VoIP or Network Security

[her209]

If you could only specialize in one of the two, which route would you go? Which one is in higher demand now and will be in the future?

 

[drebo]

They both have plusses and minuses.

Security is taking off like crazy now, but so is VoIP. Security may pay a bit less than VoIP, depending on your intended market (corporate vs. carrier). Security is a lot more bullshit, but VoIP you may have to deal with customers and end users.

 

[mammador]

VoIP. IP-based telephony will eventually replace POTS/PSTN. And it is in its infancy anyhow. As IP PBXs become more common, the need for VoIP will be more advanced. This and softphones using SIP protocols.

 

[freegeeks]

don't become one of those paper cert security guys I have to deal with sometimes. A lot of them have no clue about the basics of networking

 

[Emulex]

voip/telco is dead when the economy sucks . network security is booming - crime goes up when economy goes to heck.

so network security for sure. voip is easy peasey compared to network security.

 

[Despoiler]

VoIP. IP-based telephony will eventually replace POTS/PSTN. And it is in its infancy anyhow. As IP PBXs become more common, the need for VoIP will be more advanced. This and softphones using SIP protocols.

It's well beyond infancy right now, but it still has a lot of growth left to replace all of the analog/TDM tech out there. Every major telco and cable company's lead business products are all VOIP based solutions.

Network security is hot right now thanks to Lulzec.

I'd recommend network security over VOIP because if you are going to school or getting a cert you are not going to get your hands on any carrier grade VOIP equipment. That is where you would need to get knowledge and experience at to make VOIP pay off for you.

 

[Specop 007]

Security, its far more focused. VoIP is a big, big field. The number of different subjects you have to learn to be proficient with is staggering, especially if you do it at a smaller company.

 

[jlazzaro]

voip/telco is dead when the economy sucks . network security is booming - crime goes up when economy goes to heck.

so network security for sure. voip is easy peasey compared to network security.

not even close...VoIP comes with significant cost savings when compared to legacy PBX systems including maintenance, support, moves/adds/changes, POTS lines, etc. it's an easy sell, especially during tough economic times. ive had customers reach their ROI in 2-3 months, and these are full Cisco Collaboration solutions with consulting services.

on the flip side, security can be much more difficult to position. unless it addresses a specific incident or problem (security breach, data loss, etc) the true value of such a solution can be difficult to realize or justify for decision makers. it's commonly seen as an overhead cost, not a revenue generator.

 

[spidey07]

In terms of demand, good VoIP guys make serious bank. The security market is flooded by people who have no idea what they're doing and companies still don't know what they want for security. Being an expert in either would give plenty of opportunties.

 

[Specop 007]

not even close...VoIP comes with significant cost savings when compared to legacy PBX systems including maintenance, support, moves/adds/changes, POTS lines, etc. it's an easy sell, especially during tough economic times. ive had customers reach their ROI in 2-3 months, and these are full Cisco Collaboration solutions with consulting services.

on the flip side, security can be much more difficult to position. unless it addresses a specific incident or problem (security breach, data loss, etc) the true value of such a solution can be difficult to realize or justify for decision makers. it's commonly seen as an overhead cost, not a revenue generator.

I didnt know if anyone would justify his silly response with a reply or not. Its pretty clear the kid has no idea the direction of the industry, or what hes talking about, if hes going to say VoIP is dead.

IP based communications is the future, and its going to be huge. Let alone saying VoIP is "easy peasy". I guess, like anything, if you half ass it and dont really understand it it is indeed easy.

 

[Emulex]

who said voip is dead? i said in the economy VOIP is slow - people don't need to upgrade. Security - PCI Compliance - is mandatory - there is a huge market for security and always will be.

Did you actually talk to companies that manage security and telco?

A legacy nortel system costs about $5G with about 100 phones with voicemail,etc. How much cisco gear with the same uptime you get from a mics do you think you will get?

 

[Specop 007]

not even close...VoIP comes with significant cost savings when compared to legacy PBX systems including maintenance, support, moves/adds/changes, POTS lines, etc. it's an easy sell, especially during tough economic times. ive had customers reach their ROI in 2-3 months, and these are full Cisco Collaboration solutions with consulting services.

on the flip side, security can be much more difficult to position. unless it addresses a specific incident or problem (security breach, data loss, etc) the true value of such a solution can be difficult to realize or justify for decision makers. it's commonly seen as an overhead cost, not a revenue generator.

who said voip is dead? i said in the economy VOIP is slow - people don't need to upgrade. Security - PCI Compliance - is mandatory - there is a huge market for security and always will be.

Did you actually talk to companies that manage security and telco?

A legacy nortel system costs about $5G with about 100 phones with voicemail,etc. How much cisco gear with the same uptime you get from a mics do you think you will get?

All I know is our sales guys are KILLING the PBX vendors. Why bother with multiple PRI's to support that legacy system when we can come in and remove a room full of equipment and give you nothing but a small box on the wall, 2 switches and phones on your desk with every possible function available that those legacy systems give you. Oh by the way, you can move the phone number around dynamically. As in you can sit down at Desk A in the morning, get up and "take the number with you" to sit down at desk B in the afternoon and you keep all your speed dials, your business group, MLHG etc etc. As an added bonus the monthly upkeep costs are pennies to the dollar of the legacy gear.

IT Compliance? I can outsource that to get the policies written, have an internal audit done then have my staff run a project to get into compliance. One time deal with virtually no month to month costs.

The fact is IT Compliance and audits of said compliance are not present in every company.

Every, EVERYONE has a phone. From the large bank in downtown to the little tire shop out in the suburbs. Now that large bank also concerns themselves with security, but that little tire shop? He just needs a phone thanks. Oh, and the economy is down and he can save a few bucks going with a VoIP solution? He'll sign.

Oh and if you really want you can take the number with you when you go home too.

Frankly I've never seen a 100 seat system go for 5 grand. If they are....I'll betchya it was replaced by a hosted PBX solution provided by an IP based communications provider.

I'm not underestimating security. Not by a long shot. Its critical and as you say it always will be. But VoIP is far more common. Legacy communications are dead. The future is IP based. Being able to blend the POTS world to the IP world while keeping security in place is what carrier grade VoIP is all about. Its this incredibly large field that blends traditional POTS, traditional translations and call routing, IP routing, security and IP communications all into one big, confusing pain in the ass soup.

VoIP is a hell of a lot more than "Oh look, I have Skype!".

 

[Emulex]

yes yes voip is ridiculously easy to setup - if you can't work out a uc560 in less than an hour with their installer you have serious issues. got it. hosted pbx? how do you deal with compliance there? or do you not have to worry about that? hosted office? hosted email? whose problem is it when your (google apps,microsoft office cloud went down in the last month) hosted apps go down? get owned?

I agree voip is great - it's stupid simple these days. far easier than setting up an old nortel mics.

Security on the other hand - naive are you if you think things are getting easier. when folks are robbing CA's to make signing certs - it's getting pretty scarey to run apps on the 'net these days.

both great technologies.

 

[Doppel]

don't become one of those paper cert security guys I have to deal with sometimes. A lot of them have no clue about the basics of networking

In other words even if you have no clue about the basics of networking, if you have certs you can still get a job. Sounds like a good reason to be a paper cert security guy

 

[gsaldivar]

Network Security = Sexy but niche/underrated role with good pay for a small numbers of people. If you can get into a company with deep pockets, you're golden.

VoIP = Less sexy, rapidly expanding/maturing industry. Lots of money here, as someone already said - everyone has a phone on their desk. It doesn't take a sales genius to show companies that they can get the same features they know and love without buying 50 lbs. of telephone room equipment that will become obsolete in a few years.

 

[Specop 007]

yes yes voip is ridiculously easy to setup - if you can't work out a uc560 in less than an hour with their installer you have serious issues. got it. hosted pbx? how do you deal with compliance there? or do you not have to worry about that? hosted office? hosted email? whose problem is it when your (google apps,microsoft office cloud went down in the last month) hosted apps go down? get owned?

I agree voip is great - it's stupid simple these days. far easier than setting up an old nortel mics.

Security on the other hand - naive are you if you think things are getting easier. when folks are robbing CA's to make signing certs - it's getting pretty scarey to run apps on the 'net these days.

both great technologies.

Which tells me you havent really had any hands on work in carrier grade voip. Which is fine. Seeing as you havent really done it I understand why you so readily dismiss it.

ETA: Since I dont want to spend all day on VoIP (Carrier class mind you) let me just bullet point some of the skills required to make it work.

1) SS7 messaging. You need to know it to interface with the POTS network and troubleshoot it.
2) IP routing. You dont have to be an expert at it but you need a good understanding of IP routing to build VoIP networks and troubleshoot problems.
3) Protocols. Yum. SIP, H.323, RTP, MGCP and a few others I cant think of right off.
4) Security. You dont want someone to compromise your IP based voice network and start calling out internationally. It happens. More than I care to admit. SBC's, firewalls, ACL's etc etc. Learn'm, Live'm, Love'm.
5) TDM signalling, the building blocks of the POTS network. Unless you do IP handoffs but that may not always be the case. You better be able to order, test and turn up a T1. How about timeslots on a DS3? PRI's? Is it a B channel or D channel problem? Maybe compatibility between equipment? Better know it, your customer will leave you if you cant get it working.
6) Hosted PBX functionality. Does a phone ring and then go to voicemail? Does it ring and roll over? Simring? Ring multiple phones at once? Doesnt work? Can you Wireshark it and read all the above mentioned protocols to figure out why it doesnt work?
7) Call routing. I know people who have performed Translations for decades and still dont know everything there is to know about it. Its that broad of a subject. You better know it to make sure you set up, normalize and route your calls correctly to the POTS network. Do you need redirect numbers? Rewrite caller ID? ANI/ALI? Cic code? Pic code? Does your market support 7 or 10 digit dialing? Both? How about dial around, dont forget that.

VoIP for people who havent really rolled up their sleeves and gotten into the details does seem easy on the surface. Shit, it was designed to be easy and for 95% of the users out there it is in fact quite easy.
But theres a small segment of the VoIP professionals out there that know more about the above listed shit than they ever wanted to and wish VoIP would go the fuck away so they can go fishing. In the meantime, we drink. Heavily.

PS: I've never touched a Cisco outside of the router that supports my sigtran links. I have no idea how Cisco's VoIP solutions work or how easy they are to implement.

 

[her209]

Does anyone make a bare metal Cisco phone emulator? That is, an emulator that installs directly onto the computer or is run from a CD (like a Linux Live CD)? I know Cisco has the IP Communicator but it needs to be installed in a Windows environment.

I know I could just buy some used Cisco IP phones off eBay but I'd prefer the emulator because I can then run them in a virtual environment.

 

[her209]

OK, I picked up two Cisco 3745 routers off of eBay that I will use to run CME and connect together as dial peers and a few Cisco IP phones as well. I already have Cisco 2950 switches and several 2600 routers from my CCNA labs, but I will probably pick up one Cisco 3550 with inline power. I will reuse all the gear for CCNP and CCNP Voice.

I was looking at the cost for a used Cisco Unity Express NM-CUE module and its pretty expensive ($350+). Or is that considered a normal price?

 

[drebo]

CUE modules (NM-CUE and AIM-CUE) are all expensive because they're still considered modern and useful. If you could find one for $350, I'd say snag it because I usually see them for upwards of $600.