8 February 2005 Leading technology vendors have joined forces to promote security standards for Internet telephony – a key factor in convincing corporate buyers of the benefits of the system.

More than 20 companies will work together under the banner of the Voice over Internet Protocol Security Alliance (VoIPSA). The aim is to reduce security risks associated with Internet phones.

“One of the main challenges of VoIPSA is to dispel the notion that implementing VoIP is no different from implementing traditional data networks,” said Dave Endler, director of digital vaccine at TippingPoint, a division of 3Com. “Some people have the notion that you don’t need to do anything after you install VoIP applications.”

As VoIP gains traction within the enterprise, the volume of traffic over corporate IP networks will inevitably rise. Unless adequate security measures are introduced, VoIP could be a risk.

VoIPSA members include 3Com, Alcatel, Avaya and Symantec. However, noticeable absentees include Cisco and Juniper Networks.

It will run discussion lists, publish white papers and sponsor research.