Nearly all cordless telephones and home telephone systems use the DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications) wireless standard for voice communication. The reason is obvious: DECT offers good voice quality, has a wide range and is highly resistant to interference. But as with almost every type of wireless transmission, there are certain risks involved. Not only can unencrypted DECT signals be intercepted, unauthorized third parties could theoretically place calls from your line.

Here’s how to protect yourself

As a user, you cannot configure any encryption settings. The process is automatic in DECT and involves the following steps:

	Subscription: Pressing a key on the mobile component uses a wireless connection to subscribe to the base station, indicating that the component is ready to receive.
	Authentication: When a call is set up, the base station uses a custom key consisting of random numbers to authenticate each mobile device.
	Encryption: The (voice) signals transmitted during the wireless connection can also be encrypted. As with authentication, a key is calculated, which the receiving side uses to decode the coded signals from the sending side.
	Important: Encrypting voice data is not mandatory and is not supported by all devices.

Here’s how AVM protects you

	You must press a button for mobile components to subscribe to the base station.
	FRITZ!Fon supports encryption of your voice data.
	Voice data is encrypted even if you use MT-C cordless telephones.
	The FRITZ!Box user interface includes a convenient integrated DECT monitor, which provides comprehensive information on connecting cordless telephones to FRITZ!Box. Not only does this make DECT telephony transparent, it is also a convenient way for you to check whether your mobile component offers voice data encryption.