If VoIP is here can the thieves be far behind?

We have gotten used to reading about Phishing over the Internet. Phishing is the luring of an internet user to reveal personal details (like passwords and credit card information) on a fake web page or email form pretending to come from a legitimate company like a bank.

With Internet Telephony and use of VoIP gaining a lot of importance, phishers are now turning their attention and expertise towards this growing community of VoIP users. That VoIP has a fantastic future in the days ahead is an undisputable fact and realizing this, the phishers are cashing in on the opportunity.

The Modus Operandi: Unlike traditional style of phishing, innocent victims are lured to fake call centers or phony customer support numbers where they are asked to verify their account information. And because this type of Phishing is just catching on many people are blissfully ignorant about it and feel no apprehension in revealing their account details to the thief who they think represent their bank’s customer support agency.

As with any new type of attack, it seems as if the thieves are doing their preliminary rounds of proving the concept. However, it is just a matter of time before it becomes a full-fledged operation spanning over several continents across the Internet. It also poses the problem of someone in Australia theoretically being able to rob the details of a person in the United States and get away with it.

The Ease of Setting up: Under normal circumstances, setting up a front office and getting regular telephone lines and then trying to phish would have incurred some initial expenditure and would have been a expensive proposition to start with. But with the convenience of the Internet, there is no more a requirement to set up a front office and with VoIP technology even the telephone lines have become cheaper.

Service providers like Yahoo! Now provide a regular PTSN number to receive calls anywhere in the world. With such conveniences made available to anyone, if I wanted to set up a phoney customer support office to rob someone’s account in the US, why don’t I do it from sunny Spain?

Echoing Skype In

Key in the words “Skype” in Google search and the results page it says Skype – The whole world can talk for free. I can remember there was a time not so long ago when net2phone services were available on Yahoo Messenger for a short time. Thereafter it became a paid service and many discontinued using that service.

With over 100 million subscribers, Skype is definitely regenerating that lost interest by making calls over the Internet absolutely FREE. In order to make a free call from one PC to another, it is mandatory that both ends are connected to computer terminal with the rest of the associated gadgets like microphone and headsets. So what happens when you want to call someone who is not connected by a PC at home? For them Skype has the Skype Out - a paid service where you get to call almost anyone anywhere around the world to their regular phones. Costs have been kept fixed and low anytime of the day to make it attractive.

Now a Vancouver based company called EQO (pronounced Echo) is taking it one step further by announcing the availability of its free BETA EQO Mobile Internet Phone Service for Skype(TM), which allows people to access Skype from a regular mobile phone.

While VoIP WiFi phones will have to be in a WiFi area to function correctly, if EQO proves its technology, ordinary mobile phones could get to access the Skype software and enjoy the benefits of a low priced call over the Internet. So it would be a clever way of tapping into the benefits of VoIP without having to change your phone for a WiFi enabled one. While EQO is available for limited models are available for now, EQO is not charging for the software that’s going to bridge the gap between your PC and your mobile handset.

Finally considering the advantages this trial software will have to offer, for the larger interest of the telephoning community EQO BETtAr work.

VoIP enabled cell phones - Myth or reality?

The cell phone that helps us stay in touch with friends and family from practically anywhere are prone to weak reception resulting in call losses. Cell phones with the capability to make calls over VoIP may prove to be a solution but are such phones a reality?

The Features:
The first glimpses of a VoIP cellular phone are now being seen. Nokia and Samsung and Motorola and HP all have a prototype or two in their stables that work like cell phones using VoIP. The Cellular WiFi phones will let people make connections using a local wireless Internet access point and seamlessly switch over to a cell phone network whenever necessary. The net result is greater flexibility in mobile communications as well as cost savings gained by shifting call minutes onto the Internet thereby avoiding payment against a cell phone plan. Additionally this will make use of the benefits of both the technologies involved - high speed of the cellular technology and greater bandwidth of the Internet LAN. It is believed that the new designs from Motorola will use a single chip with automatic switching between cellular networks and LAN depending on signal strengths. This will also be achieved without dropping the call.

The Grey Patches:
A few kinks however require to be ironed out before prototypes can be sold in large numbers. · The fact that increase in VoIP calls made over WiFi would mean less calls made over the cellular network. Naturally, convincing cellular operators for support is not going to be easy. · Infrastructure to manage this on a large scale is another reason for them not being deployed as yet. · The other discouraging factor is definitely going to be the price of the handset itself. "These phones are not in the consumer end of the business" Motorola's director of business development, Chris White said

Conclusion:
Although the VoIP phone will initially target the business community and it will be sometime before it becomes affordable for the common man, the VoIP phone is closer now to reality than ever before.

VoIP - Is it future of Business Tele Conversation ?

If TCP/IP and PPP were the Industry buzzwords when the Internet was just taking off some years ago, today it is VoIP. It is an acronym for Voice over Internet Protocol. This is the technology that is revolutionizing not only the way we speak but also helping in reducing how much we pay for calls. VoIP takes analog audio signals, such as what you hear on the phone, and converts them into digital data or IP traffic. This allows the transport of voice traffic over the Internet or other data transport mediums.

The use of the Internet to transport voice and data over long distances only seems natural choice. Companies offer their services for very low rates while others offer it for FREE. While quality of the transmitted message may vary from time to time depending on the Internet and the various networks the data passes through, it has not stopped this method of telephony from becoming popular. It is predicted that by the year 2008 almost 78 percent of the Business telephony will be IP telephony.

While there are a few gray areas with this method too, the convenience and the capability to bundle video, data and voice into one helps overlook them. With features such as receiving your phone call straight from your “Inbox” and also watching a video of the caller while checking your emails that may be termed Unthinkable hitherto, its only a matter of time before the users become inescapably dependent on them.

The IP phones are constantly being upgraded. The next generation of IP Telephony systems includes video and presence or the intelligence of location and preferred media type. The phone will route calls to a set of pre-determined mediums and integrate handhelds, cell phones and chat protocols. One thing is for sure – The VoIP technology may not be quite perfect as yet but for the goodies it offers people are willing to risk it. That simply implies that it is here to stay.

Is VoIP Telephony Suitable for me?

The United Kingdom has more than half its Internet using population connected to the Broadband and as many as half a million of them use VoIP. Offers by big service providers promise large reductions on the annual fee most British pay on fixed line telephony only makes it more appealing. However, Is VoIP suitable for you?

Analysing what sort of a use you put your telephone to will help you decide. If a number of relatives and friends of yours live abroad and you stay in touch with them frequently, surely VoIP phones will certainly save a considerable amount of money. On the other hand if you rare an average phone user, it may not be such a prudent decision to make the switch.

'Voip is still not substantially cheaper than having a landline, especially for the average UK landline call,' says Blair Wadman, broadband manager at uSwitch.com. 'In some cases you will be better off with a fixed-fee landline package that offers all-inclusive calls.'

A number of packages available for the customer make VoIP look like an attractive option but there are some drawbacks before taking the plunge. VoIP call quality is still not perfect yet although that will change in time. There is also the problem with certain services requiring your computer to be left on for making the call unless as with some providers you get to use a router and leave the computer turned off. Not all packages work on Apple Macs either. Security of the phone conversation is a point of concern as it is using the Internet backbone.

What happens when the broadband connection itself fails is another issue. On the other hand it is not very often that we hear of a fixed line failing. There is no denying that a number of business houses are moving towards VoIP to tap into the cost benefits to be obtained and the VoIP market will definitely grow. Notwithstanding, you as an individual must assess whether the time and the pricing is right just now for you to make that jump.

Yahoo! and AT&T form Yahoo! AT&T to offer VoIP services

There is good news for all the users of Yahoo! Messenger and regular users of AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet subscribers and all Yahoo! users in AT&T's traditional 13-state local service area. Yahoo! has now tied up with AT&T to launch VoIP services.

With this new feature the consumers in the US can make PC-to-PC phone calls using the VoIP technology. The pricing has been kept low to make it very attractive. For now the calls within the US to over 30 countries for under two cents per minute. Yahoo! also allows users to receive calls from regular landlines and mobiles for a fixed fee of approximately $3 per month. These also comes with a Phone IN and a Phone Out feature

PHONE IN:

Yahoo! offers the users with a regular PTSN number for a small fee allowing them to receive calls anywhere in the world.

PHONE OUT:

Yahoo! consumers in the US can make VoIP PC to phone calls to call to land lines or mobile phones in more than 180 countries. Rates of the calls to over thirty countries are fixed at two cents a minute.

Yahoo! and AT&T are cementing their alliance, which began in 2001. It no small matter then that Yahoo! aims at making Yahooing an experience to remember.

The Beginning

Just decided to start a seperate Blog on VoIP because I feel there is immense potential in the days ahead !