Nortel, SecureLogix Partner For Voice Security

According to Nortel, the Voice Security Services solution combines SecureLogix technology with Nortel's voice and security tools to help end customers lock down multi-vendor, multi-technology voice networks. The services include assessment of costly voice service theft and misuse across the enterprise, inefficient phone service configuration and resource utilization, and underlying voice network vulnerabilities that threaten the security of voice and data networks.

Nortel VARs can resolve voice security issues through best practices consulting and implementation of the SecureLogix ETM System, a comprehensive voice network security and management platform that lets customers protect voice and data network resources from telephony-based attacks and abuses; optimize their telecom resources and expenditures; and simplify voice network management.

The services are available now through the Nortel channel, said Joe O'Donnell, vice president of worldwide business development for San Antonio, Texas-based SecureLogix.

"It will allow a VAR to overcome the challenges they face in a multi-vendor environment," he said, adding that most VARs focus on one or two key vendors, making it difficult to land deals in multi-vendor environments, which are becoming more commonplace as more companies begin evaluating unified communications solutions.

Additionally, O'Donnell said, VARs will be able to offer differentiated services around voice compliance while also boosting sales velocity by not having to put deals on hold to wait for potential customers to overhaul their entire voice systems.

"They can give visibility and control where they haven't been able to before," O'Donnell said. "We will provide that VAR and their customer network-based visibility and control of the infrastructure."

The PBX-independent ETM System unifies the security and management of distributed, multi-vendor voice environments. The ETM System is a real-time media voice firewall, offering centralized visibility and control over all voice network access and usage through automated security policy enforcement. The system protects telecom and data networks from attacks and threats like denial of service, toll fraud, service abuse, harassing calls, unmonitored Internet use over phone lines, information theft and data leakage, phone-based identity theft and vishing attacks, modem line backdoors into the corporate LAN, voice/fax spam; and other unauthorized phone traffic and usage.

Additionally, the ETM System's voice usage and performance management applications let users optimize telecom resources and service use to reduce phone bills and other voice network operational costs through centralized, IP-PBX independent call accounting, resource utilization reporting, call recording, performance and QoS alerting and management capabilities.

The ETM System supports both TDM and VoIP, enabling unified voice security and management that spans legacy and VoIP communications and infrastructure.

Nortel general manager for security services and solutions, Rod Wallace, said companies are paying closer attention to voice security and relying on VARs to deliver solutions that help protect the voice network, which is becoming just as, if not more, critical than the data network.

"The role that voice networks play in ensuring corporate and data security is emerging as a focus area for CIOs," Wallace said in a statement, adding that the relationship with SecureLogix lets Nortel VARs "offer a unified, 360-degree means to view and mitigate threats across corporate voice networks."

SecureLogix president Lee Sutterfield agreed.

"This relationship was spurred by our customers," Sutterfield said. "Organizations are becoming more aware of the threats to their telephony systems and the critical need for dedicated voice network security and management solutions, particularly as they consider migration to VoIP and unified communications. Without comprehensive voice security technologies to ensure voice availability, quality of service and confidentiality, broad deployment of VoIP and unified communications will not be realized."