5 Tips for secure video conferencing

1.Enable Mute

Unlike telephones, video conference systems are often set to auto answer. Remember that the mic may be on and live when you walk into the room, which means the people at the far site can hear you. Most video conferencing systems have the option to mute auto answer calls. By enabling the mute function you can be sure your private conversations are not overheard. Always check the mic mute function is enabled for auto answer, and always check the mute function is disabled when you do want to speak to the far site.

2.Lower your volume        

Unlike conventional conversations the audio from your video conference is amplified. Check that the noise levels inside the room where you video conference from do not penetrate the walls and spill over into adjoining rooms, in that way confidential conversations remain within your preverbal four walls.

3.Enable Encyption

Video conferencing over IP can be much cheaper than over ISDN however if not configured correctly it could be open to security breach. There are several ways to ensure video conferencing over IP is secure and two of the simplest are to enable passwords on the system and enable AES security encryption for all calls. Enabling a meeting password is like fitting a lock to your meeting room door, anybody wanting to get in will be required to have the room password to enter. AES encryption scrambles your meeting data and video packets, which stops hackers interpreting what is being said and shared.

4.Limit far site camera control 

Far site camera control is a great feature of video conferencing. Sadly it also carries security risks. Anybody dialing into your video conference system can control your camera and view anything within your conferencing room. This can be a security risk if any of your business activity, room layout, prototypes, or sensitive documents are on view in the room. To stop far site camera control disable far site camera control in your settings. It is also a good idea to point the camera at a blank wall or out of a window so that people dialing in will only see what you want them to see. There is of course a simple solution to ensure your secrets are kept secure, and that is to turn your system off when not in use.

5.Ask Questions

From time to time you may want to call a video conference system that is on a different type of network; for example you may have an IP based video conference system and want to contact someone on an ISDN based system. Or you may want to connect to 3 or more sites. In these instances you have to use a bridging service. Bridging connects different networks and multiple systems including PC’s all in one call. There are two types of bridging service; Managed and Unmanaged. When using managed service always ask that the operator is passive and does not listen to your call; also check that the call is not recorded (unless you want it to be) and ask for a copy of the operators data protection policy.

Video conferencing is being deployed more widely and has incorporated the use of computers as well at traditional set top systems. To find out more about video conferencing or any of the topics mentioned in this article contact cs@videoconferencinglondon.co.uk or visit our main website www.videoconferencinglondon.co.uk