A system processes media, such as voice and video, in a scalable and secure manner. The system can process voice and video for a large quantity of users. For example, the system can enable large quantities of simultaneous phone conversations over an IP network. The IP network can carry voice, video, and other data concurrently. The system identifies which packets carry voice data, which packets carry video, and which packets carry other kinds of data. The system scales both with the quantity of users and in terms of network topology. Multiple digital signal processors (DSPs) can be controlled by and connected to a switching device via an Ethernet network. One or more DSPs connected to the switching device interact with the switching device as separate IP devices, in that each such DSP may have its own separate IP address to which IP packets may be addressed.