Though Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) adds many desirable new features to business communication systems, vendors and customers can face security challenges to realize these benefits, reports In-Stat (http://www.in-stat.com). As a result, more than 75% of the companies that have implemented VoIP plan to replace their security appliances within the next year, the high-tech market research firm says. The security appliance market is poised for strong growth over the next few years, and will reach $7 billion by 2009, In-Stat forecasts.

Traditional firewall technologies can complicate several aspects of VoIP, most notably dynamic port trafficking and Network Address Translation (NAT) transversal. Security product vendors are adding functions that address voice applications in their products, but, as history has shown, security typically lags behind advances in technology.

A recent report by In-Stat found the following:

• Larger, mid-sized companies (500-999) show a higher percentage of concerns about VoIP security than companies of other sizes.
  
• Budgets allocated for new security appliances are significantly higher in companies that have already implemented VoIP.
  
• Reliability is by far the most important criteria for the purchase of new security appliance products by businesses.

By: DocMemory
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