2019 Annual General Meeting Notice
Meeting Date: Tuesday, 18 February 2020
1 – Announcement: Annual General Meeting
Section 12 of the By Laws of the SIP Forum (the “Forum”) provides that the Forum hold an Annual General Meeting that is open to all members. In accordance with the By Laws, this document shall serve as official notice for the Annual Meeting of the SIP Forum to be held as follows:
1.1 – Date / Time of Meeting
The general meeting will be held:
Tuesday, 18 February 2020 1:00pm – 2:30 pm U.S. Eastern Standard Time Via WebEx. Login URL, Dial-In Number and Passcode to be sent in follow-on message via the mailing list.
2 – Subject Matter for the Meeting
In the meeting, a review of the financial operations, including a review of the audit for fiscal year 2019, will be provided, as well as a review of the operational activities that have occurred since the last General meeting.
In addition, Full Members will be asked to vote on two items.
2.1 – Voting Items
Two official voting items are on the agenda:
Please note:
As the 2019 Annual General Meeting will be held remotely, via WebEx, all Full Member Representatives submit their email ballot or fax or email their Proxy vote using the Voting Form Proxy document prior to the AGM.
Votes must be received from > 50% of Full Members in order to have a valid election, and in order to have a valid vote regarding the Discharge item.
The deadline described below for returning ballots via surface mail is Tuesday, 11 February 2020 and via fax or email Friday, 14 February 2020.
3 – Board Member Elections
Members of the Board of Directors serve for two-year terms, with terms expiring at the general meeting that takes place at the end of this term. Elections for new board members will take place at this general meeting.
There are six (6) Board seats opening this year. They include five seats held by current directors Russ Penar, Gary Richenaker, Greg Rogers, Gernot Scheichl, and Richard Shockey, as well as one additional seat that is currently unoccupied.
The seats held by Mary Barnes, Martin Dolly, Philip Linse, Chris Wendt and Clark Whitten are not expiring.
3.1 – Voting Limits
Our current Bylaws indicate that only four Directors may be Participant Members at any one time. Since the seat occupied by one participant member (Richard Shockey) is up for election, and the seats held by Mary Barnes, Martin Dolly and Philip Linse are Participant board member seats, one Participant (Individual) Member can be elected in this election (or re-elected in the case of Richard Shockey).
You will be voting by expressing a preference order for candidates. This preference order will be used to tally the Directors who are elected.
3.2 – Who Can Vote
Each Full (paying) Member is entitled to a single vote on the matters being presented for a vote. Each Full Member has the right to vote either electronically via email, or by an agent authorized by a proxy validly executed by the Full Member. A proxy shall be executed by written authorizations signed by the Full Member, giving the proxy holder the right to vote the vote.
Full Members not voting electronically (via email) can utilize a proxy form provided with this general meeting announcement package. The proxy provides a method to vote for the Director candidates, and grants to the Managing Director of the SIP Forum the right to cast the vote on behalf of the Full Member giving the proxy. Alternately, a Full Member can cast a vote electronically, via email, as described in Section 5 of this notice.
The Board strongly urges you to submit a vote via email, submitted directly to Marc Robins, the SIP Forum Managing Director.
3.3 – Candidates for Election
- Russ Penar – Microsoft (current board member standing for re-election)
- Gary Richenaker – iconectiv (current board member standing for re-election)
- Greg Rogers – Bandwidth (current board member standing for re-election)
- Harold Salters – CTIA
- Gernot Scheichl Vonage (current board member standing for re-election)
- Richard Shockey – Shockey Consulting (current board member standing for re-election)
3.4 – Candidate Statements and Biographies
The statements by the candidates about their desire to serve on the board, along with their biographies, are shown here as provided by each candidate. The Board strongly recommends you read these, as we seek Directors who will add substantial value, so it is crucial your vote is well-informed.
Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by last name. Please do not allow this order to influence your voting.
The Board has not endorsed any slate of candidates.
3.4.1 – Russ Penar – Microsoft
3.4.1.1 – Statement of Candidacy
I found the telephony world 12 years ago after joining a consulting firm, Engineers Consulting Group (ECG). I cut my teeth by installing Media Gateways, SBCs, and soft-switches for mom & pop (and some T1/T2) telcos throughout North America. The racking/stacking/wiring provided a foundation to build on, then came the configuration, troubleshooting, and design work. ECG provided me with the opportunity to contribute to training material and deliver hands-on VoIP engineering training. Apart from ECG, I have worked for CenturyLink and Microsoft, providing broad experience in SIP implementations. I worked closely with multiple SIP equipment/software vendors and have in-depth & hands-on design and deployment experience involving large scale residential and commercial services.
Recently, I’ve been focused on NNI and SIP Trunk specifications for Microsoft products and was accepted to present twice at SIPNOC. My SIPNOC presentations focused on improving interoperability & monitoring of SIP based services through education/info-sharing. Industry education isn’t enough, standards and/or recommended profiles are required, and I hope to have a positive influence on those through work in SIP Forum.
I appreciate & welcome the opportunity to bring my real-time communications experience as well as my passion for finding solutions to the SIP Forum. I sincerely hope my experience and perspective can be a positive influence on the good work of SIP Forum.
3.4.1.2 – Biography
Russ Penar is a Principal Service Engineer for Microsoft, working on Skype for Business and Teams, where he serves as a subject matter expert in technical aspects of the carrier substrate defining interface and SLA requirements for 0365 telco partners. Russ serves as a “full stack” engineer/architect, bootstrapping deployments, and driving internal and external technical experts to debug/repair problems within the service and the broader PSTN ecosystem. On the industry and regulatory level, Russ interfaces with various organizations for the betterment of real time communications.
Previously Russ held positions in operations, engineering, and architecture teams at Engineer Consulting Group, CenturyLink, and Microsoft; providing breadth and depth of hands-on experience across many SIP implementations and their supporting IP networks. He holds a BS in Computer Information Services, from Valdosta State University, and is the co-inventor (issued & pending) of 12+ patents within the context of real-time communications.
3.4.2 – Gary Richenaker – iconectiv
3.4.2.1 – Statement of Candidacy
SIP-based communications and applications have fundamentally changed the way we interact for both consumers and businesses with rapid advances in user-experience, unified communications and multi-media services. SIP has been adopted as the communications protocol for signaling and controlling multimedia communication sessions for real-time IP communications.
However, new technologies and architectures introduce implementation and integration challenges such as IETF’s Secure Telephone Identity Revisited (STIR) and Secure Handling of Asserted information using toKENS (SHAKEN) being developed by the SIP Forum/ATIS IP NNI Task Group. The SIP Forum is well positioned to work through these issues and with other appropriate Standard Development Organizations in an inclusive environment towards a consistent standard, in order to facilitate compliance and interoperability testing, and then work with the stakeholders to make the appropriate updates to the reference documents.
I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on the board and our industry. I greatly appreciate the opportunity and your consideration in renewing my seat on the SIP Forum’s Board of Directors.
3.4.2.2 – Biography
Gary Richenaker has been in Telecommunications for over 40 years and his most recent assignment is Principal Solutions Architect at iconectiv. His role is to monitor and understand new technologies, to assess its impact on the existing products and services as well as identify how that technology can be used in the formulation of new products and services. Currently, Gary is also serving as the PMA Director for the STI-Policy Administrator.
Prior to the iconectiv assignment, Gary served as Sr. Director – Strategic Technical Initiatives at Neustar and prior to that as Chief Architect in Telcordia’s Interconnection Solutions. His career with iconectiv, NeuStar, Telcordia, Bellcore, and Bell Laboratories has included responsibilities in technical analysis, strategic planning, marketing, planning and forecasting.
Gary has been involved in domestic and international standards since 1991 and is presently Co-Chair of the ATIS Robocalling and Communication ID Spoofing Group (RCID) Group and past Co-Chair of the ATIS Testbed Landscape Team (TLT). He also served as editor for the ATIS/SIP Forum IP NNI Routing Document, and is currently the editor for the Technical Report on Full Attestation Alternatives for Enterprises and Business Entities with Multi-Homing and Other Arrangements. Gary has also been Rapporteur of the ITU-T Numbering Question (SG2/1), Chairman of the US ENUM Forum, Chairman of the US Study Group A Ad-Hoc on Numbering, Routing and Services. He is also Past-Chairman of the US IMSI Oversight Council (IOC), and the US Study Group A Ad-Hoc on ENUM.
Gary holds an MBA and a BS in Economics.
3.4.3 – Greg Rogers – Bandwidth, Inc.
3.4.3.1 – Statement of Candidacy
As Head of Global Policy and Regulatory Affairs for Bandwidth Inc. I believe I’d bring a somewhat unique set of skills and perspectives to SIP Forum. As a regulatory and public policy lawyer, I represent Bandwidth in a wide range of telecommunications matters within the industry and before regulatory bodies. Bandwidth is one of the nation’s largest carriers based upon the number of telephone numbers in service and its CLEC PSTN interconnection footprint. It is an all-IP based provider and thus, it is focused on how the industry and the regulatory environment continue to evolve toward IP-based solutions.
I serve on the North American Numbering Council as Bandwidth’s representative and also did so on behalf of Level 3 Communications previously. I also represent Bandwidth in the NAPM LLC, which oversees the contract of the NPAC on behalf of the industry and the FCC. I have also been a Board Member of the STI-GA from the beginning and have been very close to the industry efforts to deploy STIR/SHAKEN across the industry. Among other services that Bandwidth offers are competitive SMS/MMS and Toll-Free based services. In those areas, I represent Bandwidth with other carriers and service providers and within industry forums like CTIA with respect to establishing network routing and service provider guidelines. Finally, Bandwidth is also a 911 service provider, which is a critical component of how voice and text communications, that may or may not be associated with NANP numbers, operate. Therefore, with this background and set of responsibilities I hope to participate as a Board member with SIP Forum with its efforts toward establishing effective industry practices and standards in an exciting transitional period of the communications industry.
3.4.3.2 – Biography
Greg is Head of Global Policy and Regulatory Affairs for Bandwidth Inc. in Bandwidth’s office in Denver, CO. Greg is primarily responsible for Bandwidth’s wide array of regulatory and public policy matters at all levels of government both domestically and internationally. Bandwidth is a multi-faceted communications service provider that operates a nation-wide all IP-based network in the U.S. from its headquarters in Raleigh, NC.
Bandwidth.com CLEC, LLC. is a Bandwidth affiliate that operates a CLEC with a local PSTN interconnection and NANP footprint that spans the 48 continental states. Bandwidth’s CLEC network is a critical component of its full suite of VoIP and SMS/MMS service offerings. Bandwidth also operates a nation-wide 911 VPC network aimed at supporting emergency calling for IP-enabled services. As a wholesale provider, Bandwidth is also one of the largest Toll Free Resporgs in the country. Finally, among its retail service offerings, Bandwidth operates Republic Wireless, a leading innovator in the mobile VoIP and wireless services space.
Greg has been at Bandwidth since 2010. Prior to joining Bandwidth, he was Senior Corporate Counsel for Level 3 Communications for over a decade. Greg is a graduate of the University of Colorado School of Law in Boulder, CO.
3.4.4 – Harold Salters – CTIA
3.4.4.1 – Statement of Candidacy
I have been a regular participant on the Joint ATIS/SIP Forum IP-NNI Task Force since November 2016 in my role as a consultant for CTIA — Everything Wireless. I am well-versed on STIR/SHAKEN and the special insights that the wireless sector brings to deployment and the need for ecosystem integration, where the SIP Forum plays such a vital role.
3.4.4.2 – Biography
Prior to my consulting engagement, I was T-Mobile’s Director of Federal Regulatory Affairs for 14 years working on a broad range of wireless technical public policy issues, including cybersecurity, homeland security, network reliability/survivability and disabilities access. In those roles, I represented T-Mobile at DHS’s National Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Center, the FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability & Interoperability Council, and ATIS’s Network Reliability Steering Committee and Interim Non-Voice Emergency Services Incubator. Prior to that, I was Sr. Director for Government Relations at PCIA, predecessor to the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA), and worked at two DC law firms and the FCC on private land mobile and microwave issues. At the FCC, I was a charter member of the Future Public Safety Telecommunications Requirements Task Force. I’m a graduate of Queens College (CUNY) and have an MBA from Cornell University.
3.4.5 – Gernot Scheichl – Vonage
3.4.5.1 – Statement of Candidacy
For over 25 years, I have been heavily involved in the real-time application networking space providing secure solutions for global service providers and enterprises for data, voice, and video over different network technologies using various protocols. In the mid-1990s I started designing and deploying global video conferencing and video on demand solutions for fortune 100 companies (e.g. IBM, Goldman Sachs). Starting in 2003 I have worked primarily in the VoIP space (UCaaS – hosted and SIP trunking) dealing with many of the early SIP network design issues, interoperability issues between different vendors equipment, integrating legacy voice offerings to SIP via media gateways, voice security and voice fraud prevention. Since early 2019 I have been working in the CPaaS voice-messaging-video space, which adds a new dimension of complexity to SIP voice services.
At Vonage (API division based on Nexmo CPaaS), we offer a high scalable CPaaS B2P and A2P solution with world wide reach. I am currently working on new SIP voice solution designs to be aligned with regulatory requirements world wide, which operate within strict and complex security and fraud prevention guidelines and provide a very large scale of call setup rates, simultaneous calls and very high call volumes.
At Edgewater Networks, we provided voice products for UCaaS offerings that required a wide range of multi-vendor interoperability. I have had the opportunity to work with many VoIP protocols (proprietary, SCCP (Skinny), MGCP, H.323, and SIP) and by doing so I have acquired extensive knowledge on what customers are asking for as well as how a solution can be designed and deployed. One of my longer standing projects was to build a SIP-trunking interoperability lab, which consisted of approximately 50 PBX’s (IP and legacy), SBCs, ESBCs, various IP phone endpoints, and SIP trunks from all major U.S. SIP trunking service providers. I steered this lab to be aligned with the SIP Forum SIP Connect task force and worked closely with Robert Kinder on this. Edgewater Networks became the first primary sponsor for the SIP Connect Interoperability Certification.
Throughout my career I also have been involved in enhancing SIP call reporting and SIP KPI analytics required by the VoIP SPs for various applications including VoIP fraud, VoIP Security, VoIP QoS and overall VoIP service monitoring and troubleshooting.
I think the SIP community needs to continue to focus on SIP compliance, security, voice fraud issues and how to better prevent it. I think the SIP Forum is an ideal arena to continue to address these issues. I believe that I can provide valuable contribution to the SIP Forum and the different work groups as a Board of Director through my years of hands-on experience in the industry and as a long-time advocate for SIP as the protocol of choice.
3.4.5.2 – Biography
Gernot Scheichl has over 25 years’ experience in the real time application (voice and video) networking industry world wide in a variety of technical and management roles including solution architect, business development, technical presales and post sale customer support. Mr. Scheichl was a founding member of two Silicon Valley real time communication startups since the mid 1990. Mr. Scheichl is currently the Director of Customer Solution Engineering at Vonage for the CPaaS API division, which acquired several companies over the last 48 months, including Nexmo, TokBox, over.ai. Previously Mr. Scheichl held the role of Chief Field Architect at Edgewater where he is responsible for major customer solution designs and new engineering feature and product designs. Mr. Scheichl joined Edgewater from First Virtual Communications where he held a number of senior positions in worldwide support and international business development. Mr. Scheichl holds a degree in Electronic Engineering and a degree in Information Technology from the Technical University Vienna, Austria.
3.4.6 – Richard Shockey – Shockey Consulting
3.4.6.1 – Statement of Candidacy
The SIP Forum is still doing very well after all these years and I’m still energized to continue the momentum. For now, the momentum has shifted from the adoption of SIP to dealing with its consequences. Recently the SIP Forum has been able to quietly and consistently be a neutral technical voice assisting National Regulatory Authorities in navigating the complex issues of Robocalls and Caller ID spoofing. Our joint agreement with ATIS on STIR/SHAKEN has proven to be of enormous value to the SIP Forum in providing a venue for a broad range of stake holders to participate in complex technical discussions. This agreement has been an attractive alternative to many companies to either join the SIP Forum or renew their membership based on our collective leadership in this area. The Forum also has strategic partnerships with sister organizations NICC in the UK and BITKOM in Germany.
The next phase will concentrate on what we refer to as the Call Validation Display Framework. In other words, what data do we see on the User Agent when STIR/SHAKEN is preformed.
Building on success we want to move forward on a framework for the next generation of SIPconnect. Call Validation Display for the Enterprise may be different from what the requirements are in consumer markets.
I am especially proud of SIPNOC — our conference (entering its tenth year) bringing together hundreds of engineers from service providers around the world dedicated to promoting the interoperability of SIP and share real experiences in the network. The last event, SIPNOC 2019, was the largest and most successful event to date, and focused on the deployment issues and considerations surrounding STIR/SHAKEN.
Of course, we are still committed to continue the work of SIPconnect as well as the SIPconnect Certification Testing Program, and the other interoperability testing events we produce.
I look forward to the opportunity to continue to serve the SIP Forum and the overall SIP community.
3.4.6.2 – Biography
Richard Shockey is an internationally recognized expert on Data Communications, Voice over IP Technology, Numbering and Signaling, and is currently the Principal of Shockey Consulting, a private firm advising telecommunications companies, national regulatory authorities and the investment community on any number of issues related to Next Generation Real Time Communications products and services. Visit www.shockey.us for more information.
Mr. Shockey also currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the SIP Forum.
Mr. Shockey has been a member of the United States Federal Communications Commission’s Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC), an FCC advisory council tasked with advising the federal agency regarding best practices and practical actions pertaining to the security, reliability, and interoperability of communications systems.
Mr. Shockey has been recently reappointed a member of the Federal Communications Commission North American Numbering Council [NANC]. The NANC is the US governments principal technical advisory committee on issues surrounding the use of telephone numbers and telephone number related issues in the United States.
Mr. Shockey was a founder and Co-Chair of the Internet Engineering Task Force ENUM Work Group and is an author of several IETF RFC’s Active in IETF affairs since 1998 he also participated in numerous other WG including FAX, SIP, SIPPING, SPEERMINT, SIMPLE, and its management nominating committee NOMCOM.
Mr. Shockey was formerly Director & Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff at NeuStar, Inc. based in Suburban Washington, D.C.
4 – Discharge of Liability for Board Members and Managing Director
The By Laws of the SIP Forum require that, at each general meeting, the members vote on whether to discharge the Board Members and the Managing Director from liability for actions or inactions resulting from their service to the SIP Forum over the prior year. In all annual general meetings to date, this has been presented, and the Board Members have been accordingly discharged. At this time, the Board represents that the Directors and Managing Director have collectively performed all required responsibilities for this past year, and requests discharge from liability. Full Members shall vote Yes or No on their ballots to so discharge the Board and Managing Director.
The Board recommends a Yes vote on this item.
5 – Procedure for Voting
The By Laws permit voting by proxy, using paper ballots sent by surface mail or electronically submitted ballots that are returned using a method that the Board deems sufficient to establish the authenticity of the ballot.
5.1 – Voting by Written Proxy via Surface Mail or Fax
Included in the bundle distributed to the Full Members with this Annual General Meeting Notice is a voting form (in PDF file format) entitled “2019-sf-ballot.” If a Full Member intends to submit a ballot to vote by written proxy sent by surface mail or fax (instead of submitting one via return email), each Full Member should do the following as described immediately below in Section 5.1.1.
5.1.1 – Minimal Procedure for Proxy Voting
The Full Member shall mark the aforementioned voting form (either by modifying the document to indicate the mark, or by printing the document and marking it in ink) to:
- Rank your votes for Director’s candidates. Mark your first preference “1”, your second preference “2”, and so on. You may vote for as many candidates as you wish, but the board recommends you vote for all 6 candidates.
- Approve or reject the discharge of Directors’ liability.
- Deliver the Voting Form to the SIP Forum Managing Director prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting by sending the Voting Form via surface mail to the address listed on the ballot, or send a facsimile to the fax number listed on the first page of the document. Please note that if surface mail is used, the Voting Form must be sent to arrive NO LATER THAN TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020 or if Fax or email delivery is used, the Voting Form must be sent to arrive NO LATER THAN FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2020.
5.2 – Electronic Voting via Email
The Board has concluded that one method is acceptable for electronic voting via email:
- Full Members will mark the paper Voting Form ballot, and return it to the Managing Director via electronic mail as a scanned image file or PDF. The Managing Director shall use reasonable efforts to assure that the received email has been sent from a domain name that appears to be from a Full Member organization.
5.2.1 – Email Ballots
Follow this procedure to vote by email:
- Print a copy of the voting form entitled “2019-sf-ballot.
- Mark the Voting Form by ranking your votes for Board Member candidates, and check the box to vote Yes or No on the Liability Discharge question.
- Sign the copy of the marked voting form.
- Scan the marked and signed voting form, and attach the associated document file to an email addressed to Marc Robins, the SIP Forum Managing Director at marc.robins@sipforum.org. (PDF, JPG, TIFF, or GIF are all acceptable electronic formats)
5.3 – Deadline for Ballot Return for Proxy Voting
Voting Form ballots sent to the Managing Director by Fax or Email to be handled by proxy must be received ON OR BEFORE FRIDAY, 14 FEBRUARY 2020 (one business day before the Annual General Meeting) in order to be counted.
5.4 – Ballot Counting
Ballots, including those received in email, via fax, and those cast on the web interface, will be counted when the vote is called in the Annual General Meeting. Results will be announced at the meeting (assuming the tally method results in clear winners), and official minutes taken to reflect the voting.
– END –
SIP Forum 2019 General Meeting Notice
January 16, 2020
Document number: GA-35-0