[SIPForum-discussion] SIP Forum Announces Ratification of Version 2.0 of the SIPconnect Technical Recommendation

Tue Jan 24 16:48:38 UTC 2017

For Immediate Release

SIP Forum Announces Ratification of Version 2.0 of the SIPconnect Technical
Recommendation

Updated technical recommendation for SIP trunking interoperability between
IP PBX and carrier networks builds upon Version 1.1 and provides broader,
more extensive set of SIP interoperability guidelines designed to speed
worldwide adoption of IP communications services 

NORTH ANDOVER, MA (January 24, 2017) - The SIP Forum
<http://www.sipforum.org>  announced today that it has ratified Version 2.0
of the SIPconnect Technical Recommendation, with the unanimous approval of
the SIP Forum Board of Directors. The new version of the recommendation,
developed by the SIP Forum's SIPconnect Task Group, is a follow-on to
Version 1.1 ratified in 2011, and provides a more extensive and standardized
set of guidelines for seamless, end-to-end interoperability between
SIP-enabled IP-PBXs and service provider networks.

SIPconnect 2.0 effectively extends SIPconnect 1.1. Where SIPconnect 1.0, and
1.1, focused primarily on basic network registration, identity/privacy
management, call originations, call terminations, and advanced services,
this version adds additional guidance on Security, Emergency Calling
Location, Early Media, and IPv6.

Where appropriate, recommendations from SIPconnect 1.1 have been left
unchanged, although some modifications to prior recommendations have been
made based on experience and feedback gathered through adoption of
SIPconnect 1.1 in the industry.

Richard Shockey, Chairman of the Board of the SIP Forum and Principal at
Shockey Consulting, says, "The SIP Forum has been working continuously for
more than 10 years to enhance the interoperability of SIP and in so doing
shorten the time-to-market for new products and services and ease the pains
of commercial deployment. SIPconnect 2.0 represents the fruits of our
ongoing efforts. In addition, we continue to maintain an open invitation to
all members of the SIP community as well as to users of the SIP protocol, to
participate in the work going forward."

"Because of the SIP Forum's consensus-oriented approach to developing
technical specifications, this updated SIPconnect recommendation drew a wide
swath of participation from leading companies in the IP communications
industry, In addition, the effort greatly benefitted from the involvement of
International participants." said Marc Robins, President and Managing
Director of the SIP Forum. "These participants have been very active in the
SIPconnect 2.0 Task Group effort, and submitted comments, suggested edits
and other useful information as the work progressed. The SIP Forum also owes
a debt of gratitude for the work and commitment to the project from Spencer
Dawkins, who served as the SIPconnect 2.0 Task Group Chair and as SIP Forum
Technical Director, and to Andrew Hutton, Unify and to Gonzalo Salgueiro,
Cisco Systems, for serving as the primary document editors."

The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is the dominant industry standard for
signaling in support of VoIP.  The deployment of Session Initiation Protocol
(SIP)-enabled PBXs (SIP-PBXs) among Enterprises of all sizes is increasing
rapidly. Deployment of SIP infrastructure by Service Providers is also
increasing, driven by the demand for commercial VoIP offerings and the need
to retire ageing PSTN equipment. The result of these parallel deployments is
a present need to move away from PSTN circuit switched infrastructure to an
All-IP infrastructure.

According to Spencer Dawkins, President at Wonder Hamster Internetworking
LLC, SIP Forum Technical Director and Chair of the SIPconnect 2.0 Task
Group, "SIPconnect 2.0 reflects implementation and deployment experience
beyond SIPconnect 1.1, and provides a solid basis for SIP trunking that
removes the last technical reasons to delay TDM replacement."

The SIPconnect Technical Recommendation, which represents the consensus of a
broad cross section of the global telecom community, is one of the most
important initiatives of the SIP Forum, aimed at providing an up-to-date,
international framework for direct IP peering between SIP-enabled
enterprises and service provider networks, ensuring the interoperability of
network elements across the IP environment and providing a level playing
field for vendors and service providers as they develop new equipment and IP
applications for deployment. 

Andrew Hutton, Head of Standardization at Unify, a SIP Forum Director and
co-editor of SIPconnect 2.0, says, "SIPconnect is the only Open
Standards-based SIP Trunking specification in use internationally. Its
continued evolution is an important part of the digital transformation of
both enterprise and voice service providers as we retire the legacy PSTN
infrastructure and transition to All-IP".

Currently published ITU-T Recommendations and IETF RFCs offer a
comprehensive set of building blocks that can be used to achieve direct IP
peering between SIP-enabled SIP-PBX systems and a Service Provider's
SIP-enabled network. However, due to the sheer number of these standards
documents, Service Providers and equipment manufacturers have no clear
"master reference" that outlines which standards they must specifically
support in order to ensure success.

This SIP Forum document aims to address this issue. In short, this document
defines the protocol support, implementation rules, and features required
for predictable interoperability between SIP-enabled Enterprise Networks and
SIP-enabled Service Providers. It specifies the minimal set of IETF and
ITU-T standards that must be supported, provides precise guidance in the
areas where the standards leave multiple implementation options, and
specifies a minimal set of capabilities that should be supported by the
Service Provider and Enterprise Networks. 

The SIPconnect work also informs other related SIP Forum initiatives, most
notably the  <http://www.sipforum.org/content/view/289/246/> SIPconnect
Certification Testing Program, a unique certification testing program hosted
by the University of New Hampshire Interoperability Laboratory that includes
a certification test suite and test platform, as well as an associated
"SIPconnect Certified" logo program that serves as the official "seal of
certification" for companies products and services that have successfully
passed the certification test and officially achieved laboratory tested,
independently verified conformance with the SIPconnect specification. 

Gonzalo Salgueiro, a Principal Engineer at Cisco Systems, a SIP Forum
Director and co-editor of SIPconnect 2.0, says, "The SIPconnect Technical
Recommendation is the basis for the SIPconnect industry certification
program, which is critical for Enterprise Network equipment vendors and
Service Providers to ensure proper interoperability in large multi-vendor
environments, decrease troubleshooting effort, minimize network rollout
effort and the need for custom integrations as well as reduce time to
revenue."

The SIPconnect Certification Testing Program currently provides
certification for SIPconnect 1.1, and will be used to certify products and
services for SIPconnect 2.0 once the industry has been able to incorporate
the guidelines of the recommendation into commercial products and services,
a process that typically takes 18-to-24 months. 

To obtain a copy of SIPconnect Technical Recommendation Version 2.0, please
click here:
http://www.sipforum.org/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_download/gid,83
8/Itemid,261/

To learn more about SIPconnect, please visit the SIP Forum's main SIPconnect
webpage at: http://www.sipforum.org/content/view/273/227/

About the SIP Forum
The SIP Forum is an IP communications industry association that engages in
numerous activities that promote and advance SIP-based technology, such as
the development of industry recommendations; interoperability testing events
including SIPit, SIPconnect-IT and RTCWeb-it; and special workshops,
educational seminars, and general promotion of SIP in the industry. The SIP
Forum is also the producer of the annual SIPNOC conferences (for SIP Network
Operators Conference), focused on the technical requirements of the service
provider community. One of the Forum's notable technical activities is the
development of the SIPconnect Technical Recommendation - a standards-based
SIP trunking recommendation for direct IP peering and interoperability
between IP PBXs and SIP-based service provider networks, as well as the
associated SIPconnect Certification Testing Program. Other important Forum
initiatives include work in VRS interoperability, security, NNI, and SIP and
IPv6. For more information, please visit: http://www.sipforum.org.

All company names and products are trademarks and registered trademarks and
are the property of their respective owners.

Media Contact

Marc Robins

SIP Forum

+1(203)829-6307

 <mailto:marc.robins at sipforum.org> marc.robins at sipforum.org

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