ELGIN, ILLINOIS, USA, (March 14), 2008 - CALLTELE, Inc. a major voice and data solution provider, announces the opening of its new offices in Elgin, Illinois located at 1275 Davis Road, Suite 115. CALLTELE has been a part of the Elgin business community for 3 1/2 years and made the decision to retain the Chicago suburb as its base of operations. Expansion to the new facility has generated opportunities for advancement for two key employees.
Aaron Kane, President of CALLTELE said, “In our 3 ½ year existence, CALLTELE has come far in its ability to provide our customers with the best voice and data information and services possible. We recognize that the continual leadership that our employees have demonstrated to our customers and to CALLTELE has helped to make our expansion possible.”
“These promotions reflect CALLTELE’s commitment to its employees as well as the employees’ commitment to CALLTELE, remarked Aaron Kane. Not only will these promotions benefit our customers and our company but they are our way of commending the significant contributions and tangible results that these individuals have made to our continued success.”
After 2 ½ years with CALLTELE, Inc., Fox Valley resident, Brian Porretto, Service Manager, has been named Senior Project Manager. His new responsibilities include creating, executing and monitoring all work plans of CALLTELE’s customer base. Uniquely positioned, Porretto will assist both the sales and service departments in managing day-to-day operational aspects of service support and the scope of work for project development. Applying his knowledge of industry standards, Mr. Porretto will review deliverables prepared by both the sales and service teams to enhance service to CALLTELE customers.
As technical manager, the Sr. Project Manager creates and executes project plans across multiple projects. Mr. Porretto will assign project specific certified technicians, prepare service reviews and verify quality assurance procedures. He will be responsible for ensuring that all customer projects meet stipulated requirements upon completion.
Claudia Diaz, Customer Service Manager, has been promoted to Director of Operations & National Support. She will direct account management of all national and Canadian service accounts. Ms. Diaz will also be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of CALLTELE’s business functions, managing national project service technicians as well as vendor and supplier relations. She will provide technical service support for customer moves, additions, or changes to their existing business phone systems.
Sixteen years of experience in the telecommunication industry has allowed Ms. Diaz to offer her expertise to CALLTELE in a variety of ways since its inception. She has served an important role in the company’s development to this point. Diaz’s new role, will allow her to continue to contribute to the overall direction of the firm’s regional and national business development efforts and she will play an integral part in the future direction of the company.
About CALLTELE
CALLTELE is a professional full service voice and data solution provider. Focused on customer satisfaction the company strives to bring full understanding of unified communication, VoIP, and disaster recovery.
As partners of Avaya, Cisco and Nortel, CALLTELE is vendor neutral. The company’s priority is to insure that each customer’s special requirements are met by customizing applications to fulfill the uniqueness of each situation. It also provides nationwide support, system maintenance and network monitoring. As disaster recovery specialists, CALLTELE assists any size company to decrease business interruption by maintaining communication.
CALLTELE is a privately held company headquartered in Elgin, Illinois, with operations throughout North America and Canada. Its focus is to aid small to medium size companies as well as addressing the needs of the fortune 1000's.
####For more information, please contact CALLTELE, 847-888-1900 or visit http://www.callteleusa.com.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
CALLTELE EXPANDS TO NEW OPERATIONS CENTER IN ELGIN ILLINOIS
ELGIN, ILLINOIS, USA, (March 14), 2008 - CALLTELE, a major voice and data solution provider, announces the opening of its new offices in Elgin, Illinois located at 1275 Davis Road, Suite 115. CALLTELE has been a part of the Elgin business community for 3 1/2 years and made the decision to retain the Chicago suburb as its base of operations. The new site, will allow CALLTELE to continue to enhance its presence in the Chicago area as well as maintain and expand its reach across North America and Canada.
The centralized location also allows CALLTELE easy access to its customers and network points of presence. CALLTELE will be able to maintain its high quality service levels while effectively serving customers with integrated voice and data solutions.
The new corporate headquarters will support CALLTELE’s rapid growth and provide its customers with consistently evolving
telecommunication products and service solutions that keep pace with changing technology.
“Our company is growing to meet the needs of our customers,” said Aaron Kane, president of CALLTELE. “We made the decision to secure a larger facility because as CALLTELE continues its innovation in voice and data solutions and technical services, this new location will
become an integral part of our growth. We pride ourselves on our ability to assist our customers with all of their telephony needs—from accessories to an entire infrastructure rebuild.
CALLTELE's focus has always been on providing quality customer service. With the acquisition of our new offices, we will be able to provide comprehensive voice and data and VoIP solutions, disaster recovery and system maintenance services to a whole new level.”
About CALLTELE
CALLTELE is a professional full service voice and data solution provider. Focused on customer satisfaction the company strives to bring full understanding of unified communication, VoIP, and disaster recovery.
As partners of Avaya, Cisco and Nortel, CALLTELE is vendor neutral. The company’s priority is to insure that each customer’s special requirements are met by customizing applications to fulfill the uniqueness of each situation.
It also provides nationwide support, system maintenance and network monitoring. As disaster recovery specialists, CALLTELE assists any size company to decrease business interruption by maintaining communication.
CALLTELE is a privately held company headquartered in Elgin, Illinois, with operations throughout North America and Canada. Its focus is to aid small to medium size companies as well as addressing the needs of the fortune 1000's.
####For more information, please contact CALLTELE, 847-888-1900 or visit http://www.thevoipspecialist.com.
The centralized location also allows CALLTELE easy access to its customers and network points of presence. CALLTELE will be able to maintain its high quality service levels while effectively serving customers with integrated voice and data solutions.
The new corporate headquarters will support CALLTELE’s rapid growth and provide its customers with consistently evolving
telecommunication products and service solutions that keep pace with changing technology.
“Our company is growing to meet the needs of our customers,” said Aaron Kane, president of CALLTELE. “We made the decision to secure a larger facility because as CALLTELE continues its innovation in voice and data solutions and technical services, this new location will
become an integral part of our growth. We pride ourselves on our ability to assist our customers with all of their telephony needs—from accessories to an entire infrastructure rebuild.
CALLTELE's focus has always been on providing quality customer service. With the acquisition of our new offices, we will be able to provide comprehensive voice and data and VoIP solutions, disaster recovery and system maintenance services to a whole new level.”
About CALLTELE
CALLTELE is a professional full service voice and data solution provider. Focused on customer satisfaction the company strives to bring full understanding of unified communication, VoIP, and disaster recovery.
As partners of Avaya, Cisco and Nortel, CALLTELE is vendor neutral. The company’s priority is to insure that each customer’s special requirements are met by customizing applications to fulfill the uniqueness of each situation.
It also provides nationwide support, system maintenance and network monitoring. As disaster recovery specialists, CALLTELE assists any size company to decrease business interruption by maintaining communication.
CALLTELE is a privately held company headquartered in Elgin, Illinois, with operations throughout North America and Canada. Its focus is to aid small to medium size companies as well as addressing the needs of the fortune 1000's.
####For more information, please contact CALLTELE, 847-888-1900 or visit http://www.thevoipspecialist.com.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Merlin Magix to Avaya IP Office
Why Migrate?
From: Existing Avaya MERLIN® MAGIX Systems for firms with 20 – 200 employees
To: Avaya IP Office Small Office Edition, 406 and 412 Release 4.0 and IP Office
500 Professional Edition Communications Solutions
The Business Value of Migrating Now Avaya IP Office Small Office Edition, 406 and 412 Release 4.0 and IP Office 500 Professional Edition systems fill the gap
between yesterday’s circuit switched PBXs and Key Systems and the IP-only solutions of tomorrow by meeting the total office communications needs of small-to-medium sized businesses.
• Take advantage of the most current technology – Most systems on the market today support Voice over IP capabilities that allow businesses to save money as well as deploy powerful new capabilities for end-users. MERLIN MAGIX systems were one of the best key/hybrid/PBX systems on the market in its time. As new systems have been introduced by Avaya,
MERLIN MAGIX has been discontinued as a current solution and eventually, parts may be difficult to obtain. The good news is that most of the phones supported on MERLIN MAGIX systems will migrate to IP Office systems, allowing your business to
retain their set investment.
• Automate message taking – Does your business have voice messaging capability today? It comes free with IP Office Small Office Edition, 406 and 412 Release 4.0 and IP Office 500 Professional Edition systems and allows you to see all of your voice mail and e-mail messages in the same mailbox. A simple software upgrade allows your business to use the
messaging system to collect information from you callers, let your callers know how long their wait will be before they are helped, and record calls for enhanced customer service.
• Know how many new and old messages you have at a glance – With many of the large display sets available with IP Office Small Office Edition, 406 and 412 Release 4.0 and IP Office 500 Professional Edition systems, Visual Voice shows users how many new and old voice mail messages they have, and provides the user with one-touch access to the voice
messaging system and several voice mail features. Visual Voice simplifies the ability to manage your voice messages. (Large displays sets only; Embedded Mail and VoiceMail Pro only)
• Make retrieving e-mail easy and lightweight – Stuck without a PC or laptop but don’t want loads of e-mail to come back to? Use the optional e-mail reader feature of VoiceMail Pro to hear e-mail messages read aloud. (MS Exchange only)
• Keep track of calls; know when you missed a call – Imagine being able to log calls using your PC screen to view incoming calls. Arm yourself with all of the information about your caller before you answer the phone. You can also see who is busy and who is free to take calls. Sound good? It is a free application provided to each user in the IP Office Small Office
Edition, 406 and 412 Release 4.0 and IP Office 500 Professional Edition systems. A simple software upgrade allows for database integration and screen-pops. IP Office Small Office Edition, 406 and 412 Release 4.0 and IP Office 500 Professional Edition system display sets will also log incoming, outgoing and missed calls and calls can be returned with the
press of a button.
• Enhance your collaboration and communications abilities – MERLIN MAGIX system users can establish a conference call with up to 5-parties. Using the built-in conferencing application that comes free with IP Office 406 and 412 Release 4.0 and IP Office 500 Professional Edition systems, much larger conferences can be supported; up to 64-parties. In addition, you get a free Meet-me conference bridge. Set up a call, invite your attendees, and provide them a PIN number for security and save lots of time and money over using costly network conferencing services (VoiceMail Pro required).
• Save tons of money on external conferencing services with presentation viewing – Does your business frequently need to use services like Webex to have meetings and view presentations? The optional Conference Center application can be used to provide Web-based conferences and document viewing. Each user gets a unique PIN number to prevent unauthorized attendees (VoiceMail Pro required). Conference reservations can be made with e-mail invitations. The
conference host has audio control over which participants have Speak and Listen capabilities and those that have Listen-only privileges. (Not supported on IP Office Small Office Edition). Easy to use, easy to cost-justify!
• Reduce lost calls = reduce lost revenue - For customers waiting to reach an agent in a call group, demonstrate how VoiceMail Pro can tell the caller what number in line they are, and how long their wait time will be.
• Keep important recordings of calls to enhance customer service – Show the benefits of configurable call recording. Calls can be recorded by time of day, day of week, station number, agent ID number and more. All calls or just a percentage of calls can be automatically recorded. Calls recording can also be initiated manually. Advanced recording storage and retrieval applications are also available.
• Automatically get information from callers – Help the customer understand how they can automate informationgathering, collect revenue and run sales promotions using VoiceMail Pro’s Campaign Manager. Callers can provide typical information by speaking answers or by providing touchtone input to standard questions Campaign Manager is programmed
• Always be in touch – Discuss the value of VoiceMail Pro’s Personal Numbering “find me” service. Customers can enter details of where they can be located, including cell phone numbers, home numbers or alternate office locations. Calls to their number will follow them to their location, and if calls are busy or unanswered, the call will cover back to their VoiceMail Pro
mailbox so that all messages are stored in one location. The Voice Mail message can then be forwarded to an associated email account or alerts a predefined number to ensure messages are never missed. (T1/PRI required). Also, with optional Mobile Twinning, calls can ring simultaneously at your desk and at a home phone or cell phone with IP Office Small Office
Edition, 406 and 412 Release 4.0 and IP Office 500 Professional Edition systems and if unanswered, cover back to the system voice mail. In addition, other users in the system get Busy Lamp Field indication on Mobile Twinned calls regardless of where the call is answered, improving communications even further.
• Branch Offices and Teleworking – The ability to work remotely, from home, a hotel or another office is becoming important to employees and employers in today’s 24x7 working world. Cost has always been a factor for employers. Now with IP Office Small Office Edition, 406 and 412 Release 4.0 and IP Office 500 Professional Edition systems and optional SCN software,
remote working can become an inexpensive reality. Callers will never know if the employee is in the office or at their home. In addition, Branch Offices can now be easily tied into the main location using your data network, allowing your business to save money on long distance calls and offer a unified front to your customers.
• Networking – Does your business have multiple locations that are all independent today? IP Office Small Office Edition, 406 and 412 Release 4.0 and IP Office 500 Professional Edition systems allow you to optionally tie these locations together with full feature transparency between locations. With optional software, call center agents can login at remote offices and
employees can login to any phone in the network and the phone will take on that employee’s personal phone settings. These capabilities can represent a significant savings in toll calls using your existing data network, not to mention convenience and location freedom. Let us analyze your bills to see how much you can save!
From: Existing Avaya MERLIN® MAGIX Systems for firms with 20 – 200 employees
To: Avaya IP Office Small Office Edition, 406 and 412 Release 4.0 and IP Office
500 Professional Edition Communications Solutions
The Business Value of Migrating Now Avaya IP Office Small Office Edition, 406 and 412 Release 4.0 and IP Office 500 Professional Edition systems fill the gap
between yesterday’s circuit switched PBXs and Key Systems and the IP-only solutions of tomorrow by meeting the total office communications needs of small-to-medium sized businesses.
• Take advantage of the most current technology – Most systems on the market today support Voice over IP capabilities that allow businesses to save money as well as deploy powerful new capabilities for end-users. MERLIN MAGIX systems were one of the best key/hybrid/PBX systems on the market in its time. As new systems have been introduced by Avaya,
MERLIN MAGIX has been discontinued as a current solution and eventually, parts may be difficult to obtain. The good news is that most of the phones supported on MERLIN MAGIX systems will migrate to IP Office systems, allowing your business to
retain their set investment.
• Automate message taking – Does your business have voice messaging capability today? It comes free with IP Office Small Office Edition, 406 and 412 Release 4.0 and IP Office 500 Professional Edition systems and allows you to see all of your voice mail and e-mail messages in the same mailbox. A simple software upgrade allows your business to use the
messaging system to collect information from you callers, let your callers know how long their wait will be before they are helped, and record calls for enhanced customer service.
• Know how many new and old messages you have at a glance – With many of the large display sets available with IP Office Small Office Edition, 406 and 412 Release 4.0 and IP Office 500 Professional Edition systems, Visual Voice shows users how many new and old voice mail messages they have, and provides the user with one-touch access to the voice
messaging system and several voice mail features. Visual Voice simplifies the ability to manage your voice messages. (Large displays sets only; Embedded Mail and VoiceMail Pro only)
• Make retrieving e-mail easy and lightweight – Stuck without a PC or laptop but don’t want loads of e-mail to come back to? Use the optional e-mail reader feature of VoiceMail Pro to hear e-mail messages read aloud. (MS Exchange only)
• Keep track of calls; know when you missed a call – Imagine being able to log calls using your PC screen to view incoming calls. Arm yourself with all of the information about your caller before you answer the phone. You can also see who is busy and who is free to take calls. Sound good? It is a free application provided to each user in the IP Office Small Office
Edition, 406 and 412 Release 4.0 and IP Office 500 Professional Edition systems. A simple software upgrade allows for database integration and screen-pops. IP Office Small Office Edition, 406 and 412 Release 4.0 and IP Office 500 Professional Edition system display sets will also log incoming, outgoing and missed calls and calls can be returned with the
press of a button.
• Enhance your collaboration and communications abilities – MERLIN MAGIX system users can establish a conference call with up to 5-parties. Using the built-in conferencing application that comes free with IP Office 406 and 412 Release 4.0 and IP Office 500 Professional Edition systems, much larger conferences can be supported; up to 64-parties. In addition, you get a free Meet-me conference bridge. Set up a call, invite your attendees, and provide them a PIN number for security and save lots of time and money over using costly network conferencing services (VoiceMail Pro required).
• Save tons of money on external conferencing services with presentation viewing – Does your business frequently need to use services like Webex to have meetings and view presentations? The optional Conference Center application can be used to provide Web-based conferences and document viewing. Each user gets a unique PIN number to prevent unauthorized attendees (VoiceMail Pro required). Conference reservations can be made with e-mail invitations. The
conference host has audio control over which participants have Speak and Listen capabilities and those that have Listen-only privileges. (Not supported on IP Office Small Office Edition). Easy to use, easy to cost-justify!
• Reduce lost calls = reduce lost revenue - For customers waiting to reach an agent in a call group, demonstrate how VoiceMail Pro can tell the caller what number in line they are, and how long their wait time will be.
• Keep important recordings of calls to enhance customer service – Show the benefits of configurable call recording. Calls can be recorded by time of day, day of week, station number, agent ID number and more. All calls or just a percentage of calls can be automatically recorded. Calls recording can also be initiated manually. Advanced recording storage and retrieval applications are also available.
• Automatically get information from callers – Help the customer understand how they can automate informationgathering, collect revenue and run sales promotions using VoiceMail Pro’s Campaign Manager. Callers can provide typical information by speaking answers or by providing touchtone input to standard questions Campaign Manager is programmed
• Always be in touch – Discuss the value of VoiceMail Pro’s Personal Numbering “find me” service. Customers can enter details of where they can be located, including cell phone numbers, home numbers or alternate office locations. Calls to their number will follow them to their location, and if calls are busy or unanswered, the call will cover back to their VoiceMail Pro
mailbox so that all messages are stored in one location. The Voice Mail message can then be forwarded to an associated email account or alerts a predefined number to ensure messages are never missed. (T1/PRI required). Also, with optional Mobile Twinning, calls can ring simultaneously at your desk and at a home phone or cell phone with IP Office Small Office
Edition, 406 and 412 Release 4.0 and IP Office 500 Professional Edition systems and if unanswered, cover back to the system voice mail. In addition, other users in the system get Busy Lamp Field indication on Mobile Twinned calls regardless of where the call is answered, improving communications even further.
• Branch Offices and Teleworking – The ability to work remotely, from home, a hotel or another office is becoming important to employees and employers in today’s 24x7 working world. Cost has always been a factor for employers. Now with IP Office Small Office Edition, 406 and 412 Release 4.0 and IP Office 500 Professional Edition systems and optional SCN software,
remote working can become an inexpensive reality. Callers will never know if the employee is in the office or at their home. In addition, Branch Offices can now be easily tied into the main location using your data network, allowing your business to save money on long distance calls and offer a unified front to your customers.
• Networking – Does your business have multiple locations that are all independent today? IP Office Small Office Edition, 406 and 412 Release 4.0 and IP Office 500 Professional Edition systems allow you to optionally tie these locations together with full feature transparency between locations. With optional software, call center agents can login at remote offices and
employees can login to any phone in the network and the phone will take on that employee’s personal phone settings. These capabilities can represent a significant savings in toll calls using your existing data network, not to mention convenience and location freedom. Let us analyze your bills to see how much you can save!
CallTele wins Bartlett Fire
CallTele Chosen As Telecom Vendor For The Bartlett Fire Protection District
Elgin, IL – August 16, 2007 – CallTele, Inc. located in Elgin, Illinois, a network integrations company, specializing in business phone and data systems, voice and data cabling, high speed internet and phone services, has won the bid as the telecommunications equipment and service provider for the Bartlett Fire Protection District.
Aaron Kane, President of CallTele states, “we work closely with our customers to ensure that our business products and services are in alignment with their business and operational needs”. Captain Bill Gabrenya, who coordinated the telephone system purchase from CallTele, Inc. stated, “the new phone system will save the district $700 a month in phone costs, provide free calling between stations, provide email notification from voicemail messages and will increase the number of phone lines to 23 in preparation for bringing station three online next year.”
Elgin, IL – August 16, 2007 – CallTele, Inc. located in Elgin, Illinois, a network integrations company, specializing in business phone and data systems, voice and data cabling, high speed internet and phone services, has won the bid as the telecommunications equipment and service provider for the Bartlett Fire Protection District.
Aaron Kane, President of CallTele states, “we work closely with our customers to ensure that our business products and services are in alignment with their business and operational needs”. Captain Bill Gabrenya, who coordinated the telephone system purchase from CallTele, Inc. stated, “the new phone system will save the district $700 a month in phone costs, provide free calling between stations, provide email notification from voicemail messages and will increase the number of phone lines to 23 in preparation for bringing station three online next year.”
Monday, April 2, 2007
Move over AVAYA & CISCO…..Here comes Microsoft with Nortel riding shotgun!
Nortel Networks and Microsoft will further extend their Innovative Communications Alliance partnership into the carrier world on March 28 when the two introduce an integration of Nortel's carrier voice over IP softswitch with Microsoft's hosted applications platform.
The two vendors combined Nortel's Communication Server 2000, or CS 2000, softswitch with the hosted versions of Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Office Live Communications Server and Windows SharePoint Services.
The combination will allow carriers to offer subscription services that bring together IP telephony, e-mail, collaboration, presence, instant messaging and desktop services.
At the same time, Nortel will provide integration and deployment services for carrier customers looking to implement a unified communications services offering based on the combined products.
Such hosted services are aimed primarily at SMBs (small and midsize businesses), a market which carriers have been looking to address, according to Sita Lowman, IMS market development leader at Nortel, in Richardson, Texas.
"Nortel is the prime systems integrator for carriers for this. We will provide full integration for them," she said.
For SMBs, the combined Nortel CS 2000 with Microsoft's Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration bundle will deliver such IP telephony functions as click- to-call, traditional voice communications, and inbound and outbound dialing from the Microsoft Office Communicator desktop client. Users will also be able to place and receive calls, and access their calendars and contacts from their PC or desktop telephone from their office, home or hotel room.
Aaron Kane
www.callteleusa.com
The two vendors combined Nortel's Communication Server 2000, or CS 2000, softswitch with the hosted versions of Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Office Live Communications Server and Windows SharePoint Services.
The combination will allow carriers to offer subscription services that bring together IP telephony, e-mail, collaboration, presence, instant messaging and desktop services.
At the same time, Nortel will provide integration and deployment services for carrier customers looking to implement a unified communications services offering based on the combined products.
Such hosted services are aimed primarily at SMBs (small and midsize businesses), a market which carriers have been looking to address, according to Sita Lowman, IMS market development leader at Nortel, in Richardson, Texas.
"Nortel is the prime systems integrator for carriers for this. We will provide full integration for them," she said.
For SMBs, the combined Nortel CS 2000 with Microsoft's Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration bundle will deliver such IP telephony functions as click- to-call, traditional voice communications, and inbound and outbound dialing from the Microsoft Office Communicator desktop client. Users will also be able to place and receive calls, and access their calendars and contacts from their PC or desktop telephone from their office, home or hotel room.
Aaron Kane
www.callteleusa.com
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
VoIP Secure or not Secure.. That is the question
As VOIP systems proliferate, so, too, must the measures taken to secure them. Luckily for IT administrators, several resources are available to help them do just that.
In the book "Hacking Exposed VOIP: Voice over IP Security Secrets & Solutions," for example, authors David Endler (director of security research at TippingPoint) and Mark Collier (chief technology officer of SecureLogix) bring to life the imminent threat of VOIP attacks, describing in detail how an attacker could discover, enumerate, probe and eventually co-opt an existing voice network.
Moreover, the book provides a useful starting place for VOIP adopters to begin shoring up their own networks.
The $50, 539-page book is a must-read for IT administrators, particularly those who are managing a voice network but are not totally comfortable with the technology—and are perhaps relying too much on resellers for the stability and security of the network.
Endler and Collier also have created several tools to automate voice-specific scans and penetration attacks of commonly used end-user devices and VOIP infrastructure components. These tools, along with Google hacking tips and a database of stock voicemail recordings, can be found on the book's companion Web site.
Another good resource is VOIPSA, or Voice over IP Security Alliance, which has put together a number of useful tools. The Threat Taxonomy, for example, enumerates known types of attacks and organizes them into general categories.
These include social threats, eavesdropping, or interception and modification. The group also maintains a best-practices mailing list that is still in the organizational stage but holds great promise. Data and voice ties.
The health of a VOIP network is tied to the health of the data network. Beyond throughput and latency demands, VOIP relies heavily on several legacy data services to operate correctly. For example, VOIP administrators should think about shoring up services such as DNS (Domain Name Service), DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) and TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol)—bedrocks of the network that may have been forgotten because, in most circumstances, they just work.
All of that said, isolating voice traffic should be a priority, as malware-infested desktops or servers could be used as a launchpad for attacks against a voice system that is not otherwise exposed to Internet traffic. Maintaining separate VLANs (virtual LANs) for voice and data traffic is a worthy endeavor: It will isolate VOIP components to some extent from other endpoints, with the added benefit that QOS (quality of service) will be easier to implement.
However, VOIP implementers may have to make some hard decisions about the role of IP softphones in the network because the workstations on which they are installed should be separated from the voice network, too.
Assuring call privacy through the use of encryption (of the voice payload, call signaling or both) has been a nonstarter for many VOIP adopters because call quality has traditionally trumped security as the primary objective. Many common voice-quality monitoring and assessment tools aren't effective on an encrypted stream, and IT staffers certainly can't record and play back encrypted voice calls to manually ensure call quality.
However, some new assessment tools are coming down the pike that can estimate call quality by measuring factors that can be derived from an encrypted stream, such as latency and jitter. For example, at the RSA Conference in San Francisco Feb. 5-9, AirMagnet demonstrated its AirMagnet VoFi Analyzer, which includes the ability to derive an MOS (mean opinion score) and R-values from metrics gathered without actual access to call payload.
Any of the tools mentioned here will help administrators lock down their VOIP systems, but, in general, admins must become more acquainted with the tricks of the trade. Just as they learned to use penetration testing and assessment tools for the data network, administrators must grow their skills to adapt to the vicissitudes of VOIP.
In the book "Hacking Exposed VOIP: Voice over IP Security Secrets & Solutions," for example, authors David Endler (director of security research at TippingPoint) and Mark Collier (chief technology officer of SecureLogix) bring to life the imminent threat of VOIP attacks, describing in detail how an attacker could discover, enumerate, probe and eventually co-opt an existing voice network.
Moreover, the book provides a useful starting place for VOIP adopters to begin shoring up their own networks.
The $50, 539-page book is a must-read for IT administrators, particularly those who are managing a voice network but are not totally comfortable with the technology—and are perhaps relying too much on resellers for the stability and security of the network.
Endler and Collier also have created several tools to automate voice-specific scans and penetration attacks of commonly used end-user devices and VOIP infrastructure components. These tools, along with Google hacking tips and a database of stock voicemail recordings, can be found on the book's companion Web site.
Another good resource is VOIPSA, or Voice over IP Security Alliance, which has put together a number of useful tools. The Threat Taxonomy, for example, enumerates known types of attacks and organizes them into general categories.
These include social threats, eavesdropping, or interception and modification. The group also maintains a best-practices mailing list that is still in the organizational stage but holds great promise. Data and voice ties.
The health of a VOIP network is tied to the health of the data network. Beyond throughput and latency demands, VOIP relies heavily on several legacy data services to operate correctly. For example, VOIP administrators should think about shoring up services such as DNS (Domain Name Service), DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) and TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol)—bedrocks of the network that may have been forgotten because, in most circumstances, they just work.
All of that said, isolating voice traffic should be a priority, as malware-infested desktops or servers could be used as a launchpad for attacks against a voice system that is not otherwise exposed to Internet traffic. Maintaining separate VLANs (virtual LANs) for voice and data traffic is a worthy endeavor: It will isolate VOIP components to some extent from other endpoints, with the added benefit that QOS (quality of service) will be easier to implement.
However, VOIP implementers may have to make some hard decisions about the role of IP softphones in the network because the workstations on which they are installed should be separated from the voice network, too.
Assuring call privacy through the use of encryption (of the voice payload, call signaling or both) has been a nonstarter for many VOIP adopters because call quality has traditionally trumped security as the primary objective. Many common voice-quality monitoring and assessment tools aren't effective on an encrypted stream, and IT staffers certainly can't record and play back encrypted voice calls to manually ensure call quality.
However, some new assessment tools are coming down the pike that can estimate call quality by measuring factors that can be derived from an encrypted stream, such as latency and jitter. For example, at the RSA Conference in San Francisco Feb. 5-9, AirMagnet demonstrated its AirMagnet VoFi Analyzer, which includes the ability to derive an MOS (mean opinion score) and R-values from metrics gathered without actual access to call payload.
Any of the tools mentioned here will help administrators lock down their VOIP systems, but, in general, admins must become more acquainted with the tricks of the trade. Just as they learned to use penetration testing and assessment tools for the data network, administrators must grow their skills to adapt to the vicissitudes of VOIP.
About CallTele, Inc
CallTele is a business to business telecommunication company, specializing in business phone system sales, data equipment sales, local, long distance and high speedinternet phone services, voice and data architectural design, disaster recovery and VoIP. What solutions are provided by CallTele? Phone Systems, Data Equipment and Communication Accessories• Maintain and Service Voice and Data Networks, Local and Long Distance Phone Service / High Speed Internet Service Nationwide Dispatch for Installation, Service, Moves, Adds or Changes, VoIP Solutions and Disaster Recovery
Aaron Kane
VOIP Expert
CallTele, Inc
847-888-1900
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Nortel and Microsoft equals SMB VoIP
Microsoft and Nortel Networks on Jan. 17 revealed more about their Unified Communications Alliance, announcing real deliverables and detailing a road map for further products due next year.
The alliance, launched in the summer of 2006, has yielded over the last six months a series of integrated offerings due out this year. First of the new deliverables is to be a joint Unified Messaging offering that provides interoperability between Nortel's Communication Server 1000 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. It represents the first integration of Exchange with Nortel's native implementation of the industry standard SIP (Session Initiation Protocol). Nortel will supplement the offering with its professional services for design, deployment and support.
The alliance, launched in the summer of 2006, has yielded over the last six months a series of integrated offerings due out this year. First of the new deliverables is to be a joint Unified Messaging offering that provides interoperability between Nortel's Communication Server 1000 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. It represents the first integration of Exchange with Nortel's native implementation of the industry standard SIP (Session Initiation Protocol). Nortel will supplement the offering with its professional services for design, deployment and support.
More info Click here: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2084997,00.asp
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