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VoIP is the routing of telephone calls via the internet. The voice signals are first converted into digital format which then allows the internet to act like a gigantic phone network. VoIP calling thus requires one to have an internet connection in order to make these calls online. One great advantage of VoIP is the ability to be location-independent.
Signal strength, common in ordinary cell phone technology, is no longer necessary if you want to make a call in the middle of the jungle to a far-flung city. In fact all you need is a router, an internet connection and you are good to go. Today’s VoIP technology is so advanced that you even get to choose a phone number registered to a state or city making routing calls and caller ID more real than before.
The consumer market has greatly benefited from VoIP calling. Full phone voice VoIP phone companies now offer unlimited domestic calling usually for a flat monthly fee and even free calling between subscribers who use the same subscriber. These services come with a wide variety of features including fax lines, virtual phone numbers, virtual PBX systems, and toll-free numbers. In recent years, it has even been possible to offer text messaging service, a great milestone that proves that VoIP calling is not the only benefit of internet telephony and that we should expect to see more developments in the field.
VoIP emergency in the past posed a problem since it was not always possible to guarantee a connection since IP addresses tended to have static features and thus access to a local dispatch center limited this service. However, no more, because service providers are now able to display a caller’s address making it easy for a dispatcher to route emergency calls to a local emergency center. This service is called Enhanced 911 or E911 for short.
The corporate world has also seen the benefits of VoIP calling as well as the features that come with it. VoIP solutions aimed at businesses now offer faxes, web conferencing, voice mail, and more, all delivered to any handset, even cell phones. Since VoIP hardware runs on PCs and other standard interfaces making it even more affordable and easy to integrate. In addition, VoIP runs both voice and data over a single network, the infrastructure costs are greatly reduced. Simple and intuitive interfaces of VoIP devices also make it easy for users to configure the systems and make changes.
Of course everything going through the internet would have privacy and security concerns. VoIP security is one of the main areas that have seen organizations take measures to ensure that calls are safe and secure.
Encryption is one of the ways that organizations are using to secure their VoIP data and calls. One of the applications used to do this is Zfone. This free software secures VoIP calls by encrypting them. In order to use Zfone securely, both the caller and the recipient need to have the software installed, otherwise there is no guaranteed security.
Transport Layer Security (TLS) and IP security commonly known as IPSec are other ways used to encrypt VoIP data and calls. These two differ in the level of encryption. TLS encrypts information that is traveling between 2 applications while the IPSec encryption does it between 2 devices.
These two encryption techniques are designed to keep hackers from eavesdropping, packet injection and call tampering. TLS has seen a wide following because of its low use of network bandwidth and has proven to be more efficient.
Secure Real Time Transfer Protocol(SRTP) is another encryption that is used to protect calls and is ideal since it has minimal effect on call quality. VoIP security using SRTP is also more advanced since each call made creates a unique encryption key, making eavesdropping a near impossibility.
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) can also be used to secure VoIP. All that is needed is VoIP equipment at each end and an IP address. VPNs can be used to tie 2 offices together and provide a secure VoIP connection.
Despite the growing threat to data and voice security, VoIP security has become more secure and many organizations are implementing the above encryption mechanisms securely on their systems. The trend is clearly toward VoIP calling and its associated features. We will no doubt see VoIP becoming a common household thing in the near future.
