An Approach to Integrating SIP in Converged Multimodal/Multimedia Communication Services

In this paper, we present an approach of integrating SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) in converged multimodal/multimedia communication services. An extensible VoIPTeleserver for VoIP in SIP environment is described. It is based on the concept of dialogue system and Web convergence that separates the channel dependent media resources from the application dependent service creation and hosting environment. It supports XML based service applications for multiple channels including voice, DTMF, IM and chat over IP. The loosely coupled open architecture in our approach is highly extensible. We describe the concept and structure of VoIPTeleServer used in our approach in detail, which interfaces to the VoIP world through SIP signaling and works as a broker between the VoIP SIP environment and MTIP to deliver converged communication services. A prototype of VoIPTeleServer was implemented, and services and applications based on SIP and MTIP convergence are constructed. Special attention is given to the adverse effect of delay, jitter and packet loss for voice portal services over IP. In particular, case studies of DTMF service in voice portal under adverse channel conditions are performed. The compounding effects of multiple channel impairments to DTMF in voice portal services over IP are characterized. The potential high error rate of the DTMF service indicates that the data redundancy method as proposed in RFC 2198 is needed for DTMF in order to achieve reliable voice portal services over IP.