What Is VoIP SIP?
In 2009, VoIP-News.co.uk, estimated that within 10 years, half of all voice calls on mobile handsets will be made using Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) software. The most widely accepted technology for establishing VoIP calls is known as Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). This protocol is encoded within the signal of VoIP calls, and controls such features as establishing the call, including more participants in a conference call, adding video streams, or enabling individuals to send instant messages (IM) to each other.
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History
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SIP was first conceived in 1996 by the Multiparty Multimedia Session Control Working Group, part of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), an "open international community of network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers concerned with the evolution of the internet architecture", according to the group's website. In 1999, future development of SIP was permanently handed over to a new group, the IETF SIP Working Group.
Significance
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The development of SIP has been described as a "critical component" in the expansion of modern VoIP technology. Equipment with integrated VoIP SIP (such as PC's, conference systems and tablet computers), enable large enterprises to replace conventional telephone systems with this adaptable, Internet-based technology. These communication systems can be operated from anywhere around the world and only require a broadband connection to function, while costing significantly less than a conventional phone system.
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Features
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SIP is known for its extensibility (the capacity to implement new features, such as caller ID, simply by writing new software code). Because of this extensibility, VoIP calls made using SIP have all the capabilities of conventional landline calls, such as placing callers on hold, playing on-hold music, and even the ability to have calls "follow" you from your home computer to your cell phone or to your office landline. SIP was one of the first VoIP protocols to allow the receipt of voice mail via email.
Benefits
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The major benefit to users of SIP-based VoIP, is the reduction in operating costs. In 2003, telecommunications firm Nokia noted that replacing the company's current telephone system with a SIP-based VoIP system would save them 11 percent of the overall replacement cost. As SIP is software based, it allows users to setup scripts (simple programs that can be run under specific conditions). These scripts allow users to control how calls are handled. For instance, a script could be written which would automatically forward calls to voice mail after a certain time of day.
Warning
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As SIP-enabled VoIP has become more widely used for making Internet calls, so too has the ability of less scrupulous individuals to eavesdrop or even hijack those calls. Businesses which rely on VoIP for their telecommunication systems have responded by developing the Secure Session Initiation Protocol (SSIP). While this secure protocol is widely used within large enterprise communication systems, individual users who use one of the many available off-the-shelf packages should ensure that their system is similarly secured.
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References
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