you can also make conference calls. The problem with VOIP is that the sound quality is not at its best. One may face a lot of disturbance and noise while using it. This jitter makes communication tiresome especially if you are in an important meeting.

Vibe is a service provider who will free you from all these issues. It provides you the device and the network so that you are able to call and receive VOIP’s without any hindrance.

Vibe is known to improve VOIP Sound Quality by using the Best Quality Enhancer. Vibe has made a design which prioritizes the voice trafficking and improves voice quality. It creates a tunnel between the sites and the network. The voice packets are then sent to the network via broad band. The network is fast and reliable. Hence the whole system makes the voice quality very good.

Vibe as a company has many packages and different devices. Each package has its own rate and you can choose depending on your requirements. One can get all the details on the website. Any of the products you pick up have a twelve month warranty. If you have any doubts you can contact them and clarify.

For the trunk you have twelve month, twenty four month and ongoing plans. You can also go on the website and fill up the enquiry form for further details.

You cannot miss such an opportunity. Life does not get better than this. Enjoy VOIP at good rates with improved voice quality and the best quality enhancer today!!!!! Enjoy Vibe!!!

http://technology.ezinemark.com/improve-your-phone-voip-sound-quality-with-best-voip-quality-enhancer-7d324a2a3687.html

Once you’ve made the decision to replace your legacy phone system with a Voice over IP (VoIP) solution, you must decide whether a hosted service or an on-site installation is better for your small business. Both delivery methods have unique pros and cons, and, like most technologies, one type is not inherently better than the other. Some small businesses will prefer the ease and scalability of a hosted VoIP service, while others will opt for the greater control and customization of a premise-based VoIP phone system.

VoIP has become the new standard in voice communications, in part because it offers a richer set of features than analog phone systems. A range of call management, monitoring, reporting, messaging, conferencing, and security features is fairly standard among both hosted and installed solutions. Your choice between delivery methods will be determined by whether you treat your phone system as a capital expenditure (CapEx) or an operating expenditure (OpEx) as well as your company’s plans for growth and available in-house expertise.

Installation and management

The first major difference between the two types of VoIP systems is whether the solution is installed on your local network or accessed over the Internet as a hosted service. An installed VoIP system runs on your infrastructure and connects to the public switched telephone network (PSTN), so you and your IT staff, or partner, are responsible for installing not only the VoIP solution but also upgrading any routers that may be used as a voice gateway to support the phone system. With hosted voice, you usually don’t have to upgrade the router, because the voice gateway is part of the provider’s network. Also, some hosted services let you start making calls as soon as you sign up, as long as you have an IP phone connected to your network. Either type of solution may require a faster Internet connection to carry voice traffic, depending on your current bandwidth and voice traffic patterns.

Likewise, installed VoIP requires in-house resources and expertise to manage and maintain, while hosted doesn’t. Avoiding the management of a complex phone infrastructure is a primary reason why small businesses choose a hosted VoIP solution. However, larger small businesses with the in-house technical expertise may choose an installed solution because they have more control over it; you can upgrade the system when needed, instead of waiting for the provider to do it. With an installed solution, you can also exercise more granular control over the features you choose for a more customizable VoIP system. Many hosted voice solutions offer features as bundles, so you can’t pick and choose the functionality you want as easily.

Scalability

It’s smart to consider hosted if you have peak months when more users need a phone system, such as a large number of temporary employees hired for the holidays. It’s easier to add more users with a hosted solution than an installed one. Because VoIP services connect over the Internet, most providers allow you to increase the number of users with just a few clicks on your account page. Adding new VoIP phones to a premise-based solution is likely to involve installing network and phone system equipment, which makes it more difficult to scale than hosted.

Cost and pricing models

Companies often choose their VoIP delivery model based on the number of users they must support, which, of course, determines the overall cost of the phone solution. An installed solution can be more cost-effective for smaller companies with 15 to more than 100 employees. For example, the Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business VoIP system can support 15, 64, 32, or 138 users, depending on the model, while the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Business Edition 3000 can support as many as 300 employees. In comparison, a hosted VoIP service, such as Cisco’s Hosted Unified Communications Services, can support from just one or a few employees to several hundred, depending on the options offered by the service provider.

Of course, the initial costs and ongoing fees will differ between hosted and installed VoIP systems. An installed system requires the initial purchase fee for the solution hardware and software, as well as potential consulting and installation fees for help from the vendor. Service providers charge a monthly fee for a hosted VoIP service, determined by the number of phone lines you subscribe to. That fee can vary tremendously based on the features and functionality you choose, especially if you decide to add advanced technologies such as unified communications (UC) or video conferencing.

Whether you choose to install a VoIP solution on your network or contract with a service provider for hosted VoIP, your company will enjoy many of the same benefits. Employees get greater flexibility to send and receive calls from any location and will have access to more robust features than are available in most small business analog phone systems. On top of that, you’ll be future-proofing your network so you can use advanced communication technologies when your organization needs them.

How did you decide between a hosted VoIP service and an installed VoIP phone system? Share your experience here!

http://blogs.cisco.com/smallbusiness/hosted-vs-installed-voip-which-one-is-right-for-you/

Led by the North American cable companies (Multiple System Operators), telephony services using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology are beginning to hit the mass market. In a May 2004 research report, Juniper has said that VoIP will account for over 12 percent of all telephony revenues by 2009, an indication that its revenue potential for providers is growing along with consumer desire for the service.

However, to ensure that VoIP becomes viably competitive with traditional telephony services, it needs to stack up against the reliability that telephone users receive—they can count on their phone working for them 99.999 percent of the time. Service and support of the VoIP experience will directly influence the widespread adoption among consumers and decide whether providers can profitably provide the service.

With competitive pressures from carriers and satellite vendors, the MSOs have a significant revenue incentive to include telephony services as part of their strategy to lock-in customers with a ‘triple play’ offering of digital video, broadband data and telephony.

The MSOs are not alone, however. Knowing that their core access business is at stake, telcos are also building VoIP offerings—some more quickly than others, such as AT&T with CallVantage. Their strategy is to provide a broader approach that is more services-rich than what will be offered by the new entrants and MSOs.

New entrants such as Vonage are attempting to leverage the increasing growth of broadband Internet services by focussing on VoIP, not the enabling network.

The reason for all of these players to be aggressively pursuing this approach is that VoIP has proven to be a cost advantage, and can enable the introduction of new value-added telephony services.

However, critical to the long-term success of VoIP is not the introduction of a number of slick features or aggressive pricing, but the ability of the service provider to profitably manage the subscriber lifecycle. The VoIP provider will need to meet or exceed what has become the benchmark for voice telephony services—it is self-installed, auto-configured, and provides quality service at 99.999 percent reliability.

The challenge for providers is that supporting VoIP is fundamentally different from backing broadband Internet services or traditional circuit-switched voice services. There are numerous points of failures in a VoIP environment. From the home, through the network and soft-switch node, and ultimately to the fixed or mobile network endpoint, there are many places where call quality and feature availability can be impacted.

Is faulty home-wiring causing intermittent voice quality issues? Has a home network been set up incorrectly resulting in the defeat of Quality of Service (QoS) mechanisms? Are some of the home telephony devices of poor quality or incompatible with the VoIP gateway? If the home isn’t the source of the problem, is it the network? Was a new router added and QoS set incorrectly? Has traffic growth on the network resulted in unacceptable delay, jitter or packet loss? Is there a provisioning error in the soft-switch impacting subscription services or voice-mail? Or has the subscriber blamed the VoIP service provider for a noisy destination phone?

The most challenging variable is the customer’s house. The cable companies have recognised this complexity and ensured that professional installers take care of switching the incumbent wire-line service to VoIP. Using professional installers enables cable companies to place the VoIP gateway out of reach, perform tests on the broadband connection, and reuse the home wiring after the telco service is disconnected. The telcos and new entrants such as CallVantage, Vonage and others provide do-it-yourself kits and rely on an existing broadband connection that they do not control. These new e ntrants are also looking at their long-term deployment strategies and may include a combination of professional and self-install options in the future.

Isolating common problems

Voice Connectivity
No dial tone
Fast busy
Unable to receive calls (straight to voice mail)
Unable to send/receive faxes
Call Features/Dialing
CFWD, 3-way calling, call waiting doesn’t work
Calling-line ID is not displayed
Reminder ring only
Unable to place international calls

Voice Mail
Unable to access voice mail
Voice mail indicator does not light (or reset)
Voice mail answers too quickly

Call Quality
Intermittent choppy voice
Continuous echo
Gaps in speech
Intermittent ticks & pops
‘Robotic’ sounding speech

Acquiring subscribers profitably

The critical first step in the customer experience is initial installation. In the case of a professional install, some of the variables in the home such as placement of the VoIP gateway, the home wiring set-up, and quality of the broadband connection can be controlled. What is harder to control however is the consistent application of best practices.

Contract installers hired to increase the number of company installers during a rush period may not be trained with the latest procedures, and even the best installers may sometimes cut corners to accelerate an install that is taking too long. In the case of self-installs, automating as much of the installation process as possible can reduce the risk of a service call. In a self-install business model, an on-premise service call in the case of a failed self-install can significantly delay the break-even point for a new subscriber.

No matter what approach is used, having the ability to validate the install quality from the network through to the VoIP gateway provides the best defence against quality slippage.

The disconnect between the QoS enforcement in the network vis-à-vis the home poses another challenge. Network operators are enabling QoS enforcement up to the de-marc point, typically the VoIP gateway in the home. QoS capabilities within a home network, however, are still being defined, and the standards bodies working on WAN- and LAN-side QoS are struggling to achieve end-to-end QoS capability. Providers need to educate the installer or subscriber on the impact of placing a VoIP gateway inside a home network without QoS controls in place.

In either case, professional or self-install, network-based features should be automatically provisioned and available. Ideally, a ‘service-ready’ test should be available to run at the end of the installation to ensure the services subscribed to are provisioned, billable and fully functional. It is better to address problems at the time of install than at the time of service usage—it’s less frustrating for the consumer and less costly for the provider.

Retaining subscribers

The key to avoiding truck-rolls is to develop a broad range of support services which reflect a comprehensive understanding of call drivers—the most common problems, root-causes, diagnostic options and solutions

After the install is complete—either by the professional installer or customer—it is up to a wide variety of self- and assisted-service support channels to retain the subscriber and keep him happy.

The ability of service providers to isolate problems in the home or in the network can be the deciding factor when making an expensive truck-roll decision.

The key to avoiding truck-rolls is to develop a broad range of support services which reflect a comprehensive understanding of call drivers—the most common problems, root-causes, diagnostic options and solutions (ideally automated solutions).

Tell Me, Show Me, Fix it

Armed with the most likely problems, the service-provider can build an environment that proactively solves an anticipated problem before it occurs (mass healing), self-healing, self-service and finally provides both call-centre agents and technicians a comprehensive view of the problem to speed resolution (assisted service). The approach described above from automatic diagnosis and resolution to automatic detection and prevention has been proven to lower costs and increase customer satisfaction.

In this context, here are some examples pertaining to VoIP.

Mass Healing. A new firmware load is available for the VoIP gateway that addresses a bug with a feature about to be launched. The VoIP gateways are automatically updated from the network prior to the feature being announced, resulting in a clean service launch.

Self-Healing. The ability of the VoIP gateway to protect and restore key settings, to detect and troubleshoot network congestion problems (that is, automatically adapting voice quality in the event of network congestion), or report back to network monitoring systems if leading indicators of quality problems are detected (such as latency nearing the threshold value).

Self-Service. The customer is able to access a knowledge-driven Web-based portal, IVR or speech-recognition system to get information on known outages, quality issues and frequently asked questions; activate/de-activate features; perform a voice-quality verification; or investigate billing issues.

Assisted Service. For call-centre agents it provides a wide variety of tools to quickly diagnose the problem and interact with the customer. Examples include knowledge systems, problem/resolution flows (decision trees), VoIP gateway and network diagnostics (distilled to simple green-light/red-light diagnostics), chat and e-mail. For the service technician, there would be a complete view of the problem including a snapshot of key VoIP gateway and network characteristics at the point of failure—before he arrives at the house.

Growing subscribers with new services

Putting in place a positive service and support process experience leads to numerous up-sell opportunities. A Web-based self-service portal for customer support and feature usage is an ideal place to offer new services. Interactive chat can be used to help customers understand the benefits of new features and enhance the ordering process. In the event of an assisted-service session, a succes sful problem resolution is a natural opportunity to engage in up-selling or cross-selling.

Summary

The success of VoIP services over the long-term will be defined by the ability to acquire subscribers’ profitability by getting the installation right the first time; retaining subscribers through an integrated, multi-channel support strategy; and growing a quality support experience into new service opportunities.

In a telephony world accustomed to 99.999 reliability, the importance of high quality service and support cannot be overlooked—it must be built into the offerings at the beginning.

The author is Vice-president Engineering & Services SupportSoft.

He can be reached at ashok.waran@supportsoft.com