Why You Need SIP Protocol for Voice Communications
SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) is the communications technology for person-to-person voice traffic over the Internet. Its technical specifications come from the SIP working group of the Internet Engineering Task Force. SIP provides access to the public switched telephone network for voice data at 3 kHz bandwidth and common number dialing using Voice over IP (VoIP). It can also be expanded to handle IP telephony in conjunction with video and instant messaging. Future improvements will enable SIP applications like video conference calls, application sharing, home monitoring, and interactive gaming for businesses in Louisa.
Producers of SIP hardware are rapidly designing new hardware and software to get the upper hand in this new Internet communications method. SIP telephones, PC client programs, SIP servers, routers, and firewalls are now obtainable from companies such as Ingate Systems and Cisco.
Before installing a SIP solution in your business, you should think about the proper configuration of your corporate firewall to support SIP. Many of the typical firewalls already installed in business offices are not designed to support the SIP protocol. First, SIP media streams are transferred over dynamically allocated UDP ports that are usually blocked on firewalls. Second, SIP clients inside a firewall can not be reached using IP addresses because these addresses are local and unique to the LAN. Third, you need to ensure that either your T1 line provider or Ethernet fiber carrier is able to support the SIP protocol from your internal network to the outside world. Your IT manager will need to evaluate how to properly support SIP to get around these technical problems. By including a SIP proxy and registrar for controlling the firewall, it is possible to deal with complicated SIP situations for secure and private communications.
