Risk Factors of VoIP

In general, VoIP is less secure than a comparable circuit-switch call. When looking at a next level and the ability to hack a network, VoIP is very sensitive to latency. Add a half a second or a tenth of a second delay and the quality of the voice communication for organization will be affected.

VoIP has become an increasingly hot market, with new players such as Vonage touting the ability to deliver voice communications for less cost. While there are technical, regulatory and other issues that remain ahead for VoIP, security was highlighted as a major concern. Despite the cost savings and increased capabilities of a converged, voice-data network running over traditional technology, there are still significant security issues around VoIP's reliance on the Internet, which has proven a ripe target for virus and worm writers and other attackers at the same time VoIP has matured. Executives from Cisco, Nortel and other major telecom providers indicated at VON that the threat to VoIP from the Internet's denial of service (DoS) and worm attacks is one that must take priority. Below are some of the risk factors of VoIP:

Loss of Voice Quality

Technologists understand that data networks are very different from voice networks. On the data network, especially on those Ethernet transports that dominate corporate computing environments, packets bounce around somewhat indeterminately. They can collide and get distorted or even lost. Error correction mechanisms in Ethernet hardware and the IP protocol itself can readily compensate for these phenomena on the data side. But such problems can adversely affect voice calls, which require a good quality, real-time flow of packets from one end of the network to the other. And, while the human brain can comprehend human speech even when there is a lot of distortion, users have become accustomed to a certain level of call quality.

Low Security

It's taken VoIP a long time to get to the point where it's real, and its there, but it's still a pretty immature technology. While a lack of security would not be very significant considering today's Internet voice communication, which is more prevalent among teenagers than CEOs, corporate communications will require at least as good security and privacy measures as traditional, circuit-switch voice communications.

Loss of Reliability

Data networks are not yet as reliable as voice networks. It is commonly know what it is like to have the computer freeze or to be told that the network is "down". But this rarely happens with phones or telephone carriers. Immediate and uninterrupted access to others over the phone is such an essential aspect of conducting business that few executives want to put voice communications at risk, regardless of how attractive the potential savings may be.

The implementations of VoIP do come with some risk factors and threats and organization must identify such risk and threats when they start to use VoIP and eliminate any uncertainty.