2022 Annual General Meeting Notice
Meeting Date: Thursday, 16 March 2023
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. 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:
Thursday, 16 March 2023
1:00pm – 2:30 pm U.S. Eastern Standard Time
Via GoToMeeting. Login URL, and Dial-In Number/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 for fiscal year 2022 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 2022 Annual General Meeting will be held remotely, via GoToMeeting, all Full Member Representatives shall 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 Friday, 10 March 2023 and via fax or email Tuesday, 14 March 2023.
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 ten (10) Board seats opening this year. They include six seats held by current directors Martin Dolly, Chris Drake, Phil Linse, Chris Oatway, Chris Wendt, and Clark Whitten, whose terms are expiring.
The seats currently held by John Ayers, Hala Mowafy, Greg Rogers, Harold Salters, and Richard Shockey are not expiring.
3.1 – Voting Limits
Our current Bylaws indicate that seven Directors may be Participant (i.e., Individual) Members who are not affiliated with a Full Member company on the board at any one time. Since the seats occupied by two Participant members, Martin Dolly and Phil Linse are up for election, and the seats held by John Ayers, Hala Mowafy and Richard Shockey are Participant board member seats, four Participant (Individual) Members can be elected in this election (and/or re-elected).
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
- Mary Barnes – Neustar
- George Cray – iconectiv
- Martin Dolly – AT&T (current board member standing for re-election)
- Phil Linse – Lumen (current board member standing for re-election)
- Christopher Oatway – Verizon (current board member standing for re-election)
- Chris Wendt – Somos (current board member standing for re-election)
- Clark Whitten – Cox Communications (current board member standing for re-election)
- Richard Wikoff – Comcast
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 – Mary Barnes – Neustar
3.4.1.1 – Statement of Candidacy
I have been working with SIP and other Internet protocols since 1998, having developed specifications in various SDOs and forums including IETF, 3GPP, ATIS, MWIF (since merged with OMA), IMTC (since merged with MEF) and UCIF. I have been involved in the SIP Forum since 2001 and previously chaired the User Agent Configuration Profile Task Group. I was a member of the SIP Forum board from 2011-2021. As has been shown, the SIP Forum IPNNI task group (joint with ATIS) has been highly successful in developing specifications that have served as a baseline for the development and deployment of products for robocall mitigation. While the majority of participants in SIP Forum and on the board are from North America, the SIP Forum is an international organization and given that STIR/SHAKEN is beginning to be deployed internationally, this would be a good time to increase outreach and ensure the organization is meeting the needs of everyone involved in these technologies.
In my last candidacy statement in 2018 I had noted that the SIPNOC events were now well established and likely to continue to grow. With the introduction of the Robocall Summits, that was clearly an understatement. It has evolved into a premier event which seamlessly transitioned to virtual events during the COVID travel restrictions. I look forward to working with the board and engaging with the community at the upcoming face to face events.
3.4.1.2 – Biography
Mary Barnes is a Senior Product Manager for Neustar’s STI-CA deployed in the US and Canada and the STI-PA deployed in Canada . Mary has been involved in system architecture and product development for real-time communication systems for over 25 years, focusing for the past 20 years on IP communications and standards development. She has been an active contributor and document editor for the ATIS/SIP Forum IPNNI task group, serving as editor of ATIS-1000080 (Certificate Management) and ATIS-1000084 (Operational Considerations for the Certificate Management and Policy Administrator).
She is an active contributor to the IETF. She is the author of RFCs/specifications relating to the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), Centralized Conferencing, NAT/Firewall traversal, Geographic Location Delivery, Telepresence, Automated Certificate Management (ACME) and Secure Telephone Identity Revisited (STIR). She is a past board member of the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) and past chair of the DISPATCH WG, IETF CLUE (telepresence) WG and the SIPPING WG. Mary also served as the Vice-chair of the Technical WG in the Unified Communications Interoperability Forum (UCIF) (since merged with the IMTC who has since merged with MEF).
Prior to Neustar, Mary worked for iconectiv and served as the PMA Director for the US STI-PA and was a primary author of the US Certificate Policy version 1.0. Prior to iconectiv, Mary worked as a consultant for a broad range of organizations including a startup, Comcast and the UK government. Prior to setting up her consultancy, her experience included a position as Principal Engineer in the Video Solutions Group at Polycom and various positions at Nortel. Her final role was as Senior Advisor for Nortel, leading the IETF standards strategy for the Carrier VoIP and Application Solutions business unit (now Genband). She was also a senior manager/advisor for Nortel’s 3G IP research, participating in industry standards forums and prototyping a mobile IP based system. She is the inventor of several patents related to this work. She also designed and developed real-time software for Nortel’s DMS-based GSM and Enterprise products. Prior to her 22 years at Nortel, Mary developed real-time embedded software for GPS and video reconnaissance systems for Texas Instruments. Mary has a BS in Computer Science with a minor in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.
3.4.2 – George Cray – iconectiv
3.4.2.1 – Statement of Candidacy
As a telecommunications executive committed to goals that advance our industry, I have had the privilege of designing, developing and leading teams supporting the introduction of new networking technologies and services throughout my career. I have had the opportunity to interact and interwork on a global basis and have gained valuable insights into the communications landscape, which continues to go through significant shifts. While new technologies and communications platforms continue to revolutionize the way brands and consumers connect and engage with one another, they also give rise to unforeseen challenges. The SIP Forum continues to contribute significantly to address these issues, and I would take great pride in joining the board in that mission.
I have extensive telecom experience from my years working at Bell Atlantic as a network planner to roles within Bellcore/Telcordia leading Systems Engineering, Product Management and Sales organizations, to my current role within iconectiv, as SVP – Product. I have spoken at numerous industry events, have participated in numerous industry forums and on panels, including ones within the SIP Forum. My focus in recent years has turned to trusted communications. It is clear without restoring trust to voice and messaging, the value of those communications channels will be severely eroded. I am pleased and respect the SIP Forum for their role in shaping the industry and providing tools for ecosystem participants to win this fight. Ultimately, whether viewing this as consumers or brands trying to reach consumers, there is a dire need to be able to see and believe that our communications can be trusted as well as, have appropriate mechanisms to identify the fraudulent and illegal misuse of these channels. I offer up my personal experience and any other resources that I may have at my disposal within my role at iconectiv and/or through industry relationships to advance the SIP Forum agendas.
Boards hold great potential to drive real change that positively impacts all stakeholders. Serving as a Board Director of the SIP Forum is both an honor and a responsibility I welcome. Thank you for the opportunity to submit my Statement of Candidacy. I look forward to contributing my time, expertise and passion for an industry group that keeps the world connected securely, and at scale.
3.4.2.2 – Biography
George Cray is the Senior Vice President – Product for iconectiv. He leads a team of product managers responsible for iconectiv’s platforms and several industry registries which includes the STI-PA for US STIR/SHAKEN, the CTIA US shortcode registry, and the FCC iTRS registry to support the hearing impaired. George and his team also contribute to industry advancements through the FCC NANC, CTIA CyberSecurity WG, as well as numerous ATIS committees and GSMA working groups, among others.
George began his career at Bell Atlantic (now Verizon) and has over 30 years of experience providing product, sales and service solution strategies to telecom network management firms and top tier service providers. George had expanded roles starting in systems engineering and growing to lead global product line management, sales and marketing organizations over his career. He previously held leadership roles at JDS Uniphase (now Viavi Systems) and Bellcore/Telcordia, now known as iconectiv.
George holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and his Master of Business Administration in Finance from Rutgers University.
3.4.3 – Martin Dolly – AT&T
3.4.3.1 – Statement of Candidacy
I look forward to serving another term as SIP Forum Director, and continuing to support the vitally important work of the association.
3.4.3.2 – Biography
Martin Dolly is an AT&T Lead Member of Technical Staff, currently assigned to the Core & Government/Regulatory Standards organization. Martin has been with AT&T Bell Laboratories/AT&T Labs for more than 31 years, where his areas of expertise being in security, signaling, and services, particularly Government Priority Services.
As a Technical Consultant in the Strategic Standards Division, Martin’s focus is on the development of necessary standards for LTE/IMS deployments, Security and Identity Management, IP carrier interconnection, IP-GETS/WPS, Public Safety, signaling control protocols, and IP Network Management controls. In this capacity, Martin represents AT&T’s interests on IP signaling, security and services issues in telecommunications standards bodies such as the Packet Technologies and Systems Committee of Service Committee (PTSC) of the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS), Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), NPSTC QoS and Security WG, 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) CT Protocol and SA3 Security groups, as well as Study Groups in the Telecommunication Standardization Sector of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU-T).In addition, Martin contributes to various government Cybersecurity activities, FCC TAC & CSRIC Cybersecurity, DHS/NCS NGN GETS Security, CTIA Cybersecurity WG, and DISA LTE Security Profile.
Martin was hired into AT&T Bell Laboratory on July 8th, 1985, at AT&T Microelectronics he was part of team that developed a radiation hardened Integrated Circuit for the US Navy. In the early 1990, Martin transferred from AT&T Microelectronics to AT&T communications in Holmdel, where he worked on SS7 protocol and standards. In this role, he was a major contributor to SS7 Network to Network Interconnection (NNI) effort in support of IS 41 & GSM MAP, 8YY, Calling Card, Operator Services and voice.
Martin has contributed to many of AT&T’s SIP deployments since 2000. He is co-author of 5 IETF RFCs and contributed to many others. He contributed to and lead efforts on ISUP to SIP interworking including those in 3GPP, i3 Forum, ITU and ATIS.
Currently Martin is a driving force behind IP Interconnection, co-chair of the ATIS-SIP Forum NNI Task Force where is also the editor and major contributor to the IP NNI Profile standard and . Martin is currently co-chair of the FCC Strike Force on Robo-calling, where he is a major contributor, as well as leader.
3.4.4 – Phil Linse – Lumen
3.4.4.1 – Statement of Candidacy
There is little in life that is not somehow connected with communications and most people have some personal history with communications, many who have at least one relative that has worked or is working in Telecommunications.
I am the third generation in my family to work in telecommunications. From cord board to electro-mechanical to modern digital circuit switching, and now VoIP. Today, SIP is the dominant signaling protocol for voice communications over IP and is leading the way to the transition away from legacy circuit switch services both to serve the consumer as well as the enterprise markets.
I see the SIP Forum as the interoperability liaison between the private enterprise networks and the carriers that are the service providers that connect businesses with their customers, further paving the way for the transformation of communications networks worldwide.
Over the last ten years I have become increasingly involved in the efforts addressing robocall issues that have confronted Lumen such as the SIP Forum/ATIS IPNNI’s Secure Handling of Asserted information using toKENs (SHAKEN) standards development, Co-Chair of the ATIS Test bed Landscape Team (TLT), FCC’s Industry Robocall Strike Force and the FCC’s Call Authentication Trust Anchor Working Group. The SIP Forum has been an ideal partner in this effort and I feel will be the key to propagating the benefits of the SHAKEN technology beyond what would have otherwise been unknown to those other than the service provider community.
With a diverse background from outside plant engineering to unbundling the local switching and signaling networks to divesting the Bell Operating Companies from their Toll Free administration obligation and now the transition to an all IP based voice network, I would consider it a tremendous opportunity to continue to serve on the SIP Forum Board.
I appreciate your consideration and look forward to working with the extraordinary and equally diverse team that makes up the SIP Forum Board.
3.4.4.2 – Biography
Philip Linse, Director of Public Policy represents Lumen in various industry standards forums such as INC, SNAC, NGIIF, PTSC, IPNNI and as Co-chair of the FCC’s North American Numbering Council’s Contract Oversight Subcommittee as well as providing Lumen with policy consult on the technology transformation as the result of the ongoing transition to IP technology.
Mr. Linse’s background spans almost 25 years in telecommunications consisting of, intercarrier and vendor contract negotiations, economic analysis and modeling, OSP engineering, and subject matter expert on network issues associated with interconnection, switching, signaling, and signaling databases. Philip currently serves on the board of directors with the Telecommunications History Group LLC. He also holds a Bachelors degree from the University of Northern Iowa.
In previous roles with Lumen (formerly CenturyLink/Qwest), Philip represented Qwest in regulatory hearings, intercarrier contract negotiations, industry standards groups, FCC’s NANC, and FCC NRIC focus groups as a subject matter expert on network issues associated with interconnection, switching, signaling, and signaling databases.
Philip also developed network strategies and policies that directed the unbundling of Qwest’s networks pursuant to the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Philip began his career as an Outside Plant contract drafter in Montana and Loop Technology Planning Engineer for Pacific Bell in California.
3.4.5 – Christopher Oatway – Verizon
3.4.5.1 – Statement of Candidacy
I would be honored to be reelected as a Board member of the Forum. As a Board member, I feel I can bring a law & economics perspective to the Forum that can be a constructive complement to other board members’ expertise, given the policy and regulatory backdrop associated with the Forum’s activities.
3.4.5.2 – Biography
Chris Oatway is Associate General Counsel at Verizon with responsibility for cybersecurity policy as well as his company’s project of restoring trust in voice communications. Prior to Verizon, Chris was an antitrust litigator at Covington & Burling in Washington, DC, and his early legal career included stints at major law firms in Brussels and Mexico City. Before attending law school he worked as an economic consultant, providing antitrust analysis for litigation purposes and to risk arbitrageurs.
Chris has extensive experience with the legal, regulatory, and policy issues associated with robocall mitigation, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and the Truth in Caller ID Act. He has drafted dozens of FCC filings and interfaced extensively with various enforcement agencies and state attorneys general.
3.4.6 – Chris Wendt – Somos
3.4.6.1 – Statement of Candidacy
My entree into the voice service provider and SIP telephony world began 15 years ago when joining Comcast. Probably not the most traditional path for most currently in the telecommunications industry, over my years at Comcast I have worked closely with many SIP/IMS equipment providers and have in-depth first-hand design experience of deploying large scale IMS and SIP services for both residential and commercial services.
As one of the first voice service providers to fully deploy IMS, I was deeply involved with design and architecture of our primary vendors’ IMS implementations and covering the deployment issues not covered in IMS specs particularly around scale, HA, failover, geo-redundancy, LEA, and device management and provisioning. As part of my role, I also worked closely with CableLabs and the definition of the PacketCable 2.0 specification with its eventual integration into 3GPP specifications.
Most of my focus for the past 10 years has been on the vision of extending communications beyond just voice and the telephone. Exploring technologies like WebRTC, pub/sub, multi-user chat, video/audio conferencing, and other CPaaS applications and architectures, I have been leading the definition and implementation of Comcast’s next generation communications infrastructure as a platform for building communications into applications on mobile and set-top box devices and extending communications as a platform for building communications capabilities into new services, applications and on new devices.
Recently, as co-author of many of the IETF STIR specifications as well as co-chair of the IPNNI Joint Task Force and co-chair of the STI-GA Technical Committee, I have been at the forefront of driving and guiding how we implement call validation and consumer protection around illegitimate calling techniques an critical and important topic for keeping the telephone network safe and viable as a usable consumer service.
I bring to SIP Forum my past SIP and IP telephony deployment experience as well as some of the perspective on how new “real-time communications” is evolving and how it impacts the communications service provider world to the SIP Forum and hope my position and perspective can be a positive influence on the direction of the SIP Forum going forward.
3.4.6.2 – Biography
Chris Wendt is the VP of System Engineering at Somos, Inc., a leading registry management and data solutions company. He is co-author of many relevant specifications related to STIR/SHAKEN in both IETF and the ATIS/SIP Forum IPNNI Joint Task Force. As a member and co-chair of the STI-GA Technical Committee, he helped establish the trust anchor for the US STI-GA, the authority for signing telephone calls in the US telephone eco-system.
A pioneer in the real-time communications space and an expert in VoIP/SIP protocols and technologies, Chris led the architecture of Comcast’s IMS-based voice infrastructure (supporting over 25 million subscribers) and led the development and deployment of a cloud-based CPaaS/UCaaS solution utilizing webrtc based voice/video communications and messaging technologies.
Chris is currently a co-chair of the ATIS/SIP Forum IP-NNI Joint Task Force, co-chair of the STI-GA Technical Committee and follows closely activities in the 3GPP, IETF and W3C. He holds a BS in Music, and a BSEE, and MSEE from Drexel University in Philadelphia.
3.4.7 – Clark Whitten – Cox Communications
3.4.7.1 – Statement of Candidacy
I am focused on SIP voice with many years of design, engineering, integration, test, and leading carrier service deployments. I will contribute to the SIP Forum where I can deliver value through my deep technical expertise and operational understanding. I have participated on the ATIS-SIP Forum NNI Task Force for several years and am very knowledgeable about STIR/SHAKEN.
3.4.7.2 – Biography
Clark Whitten is Principal Architect with Cox, where he is responsible for solution architectures, service infrastructure core specifications, and CPE specifications supporting Cox’s residential and business voice services. With over 20 years of experience, Clark previously held positions as a Sales Engineer, Systems Engineer, System Integrator, Tester, Designer, Project Manager (former PMP), and Architect.
Clark has worked with two start-ups that were acquired by larger organizations; Media4, a data-over-satellite company, was acquired by EchoStar; and Future Network, a voice and data CPE design and development company, which was acquired by Tellabs. Clark has been with Cox for nearly 20 years in various roles, initially supporting integration of MGCP/NCS for Cox’s initial deployment of PacketCable 1.0 & 2.0 voice over cable services. Clark has also supported Cox’s venture into LTE mobility, SIP peering, and many other SIP-based solutions. Clark has been awarded several patents for voice and non-voice related technologies.
3.4.8 – Richard Wikoff – Comcast
3.4.8.1 – Statement of Candidacy
I would bring value to the Board with my experience in building and deploying SIP solutions. After observing the evolution of SIP usage, I look forward with the SIP community to accelerating changes in the future. I hope to help the SIP Forum press forward both to expand the scope of interoperable services and to drive fraud prevention. I anticipate supporting the SIPNOC and SIPit sessions as uniquely valuable industry events.
I look forward to the opportunity to serve on the SIP Forum Board of Directors and to support the SIP community.
3.4.8.2 – Biography
Richard is a Principal Engineer at Comcast, where he drives efforts to deploy new features and improve network efficiency in Comcast’s Communications Solutions group, working extensively on voice features. Richard serves as an Alternate to the FCC Disability Advisory Committee, contributing on communication-related efforts such as conferencing and real-time text (RTT). He has 12 years of experience at Comcast and holds 2 patents in SIP session routing, with other applications in process.
Prior to Comcast, Richard wrote specifications at Sonus (now Ribbon Communications) for SIP features in support of the worldwide client base. Richard contributed to PacketCable Business Services specifications.
Prior to Sonus, Richard helped architect a carrier-grade VoIP switch at Telcordia and led coding teams on both network and provisioning systems.
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 “2022-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 8 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 FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2023 or if Fax or email delivery is used, the Voting Form must be sent to arrive NO LATER THAN TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 2023.
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 “2022-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.)
- Alternatively, an application such as Adobe Acrobat can be employed to complete the required fields on the form.
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 TUESDAY, 14 MARCH 2023 (two business days before the Annual General Meeting) in order to be counted.
5.4 – Ballot Counting
Ballots, including those received in email, and via fax, will be counted when the vote is called in the Annual General Meeting. Results will be announced at the meeting, and official minutes taken to reflect the voting.
– END –
SIP Forum 2022 General Meeting Notice
February 14, 2023
Document number: GA-41-0