October, 2008

Aspect Unified IP 6.6 Introduces Microsoft UC Integration

Back in June I wrote a post about the newly formed partnership between Aspect Software and Microsoft. Aspect was already an established leader in providing IP-based solutions for call centers, and Microsoft is an established leader in providing unified communications solutions. The obvious goal of their union was to bring the features and benefits of unified communications into the IP-based call center, and provide a new market for Microsoft unified communications by expanding the capabilities of their UC offering to address the call center.

Aspect recently announced that this December they will roll out Unified IP v6.6. According to the article “Aspect Unified IP 6.6 is designed to offer an ask-an-expert capability using the instant messaging and presence technology available in Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. This newest feature enables Aspect Unified IP to seamlessly integrate to Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 to specifically request real-time presence information.”

SecureLogix Brings New Patent to VoIP Security

SecureLogix, a leader in VoIP (and unified communications) security, was awarded their first patent in 1998 when they introduced the first firewall for voice networks. As VoIP has grown and been embraced by corporations and consumers alike, SecureLogix has continued to innovate and develop new techniques that address evolving communications technologies as well as the threats and attacks designed to exploit those technologies.

This latest patent is their 14th. According to a MarketWatch article, the aspects of the latest patent include sensing and analyzing calls to determine call attributes, and performing security and/or management actions based upon the determined call attributes, including actions in response to attempts to encrypt a call or authenticate remote access, and monitoring of call content for keywords.

Aspect Dives Into UC Services Delivery

Aspect, a leader in providing IP communications solutions for call centers, partnered with Microsoft earlier this year and is hard at work in collaboration with Microsoft to integrate what they offer for call centers with what Microsoft offers for unified communications. Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, projected for release in February of 2009, includes a variety of new features that will provide additional capabilities for call center environments. As the partnership evolves and the tools offered by Aspect and Microsoft are integrated, Aspect has now announced a new professional services and systems integration arm to help customers with architecting, implementing, and administering a Microsoft Unified Communications infrastructure.

Coming Soon: Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2

Microsoft’s Unified Communications team has been hard at work on the next major release of Office Communications Server 2007. With the product now in limited Beta testing, Microsoft announced some of the features we can look forward to in the next version of OCS 2007. Two of the biggest features of the next generation software will be SIP trunking, eliminating the need for an IP PBX or VoIP gateway, and an attendant console which allows a receptionist or assistant to manage calls for others and set up or manage teleconferences. This Information Week article outlines a number of other features to look forward to that will greatly enhance the capabilities of OCS 2007 when R2 is officially released. As of today, OCS 2007 R2 is slated to hit the streets in February of 2009.

Is VoIP Ready for Mission-Critical Primetime?

For most businesses, VoIP offers a compelling business argument. Merging the voice network with the data network means only implementing one hardware and wiring infrastructure. VoIP systems are easier to administer and maintain that traditional PSTN phones. The list goes on and on.

VoIP is not without its issues though, one of which would be having all of your proverbial eggs in a single basket- the network. Hopefully an enterprise network is relatively stable, but you still have to consider the possibility of a complete network outage and what that does for communications. Certain fields- emergency response, medical care facilities, banking and finance, etc. - can not afford to be without communications even for a minute. A recent ZDNet article addressed some of these concerns.

There is no way to truly guarantee that communications will be available 100% of the time. However, if the weaknesses of the network and the VoIP communications are properly considered and addressed I believe that a very high availability can be achieved. The technologies and level of redundancy required to achieve that availability are costly though and add to the TCO (total cost of ownership) of the VoIP solution and impact the ROI (return on investment), possibly negating many of the VoIP advantages and making the case for VoIP a harder sell.

Regardless of the industry that VoIP is being implemented in, sound network security practices should be followed. For VoIP networks, segmenting VoIP traffic on separate VLAN’s and encrypting voice communications provide additional security. However, enterprises should also consider the potential for a network-wide outage making VoIP unavailable and have a written policy for how to handle critical communications in the event that such a catastrophe occurs.

VoIP Security: Don’t Be Complacent

One of the biggest problems with information security is that it is almost always reactive. The entire antivirus industry is built on a model where new threats are unleashed on the unprotected public first, then the antivirus vendors capture a sample and create a defense for the threat to add to the signatures their antivirus product can detect.

Unfortunately, it is easy to be complacent…until it isn’t. In other words, complacency only works until an attack catches you sleeping and you end up with catastrophic results. Security experts continue to talk about the potential threat of VoIP attacks, but the fact that no credible attack has been perpetrated (or at least reported) leads many to feel like these are just ’sky is falling’ predictions from security vendors with a product to sell.

To some degree that may be true, but VoIP administrators need to be diligent about understanding the potential security risks and strike a balance between paranoid and healthy skepticism. This report from Silicon.com provides a link to various tools capable of attacking a VoIP network which are currently available publicly- highlighting that the threat is real even if the attacks haven’t occurred.

It then goes on to talk about VoIP security. VoIP merges the communications network with the data network, making voice communications subject to the same sorts of threats and compromises that used to affect only data networks. Most of VoIP security rests in sound, best practices for network security. The article focuses on two additional measures though- using VLAN’s to segment VoIP communications and using encryption to ensure that VoIP communications data can not be understood by anyone who might intercept the data packets.