SIP Network Operators Conference ( SIPNOC ) Preliminary List Of Registered Attendees And Participants Announced.

SIPNOC 2011http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
SIPNOC seem to be going places with ever expanding attention from CEOs, CTOs, network architects and engineers from carriers on five continents as well as government, research organizations and industry bigwigs. The first of its kind conference will be a good source of information for everyone involved in SIP Network operations or any communications operations involving SIP for that matter.
SIPNOC earlier announced that the Keynote Speech will presented by Dr. Douglas Sicker, FCC.

"When we initiated SIPNOC, we knew we were embarking on a new type of event for the industry and that there would be interest, and the response we have received has justified our enthusiasm, and then some, We expect this event to be far more than just an educational conference, but a meeting of the brightest industry minds from across the entire spectrum of the global networking operator community. Our vision for SIPNOC is to make it a place for network operators of all shapes and sizes to come together to share their perspectives and ideas on how to make IP communications better, and hopefully provide tangible results that further accelerate the development and propagation of SIP and SIP services in the years ahead." " said SIP Forum Managing Director, Marc Robins.

Follow the links below for registration and further information.

Press Release;

NORTH ANDOVER, MA (March 18, 2011) - The SIP Forum announced today a preliminary list of registered attendees and participants in the first SIP Network Operators Conference (SIPNOC), to be held April 25-27 at the Hyatt Dulles Hotel in Herndon, VA. The two-day conference, which is designed to be a first-of-its-kind international conference aimed a SIP network operations personnel, is attracting CEOs, CTOs, network architects and engineers from carriers on five continents, including AT&T, Comcast, Cbeyond, Time Warner Cable, Swisscom, COX Communications, Verizon, Uni-tel, A1Telekom Austria, Telecommunikasi Indonesia, XO Communications, and Sprint Nextel.

In addition to carrier participants, SIPNOC has also attracted a myriad of SIP community stakeholders from vendors, governments and research organizations such as Acme Packet (which has also signed on as a SIPNOC Diamond Sponsor), the FCC, Avaya, Cisco Systems, Microsoft Corp., IBM Research, CableLabs, Dialogic, Broadsoft, Ingate Systems, MetaSwitch, Polycom, Commetrex, Sonus, Sagemcom Canada, NGN Data Services Corp. and the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Registration for SIPNOC remains opens by visiting http://www.regonline.com/sipnoc_2011.

"When we initiated SIPNOC, we knew we were embarking on a new type of event for the industry and that there would be interest, and the response we have received has justified our enthusiasm, and then some," said SIP Forum Managing Director, Marc Robins. "We expect this event to be far more than just an educational conference, but a meeting of the brightest industry minds from across the entire spectrum of the global networking operator community. Our vision for SIPNOC is to make it a place for network operators of all shapes and sizes to come together to share their perspectives and ideas on how to make IP communications better, and hopefully provide tangible results that further accelerate the development and propagation of SIP and SIP services in the years ahead."

The SIP Forum has also developed a world-class lineup of speakers at SIPNOC, to be announced in detail at a later date.

SIPNOC will focus on issues critical to the reliable and successful deployment and operation of SIP-based services in carrier networks. The agenda will feature special presentations, panel discussions and workshops covering key topics by network operators related to SIP-based services and infrastructure, including testing, application development, SIP trunking, FoIP, call routing and peering, troubleshooting and monitoring, emergency services and more.

While the international carrier and service provider community is the lynchpin of the event, industry stakeholders involved in major SIP initiatives such equipment vendors, government representatives, large enterprises and research organizations are encouraged to attend.

The SIP Forum has gained an international reputation for developing important, educational events surrounding SIP. The organization's SIPit series of interoperability testing events (www.sipit.net) regularly provides a test bed for SIP-based applications and equipment that has been heralded as critical for the development of new products and services in the industry. The SIP Forum also has a number of committees and task groups made up of well-known industry experts examining a myriad of SIP-related topics, including the use of SIP in smart grid installations, FoIP, video, and user-agent configuration.

SIPNOC Registration

* To register for SIPNOC, please visit http://www.regonline.com/sipnoc_2011.

SIPNOC General Show Info

* For more information about SIPNOC, please visit www.sipnoc.org or send an email to sipnocinfo@sipforum.org.

SIPNOC Sponsorship Info

* For information about corporate sponsorship opportunities at SIPNOC, please contact Marc Robins, SIP Forum President and Managing Director, at +1-718-548-7245 or marc.robins "at" sipforum.org.

SIPNOC Keynote Address Will Be Given By Dr. Douglas Sicker, FCC Chief Technologist.

SIPNOC Keynote Address Will Be Given By Dr. Douglas Sicker, FCC http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Federal Communications Commission Chief Technologist Dr. Douglas C. Sicker will be the keynote speaker for the first annual SIP Network Operators Conference (SIPNOC), being held at the Hyatt Dulles Hotel in Herndon, VA, April 25 -27, 2011, SIP Forum announced in a press release.
Dr. Douglas C. Sicker who also hold a position as an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder, is responsible for advising the FCC on communications technology issues, through the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis.

“I'm delighted to participate in this inaugural meeting of SIPNOC, In recognizing the importance of interconnected VoIP service as a growing part of the U.S. voice service market, I look forward to gaining a richer perspective on the future of SIP-enabled communications among service providers.” said Dr. Sicker on the announcement.

SIP Network Operators Conference (SIPNOC), aim to advance the knowledge of anyone interested in the operational and technical aspects of service provider networks. SIP Service Providers will be able to hone their knowledge in testing, application development, SIP trunking, FoIP, call routing and peering, troubleshooting and monitoring, emergency services and more assuring reliable and successful deployment and operation of SIP-based services in carrier networks.
The SIPNOC Conference Topics will include many related subjects spread over the course of two days that includes a mix of special presentations and panel discussions -- an agenda designed to address the most important topics for today’s network operator.
Sessions will focus on topics such as:

• Application development
• Testing
• SIP Trunking
• FoIP
• User-Agent Configuration
• Emergency Services
• Policy Servers
• Security
• Operational Issues
• Call Routing and Peering
• Troubleshooting and Monitoring
• SIP Interconnection (SIP-to-SS7 signaling gateways)
• HD-Voice/Video Deployment Challenges

To register for SIPNOC, please visit http://www.regonline.com/sipnoc_2011


Sip Forun Press Release;

NORTH ANDOVER, MA (January 25, 2011) - The SIP Forum announced today Federal Communications Commission Chief Technologist Dr. Douglas C. Sicker as the keynote speaker for the first annual SIP Network Operators Conference (SIPNOC), being held at the Hyatt Dulles Hotel in Herndon, VA, April 25 -27, 2011.
Aimed at an international audience focused on the operational and technical aspects of service provider networks, SIPNOC will focus on issues critical to the reliable and successful deployment and operation of SIP-based services in carrier networks. The agenda will feature special presentations, panel discussions and workshops covering key topics by network operators related to SIP-based services and infrastructure, including testing, application development, SIP trunking, FoIP, call routing and peering, troubleshooting and monitoring, emergency services and more. The event website is located at www.sipnoc.org.
“I'm delighted to participate in this inaugural meeting of SIPNOC,” said Dr. Sicker. “In recognizing the importance of interconnected VoIP service as a growing part of the U.S. voice service market, I look forward to gaining a richer perspective on the future of SIP-enabled communications among service providers.”
As Chief Technologist for the FCC, Dr. Sicker is responsible for advising the agency on communications technology issues, a position that resides in the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis. Dr. Sicker is also an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder with a joint appointment in the Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program. He previously served on the Omnibus Broadband Initiative working on research and development issues. His other leadership roles include director of global architecture at Level 3 Communications, Inc, and chief of the network technology division at FCC.
Dr. Sicker has chaired and served on the program committees of numerous technical conferences, including IEEE, DySPAN, ISART and TPRC. He has also had research funded through the NSF, DARPA, the Internet Society and the Federal Aviation Administration.
“Dr. Sicker is a leading mind in both domestic and international communications, and we are thrilled to have him on board as the first keynote speaker of SIPNOC,” said Eric Burger, SIP Forum Chairman Emeritus and Chairman of the SIPNOC Program Committee.
Attendees at SIPNOC will include telecommunications providers, major backbone operators, interconnect and wholesale solution providers, ISPs, cable operators, wireless network operators as well as large enterprises deploying major SIP initiatives.
The SIP Forum has gained an international reputation for developing important, educational events surrounding SIP. The organization’s SIPit series of interoperability testing events regularly provides a test bed for SIP-based applications and equipment that has been heralded as critical for the development of new products and services in the industry. The SIP Forum also has a number of committees and task groups made up of well-known industry experts examining a myriad of SIP-related topics, including the use of SIP in smart grid installations, FoIP, video, and user-agent configuration.

For More Information, Submit Speaking Proposals, and to Register

For more information about SIPNOC, please visit www.sipnoc.org or send an email to sipnoc@sipforum.org.This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Proposed papers and presentations are currently being accepted by the SIPNOC Program Committee. To view the official call for papers, which includes instructions on submitting material and specific SIPNOC policies, please visit www.sipnoc.org or download the document here: http://www.sipforum.org/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_download/gid,469/Itemid,261/
A special early-bird registration rate of $595 – $200 off the regular rate of $795 -- is now in effect until February 11, 2011! To register for SIPNOC, please visit http://www.regonline.com/sipnoc_2010.
For information about corporate sponsorship opportunities at SIPNOC, please contact Marc Robins, SIP Forum President and Managing Director, at 718-548-7245 or marc.robins “at” sipforum.org.

About the SIP Forum

The SIP Forum is an IP communications industry association that engages in numerous activities that promote and advance SIP-based technology, such as the development of industry recommendations, the SIPit interoperability and testing events, special interoperability workshops, educational seminars, and general promotion of SIP in the industry. One of the Forum's notable technical activities is the development of the SIPconnect Technical Recommendation -- a standards-based recommendation that provides detailed guidelines for direct IP peering and interoperability between IP PBXs and VoIP service provider networks. The SIPconnect Compliant Certification Program is an associated program through which eligible companies can gain SIPconnect validation and the right to license the use of the SIP Forum's 'SIPconnect Compliant' certification mark -- the official brand of the leading standard for SIP Trunking products and services. Other important Forum initiatives include work in Fax-over-IP interoperability, User Agent Configuration, and the opportunities for SIP in Smart Grid deployments. For more information, please visit: www.sipforum.org.
Media Contact
John Gates
Elevate Communications
(617) 861-3651
m: (617) 548-8972
john@elevatecom.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Fax-Over-IP (FoIP), SIP Based Carrier Services, Addressed by The SIP Forum and The i3 Forum

Fax-Over-IP (FoIP), Challenges http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
The SIP Forum and the i3 Forum, industry heavyweights have partnered to help the growth of SIP based carrier services including Fax-Over-IP (FoIP) globally.

“The interoperability of fax-over-IP has been a priority for the SIP Forum for some time, and the i3 Forum has had a similar focus, The partnership is a natural one and we expect it to yield tangible results in the near future as FoIP becomes a universally deployed telecom application in next-generation IP-based networks.” ” said Richard Shockey, SIP Forum Chairman of the Board.

Between i3 Frum and the SIP Forum, the latter features a broad membership of primarily telecom applications, services, and infrastructure vendors, as well as a growing list of US-based cable operators and service providers. On the other hand, the i3 Forum’s global membership focuses on international service providers.

"A key objective of this partnership is to create a global coalition of stakeholders in the telecom community - operators, researchers, engineers and equipment vendors – and work together to better address FoIP technology issues in order to speed its deployment in IP network environments. Collectively we will work to develop concrete proposals and recommended solutions.” louded Philippe Millet, Chairman i3 Forum.

The SIP Forum and its FoIP Task Group will continue working with i3 Forum membership committees on joint technical initiatives pertaining to FoIP. Collectively, the two groups will address key FoIP interoperability issues pertaining to the deployment of fax services, specifically ITU-T T.38, in SIP-based networks. The challenges surrounding IP-based fax and the use of T.38 make it difficult for users to determine if T.38 can or will work reliably and thus offer a viable alternative to traditional TDM-based fax transport.

The FoIP Task Group includes Mike Coffee, CEO of Commetrex, and Gonzalo Salgueiro of Cisco, who serve as Task Group Co-Chairs; Max Schroeder, Sr. VP. Faxcore, who serves as the Task Group Whip; and document editors including Michael Chen, LSI Corporation; and Kevin P. Fleming, Director of Software Technologies, Digium, Inc..
Active FoIP Task Group participants include representatives from companies including Alcatel-Lucent, AEMcom, AT&T, AudioCodes, Biscom, Cox Communications, Dialogic Corporation, Digium Inc., C4U Solutions, Cisco Systems, Inc., Commetrex Corporation, Comunycarse, DevFoundry Software, emFAST, Faxback Inc, Faxcore, Lexmark, LSI Corporation, NeuStar Inc, Nortel, Omnitor, Opentext, Orange, Packetizer, Sagem-Interstar Inc., Samsung, Siemens Enterprise Communications Group, Sonus Networks, Telecom Poland, and Teridian Semiconductor Corp.
The i3 Forum is focused on collaborating with the worldwide communications community,expanding more than 37 telecommunications carriers/operators in 80 countries, to expedite the transition of voice and related communications services to ones based on Internet Protocol (IP). Within i3 Forum, the WorkStream “Technical Aspects” Working Group plans to deliver in October, following the outcome of the July, 2010 ITU-T SG16 meeting, a document devoted to addressing the specification guidelines for fax gateways together with the recommended test suites.
Press Release

SIPit 26 Test Results Released.

SIPit 26 Test Results http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
After a very extensive week long interoperability testing event, SIPit 26 event held in Kista, Sweden, : The SIP forum has released the results. SIPit 26 drew twenty eight companies from fifteen countries to test forty two of distinct implementations. SIP Security and IPv6 internet working  were the highlights of this highly anticipated event.

"SIPit events bring together a diverse array of stakeholders from the global telecom community - SIP application developers, IP communications equipment manufacturers, and service providers - and provides them with an opportunity to glean valuable technical data about new SIP specifications and implementations important to their business, in a neutral setting, The event and the resulting data also give standards bodies such as the IETF a good progress report on the growth of SIP and the specific SIP implementations that are becoming more widely adopted in the service provider, enterprise, and consumer markets." voiced Marc Robins, SIP Forum President and Managing Director.

The test results are available at  (https://www.sipit.net/SIPit26_Summary)
 The next SIPit event, SIPit 27, will take place in coming fall.
Following is the complete press release;
NORTH ANDOVER, MA (July 7, 2010) - The SIP Forum has announced the results of its latest SIP Interoperability Testing event, SIPit 26, the world's premier interoperability testing event for Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for SIP application developers, service providers, and IP communications equipment manufacturers, held May 17-21, 2010 in Kista, Sweden. The five-day testing event demonstrated continued growth and evolution in SIP-based technology as SIP-based consumer and enterprise applications become more broadly deployed across fixed and mobile IP network topologies.

The event, which was hosted by Edvina and TANDBERG and sponsored by Intertex, Ingate, and .se, with the IPv6 Forum serving as an association sponsor, provided 28 attending companies with valuable "real-world" deployment data gathered from the 42 SIP implementations conducted during the week as participants tested SIP interworking in a variety of simulated, live IP network conditions and settings. Of particular note was an increase over past events in the number of Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP) and TLS implementations for secure SIP interworking, and the continued and steady growth of IPv6 implementations.
"As SIP communications become more widely prevalent, securing SIP at both the application and media layers through SRTP and TLS is critical," said Robert Sparks, chair of the SIP Forum's Test Event Working Group and organizer of SIPit 26. "Other interesting developments were the growth of IPv6 and a large number of participants testing network edge-specific scenarios with ICE and TURN implementations."
A full summary report of SIPit 26 results is available at the SIP Forum website or by clicking here (https://www.sipit.net/SIPit26_Summary).
"SIPit events bring together a diverse array of stakeholders from the global telecom community - SIP application developers, IP communications equipment manufacturers, and service providers - and provides them with an opportunity to glean valuable technical data about new SIP specifications and implementations important to their business, in a neutral setting," said Marc Robins, SIP Forum President and Managing Director. "The event and the resulting data also give standards bodies such as the IETF a good progress report on the growth of SIP and the specific SIP implementations that are becoming more widely adopted in the service provider, enterprise, and consumer markets."
SIPit is organized by the SIP Forum's Test Event Working Group (TEWG) and serves as a "plugfest" for participating companies to perform SIP interoperability testing with other participants in a live network environment. Conducted twice a year, with events rotating in the United States, Europe, and Asia, the SIP Forum has hosted 26 plugfest events around the globe. In the coming months, the SIP Forum will release details about its next event - SIPit 27 - which will take place this fall. For information about past SIPits, please visit www.sipit.net.
About the SIP Forum The SIP Forum is an IP communications industry association that engages in numerous activities that promote and advance SIP-based technology, such as the development of industry recommendations, the SIPit interoperability and testing events, special interoperability workshops, educational seminars, special interest groups, and general promotion of SIP in the industry. One of the Forum's notable technical activities is the development of the SIPconnect Technical Recommendation - a standards-based recommendation that provides detailed guidelines for direct IP peering and interoperability between IP PBXs and VoIP service provider networks. The SIPconnect Compliant Certification Program is an associated program through which eligible companies can gain SIPconnect validation and the right to license the use of the SIP Forum's 'SIPconnect Compliant' certification mark - the official brand of the leading standard for SIP Trunking products and services. Other important Forum initiatives include work in Fax-over-IP interoperability, User Agent Configuration, and the opportunities for SIP in Smart Grid deployments. For more information, please visit: www.sipforum.org.

About Edvina

Edvina is a company with many years' experience in TCP/IP networking and IP Communications solutions. Edvina has been active in software development, software distribution, consulting, training and conferences since 1987. Since its inception, the keyword "open" has been Edvina's mantra - open networking, open standards and open source.

Edvina has been involved with an array of projects, including the installation, configuration and custom development and documentation of Asterisk - the Open Source PBX; VoIP training - including SIP Express Router and Asterisk; XMPP/Jabber installations and development; VoIP architectures for service providers; large-scale SIP PBX services for Universities; scalability, failover and load balancing for SIP infrastructures; and security audits of VoIP infrastructures for carriers and enterprises. For more information, please visit http://edvina.net.

About TANDBERG

TANDBERG is the leading global provider of telepresence, high-definition video conferencing and mobile video products and services with dual headquarters in New York and Norway. TANDBERG designs, develops and markets systems and software for video, voice and data. The company provides sales, support and value-added services in more than 90 countries worldwide. TANDBERG is publicly traded on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker TAA.OL. Please visit www.tandberg.com for more information. TANDBERG is a trademark or registered trademark in the U.S. and other countries.

About Intertex Data AB

Intertex Data AB was founded in 1982 by current CEO Karl Erik Stahl. The company develops and markets communication and security products. Currently, the focus is on next generation broadband access products following the SIP standard and Live person-to-person IP Communication. The products include feature rich ADSL modems and firewalls prepared for SIP based IP Telephony, Presence, Instant Messaging and Video Conferencing, both over the Internet and over IMS networks. Intertex has won several International awards for creative product design as well as business excellence. For further information, see www.intertexdata.com.

About Ingate® Systems

Ingate® Systems develops firewall technology to enable global SIP-based person-to-person communication such as IP telephony, presence, Instant Messaging, video conferencing, IP-PBX connections and Unified Communications. With a history based in security, Ingate offers enterprises, service providers and carriers elegant solutions that make trusted SIP communications possible beyond the LAN. Among the company's award-winning products are the Ingate Firewall® and Enterprise Session Border Controllers (E-SBCs) including the Ingate SIParator® and the Intertex IX78 E-SBC for operator volume SIP trunking deployments. These are widely used to connect service providers' SIP trunks to enterprise IP-PBXs and Unified Communication solutions and to allow remote users outside the LAN. Ingate products are used by retail companies, financial institutions, industrial firms, government agencies and small-to-large enterprises throughout Europe, Asia and North America. Ingate Systems AB is headquartered in Stockholm. Sweden. Its U.S. headquarters is located in Hollis, New Hampshire. For more information on Ingate Systems, visit www.ingate.com.

About .se

.SE (The Internet Infrastructure Foundation) is an independent utility that acts to promote positive development of the Internet in Sweden. .SE is responsible for the Internet's Swedish top-level domain, .se, encompassing domain name registration and administration, as well as the technical operation of the national domain name register. Profits from domain name registrations are used to support projects that contribute to Internet development in Sweden through both its own operations and the financing of independent projects. For more information, visit http://www.iis.se.

About the IPv6 Forum

The IPv6 Forum is a world-wide consortium of leading Internet service vendors, National Research & Education Networks (NRENs) and international ISPs, with a clear mission to promote IPv6 by improving market and user awareness, creating a quality and secure Next Generation Internet and allowing world-wide equitable access to knowledge and technology. The key focus of the IPv6 Forum today is to provide technical guidance for the deployment of interoperability through its IPv6 Ready & Enabled Logo Programs. For more information, visit www.ipv6forum.com.

Media Contact John Gates Elevate Communications john@elevatecom.com (617) 861-3651

SIP Forum and the i3 Forum Join Forces To HelpThe Interoperability Of SIP Based Carrier Services, Fax over Internet Protocol (FoIP)

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
NORTH ANDOVER, MA (May 20, 2010) - Leading technology industry associations the SIP Forum and the i3 Forum have joined forces to help spur the interoperability of SIP-based carrier services, including Fax-over-Internet-Protocol (FoIP) interoperability on a global basis. The two organizations have been collaborating and will continue to collaborate on a number of initiatives to resolve deployment and interoperability challenges posed by next-generation fax communications while bringing equipment vendors and service providers together in the process.

"The interoperability of fax-over-IP has been a priority for the SIP Forum for some time, and the i3 Forum has had a similar focus," said Richard Shockey, SIP Forum Chairman of the Board. "The partnership is a natural one and we expect it to yield tangible results in the near future as FoIP becomes a universally deployed telecom application in next-generation IP-based networks."

The partnership brings together two premier organizations tasked with similar missions - to accelerate the deployment of IP-based communications worldwide - but with different stakeholder communities. The SIP Forum features a broad membership of primarily telecom applications, services, and infrastructure vendors, as well as a growing list of US-based cable operators and service providers. The i3 Forum's global membership focuses on international service providers.

"A key objective of this partnership is to create a global coalition of stakeholders in the telecom community - operators, researchers, engineers and equipment vendors - and work together to better address FoIP technology issues in order to speed its deployment in IP network environments," said Philippe Millet, Chairman, i3 Forum. "Collectively we will work to develop concrete proposals and recommended solutions."

As done since last January, the SIP Forum leadership and its FoIP Task Group will continue working with i3 Forum membership committees on joint technical initiatives pertaining to FoIP. Collectively, the two groups will address key interoperability issues pertaining to the deployment of fax services, specifically ITU-T T.38, in SIP-based networks. The challenges surrounding IP-based fax and the use of T.38 make it difficult for users to determine if T.38 can or will work reliably and thus offer a viable alternative to traditional TDM-based fax transport.

The SIP Forum's FoIP Task Group, first launched in late 2008 to address the technical and interoperability challenges involving the transmission of fax documents over a SIP-enabled network, outlined these issues in the fall of 2009 in its FoIP Problem Statement v.1.0, and more recently with the publication of the T.38 SIP-SDP Problem Statement.

The FoIP Task Group leadership includes Mike Coffee, CEO of Commetrex, and Gonzalo Salgueiro of Cisco, who serve as Task Group Co-Chairs; Max Schroeder, Sr. VP. Faxcore, who serves as the Task Group Whip; and document editors including Michael Chen, LSI Corporation, and Kevin P. Fleming, Director of Software Technologies, Digium, Inc.

Active FoIP Task Group participants include representatives from companies including Alcatel-Lucent, AEMcom, AT&T, AudioCodes, Biscom, Cox Communications, Dialogic Corporation, Digium Inc., C4U Solutions, Cisco Systems, Inc., Commetrex Corporation, Comunycarse, DevFoundry Software, emFAST, Faxback Inc, Faxcore, Lexmark, LSI Corporation, NeuStar Inc., Nortel, Omnitor, Opentext, Orange, Packetizer, Sagem-Interstar Inc., Samsung, Siemens Enterprise Communications Group, Sonus Networks, Telecom Poland, and Teridian Semiconductor Corp.

With more than 37 telecommunications carriers/operators in 80 countries, the i3 Forum is focused on collaborating with the worldwide communications community to expedite the transition of voice and related communications services to ones based on Internet Protocol (IP). Within i3 Forum, the WorkStream "Technical Aspects" Working Group plans to deliver in October, following the outcome of the July 2010 ITU-T SG16 meeting, a document devoted to addressing the specification guidelines for fax gateways together with the recommended test suites.
About the SIP Forum

The SIP Forum is an IP communications industry association that engages in numerous activities that promote and advance SIP-based technology, such as the development of industry recommendations, the SIPit interoperability and testing events, special interoperability workshops, educational seminars, special interest groups, and general promotion of SIP in the industry. One of the Forum's notable technical activities is the development of the SIPconnect Technical Recommendation - a standards-based recommendation that provides detailed guidelines for direct IP peering and interoperability between IP PBXs and VoIP service provider networks. The SIPconnect Compliant Certification Program is an associated program through which eligible companies can gain SIPconnect validation and the right to license the use of the SIP Forum's 'SIPconnect Compliant' certification mark - the official brand of the leading standard for SIP Trunking products and services. Other important Forum initiatives include work in Fax-over-IP interoperability, User Agent Configuration, and the opportunities for SIP in Smart Grid deployments. For more information, please visit: www.sipforum.org.

About the i3 Forum

The i3 Forum brings together the communications expertise of more than 37 telecommunications operators representing a combined retail base in excess of one billion customers in over 80 countries. The goal of the i3 Forum is to develop collaborative recommendations for an industry-wide transition of voice and related services to Internet Protocol (IP). The forum's unified effort to expedite global IP-based voice implementation will enhance worldwide communication by supporting widespread access to innovative and high quality IP-based services and applications. For more information, please visit: www.i3forum.org.

For further information, please contact:

John Gates
Elevate Communications
(617) 861-3651
m: (617) 548-8972
john@elevatecom.com

Marc Robins
President and Managing Director, SIP Forum
(718) 548-7245
marc.robins@sipforum.org

Alessandro Forcina
Chairman WS "Technical Aspects," i3 Forum
Telecom Italia Sparkle
+ 39-06-5274 4054
alessandro.forcina@telecomitalia.it

john@elevatecom.com

SIP Forum Elects New Officials

SIP Forum snapvoip.blogspot.com
SIP Forum has elected new board chairman, Richard Shokley and Eric Burger as the chairman emeritus. Dr. Alan Jonston was also selected to the board of directors. Following is an excerpt from the press release. The complete press link could be found at the SIP Forum and the link is after the jump.

NORTH ANDOVER, MA (January 14, 2010) - The SIP Forum today announced the recent re-election of industry veteran and VoIP pioneer Richard Shockey to the Board of Directors, and the election of Mr. Shockey as new Board Chairman. Additionally, the Forum has re-elected Dr. Eric Burger to the Board of Directors and named him Chairman Emeritus, and elected Dr. Alan Johnston to the Board.

Meanwhile, the SIP Forum announced the reappointment of Marc Robins as Managing Director and President.

The elections were held during the SIP Forum's Annual General Meeting in San Francisco, on Nov. 3, 2009.

The elections of Shockey, Johnston and Burger, all industry trailblazers, complement the SIP Forum's already prestigious Board of Directors, which also includes Chris Gatch, CTO of Cbeyond; Steven Johnson, CEO of Ingate Systems; Glenn Russell, Director of Business Services at Cable Television Laboratories Inc. (CableLabs); Rene Sotola, a Vice President in the Global Telecommunications practice at CGI Group; and Robert Sparks, Principal Engineer at Tekelec. Each member of the Board of Directors serves a two-year term.
"I am honored to have been elected the new Chairman of the Board," said Richard Shockey. "I look forward to continuing to build on the solid foundation left by my predecessor, Dr. Eric Burger, and ensuring the successful completion of the important work in progress in the SIPconnect, Fax-over-IP and User Agent Configuration task groups. I also look forward to expanding the work of the SIP Forum into new and exciting industry sectors, including Smart Grid and Unified Communications."

SIP Forun Press Release

SIP Forum Creates Smart Grid Special Interst Group

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
SIP Forum has created a Special Interest group to support Smart Grid;

The Smart Grid is the modernization of the electricity grid using communication technology with the primary goals of reducing energy consumption, reducing cost (utilities and consumers), increasing reliability and the creation of new services for all participants in the value chain.
While the current focus is on electricity, similar concepts can be applied to other utility systems such as water, gas, etc. Such a modernization has recently become a significant focus for governments, vendor communities (utility companies and partners) as well as Industry/Standardization organizations such as NIST, GridWise, IPSO, IETF and IEEE.
The Smart Grid architecture requires a ‘communications overlay network’ which can help facilitate ‘intelligent communication’ (discovery, session establishment, routing, addressing to name a few) between various nodes of the heterogeneous Smart Grid network.
Several of the standards bodies and organizations mentioned above are working towards identifying standards and protocols that meet the goal of a robust, secure and interoperable Smart Grid network.

 The SIG aims to deliver;

1. Create a ‘requirement feasibility matrix’ that maps the various smart grid requirements created by NIST, GridWise, DoE etc. with a mapping to whether SIP meets the requirements to be considered for further study (along with brief reasoning).
2. Outline usecases and sequence diagrams where SIP can be used vis-à-vis existing smart grid use-case diagrams already published (example, from GridWise).
3. Create and end-end network diagram of the smart grid network specifically depicting where the role of SIP could be.
4. Create a document that brings out areas which can be met with existing SIP standards and areas that need new extensions to SIP.
5. Create a whitepaper on how using SIP could bring in new & innovative services for the smart grid network in the future (while this may not be in the forefront of requirements by the smart grid industry, a peek ahead always helps in setting an appropriate vision of the future).

 We are in it, as we really like and envision the smart grid!
Smart Grid SIG at SIP Forum via Rich Tehrani