While VoIP today is considered a stable and reliable technology for personal and business communications, there are still a few kinks here and there. Like all new and evolving technologies, there are still pitfalls that VoIP converts may experience at one time or another. Ranging from minor inconveniences such as compatibility issues to major ones such as misrouted calls, users of VoIP have to occasionally deal with problems that are just as if not more disruptive than the problems associated with a regular 'legacy' phone system.
Deployment problems
Even before shifting to Internet telephony, a user must check the speed and bandwidth of the current broadband connection to see whether it can handle the added load of a VoIP. Typical business connections pose problems in particular, as the added burden of voice calls (increased data transmissions) may adversely affect operations in the long run. Adding bandwidth and speed with Quality of Service guarantees will likely suffice for most businesses.
But for businesses with extensive calling requirements like telemarketing companies, a more exhaustive analysis of traffic volume, peak call usage, maximum concurrent calls and other information is necessary. These are required by the service provider to enable it to anticipate and roll out and/or recommend the bandwidth and speed needed at any given time.
Porting PSTN numbers
Individuals and businesses often find it necessary to migrate the number that they're using to their new VoIP service. The porting of numbers, called Local Number Portability (LNP), results in seamless transitions to VoIP. The downsides, however, are the complicated process, varying time frame for porting the number, and possibility of rejection due to technicalities. The good thing is that it takes only patience, goodwill and lots of grace to navigate the complicated steps in the migration of numbers, and resolve any rejected request.
Security issues
One stumbling block that keeps many from switching to VoIP is the often unsubstantiated fear of worms, viruses, denial-of-service (DOS) attacks and Internet-related problems. Others are concerned too on how secure VoIP calls are and if these are not prone to hacking.
While it's true that voice calls in VoIP are sent as data packets, the possibility of these being corrupted while on transit is quite distant: it has identifiers (headers) that the sending and receiving ends must check, the packets are usually encrypted, and both ends of the call are likely to have first level firewall.
More worrisome would be the possibility of voice interception that may result in wiretapping and toll fraud, and data interception that may cause confidential information such as passwords and personal info to fall into malevolent hands.
Physical security policies, stricter authentication mechanisms and more stringent security measures like disabling remote access to the graphical are just some of the ways administrators can address security concerns.
With the increasing rate in VoIP adoption, issues with broadband telephony will likely taper off as fierce competition fuels research and development in this emerging technology. Eventually, the hesitant attitude that some people have towards VoIP will become a thing of the past.
Saiju George is an IP communications and business software expert. He specializes in hosted SIP PBX implementations and small business VoIP.
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