SIP Forum to Have Strong Presence at ITEXPO in Austin, TX

North Andover, MA, September 09, 2011 --(PR.com)-- The SIP Forum (www.sipforum.org) has announced a full schedule of activities at the upcoming ITEXPO West in Austin Texas, showcasing the association’s active role in helping to drive the broad adoption of SIP communications in today’s global telecom industry. ITEXPO West is being held at the Austin Convention Center, September 13-15.

At ITEXPO West, representatives of the SIP Forum will speak at several sessions, panels and tutorials and a host a special event to update attendees on the SIP Forum and its activities. SIP Forum leadership will also be on hand throughout the event to inform and educate attendees about the current and future opportunities for Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

“This year’s ITEXPO West presents the SIP Forum with a valuable platform to educate the technology community about the critical path for global adoption of SIP and IP communications,” said Richard Shockey, SIP Forum Chairman. “Although SIP is well-established in the world of IP communications, new network paradigms and applications have emerged in various markets that can reap similar benefits by adopting SIP. It is our role at the SIP Forum to lead this conversation and bring together disparate stakeholders from across the technology spectrum to do the technical work required to implement SIP in this next generation of applications and services.”

On the conference’s opening day, SIP Forum Chairman Richard Shockey will lead a panel of industry experts for the ITEXPO’s Keynote Luncheon Panel, 2018: The Death of the PSTN, on Tuesday, September 13. The panel will address the FCC’s plans to replace the entire public telephone network by 2018 with an interconnection of IP networks, and the logistics, benefits, and challenges associated with this transition.

On Wednesday, September 14, the SIP Forum is hosting a special event, entitled “State of SIP and IP Communications, and the Role of the SIP Forum,” to update ITEXPO attendees on the progress around SIP-based communications and related SIP Forum activities. This special event will include presentations from representatives from the IETF, the SIP Forum and its various task groups. Participants will speak about the latest developments and advancements related to IP communications and SIP, and attendees will also learn about progress relating to key SIP Forum Working Group interoperability initiatives, including SIPconnect 1.1, User Agent Configuration, Fax-Over-IP (FoIP), IPv6, security and video.

The SIP Forum will also participate in the three-day SIP trunking workshop, co-sponsored by Ingate Systems, entitled Unified Communications: SIP Trunking, Video, Collaboration and More. SIP Forum President and Managing Director Marc Robins will kick-off the workshop’s second day session by presenting "The SIP Trunking Value Proposition,” providing an overview of SIP Trunking and deployment best practices associated with the new SIPconnect 1.1 interoperability specification on Wednesday, September 14 at 9:30-10:00 AM.

The SIP Forum will once again serve as one of the primary association sponsors of ITEXPO, as well as sponsoring several collocated events including 4G Wireless Evolution and the SIP Tutorial.

At the SIP Tutorial, a collocated event at ITEXPO West, SIP Forum Director Dr. Alan Johnston will lead a day-long session on Thursday, September 15 from 8:00 AM until 3:45 PM. The tutorial will focus on several aspects of SIP technology, including SIP services and core standards, a SIP security overview, P2P, standards in telecoms and Internet, and challenges in real time communications on the web.

SIP Forum Activities at ITEXPO West at a Glance

· What: ITEXPO’s Keynote Luncheon Panel, “2018: The Death of the PSTN”
When: Tuesday, September 13, 11:45 AM
Speakers: Chairman Richard Shockey (SIP Forum), host Rich Tehrani (TMC), Mitch Simcoe (GENBAND), Payam Maveddat (Taqua), Daniel Berninger (Cipher Software)

· What: "The SIP Trunking Value Proposition"
Where: Ingate’s SIP Trunking Professional Development Program (part of Ingate’s UC/SIP Trunking Summit
When: Wednesday, September 14, 9:30-10 AM
Speaker: Marc Robins, SIP Forum President and Managing Director
*Attendees to the entire Ingate seminar will earn a SIP Trunking Professional Certificate

· What: “SIP Forum Update: State of SIP and IP Communications”
When: Wednesday, September 14, 2:00-4:00 PM
Speakers: SIP Forum Leadership

· What: SIP Tutorial
When: Thursday, September 15, 8:00 AM-3:45 PM
Where: Room 5A, 3rd Floor
Speaker: Director Dr. Alan Johnston (SIP Forum)

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, video interoperability, SIP and IPv6, and the opportunities for SIP in Smart Grid deployments. For more information, please visit: http://www.sipforum.org.

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