Going Green Revisited: The Green Revolution… And the Giant Machine

“Going Green Revisited: The Green Revolution… And the Giant Machine”

My second of two follow papers for MSC 760

By Tanner Dabel

April 6^th, 2007

So, have we finally wakened up from our long slumber of just throwing stuff away? Is it time for the world to act? Are we really doing everything we can recycling wise? Or, is it too late, did we let the deadline come and go? Did we wait too long, has the damage been done? Did we ruin Earth beyond repair? If you’re asking yourself any of the above questions, you’ve already entered the world of “Going Green”. If you haven’t, welcome to a new revolution… The Green Revolution. A war fought not with guns, tanks or ammo, but with research, campaigns and policy.

What is this Green Revolution? It is the recent response to electronic waste (aka e-waste). What is e-waste? Simply put, it’s the bad guy. This is the evil doer we must combat against (the enemy). Ironically, we are our own enemy! We as human beings are the only ones on this Earth who generate e-waste. E-waste can be defined as any number if things ranging from ipods, to TV’s, to computer servers. Basically anything that’s an electronic, or runs off electricity can at some point be considered e-waste. It becomes e-waste when the item has reached the end of its life cycle and we throw it out. It could have been because new technology replaced it or it no longer works because it’s broken. Up until roughly a decade ago, this e-waste was simply dumped and forgotten. Often these dumpings would happen at sea or in 3^rd world countries.

Let us shift our focus now and think of the Green Revolution as a means to fix the giant machine (Earth). This machine has many levers and gears. There are two primary mechanics that work with and influence the machine, organizations and the companies. Both have opinions on how the machine should be fixed. Sometimes they agree, oftentimes, they don’t. There are two key locations where the machine is failing, here on American and far off distance lands of a third world country. Think of these locations as two parts of the machine, with a conveyor belt between them. Part A of the machine is in the US, Part B is somewhere overseas, and the conveyor belt represents the ocean.

The machine is old, outdated and needs to be revamped. As mentioned above, the machine is failing and there’s a problem. Right now, the machine creates waste in part A, this waste travels down the conveyor belt to part B and once at part B the waste stops and just builds up. Sometimes this waste even falls off in the middle of the conveyor belt. The waste is toxic and it damages most everything that it comes in contact with.

Let’s first begin with the organizations and how they want the machine fixed. Often times these groups are involved with informational campaigns to raise awareness of the e-waste issue. They act as the educators. They are the advocate for the machine being fixed. They try to alert us to an issue that has been decades in the making and just finally being realized. The average American most likely, doesn’t even know what e-waste is, or just how much of a problem it is. I know prior to this topic presentation, either Joe (my presentation partner), nor I really understood nor were aware of just how bad this problem really is. It wasn’t until we both started to research for this topic, that we realized just how deep the rabbit hole goes. The most important goal for the organizations is awareness. As more people become aware of the problem, more people will want to help to fix the problem. As more people aid to fix the problem, more solutions can be generated and ultimately, the best one can be used.

Some organizations are involved with combating issues that lay in part B of the machine. This deals with the issue of overseas dumping of e-waste. Without some way to prevent this from occurring, the waste at part B of the machine will continue to just pile up, slowly destroying any future use of this area of the machine. Groups such as BAN (Basel Action Network) want to rework the conveyor belt so that it doesn’t even go to part B anymore. These organizations argue that Part B of the machine in all honestly, wasn’t supposed to be used in the way it has been in the past. The e-waste dumping was loosely controlled and widely abused. Over dumping, inappropriate dumping and unsafe dumping have all occurred with little reaction or recourse by the global community. Part B of the machine is in total failure, most everything is ruined, and this part of the machine needs to be disassembled.

Other organizations suggest that if part B is going to be disassembled, preparations need to be made in the realm of part A. This is done so that waste doesn’t continue to be produced and sent down the conveyor belt to part B. The Rechargeable Battery Recycle Corporation (RBRC) would be an example of such an organization. They act as an outlet for rechargeable batteries. Their goal is to modify the machine in such a way that waste doesn’t end up in part B of the machine, but rather, stays in part A. The RBRC is helping to cut off the disposal aspect of rechargeable batteries, by helping to complete the life cycle of a rechargeable battery. Instead of throwing the battery out at its end of life stage, the battery can be recollected, recycled and its materials are used to either make new batteries, or be used in alternative uses. Whatever cannot be recycled from the battery is responsibly disposed of in a safer, more appropriate ways than what was done in the past. Tougher regulations and better polices all play a role in providing more responsible ways to dispose of any toxic materials.

Let’s now move into the realm of the companies. They are the other mechanic of the machine. For years, they did nothing and allowed the machine to break. Some companies are even responsible of the failure of part B of the machine by purposely sending waste to part B. For others, perhaps there wasn’t intent for this and it wasn’t done out of ill-will, but none the less, their company was still responsible for the e-waste that broke the machine. Though its being addressed now, when e-waste was first created as something else (before it was e-waste) little foresight and vision was used in developing what are considered “Green” items. These would be items that can be recycled down more easily than items of the past.

Some companies have stepped to the forefront and have decided to take responsibility for their past actions. One such company is that of Toshiba, who has implemented a recycling and trade in program. The aims of this program are to prevent waste from traveling down the line and ending up in part B of the machine. With Toshiba’s recycle/trade in program, e-waste is either passed to a new user (reuse), repaired, then resold (refurbishment) or disassembled (recycled). Furthermore, Toshiba doesn’t just take responsibility for its own items, they are willing to take back any e-waste people are willing to send them. They also are willing to give store credit on items that still hold market value as an incentive for the consumer to use their recycling/trade in program.

Another company, Dell, has branched out and tried more than just the mainstream type of take back recycling program. Dell has become the pioneer as of late in the computer manufacturing industry as an innovative and creative “Green” company. Dell is looking beyond just parts A and B of the machine and venturing into areas no one had thought of. One such case is that of their “Plant a Tree” optional fee when you buy a computer from them. Dell is allowing customers the option to donate $2 while buying a laptop, or $6 while buying a desktop. This donation would then be passed along to an organization that is involved with planting trees all around the world. The importance here is that Dell has just transcended the boundaries of what it means to be a responsible “Green” manufacturer. Dell is no longer concerned with just taking back e-waste. By doing this, Dell is using its leverage as one of the largest computer manufacturers to put a worthy green campaign front and center. Dell also offers a similar recycling program as Toshiba and has implemented a “Recycling Tour”. This recycling tour travels the country providing consumers with an easy “drop up” type location to give back e-waste to Dell. The tour has been largely successful and Dell is planning to extend the tour for another year.

As you can see, there are many areas for the organizations to pick and choose who wants to advocate for what within the inter workings of the giant machine. Some want to fix one part, while others want to fix another part. In the whole though, looking at the big picture, they all play an important role in helping to fix the machine. Likewise, companies are starting to step up and take responsibility for fixing parts of the machine. It may be hard for the organizations to influence the companies into cleaning up part B of the machine, but at least, they are working to revamp and recreated part A of the machine. If both organizations and companies can come together to remedy part A of the machine, at least the problems with part B won’t get any worse then they already are. Hopefully overtime, as part A is fixed, solutions will become available to fix part B. Until then, lets all “Go Green”…

Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP)

“Second Follow-up Paper”

By Kamakshi Samala

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) also called IP Telephony, Internet telephony, Broadband telephony, Broadband Phone or Voice over Broadband, means transmitting voice conversations over internet or IP based networks. It works in a different way to the normal telephone system of circuit switching but the VoIP uses a protocol called packet switching in which data is sent via the internet. In this system our voice is converted into thousands of packets. These packets are compressed and sent to the recipient and then reassembled. Therefore this system is referred as “a changing telephone world”. As this evolution is accelerating, traditional phone lines are slowly phasing out of both business and households and the world is slowly adopting the new and improving features of VOIP. However, in my opinion, it will take some time before users completely do away with that type of POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), Key Telephone System (KTS) and Private Branch Exchange (PBX) switching; all of which have the ability to squeeze multiple phone calls onto a single copper line.

There are several advantages of using VOIP and are as follows:

• Cost effectiveness – VoIP is more cost effective than the standard telephone system POTS. There are different types of VOIP systems available and the cost depends on both the service provider and the user. Some VOIP systems allow calls to those who only have VoIP running, while others allow users to call anyone who has a phone. PC to PC calls are free. PC to phone call cost more than PC to PC calls but usually cost less than half the price of the regular phone call. Therefore, there are significant monetary savings for the average business or home users making national or international calls.
• VoIP features include:
• 3-way calling, call forwarding, automatic redial, and caller ID; etc
• Incoming calls can be automatically routed to one’s VoIP phone
• Free phone numbers for use with VoIP are available in U.S.A., U.K, and other countries.
• Flexibility – VoIP makes communication easy for users across the globe. Examples of which are summarized below:
• Businesses employing call centers agents can work from anywhere in the world, e.g. Call centers agents in India can make/receive phone calls to USA.
• People using Instant Messenger based VOIP systems like Skype, MSN, Google talk, etc. can make or receive calls from anywhere in the world.
• People, who subscribe for phone line replacement services, can receive or make local calls regardless of their location.
• Integration - VoIP can integrate well with media or video data or with other services in the internet such as file sharing, video conversations and audio conferences.
• Convenience - The service of VoIP may not be as convenient as a cell phone, but it is usually less expensive and moreover it works in foreign countries where a cell phone may not work at all.

Even though VoIP has several advantages, there are some disadvantages that one might want to consider before investing in it. These are as follows:

• Sound quality - The digital data which is transmitted over the internet as packets may or may not be in the correct order when the recipient receives them. The recipient’s VOIP system reassembles the packets regardless of whichever order they arrive in. However, the real time nature of voice conversations means that if the packets arrive out of order, then it could result in silence for a second or two while the data is reassembled.
• The quality and reliability of the phone service in VoIP - This is totally reliant on the internet connection and any shortcoming with internet connection and ISP may affect the VoIP calls. However, VoIP systems are not totally reliant upon internet connections as they can also use regular telephone lines and business-grade connections like T1 for voice service.
• Security - Most of VoIP solutions do not support encryption. Therefore, it becomes easy to eavesdrop on the calls and also change their content.
• Power Outages – These make it difficult to make phone calls using a VoIP system.
• Latency, jitter problem, Packet loss, echoing, etc.
• Routing of Emergency calls (911 calls) - This cannot be easily directed to a nearby call center and are impossible on some VoIP systems. It also becomes difficult to track the person in case his/her phone is not registered.
• Sending faxes - Constraints in networking and software in some of the home systems make this task problematic.

Finally, I would say that VoIP is an emerging technology which still has loopholes. But today both business and residential customers prefer this to traditional phone lines because it’s a more cost effective alternative to other expensive forms of telecommunications. Today many telecommunications companies are looking forward for the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) which will merge Internet technologies with the mobile world, using VoIP infrastructure. Although there are disadvantages associated with using VOIP systems, I feel that these issues will become a thing of the past as VOIP technology matures.

VoIP - The Third Position Paper

By Nancy

March 19, 2007

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a technology that allows a user to make a phone call through a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular (or analog) phone line. It is a method for taking analog audio signals, like the kind we hear when we talk on the phone, and turning them into digital data that can be transmitted over the Internet. It is also one of exiting technologies that are meant to make most benefits out of the popularity of Internet. However, by looking at the ultimate goal of having VoIP: treating voice calls as just another form of data to be moved around the IP network to reduce the cost of calls and making call handling more flexible and intelligent, will it worth to upgrade from conventional phone line to this more advance technology? Will VoIP live up to the expectations set by vendors? This report offer analysis and impact of this technology on end users like a corporation.

Detailed Technological Issues:
VoIP technology uses the Internet’s packet-switching capabilities to provide phone service. VoIP has several advantages over conventional circuit switching. Another three or four calls could easily fit into the space used by a single call under the conventional system. And this doesn't even factor in the use of data compression, which further reduces the size of each call. In addition, telephone networks immediately gain the ability to communicate the way computers do.

Most VoIP provide the features that normal phone companies charge extra for when they are added to your service plan such as Caller ID, Call waiting, and Three-way calling. With many VoIP services, we can also check voicemail via the Web or attach messages to an e-mail that is sent to our computer or handheld. But behind these inflated expectations, there is an uncomfortable truth for the VoIP enthusiasts: sound quality. Until recently, an integral part of a telephone call is still considered far from satisfactory. Since VoIP is possible due to the Internet technology, limitations and drawbacks are also cause by Internet connection issues which will be further discussed in the following section.

One of the major drawbacks of VoIP is that it is dependent on wall power. The current phone runs on phantom power that is provided over the line from the central office. Even if power goes out, a telephone (unless it is a cordless) still works and this is very important for an emergency call. With VoIP, no power means no phone. A stable power source must be created for VoIP.

Another consideration is that many other systems in a house may be integrated into the phone line. Digital video recorders, digital subscription TV services and home security systems all use a standard phone line to do their jobs. There is currently no way to integrate these products with VoIP. The related industries are going to have to get together to make this work.

Internet Connection and PC Performance Issues:
Because VoIP uses an Internet connection, it is susceptible to all the hiccups normally associated with home broadband services. All of these factors will affect call quality such as latency, jitter, and packet loss. Phone conversations can sometimes become distorted, garbled or lost because of transmission errors. Some kind of stability in Internet data transfer needs to be guaranteed before VoIP could truly replace traditional phones. VoIP is also susceptible to worms, viruses and hacking, although this is very rare and VoIP developers are working on VoIP encryption to counter this.

Another performance issue associated with VoIP is having a phone system dependant on individual PCs of varying specifications and power. A call can be affected by processor drain. Opening a program that consume PC processor memory unit can cause voice quality loss. In a worst case scenario, the system could crash in the middle of an important call. In VoIP, all phone calls are subject to the limitations of normal computer issues.

Cost Issues:
VoIP can turn a standard Internet connection into a way to place free phone calls. The practical upshot of this is that by using some of the free VoIP software that is available to make Internet phone calls, we are bypassing the phone company (and its charges) entirely.

Some VoIP services offer features and services that are not available with a traditional phone, or are available but only for an additional fee. Cost of paying for both a broadband connection and a traditional telephone line may be avoidable. However, not all VoIP software and services can offer all of the features listed above in the technical session. Prices and services can be varied. Even though the cost of using the service may seem minimal, however, tools of using VoIP service including ATA (an analog-to-digital converter that takes the analog signal from the traditional phone and converts it into digital data for transmission over the Internet), IP phone (specialized phone that has RJ-45 Ethernet connector), and computer are considerably high cost investment. Especially, for a corporation who like to switch entirely its base line phone to VoIP, this costs high amount of money.

Mobility Issues:
VoIP allows users to travel anywhere in the world and still make and receive phone calls if only there is a connection to the Internet. Incoming phone calls can be automatically routed to VoIP phones, regardless of where they are connected to the network. Subscribers of phone-line replacement services can make and receive local phone calls regardless of their location. This would gain the most benefit especially an international call that will be treated as a local call with a connection to the Internet.

Security and Reliability:
As mentioned earlier, since VoIP relies entirely on the Internet connection, many security issues emerging from Internet such as virus infection, Malware and Trojan are major concerns. It is relatively easy to eavesdrop on VoIP calls and even change their content. There are several open source solutions that facilitate sniffing of VoIP conversations. A modicum of security is afforded due to patented audio codecs that are not easily available for open source applications, however such security through obscurity has not proven effective in the long run in other fields. Some vendors also use compression to make eavesdropping more difficult. However, real security requires encryption and cryptographic authentication which are not widely available at a consumer level.

Emergency 911 calls also become a challenge with VoIP. Due to some limitations in its technical issue, there is no way to associate a geographic location with an IP address. So if the caller cannot report the 911 operator where he or she is located, then there is no way to know which call center to route the emergency call to and which EMS should respond. To fix this, perhaps geographical information could somehow be integrated into the packets in the future development. VoIP providers may or may not offer directory assistance/white page listings.

The current Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) is a robust and fairly bulletproof system for delivering phone calls. Phones just work, and everyone all come to depend on that. On the other hand, computers, e-mail and other related devices are still kind of flaky. An e-mail can go down for 30 minutes and it's expected from time to time. On the other hand, a half hour of no dial tone can easily send people into a panic. So what the PSTN may lack in efficiency it more than makes up for in reliability. But the network that makes up the Internet is far more complex and therefore functions within a far greater margin of error. What this all adds up to is one of the major flaws in VoIP.

Conclusion:
The appeal of voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services is by far already attracting Internet users. This is also a technology that is being driven by consumer demands on trying to better a telephone call with gadgets found from Internet technology. However, there are still some technological difficulties that are needed to be resolved to make it perfect for Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) replacement.

In my opinion, maybe not within these upcoming years, however, these problems will eventually be fixed. Many grounds will be made up and there is a possibility that this technology will be the future audio signal transfer. For now, I think, home users will gain most benefit out of VoIP service. They can use their own computer and give VoIP a try before fully adopt it. In addition, cost of personal use is relatively small for the changeover. While there is still considerable excitement about VoIP within the business corporation, there is also a growing body of evidence of how implementations have fared to date. The capital cost of transition from PSTN to VoIP including equipment, software, and service providers are needed to be considered. With many unresolved issues as stated above, switching wholeheartedly into VoIP right now, in my thought, is not a right decision. If a CIO in a corporation would like to do so, he/she needed to check with the VoIP service providers he/she choose to confirm any advantages and limitations to their services. Underestimating the impact of VoIP on the IT infrastructure can lead to poor quality of service and worse, can impair a company’s ability to serve its customers.

Webcasting the second Follow-up Paper

Posted by Nancy

March 19, 2007

When I started searching for webcasting sources for this report, I found out that this term has been defined vaguely and used differently in many sources. According to the International Webcasting Association, IWA, they suggests the following definition: the distribution of digitally encoded multimedia (particularly audio and video) content over Internet protocol networks. Therefore any media files that were transferred though the Internet can be counted as webcasting. This makes it hard to pinpoint exactly what are the key effects on this technology since no matter one may think advantages of this technology are, there will be arguments on how these advantages yet hold for all application or vice versa.

Therefore instead of discussing only on for versus against ideas for this technology, this report will offer comments on some of webcasting characteristics that may be beneficial for users who consider adopting this technology for his/her corporation.

First of all, let me elucidate more details on the process of webcasting in order to deliver media files to end users. A webcast uses streaming media technology to take a single content source and distribute it to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. These media contents are captured on an audio input device or video capture device. It is then converted to a streaming format from an encoding station. The stream is then delivered either by a continuous stream or in a pull configuration, which retrieves the stream when a player connects to it. The term webcasting is usually reserved for referring to non-interactive linear streams or live events.

There are still debates whether we should limit the webcasting term only on transferring live events. In my pinion, it should include both “24 hour” streaming (live webcasting) and “on-demand” streaming (pre-recorded) services. While 24 hour streaming is like TV broadcasting, on-demand streaming is similar to a VCR. 24 hour streaming is the same as live broadcast, except the signal goes out over the Internet instead of the air. When a user clicks on the stream, it will take that user to a live broadcast program which can be seen as a traditional television set simultaneously. In the case of on-demand streaming, the on-demand files are always available to users, but they do not start streaming (playing) until the user clicks on them. It allows users who, in case, miss the broadcast program viewing it whenever they have free time or skip the advertisement that they are not interested into. In addition, when the user clicks, it can go to specified points in the streaming, similar to hitting the fast forward and rewind buttons on a VCR.

Flatten the World:
Webcasting has the potential to be a World Wide Television service. Because Webcasting uses the Internet as a delivery vehicle, there are virtually no geographical boundaries when compared to conventional broadcasting service. In addition, webcasting can make the most of the Web since it is a seamless convergence between the Web and broadcasting. For example, Webcasting can be used as an electronic shopping service combining the interactivity of the Web and live television broadcasting. This aspect of webcasting makes it suitable for a global business when distance, time, and reach are its priority. However, considering only on the delivery method, consuming high amount of bandwidth is by far the largest cost of webcasting. The picture quality in Webcasting has to sacrifice with real-time transmission which may makes conventional broadcasting more attractive. In this perspective, webcasting may not be preferable for Internet users and that leads us to the next discussion.

Cost Advantages:
Comparing with conventional business methods, it help an organization reducing the cost when they have to market products, train workers, educate customers, deliver company news and communicate news to the world at large. According to an article from CIO.com, typical webcasts can cost from $3,000 to $15,000 to produce, depending on the frame rate, program length, and specific tools used in order to make special effects. Different vendors, tools, applications, and technologies used for webcasting will affect the capitol cost of making one. For example, using lower technology tool may cause cheaper production cost but may increase more cost on bandwidth usages. However, more advanced media delivery techniques in order to gain better bandwidth management such as multicasting (provide the way to send packets from one host to a selective group host) and peercasting (multicasting stream via peer 2 peer connection by having a receiver peer automatically relay stream to a couple more peers), should help reducing this cost.

Real-Time Issues:
The webcast information dissemination technology is far more applicable and capable of delivering up-to-the-minute, dynamic information. Companies in the IT, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and financial services areas are proving to be the most enthusiastic adopters of webcasting. Fast communication is critical in these industries because they're needed to update in real-time manner. In addition, broadcasting of live events such as sports, elections, and news gain the most benefit out of this technology. However, the more popular a piece of content becomes, the less likely it is that it will be available to a user desiring to see it. It can cause network traffic busy if there are high demands on watching the media.
On the contrary, a boring program in webcasting can make users lose their attention immediately and turn off the program or switch to the new one. This really causes a lot of time and money that is wasted through bad resources. For a webcast that has to be delivered live manner, like television, this brings with it substantial disadvantages. The time of a live webcast may not suit everyone but a recorded webcast, however, can be viewed on demand, making it especially convenient to the target audience. It also allows the opportunity to edit the program, making it more professional and tailored to the audience’s needs. But the lack of freshness and excitement (especially for sport event or news) may cause this recorded program less attractive.

Other Webcasting Application:
Distance learning will be beneficial to this technology. A lot of US universities such as MIT and UC-Berkeley used webcasting to help promote their classroom activities (lecture note, event announcement) or help students alternatively gain more class resources.

Standard Issues:
One of the major disadvantages of Webcasting is that it has no established standard. This could be a critical problem for full-fledged Webcasting service. Standards help reducing risks for market entrants by negating the prospect of product obsolescence, further research, development costs, risks of consumers ending up with an orphaned product, and increasing competitiveness in international markets.
Webcasters may be reluctant to invest full-scale without the confidence that their choice of Web broadcasting systems will not be fully employed in the market. Digital right management (DRM) technology is also an important standard that are used to limit the distribution of any digital contents. It is integrated into some commercial software which may or may not be the one that users have. This may end up by letting users facing legal issues of copyright if he or she employs the non-integrated DRM software

Security Issues:
Currently there is no any confirmation on finding virus or spyware infected from downloading a streaming media. There are some reported but most of the infection does not come directly from downloading the media but rather to require users to download some update programs in order to view the media. There are some research articles mentioning on the security issue of private networks streaming. Basically, they have focused on security issues around implementation and use of the Direct Data Placement Protocol (DDP) and Remote Direct Memory Access Protocol (RDMAP). It is not directly related to webcasting. However, some part of their idea may be able to use for further developing on webcasting security issue on any organization networks. Seem like the best answer right now is “choosing trusted sources”.

Summary:
Based on the discussion of strength and weakness of webcasting, it is more likely that it has a potential to be the leading convergence technology in the future. Webcasting can provide live and/or video-on-demand services, reach a vast area of the world instantly through the Internet, and also provide seamless interactive service such as e-commerce business.

However, a more important factor that will determine the future of webcasting for a business organization lies in emphasizing the importance of implementation instead of mere adoption of new innovation. I found that the technology is suitable to convey live broadcasting events such as breaking news and sports. Some business may found it useful for training, showcase events, or updating real-time information. Even though consuming large bandwidth is the current major concern of webcasting technology, however, with more advanced technology in transmission line and reduction of bandwidth cost in the future, this may help webcasting being more attractive technology. Companies in the IT, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and financial services areas that real-time information are critical in their business proving to be the most enthusiastic adopters of webcasting.

Tanner Dabel

2^nd Opinion paper

VoIP

Is VoIP a Silver Bullet for the Global Business World?

When I say Gizmo Project, Skype and Vonage, what’s the first thing to pop into your head? No, we’re not talking about the furry creature from that creepy 80’s movie called Gremlins. Yes, Skype is a real word (seriously, it’s a company!) No I’m not talking about the retro van in the Vonage commercials, or the “w-hoo hoo” theme song of theirs. I’m talking about VoIP (Voice over IP). The concept had been around for a couple years, buts it’s quickly taking shape on the global level.

VoIP basically is the means in which you can use an internet connection or company T1 line to make or take phone calls. Rather then using the traditional phone lines, the call actually is run through an existing network with access to an internet connection (e.g. WiFi and broadband) or private company T1 lines. What use to be a cheap way for exchange students and US troops overseas to make calls back to home, has turned into a new global business solution.

Along with many other technologies, VoIP has both pros and cons. For as many pros that come with using VoIP, there are close to the same amount of cons (which actually aren’t against VoIP itself, but have to do more with its limitations.) Some people are ready to give up the traditional phone to go entirely VoIP (usually this occurs more on a personal level and not a company), while others refuse to have anything to do with VoIP. Ideally a business should look for that magic compromise somewhere in the middle. This strongly is determined by what the company does and how it uses the many forms of communication.

First evaluating and discussing the pros to VoIP; the foremost pro is VoIP’s mobility. VoIP allows business travelers the ability to make and take calls where ever, whenever. The only requirement is that of an internet connection. Often in these cases, that connection is a WiFi hot spot (e.g. hotels data centers, airport terminals or street side coffee shops.) This optimal mobility allows business travelers to take and make calls overseas as if they were local calls. If one where to work in San Francisco, but currently was in Tokyo for a business trip, they could take their VoIP phone number with them. It essentially is like having a cell phone that worked on a global level, but instead of having a small cell phone, you just need access to a computer with the internet. As you can quickly see, the benefits of this for some would be tremendous to some.

Another positive aspect to VoIP lay in how VoIP is already inherently integrated into computer and internet technologies. Such features that are often included with VoIP services: 3-way calling, phone conferencing, call forwarding, auto redial and caller id. In addition to these features, other features enhance the already mentioned; such as: (1) video (for 3-way calling and phone conferencing), (2) file transfer (for 3-way calling and phone conferencing) and (3) online status (for call forwarding, auto redial and caller id). All these features can greatly enrich the phone call and usually at no charge; whereas with traditional phone calling, some features are not possible, while others come with a fee.

As with all wonderful things in life, not everything is prefect. Let’s now cover the cons to using VoIP. Again, these cons are not necessarily because VoIP is bad or evil, but more or less because of its current limitations. The first one has to do with security. Depending on what a company uses its communication lines for, VoIP may not be the most secure option. As it stands now, VoIP cannot handle encryption very well. Though this aspect of VoIP is being addressed, I believe it will take some time to improve this element of VoIP. Until then, any company dealing with sensitive information may not want to use VoIP as its choice for telecommunications.

Another aspect of VoIP that is currently being worked on, but still needs improvement is the quality and stability of calls made via VoIP. It’s not uncommon to run into any of the following issues: echoes, lag time, cross over and even dropped calls. Because of this a company who needs stable telecommunication lines may not want to use VoIP until it can be shown that these problems no longer exist, or exist only at the same level as using the standard phone.

Additionally VoIP due to its nature of being ultra mobile also runs into troubles with geographical features tied to the traditional telecommunications, primarily the 911 system. Usually, when one makes a phone call to the 911 system, it can be determined geographically where the call is being made and the nearest dispatch center receives the call. Because of this permanent geographical element with traditional landlines, VoIP fails terribly in this respect. At the present time, the issue is being addressed and the E911 (enhanced 911) systems is being revised to bring VoIP into the 911 network. This however, will not completely fix the geographical aspect that landlines have, which VoIP does not. This will only allow those using VoIP to register where they normally are, so that educated guesses can be made as to the geographically location of the call incase the 911 system is being used.

Shifting to the physical demands of VoIP, another aspect that sets it apart from physical phone lines is that of power source dependency. Unlike phone lines, when the network goes down, or there are brown/blackouts; the VoIP in that area also is susceptible to going down. Because of the power source dependency, companies must be aware that using VoIP as it’s primarily form of telecommunications made lend itself to a troublesome situation if their power goes out or networks go down.

Speaking of power outages and networks going down, another key aspect of VoIP is the ability to firewall it. Some countries that have government run telephone systems currently are imposing restrictions on VoIP. One of the ways to restrict it is through the means of setting up firewalls to block transmissions into our out of a country. These governments have the capacity to shutdown and cause VoIP blackouts. Other means to restriction of VoIP is that of taxes, charges, bans, fees and in some extremes considering it a criminal offense. Because of this, if a company decides to use VoIP (especially for global business traveling), they should first look into how other they counties they deal with, treat VoIP.

As you can see, VoIP does have many fantastic features to it. But along with the great potential, one must look at what limitations it also brings. In some situations, VoIP seems to be a very good solution, but as with all technology, there is no silver bullet that can remedy every situation. Many outside factors should be considered prior to a company investing in VoIP. Companies also should not over invest in VoIP. By that I mean, a complete replacement of traditional phone lines. As pointed out in some situations above, VoIP isn’t always the best option as a form of telecommunication. As long as a company does its homework and fully understands how it can harness the power and potential of VoIP, I believe it can be a very useful tool in the business world.

VoIP 1th Position paper

VoIP Position Paper-security issues

Rokeshia Robinson

March 19, 2007

Voice over internet protocol (VoIP i.e., IP telephony, Internet telephone, Digital Phone) is the routing of voice conversation over the Internet or any other IP-based network. The voice data flows over a general-purpose packet-switched network, instead of traditional dedicated circuit-switched voice transmission lines. Before VoIP, telecommunications occurred over a public switched telephone network, that is, voice data traversed circuit switched connections. The cost savings of VoIP, both in dollars and bandwidth, compared to that of circuit switched networks is encouraging companies to move to VoIP. However, VoIP deployment has brought several security concerns.

Securing VoIP system is a lot more challenging than securing pure data network. Since VoIP does not have a dominant protocol standard, the support of two standards in products just increases the chance of buggy application. In addition, the quality of service requirement of VoIP leaves less working room for possible security measures. Not to mention various threats to confidentiality, integrity and availability of VoIP systems.

VoIP needs two types of protocols; signaling protocol and media protocols. Signaling protocols manage call setup and teardown. Media protocols manage the transmission of voice data over IP networks. However, every vendor uses either its own proprietary or one of two standards, H.323 and SIP (session initiation protocol). For example, Cisco uses the SCCP (signaling connection control part) protocol, were as the organization that I currently work for use the Avaya-UNISTIM (unified network stimulus) protocol. These proprietary protocols make it difficult to inter-connect products from different vendors.

Quality of service is vital for the success of VoIP since few will use it if VoIP can not deliver at least the same voice quality as traditional telephone network. While, I believe that the quality for VoIP may be affected by latency, jitter, and loss packets these same issues affect traditional telephone networks. VoIP has introduced requirements for data packets to reach their destination in a more restricted time frame than other internet protocol (IP) applications. Many applications are somewhat tolerant of packet delay and it may be imperceptible to the client using the application. Packet delay in VoIP, however, can reduce the functionality to unusable.

Another security issues surrounds the ability to eavesdrop on phone conversations. Conventional telephone eavesdropping requires either physical access to tap a line, or penetration of a switch. With VoIP, opportunities for eavesdroppers increase dramatically because of the large number of nodes in the path between two conservation entities. If the attacker compromises any of theses nodes, he/she can access the IP packets flowing through that node. There are several free network analyzers and packet capture tools that can convert VoIP traffic to wave files. These tools allow the attackers to save the conversation into the files and ply them back on a computer.

Unauthorized access attack is another security concern when using VoIP. A legitimate user may perform an incorrect or unauthorized operations function and may cause delirious modification, destruction, deletion or disclosure of switch software and data. An intruder may masquerade as a legitimate user and access an operation port of the switch.

In conclusion, I can go on and on about security stuff and how these issues would influence businesses decision not to implement VoIP. Unfortunately, there are some countermeasures to most of the security concerns that I have addressed. However, these security issues continue to be ongoing issues within organizations who adapt VoIP technology. With all the other potential threats lurking out there, I wouldn’t just to this technology unless I had the right security team and IT team in place to manage the ongoing issues.

BitTorrent

David Stevens
March 5, 2007
MCS 760

BitTorrent

BitTorrent was developed as means of widely distributing large amounts of data, specifically it enables the transferring of large files or a large group of files. Users use a BitTorrent client to request a certain file or prepare a file for transmission. The corporate use of BitTorrent clients has remained limited while the general public has associated BitTorrent use with software and media file piracy. However, there have been some new developments that are forcing companies to look at how they could use BitTorrent. A base of BitTorrent client users exists which gives companies a low barrier of entry into the selling of downloaded content. Small companies that would be unable to deliver content over the Internet if they were required to provide their own hardware and bandwidth.

BitTorrent Inc. is selling their own licensed content and material that Hollywood studios have licensed them to distribute over their website. BitTorrent Inc. is attempting to deliver digital rights managed multimedia content to customers that want to rent a movie. Their service is set up like the other online movie rental services (Cinemanow.com and Movielink.com), however they rely on their customers using a BitTorrent client to download the material instead of proprietary software.

Additionally, BitTorrent is being used by open source software providers to distribute disc images. This is an example of an organization with a low overhead finding ways to cheaply and efficiently distribute their product. The manner that the open source community is using BitTorrent to freely distribute their software shows how a business opportunity exists for companies wanting to distribute or sell multimedia content. Video game developers and movie studios could use BitTorrent to sell disk images of their content to increase their sales and expand their product's market influence.

The viability of using BitTorrent for a non-multimedia situation is not a realistic option. BitTorrent is designed to move large files or a large group of files easily, but it is not the most efficient choice when trying to move small files. The BitTorrent Protocol is an affective option for companies that are looking at ways to deliver on-demand multimedia. An business application that will most likely develop in the near future will consist of movies being downloaded using a protocol like BitTorrent for people to watch on their home theaters instead of going to a movie theater. The process of delivering the content in a fashion that is secure from having the content pirated is making this business prospect not viable at present.

The manner that digital rights are enforced and respected will affect BitTorrent's future. It is possible for the BitTorrent protocol to be successfully used when distributing and receiving legal content, but it is important that the standardization of digital rights occurs and becomes widely accepted. As long as the piracy image of the BitTorrent protocol is allowed to exist the delivery of multimedia content over the Internet will be tainted. However, it is also necessary that consumers and suppliers come to an understanding of what each digital license allows the users to do with their content and how much they should be charged for said license. The existence of the piracy market shows that consumers feel that the cost of a legal digital license is too great to offset the risks (legality issues, computer viruses, poor content quality) of downloading pirated material.