Voice over IP Security

Much ink has been spilled over the vulnerabilities created by running voice traffic over data networks. But smart CSOs are, in fact, going to use voice over IPand similar forthcoming technologiesto their benefit.

It is not unusual for high-security installations to ban cell phones, usually out of concerns over eavesdropping and the risk that pictures will be taken where they shouldn't. This is another trade-off that's good for security but a burden to employees and visitors. Patrick Ravenel, senior vice president of engineering and operations at security services company PreventSys, says some of his clients are beginning to give visitors wireless "push to talk" VoIP walkie-talkies that communicate only within authorized personnel categories or VoIP phones that are configured to turn off automatically when carried into sensitive areas.

Indeed, some analysts think that eventually security is going to evolve into one of the showcase applications for VoIP. "Up til now," says John Moss, CEO of S2 Security, a physical security services provider, "remote security has been confined to monitoring." Security officers sat at desks and watched banks of TV displays. If something interesting appeared on a screen, they had to find someone near the scene, call him, describe the problem and tell him to go check it out. Moss points out that, by far, the largest fraction of these incidents could have been resolved on the spot if the officer looking at the remote location had been able to have a brief conversation with whomever was there. Perhaps a perfectly innocent visitor was wandering around lost, or the card reader was beginning to fail, or an employee had lost his or her access card, or someone was failing to use the access devices properly.

Some high-security companies do, in fact, install intercoms at every surveillance point. But until now, the cost of special (and often proprietary) wiring has made that degree of flexibility and ubiquitousness prohibitively expensive for most users. The low marginal costs of VoIPany given VoIP signal adds only a few kilobits to network trafficmake such coverage more practical. It gives remote security much of the flexibility of having an officer physically on the scene.

The favorable economics make it possible to leave these intercoms on 24/7, essentially adding audio monitoring to the security toolkit. This is a nice extra: Even pan-tilt-zoomable cameras essentially only look in one direction at any given moment; audio, on the other hand, senses in three dimensions and 360 degrees simultaneously. Up til now, if a person in a protected environment wanted to attract the attention of security, he had two options: One was to find a camera, wave and hope the officer on the other end was looking; the other was to scan the scene for an intercom, run to it and press the call button. In many circumstances, neither of those processes is ideal. Placing intercoms throughout a secured zone allows people to get through to security with a simple shout, wherever they are.