Solutions for Voice over IP (VOIP) Interception

AQSACOM's time and field-proven approach to lawful interception architecture addresses the interception of VOIP networks through:

• A highly modular design that can be readily integrated with other AQSACOM products, including our massive-scale IP interception solutions.
• Conformance to current and emerging standards (e.g. CALEA J-STD-025, T1.678, ETSI ES 201 671, ETSI TS 102 232-1, ETSI TS 102 232-5, and upcoming IMS standards) as well as to local law enforcement regulations.
• Support for SIP, MGCP, and other VOIP networking technologies and protocols.
• Operation on off-the-shelf hardware for easy serviceability and parts management.
• Interoperability with major VOIP equipment and router vendors.
• Optional interoperation with legacy voice telephony monitoring systems.
• Easy-to-use human interface requiring minimal training.

AQSACOM delivers a future-proof approach to VOIP interception, adaptable to newly emerging standards and the best practices on how these standards will be implemented. This means that AQSACOM customers avoid costly upgrades to their lawful interception infrastructure every time standards change or emerge, or when the service provider enlarges its network, introduces new services, or changes network components. The flexibility of our software-based architecture makes our system readily adaptable to the wide range of VOIP architectures, service offers, and network sizes in place now and in the future.

Technical Description

AQSACOM bases its VOIP interception solutions on the widely deployed AQSACOM Lawful Interception System (ALIS) platform. ALIS comprises two components: 1) ALIS-M for target provisioning and interception management; and 2) ALIS-D for intercepted data collection, formatting and delivery to the Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). In certain configurations, ALIS-M directly provisions call agents, SIP servers, and similar network components to extract pertinent target information, such as the mapping between a target subscriber's phone number and IP address at the time of the interception. Once this address is known, ALIS-M instructs ALIS-D to capture and format media traffic associated with the call. The point of capture is typically a router with built-in interception capability, or a probe. This router (or probe) is also provisioned by ALIS-M. Once the intercepted traffic is captured by ALIS-D, ALIS-D then formats and delivers both the call content (CC/CCC) and call data (CDC/IRI/CII) to the LEA. Delivery may utilize traditional TDM channels (e.g., ISDN) thanks to ALIS' optional TDM gateway feature, or apply packetized formats conforming to the newly emerging standards (e.g., T1. 678). The following figure shows an ALIS configuration that performes active interception of the targeted network VOIP traffic. This solution applies the internal interception functions that are built into the call agent, media gateway, and other components.

The next figure shows a typical ALIS probe-based passive solution that detects and formats VOIP-related packets. Here Aqsacom-supplied probes extract the call data from the overall bulk traffic in the vicinity of the call agent/server; likewise, probes are used to extract the targeted media traffic from the bulk traffic to/from the media gateway.

These configurations are only two examples of the many ways ALIS can be adapted to a VOIP provider's specific lawful interception requirements. Configurations may call for hybrid approaches that combine active and probe-based passive methods. Contact an AQSACOM representative today to further discuss your VOIP network's unique needs towards lawfully compliant interception.