The Work on SIPconnect 1.1 Has Begun!

The SIP Forum Board of Directors and the SIP Forum Technical Working Group Chairs want to take this opportunity to make a number of important announcements related to the next iteration of SIPconnect version 1.1.

1. We are committed to a SIPconnect 1.1 Specification and we hereby reissue our calls for contributions to that end.

The concept of SIP trunking has received a great deal of industry interest over the last several months and many vendors and service providers are ramping up their efforts. Many of them have come to see the SIP Forum SIPconnect and SIPconnect Compliant effort as a valid forum to help resolve many of the ambiguities existent in the IETF SIP specifications and create a unified "profile" that both PBX vendors and service providers can rally around.

The value of this work is self-evident. IP PBX vendors do not want to have to go through separate certification processes to connect with each and every service provider. More importantly, enterprises want to know that the products and services they buy will work together.

2. Microsoft has joined the SIP Forum and has committed to actively contributing to the SIPConnect work.

Notably, Microsoft has formally joined the SIP Forum as a Full Member company, and has released, for general distribution, their view of how SIPconnect could be constructed. This is based on their own extensive experience with their OCS product and extensive discussions with Enterprises and Service Providers.

3. The SIP Forum has created a public depository of SIPconnect 1.1 Scoping Documents, located here, which currently includes the Microsoft document mentioned above (and Avaya, Broadsoft, CableLabs, Cbeyond and Siemens documents mentioned below), and will be the location of other member contributions as they are made available.

All members of the Technical Working Group list are encouraged to make comments on the Microsoft document. The first order of business is to bound the scope of what SIPconnect 1.1 should cover.

NOTE: You MUST be a member of this list in order to contribute to the discussion! To sign up, please click HERE.

4. CableLabs has also joined the SIP Forum as a full member and CableLabs and its member companies are committed to contributing to the SIPconnect 1.1 effort. CableLabs has contributed a document detailing Cable requirements for SIPconnect 1.1, which can be found in the SIPconnect 1.1 document depository.

As many of you probably already know, CableLabs is the joint industry standards body of the North American Cable operators. More information about CableLabs can be found here.

It should be no surprise to anyone that Cable Operators want to offer Enterprise-oriented SIP trunking services within their service boundaries. CableLabs and its member companies believe that the SIP Forum SIPconnect process is the best way forward to create a comprehensive industry-wide specification for Enterprise IP-PBX to MSO interconnection.

CableLabs has a extensive PacketCable internal working group devoted to delivering an Enterprise PBX to MSO specification to CableLabs partners. They have agreed to coordinate their efforts with the SIP Forum SIPconnect effort as well as make significant contributions to that end.

5. Broadsoft, a current Full Member of the SIP Forum, has submitted documentation containing comments and suggestions for SIPconnect 1.1.

6. Siemens, a current Full Member of the SIP Forum, has submitted documentation containing comments and suggestions for SIPconnect 1.1.

7. Avaya, a current Full Member of the SIP Forum, has submitted documentation containing comments and suggestions for SIPconnect 1.1.

8. Cbeyond, a current Full Member of the SIP Forum, has submitted documentation containing comments and suggestions for SIPconnect 1.1.

9. World-Class Technical Support

The SIP Forum Technical Working Group Chairs are in the process of recruiting a well-known SIP technical expert to actually edit the SIPconnect 1.1 specification.

The Time to Start the Work is Now!

Members of the SIP Forum Technical Working Group list are encouraged to make comments and propose contributions to begin this important effort.

The SIP Forum document depository for relevant SIPconnect 1.1 contributions is located here.