Voice and Video in Modern Business: Best Practices for Secure and Reliable Communications

Introduction

Voice and video are now at the heart of how modern small and medium-sized businesses operate. Sales teams close deals over Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Support teams resolve issues over video calls and screen sharing. Internal meetings, project stand-ups, and even informal check-ins now frequently happen online. Whether your staff is in the office, at home, or on the road, real-time communication tools are what keep work moving.

When these tools work well, you barely notice them. Conversations flow, decisions get made faster, and customers feel looked after. But when they don’t—when calls drop, audio cuts out, or meetings are hijacked—productivity, reputation, and even regulatory compliance are at risk.

Two challenges dominate this space:

• Reliability: Can your people make and receive clear, stable calls and join meetings without glitches?
• Security: Are your conversations protected from eavesdropping, fraud, and data breaches?

This post explains, in practical and non-technical terms, what SMEs can do to make voice and video both dependable and secure, and how the right tools and partners can help.

Foundations of Reliable Voice and Video

Behind every smooth call or meeting is a network doing a lot of work. Modern phone calls and video meetings typically use VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and cloud conferencing. In simple terms, your voice and video are broken into small pieces (called “packets”) and sent over the internet.

Four key network factors determine quality:

• Bandwidth: How much data your internet connection can carry at once. Too little and calls become choppy, or video freezes.
• Latency: The time it takes for data to travel from you to the other person. High latency causes noticeable delays in conversation.
• Jitter: Variation in latency. If packets arrive unevenly, you get robotic voices or momentary freezes.
• Packet loss: When some packets never arrive. This leads to missing words, dropped audio, or pixelated video.

Best practices to improve reliability

Prioritize voice and video traffic (QoS)

Quality of Service (QoS) is a way of telling your network: “Voice and video are more important than other traffic.”
Working with your IT team or MSP, you can:

• Mark voice and video traffic as “high priority.”
• Ensure critical calls are less likely to be affected when someone is downloading large files or running backups.

Use business-grade internet and wired connections where possible

Consumer-grade connections often lack the stability and support your business needs. Consider:

• Business-grade fibre or broadband with guaranteed uptime and support SLAs.
• Wired (Ethernet) connections for desktops, meeting rooms, and call centre staff. Wi‑Fi is convenient but more prone to interference and congestion.
• Dedicated bandwidth for voice/video during peak times if your usage is heavy.

Implement redundancy and failover

Even the best connection can go down. Reducing outage risk is about having a backup plan:

• A secondary internet connection (from a different provider or technology, like fibre + 5G).
• Automatic failover, where your router switches to the backup connection if the main link fails.
• Mobile hotspots as an emergency option for key staff or locations.

Segregate traffic for better control (e.g., VLANs)

Without going deep into networking, a VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) lets you logically separate certain kinds of traffic on the same physical network.

• You can place phones and meeting room systems on a separate VLAN.
• This makes it easier to apply QoS rules, monitor performance, and reduce interference from other devices.

For SMEs, these steps don’t require building a complex telecoms environment. They do, however, benefit from a structured discussion with your IT partner about how your network is currently set up and what small changes could substantially improve call quality.

Security Best Practices for Voice and Video

As more communication moves online, attackers follow. Voice and video systems are attractive targets because they carry sensitive information: pricing, customer data, strategy, and more.

Common threats explained simply

• Eavesdropping on calls or meetings
  If communication isn’t properly encrypted, someone with access to the network (or a compromised device) might listen in or capture recordings.
• Phishing and social engineering via voice/video
  Attackers may impersonate colleagues, suppliers, or executives on a call or video meeting to trick staff into sharing passwords, payment details, or confidential information. This is sometimes called vishing (voice phishing).
• Toll fraud and account takeover
  If criminals gain access to your phone system or admin portal, they can:
  • Place expensive international calls at your cost.
  • Divert numbers.
  • Use your system to run scams against others.

Practical security measures

Use strong encryption for calls and meetings

Most modern platforms support:Action point:

• Transport encryption (e.g., TLS) that secures the connection between your device and the service.
• Media encryption (e.g., SRTP for voice/video streams) that protects the content of calls and meetings.
• End-to-end encryption (E2EE) for certain meeting types, where even the provider can’t see the content.
• Enable encryption options offered by your collaboration platform, especially for sensitive meetings.
• Avoid unsupported or outdated systems that lack modern encryption.

Apply strong authentication everywhere (especially admin portals)

This greatly reduces the chance of account takeover from stolen or guessed passwords.

• Turn on MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) for:
  • Collaboration tools (Teams, Zoom, Google Workspace).
  • Your PBX/VoIP provider’s user and admin portals.
• MFA typically uses something you know (password) plus something you have (phone app, hardware token).

Use role-based access control and least privilege

Not everyone needs admin rights:

• Assign roles (user, helpdesk, system admin) based on job function.
• Limit the number of accounts with full admin access, and use named (not shared) accounts.
• Regularly review who has access to what, removing rights when staff change roles or leave.

Keep systems and devices updated

Vulnerabilities in software and devices are a common way in:

• Ensure regular patching and updates for:
  • PBX or VoIP platforms.
  • SBCs (Session Border Controllers) if you use them.
  • Video conferencing platforms.
  • Endpoints: phones, meeting room equipment, laptops, mobiles.
• An MSP can handle proactive patch management so updates don’t get forgotten.

Adopt secure meeting practices

Most cloud platforms provide controls; they just need to be used consistently:

• Waiting rooms/lobbies: Host approves who can join.
• Passwords or unique links: Make meetings harder to guess or brute-force.
• Control screen sharing: Restrict to host or specific participants when needed.
• Lock meetings after all expected participants have joined.
• Remove unknown or disruptive participants promptly.
• Recording policies: Define who can record, where recordings are stored, and how long they are retained.

Train users to recognize voice/video scams

Technology alone isn’t enough:

• Educate staff about:
  • Unsolicited calls asking for passwords or payment authorizations.
  • Unexpected meeting invitations requesting screen sharing or remote control.
  • Deepfake risks (e.g., fake voices/videos of executives).
• Reinforce simple rules:
  • Never share passwords or MFA codes over calls or meetings.
  • Verify sensitive requests (like bank detail changes) through a second channel.

A modest investment in training can significantly reduce the chance that a single well-crafted call or video will lead to a serious incident.

Choosing the Right Tools and Partners

With so many products on the market, SMEs face a confusing set of choices. A structured approach can prevent overspending and reduce long-term risk.

Cloud-based vs. on-premise vs. hybrid

• Cloud-based voice and video
  • Your phone system, meetings, and sometimes call recording are hosted by a provider.
  • Pros: Fast to deploy, minimal hardware onsite, regular updates handled by the provider, scale up/down easily.
  • Cons: Depend heavily on your internet connection and provider reliability.
• On-premise systems
  • Equipment (PBX, servers) is hosted in your own office or data centre.
  • Pros: More direct control, sometimes preferred in strict regulatory environments.
  • Cons: Higher upfront costs, you’re responsible for maintenance, power, cooling, and security.
• Hybrid approaches
  • Combine on-premise equipment with cloud services (e.g., local PBX with cloud-based collaboration).
  • Useful when you have legacy systems but want to transition gradually.

For most SMEs, cloud or hybrid solutions provide the best balance of flexibility, cost, and features.

Integrated suites vs. stand-alone tools

• Integrated collaboration suites (e.g., Microsoft 365 with Teams, Google Workspace with Meet) bundle:
  • Chat, email, voice, video, file sharing, and calendar.
  • Tighter integration across tools (e.g., click-to-join from calendar, integrated file sharing).
• Stand-alone tools (e.g., specialized VoIP providers, niche video platforms):
  • May offer advanced features in a specific area (e.g., contact centres, webinars).
  • Can be integrated with suites but require more setup and management.

An integrated suite often simplifies user experience and administration, while stand-alone tools are best when you have very specific needs.

What SMEs should look for

When evaluating platforms and providers, consider:

• Security and compliance features
  • Encryption options (in transit, at rest, end-to-end where needed).
  • Audit logs and reporting.
  • Compliance features relevant to your industry (e.g., data residency controls, retention policies).
• Reliability and support
  • Clear SLAs (Service Level Agreements) for uptime.
  • Global or regional infrastructure for better performance.
  • Quality of support: response times, escalation paths, local or regional presence.
• Integration capabilities
  • Ability to connect with your CRM, helpdesk, and productivity suites.
  • APIs or pre-built connectors for common business tools.
  • Support for standards-based devices (headsets, desk phones, meeting room systems).

The value of a vendor-agnostic MSP partner

A vendor-agnostic managed service provider (MSP) isn’t tied to specific hardware or software vendors. Instead, they select and combine tools based on your needs and budget, helping you avoid “vendor lock-in” and preserving flexibility as your business changes.

The right MSP can:

• Recommend best-fit platforms and hardware
  • Compare multiple providers’ strengths and weaknesses.
  • Help you migrate from legacy systems at a sensible pace.
• Provide proactive monitoring and hardening
  • Monitor call quality and system health.
  • Handle security configurations, patching, and periodic audits.
• Offer transparent, predictable pricing
  • Clear, service-based pricing structures rather than opaque markups.
  • Packages aligned to business size and complexity—e.g., tiers of managed IT and digital transformation support with defined hours and coverage.

This combination allows SMEs to access high-quality IT and communications expertise without building a large in-house team.

Practical Implementation Checklist for SMEs

Use this checklist as a starting point for internal discussions or conversations with your IT partner or MSP.

Network readiness

• Confirm your internet bandwidth is sufficient for current and expected call/meeting volumes.
• Implement QoS to prioritize voice and video traffic.
• Use wired connections for critical endpoints (contact centres, meeting rooms).
• Consider a secondary internet link and automatic failover.
• Segment voice/video traffic (e.g., via VLANs) for better control and monitoring.

Security baselines

• Enable MFA on collaboration platforms, VoIP portals, and admin accounts.
• Turn on encryption options for calls and meetings, especially for sensitive discussions.
• Enforce least-privilege roles for admins and regularly review access.
• Put a regular patching schedule in place for PBX, conferencing tools, and endpoints.
• Standardize secure meeting defaults: waiting rooms, passwords, controlled screen sharing.

Governance and policies

• Define acceptable use of voice/video platforms (e.g., business vs. personal, behaviour, confidentiality).
• Establish recording policies: when recording is permitted, who can access recordings, how long they are retained.
• Align data retention and storage locations with regulatory requirements.
• Include voice/video security topics in your overall security awareness training.

Support and review cadence

• Agree on regular health checks of call quality, security settings, and usage patterns.
• Schedule quarterly or semi-annual reviews with your IT partner or MSP to update your roadmap and KPIs.
• Keep an inventory of platforms and devices in use and retire obsolete or unsupported ones.

Conclusion

Secure, reliable voice and video communication is no longer a “nice to have” for SMEs—it is a core business capability. When calls and meetings work seamlessly, your teams collaborate better, customers feel more confident, and compliance and reputational risks are reduced.

You do not need to solve everything at once. A phased approach is both practical and effective:

1. Audit your current tools, network, and security settings.
2. Close obvious gaps—enable MFA, tighten meeting controls, ensure basic QoS and bandwidth.
3. Refine and optimize over time—introduce redundancy, integrate systems more deeply, and improve user experience.

For many SMEs, partnering with a vendor-agnostic MSP that offers transparent, service-based pricing and unbiased technology guidance can accelerate this journey and keep it aligned with your business goals. Whether you handle changes internally or with a partner, a focused effort on voice and video now will pay dividends in productivity, customer trust, and long-term resilience.