Are Your Calls Secure? Here's What You Need to Know

As hybrid working is becoming more relevant than ever before, communications security is growing increasingly important. Are you aware of how secure your calls are?

The norms that define how we work are changing and the emergence of hybrid workplaces bring about new challenges. With workforces moving remote, an increasing number of industries are facing the challenge of making sure their calls are secure. While navigating this new normal, your calls not being secure should be the least of your worries.

There are three main actions that need to be taken when considering communications security, namely ensuring an authorized connection between the headset and its base station, verifying that calls are made between authorized devices and making the call data unusable to intruders. Failing to complete these three steps will increase the risk of hackers accessing your data.

DECT Technology and Communications Security

Using a DECT™ headset is one of the ways you can enhance your communications security. This is because the DECT security chain mirrors the three steps with three processes that each hold the potential to enhance the security:

  • “Pairing”
  • “Per Call Authentication”
  • “Encryption”

DECT is the European Telecommunications Standards Institute’s (ESTI) standard for short-range cordless communications and can be adapted for voice, data and networking applications. DECT technology has, with good reason, become the global standard for communications security, for both residential and business cordless phone communications. It enables increased communications security because data is never sent ‘over the air’, but through the headset and its base station. The EPOS headsets in the IMPACT 5000 Series have obtained the DECT Security Certificate of Conformity, ensuring higher security than a standard wireless option.

1 Pairing

Ensure Authorized Connection

Establishing a protected pairing is the first step. This describes the registration of security bindings between the headset and its base station and the pairing data is made virtually impossible for a third party to ‘sniff’ or intercept. This is because the pairing data is not transferred ‘over the air’, but through the headset charging terminals that are used for data communication. This ensures that security is established and the connection is made between authorized devices.

2 Per Call Authentication

Verify Calls Between Authorized Devices

Verifying that calls are made between authorized devices is second. Every time a call is made, the base station needs to ensure that the connected headset has been paired and is therefore safe to communicate with. And while the industry standard is to authenticate ‘over the air’ at the beginning of each call, EPOS headsets make it virtually impossible for intruders to attack because, using DECT technology, it would only be possible to retrieve the data used to generate the Master Security Key through physical access.

3 Encryption

Make Call Data Unusable to Intruders

Encryption is next. With the purpose of protecting the confidentiality of digital data, the encryption process focuses on the encoding of voice data during all individual calls, making the call data unusable to intruders. In the case of EPOS headsets, an intruder cannot gain access to the Derived Cipher Key without hacking into the pairing process, which described above, is only available through a physical connection between headset and base. This makes the exchange of voice data extremely secure.

Preparing a business for a new normal involves an array of important parameters. Be sure to make communications security a top priority as you transition into the hybrid workplace.


Click here to learn more about how to ensure that your calls are secure.