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16. VOICE OVER IP

Voice Over IP (VoIP) is sweeping the nation, and with its cheaper residential phone line plans and no long distance charges, many people are switching over to this expanding technology. Although many consumers feel that the cost benefits are too great to pass up, business-owners trying to use VoIP for services other than telephone calls are encountering more problems than the savings it may provide.

VoIP is an up and coming form of landline that turns an analog audio signal from a regular phone into digital data that can be transmitted over the internet. Although VoIP is a "cheaper" method than traditional phone lines, it provides an unreliable service. This means that the network makes no guarantees about the information sent and some or all of the following may apply:

  • Data corruption
  • Out of order (transaction 1 may be sent before transaction 2,
    but 2 can arrive before 1)
  • Duplicate arrival
  • Lost or dropped/discarded information

Under normal phone usage, when a person is talking to another person, it is okay if short breaks in connectivity occur. Although the conversation may not be as clear as one would like, the call can still be understood. In the event of a credit card transaction, a host computer accepting the transaction 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 distorted line. Although there is a large problem with connectivity issues, the larger concern is that analog transactions, without a specific encryption, are turned into a digital data stream that results in transactions being sent over the public Internet.

Unfortunately, these are problems that cannot be addressed within your VoIP system. EMG currently has a VoIP phone system in our offices and we utilize a high-speed terminal like the Eliot 2000 to process all of our electronic payment transactions. As a solution, we recommend that if you are considering a switch from your analog phone lines to VoIP, retain one analog line for your credit card transactions or upgrade to a high-speed terminal that can process over your IP connection.

For more information on this topic or to upgrade your credit card terminal, contact your local EMG sales office for assistance.