Don’t let the fraudsters ruin VoIP for the rest of us—Posted on February 6, 2008
The technology press does seem to like a good scare story, and VoIP has seen more than its fair share. This month it was the turn of BT to get in the firing line as an ‘ethical hacking’ group claimed to have found a serious flaw in its Home Hub product which meant it could be used as a platform to launch nefarious VoIP frauds. It turns out that this was probably no more than a storm in a tea-cup as BT issued a strenuous denial and pointed out that they had spotted the flaw months ago and fixed it. Regardless, this incident did serve some value in once again raising the issue of Internet fraud.
Phishing and pharming attacks are almost old hat by now. I received two phishing attacks this week alone – one telling me I had won the lottery and the other from a ‘businessman’ asking me to partner with him in an exciting (undisclosed) project. Both would have involved me sending my bank details to the fraudsters and shortly after, no doubt, my account would have been cleaned out. Pharming can be a bit trickier to spot and involves fraudsters mimicking legitimate Internet sites (usually retail outlets or banks) to once again part their victims from their bank details.
Businesses, however, have not been slow to counter these threats, and with a combination of good firewalls, SPAM filters and employee education there is no reason for anyone to fall victim to these rather unsophisticated fraud threats.
Vishing, however, is a different kettle of fish and it is here that VoIP is getting an entirely undeserved reputation. Vishing is where a user is called, or makes a call to an automated system that asks them for personal information (bank details for example) and then records the answer. The recordings are then used by fraudsters to liberate money from the victims account. The victim doesn't have to actually have a VoIP system either - it's just that the VoIP technology reduces the costs to the fraudster.
Unfortunately the association between this particular use of VoIP for fraudulent purposes tends to tarnish the entire technology with the same dirty brush. It's a little like assuming all automobiles are evil simply because some of them are used as get-away cars after a robbery.
Sure, the VoIP system here has enabled this new type of crime. But there are reasons for this, the VoIP system is flexible, relatively cheap, quick to implement, based on standard IP components and provides a great set of customisable features. Bear in mind the entire crime is possible with older technology - it was just too much of a pain in the neck to carry out. Whatever we do, we must make sure that we reclaim VoIP from the fraudsters and let legitimate businesses and home users claim the benefits for themselves.
Matt Cantwell – Head of Product Portfolio
VoIP – just a load of hot air?—Posted on October 6, 2007
One of my colleagues overheard two guys in the pub last week, one asking the other when he thought his work would move over to VoIP in order to take advantage of the cheap phone calls. Anecdotal maybe, but still a clear indication that the average worker seems to have bought in whole-heartedly to the mantra that VoIP (running voice over the same network as data services) saves you money. Sorry to muddle the seemingly azure waters, but is that really the case?
In our experience, VoIP as a standalone technology rarely delivers the cost savings heralded by some in the media or the telecoms industry. But don’t get disheartened just yet; VoIP can be a great cost-saving business tool if it is implemented as part of a wider network convergence.
If an SMB is really keen to save money on communication and data charges it should investigate whether a migration to a next-generation network is a viable option. An NGN allows all types of traffic; voice, data and internet to be sent over a single, cohesive platform. So, not only can other media ‘buzz’ applications, such as video-conferencing be supported, it can improve productivity and operational costs across the board. Of course, you need to plan this sort of change carefully – its important to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and make sure that your business is geared up for the transformation. If not managed carefully, the cost of change can outweigh the benefits, especially if you think about the risk that if your single network goes down the cost to your business is felt more widely.
When convergence forms part of a wider strategy, however, it means that not just your network, but your applications and your employees can all work more efficiently and effectively. Does this mean that SMB owners will have more time and more money to discuss other new and hyped telecoms technology down the pub? Possibly not!
Laura Joseph - Head of Product Portfolio
The future for VoFi?—Posted on July 14, 2007
The potential of VoFi – Voice over WiFI - to redefine the mobile market is real, but I don’t think we’re going to see any major changes happening any time soon. In the long term, the cost benefits of using wireless VoIP instead of traditional voice over GSM could be a compelling proposition for businesses, but the technology needs to be proven and seamless before it can really deliver.
However loud the industry shouts about VoFi, the fact is that this is a new technology, albeit one with lots of potential. The industry is working hard to iron out some of the teething troubles, but at the moment we’re still seeing issues with call quality and the performance of VoFi handsets.
Call quality can be an issue because the VoFi connection usually has to share limited bandwidth with all other WiFi traffic, such as data – and voice isn’t given priority. It’s only the really established, business-focused providers that are delivering WiFi access with a low contention ratio and packet prioritisation to ensure that voice quality is assured. So this problem can be overcome, but it is up to the user to choose their provider very carefully.
So far, the overall user experience with VoFi phones has been questionable. Users expect to be able to make phone calls using any WiFi hotspot, but a lot of pure VoFi phones lack the web interface that is essential to access most public WiFi services. Without a web interface, you can’t set up an account and provide the payment details that the service provider requires. So, no web interface means patchy and unpredictable access to WiFi hotspots. This issue is being addressed – we saw new handsets with web interfaces launch at 3GSM.
Another concern is power and energy consumption. Battery life may not be the most exciting subject, but it is pretty critical when you’re away from the office for long periods and completely dependent on your mobile to stay in touch. VoFi handsets are power hungry, so their battery life is much shorter than we’re all used to with mobiles. This is a major practical drawback for the typical business user, who is getting more and more accustomed to accessing all sorts of useful applications on their mobile device. Applications eat power, so this often isn’t viable on a VoFi device.
Fixing these issues is clearly a major priority for equipment manufacturers and we’re seeing improved VoFi handsets start to appear. There will be a new generation of much more efficient and user-friendly handsets in the future, which can only encourage the growth of this technology. Awareness of the need for uncontended, enterprise-quality WiFi services that can support voice calls is also key – however cheap the calls, business users have to have quality and reliability. Once these issues are resolved, the case for VoFi will start to stack up. How soon this happens, and how entrenched it ever becomes, remains to be seen.