The SIP Forum took its first formal steps today toward solving problems with interconnection between service providers and their IP-PBX customers. The forum launched a SIPconnect Compliance program for ensuring interoperability among equipment manufacturers, software providers and service providers and advancing session initiation protocol as the standard for voice over IP.Stopping short of a full-service certification program for now, the forum will issues its SIPconnect Compliance logo as a “seal of compatibility” for companies that abide by the requirements of the standard. Companies seeking to verify their compliance with the SIPconnect standard currently complete a questionnaire defining certain requirements for the standard such as security and then self-certify themselves. Because SIP is an open standard and allows for the use of extensions, SIPconnect provides one preferred method for many processes.

“Right now we don’t have a rigorous certification testing process in place. This is the start of the program and our goal is to get more companies involved in the process,” said Mark Enstrom, field marketing manager at BroadSoft and member of the SIP Forum’s compliance committee.

Along with BroadSoft, companies who have earned the stamp of compliance include Acme Packet, CBeyond, Digium, Ingate Systems and McLeodUSA. BroadSoft, CBeyond and Cisco Systems were instrumental in defining the SIPconnect standard, which was brought into the SIP Forum last year. The SIP Forum currently has 36 full members.

SIPconnect is a standards-based approach to direct IP peering between SIP-enabled IP PBXs and VoIP service providers. It was designed to directly tie enterprise customers to VoIP service providers using an end-to-end IP connection. It also eliminates the need for VoIP gateways and allows a call to remain VoIP between endpoints without being converted.

Chris MacFarland, chief technology officer at McLeodUSA, said his company is informing customers that SIP trunking is an excellent and cost-effective replacement for primary rate interfaces (PRIs), and ensuring interoperability of networks and equipment.

Enstrom said shipments of PBX gear are heavily favoring the IP-based systems and that by 2010 expects IP PBXs to represent 90% of the installed base. “In the past year, we have seen a real ramp up toward SIP trunking,” he said.

The SIP Forum will try to build awareness for the program through white papers, implementation guides, managing the RFC process and through industry events such as VoiceCon, where it also can get in front of enterprise customers to explain the importance of compliance.

“We don’t want to try to make them SIP compliant, but to help them understand what it means for them,” Enstrom said.

Other companies that contributed to the SIPconnect standard include Avaya, Inter-Tel, Mitel, NeuStar, Nortel, Radvision, Siemens AG, SIPEdge, Pulver.com and Talkswitch.

Source of article is from Telephony Online

After a slow start, cable companies have begun to dominate the voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) market, which will reach $10 billion in annual revenue in 2011, according to the TIA 2008 Telecommunications Market Review and Forecast.The 400-page report notes that there are a number of different types of VoIP service providers, ranging from those such as Skype that provide free PC-to-PC calling, to cable operators, to telephone companies such as AT&T and Verizon. Internet companies like Yahoo are also expanding their instant messaging services to include voice. In 2007, more than 80 percent of cable telephone subscribers were using VoIP services, TIA reports.

Other highlights of the market:

In 2006, cable companies gained more than 4 million VoIP subscribers. By 2007, rapid growth brought the total to 11.6 million, and by 2011 TIA projects there will be 21.8 million cable VoIP subscribers.
The number of VoIP subscribers is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 20.2 percent through 2011, reaching 33.2 million.

VoIP revenue has grown from $25 million in 2003 to $200 million in 2004, $1.4 billion in 2005 and $5 billion in 2007. The report projects revenue to increase 19.2 percent on a compound annual basis through 2011.

TIA expects local telephone companies to gain market share as they begin bundling VoIP with their new video services, in addition to marketing VoIP outside their home territories to bolster subscriber counts. Business use of VoIP is becoming a factor in the market, with revenue projected to grow to $14.2 billion by 2011.

Hundreds of companies use TIA’s comprehensive annual market forecast to plan their budget allocations, target marketing expenditures, and focus R&D. The report, which features more than 450 tables and figures, covers wireless, wireline, equipment and international segments of the ICT industry.

To order your copy in print format or on a CD-ROM, go to http://www.tiaonline.org/market_intelligence/mrf/, e-mail marketreview@tiaonline.org or call +1.703.907.7074. Do it today!

Update Supports Category 6A, Next Generation Cable Applications

Washington, D.C. - The Telecommunications Industry Association development and intelligence for the information and communications technology (ICT) industries, has published TIA Standard 568-B.2-10: Transmission Performance Specifications for 4-Pair 100 Ohm Augmented Category 6 Cabling. Category 6A cabling supports the next-generation of Internet applications, including the transfer of larger amounts of data at higher speeds, up to 10 Gigabit data rates.

Since network cabling is part of a building’s infrastructure, the installation of new cabling is expected to serve the needs of the occupants for a minimum of 10 years. Networking demands, technology advances and economics dictate that 10GBASE-T Ethernet standard will be widely deployed by 2013. This means that the cabling installed today will need to support at least two generations of Ethernet. Category 6A cabling is specifically designed to support the network demands of the next generation 10GBASE-T Ethernet standard, providing superior network performance.

Category 6A cabling also supports “bundled cable” implementations for channels up to 100 meters, as well as for short reach mode (low power) implementations for distances up to 30 meters.

The standard addresses the newer cable designs that are about 0.30 inches in diameter, compared with 0.25 inches for high end Category 6 and 0.2 inches for Category 5e. The cable itself is designed with larger conductors (23 AWG minimum), tighter twists and more airspace in the core. This provides a cable with much lower losses at high frequencies and significantly better alien crosstalk isolation between cables.

Another benefit of the larger conductors and the lower packing density is better heat dissipation. This is a benefit for the next generation Power over Ethernet Plus (PoE+) standard, which is intended to deliver between 30 Watts to 60 Watts of power over two pairs or four pairs respectively.

TIA-568-B.2-10 was formulated under the cognizance of the TIA TR42.7: Telecommunications Copper Cabling Systems Engineering Committee’s TR-42.7. To obtain copies of the document, contact IHS International Inc. at (800) 854-7179 or visit http://global.ihs.com.

For technical information regarding participating in the TR-42 committee please contact Marianna Kramarikova at mkramarikova@tiaonline.org. For media inquiries, please contact Taly Walsh at twalsh@tiaonline.org.

By Scott Sinclair 

Today in the world of communications there is a silent revolution taking place that is destined to transform how businesses view themselves and their external influences forever.  This revolution will bring upon new rules and standards for how all businesses reach their customers, vendors and partners.  Imagine having the ability to instantly communicate with business colleagues from anywhere in the world with a single mouse-click after being notified by your communications system that a vital component of your operation is failing or running at maximum capacity.  Imagine that all your business applications were so seamlessly integrated and self-monitored, that shortages in inventory can be proactively rectified before they delay delivery to your customers.

The protocol that allows these features and functions to become a reality was ratified as a communication standard in 1999 by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force).   Do you have any idea what this protocol may be?  No, it is not VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)

The answer is; SIP (Session Initiation Protocol).  In basic terms SIP is the World Wide Web for SIP enabled communication devices, applications and appliances (I.E. 3G Cell Phones, IP Phones, Email, Instant Messaging, Audio & Video Conferencing, Software, Laptops, Etc.).  SIP is a protocol written in a text-based language similar to HTTP, the protocol used by the internet today. 

SIP is an open-source peer-to-peer protocol that allows all SIP enabled communication devices to interact regardless of the device’s manufacturer.  The purpose of this new platform is to enable instantaneous communication and access to the people and products that make up your personal and business network.  Think for a second about the advantage a business could have if all of its employees, machines, vendors, customers and applications that drive the success of the business were able to be accessed instantaneously by the decision maker from anywhere in the world.  The decision maker could also include every key person on an audio or video conference a minute after discovering a production issue and take the steps to solve the problem before it resulted in cash-flow delays.  Yes, the manufacturing machines and appliances would be a part of the discussion.  Of course, English will not be their language, but schematics, alarms and reports that can help diagnose the issue will easily be added to a Video conference session for reference.

 SIP eliminates the proprietary networks and applications of the past for a completely integrated future.  SIP promises to allow callers to know the best way to reach their party, before they even pick-up the handset or send an instant message.  Making the world of communications similar to that of AOL’s or Yahoo’s instant messaging applications, where online parties have a display of visual icons representing a person’s availability and willingness to communicate. 

This Platform will allow all people to be reachable by one address and this will most likely be your email address.  Whether someone wants to speak to you via phone, instant message, email, etc. the caller will only have to request an invite to one address and the SIP enabled application will determine where and or when you are available. 

This protocol could eventually go beyond communications devices and saturate the world of home appliances and utilities truly making our homes a connection in to our personal network.  The ability to view the health of your residential furnace or air conditioning unit using your cell phone is not a far fetched Buck Rodgers dream anymore.

The important thing to keep in mind when it comes to both VoIP and SIP is that they are both generic terms that stand for something much deeper.  For instance, VoIP is a method of transmitting voice signal using computer, packet-based technology.  This method can be used to transmit traffic across the country from one Phone Company’s switch to another, within an organization from the warehouse to the front office, from one business location to another or from a VoIP hosted provider to your business.  Because this one term is so generic yet its functions are so complex, business owners have a tendency to make bad choices when it comes to purchasing the right VoIP solution for their business.

When SIP becomes more mainstream the buzz is going to be even greater than VoIP and the risk of making a bad choice is going to be equally as great.  Always make sure that the communications provider that you work with is someone you can trust.  Strongly consider working with a communications company that represents an equipment manufacturer who has a well known brand and a considerable market share.  These well known brands such as Avaya and Cisco are leaders in the SIP revolution and they have the resources and business partner channels to deliver end-to-end solutions and support for businesses.  They also give you choices.  If you are unhappy with one vendor you can very easily find another.  The vendors are very conscious of this and tend to provide better customer service and charge lower labor rates as a result.

SIP will forever change the ways and the methods we are communicating across the world.  All over the internet, it is VoIP that dominates people’s discussions and blog sites while SIP is silently mobilizing a revolution that will ultimately change the way we live.  In today’s unfavorable economic climate look for telecom and technology companies to carry the economy forward.

By: Darren R. Mass   

The world of blogging and networking sites are absolutely one of the best ways to get your name and your ideas out to the world. I have been able to take some of the ideas that I have seen and build upon them to help produce some revolutionary new advances. Recently, I have come across statements that say VoIP is no longer cutting edge.  I do disagree with such statements.   It is true that VoIP has been around for quite some time now but the only other alternative right now is TDM. If you compare both solutions on a timeline, you are looking at dinosaurs to modern man. VoIP will keep evolving and new ideas for TDM will trickle to a halt. 

I have also come across posts concerning how VoIP is marketed.   These posts talk about marketing specific VoIP products instead of the umbrella term itself. In TDM model, no salesperson sells TDM they sell the products, PRI’s, Trunks, ect. It would be a great advantage to the VoIP world if one would sell the products or solutions instead of on “VoIP” alone.

Often, I come across an add offering “free comprehensive audits and bill reviews.”  Dare I say this but I hate “free comprehensive telecommunications audit” and “free bill review.” It makes Telecom and its associates seem like nothing more than sleazy sales people. Everyone knows that there is nothing in life that is free. If your pitch is offering free services, wouldn’t that send up a red flag in the mind of the person that the pitch is geared to? Simply put, these companies that market by offering free services need to build a better marketing portfolio and market on their expertise. There is no need to cheapen oneself any further. 

Let the Telecom Revolution begin!