Voice Over IP (VoIP) Risk Factors for POS Dial Terminals
Telecommunications companies are heavily marketing the use of VoIP service. VoIP is being positioned as an inexpensive alternative to a regular business line, both in lower monthly fees and in the elimination of usage fees; and, therefore, an attractive telecomm solution for small businesses. VoIP technology is not an acceptable option for credit card transaction processing for the following reasons.
VoIP turns analog audio signals from a regular phone into digital data that can be transmitted over the Internet. Under normal voice usage, intermittent breakage in the conversion of information on the line is compensated for by the "human factor," i.e., the human on the other end of the call. In the case of a credit card transaction, a host computer accepting the transaction, which may or may not be complete, occupies the other end of the call. That host computer cannot fill in the blanks of an incomplete transaction the way a human can understand words over a line cracking with distortion.
A second key issue surrounding VoIP is that of security. The VoIP converter boxes do not typically offer encryption. This means that the analog transactions, without secure sockets layer (SSL) protection, are turned into a digital data stream resulting in transactions being sent over the Internet without SSL protection.
This lack of security for the cardholder data being transmitted opens your business up for possible data security compromises and fines by the associations. The lack of security is not something our terminal hardware vendors can address within the security, telecommunications or application modules of the device. This is a function of how VoIP works.
Merchants have two alternatives when addressing this issue:
- Merchants may use the dial terminal they have on a "regular dial line" for point-to-point transaction processing, or
- Merchants may upgrade their device to an IP terminal which they can plug into their Internet router.
For more information about this second alternative, please call 1-877-277-3331.
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