Voice over Internet Protocol and point-to-point video are common tools for communication throughout the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Intelligence Community (IC). However, as currently deployed, the DoD infrastructure creates communities of users who cannot communicate outside of their network or security domain. One person would have to use multiple VoIP phones to reach different security domains from a single desk, thus making cross-domain collaboration cumbersome, slow, inefficient, and expensive. The inability of coalition partners to establish real-time cross-domain communication using a VoIP infrastructure not only obstructs operative collaboration, but in extreme scenarios can jeopardize the safety of combat forces in the field.
