H.460

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What is H.460?

H.460 is a firewall traversal recommendation that accompanies the H.323 set of ITU standards for multimedia communication over packet networks.

H.323 describes methods for transmitting multimedia between video conferencing systems over packet based connections such as the Internet or a business local area network. Firewalls administer the policies on these networks to protect safe areas from unknown areas such as the Internet.

H.460 is a set of extensions to the ITU H.323 standard that include methods to traverse firewalls. Devices that use H.460, implement a set of security policies that a firewall can be configured to accept. Therefore using H.460, videoconference endpoints can communicate across a firewall.

Manufacturers such as Polycom, LifeSize and Tandberg/Cisco all include H.460 products in their respective product lines. Example products are: Polycom V2IU, Polycom Video Border Proxy, LifeSize Transit, Tandberg Expressway. These products when communicating with H.460 compliant video conferencing systems can enable firewall traversal even with a tightly administered set of firewall policies.

What do I need to know about H.460?

In order for a video conference to take place across a secure firewall using H.460, a server or appliance running H.460 must be available and reachable by video conferencing endpoints. Video conference endpoints need to register with an H.460 server and in order to do this they must be enabled for this by their respective manufacturers.

When reading the specifications for a video conferencing system, ensure that H.460 is supported by the product and this should indicate the product has an ability to communicate across a firewall that has implemented security policies to safeguard a local area network.