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| Version | User | Scope of changes |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 24 2006, 6:45 PM EST (current) | Patty | 9 words added |
| Mar 24 2006, 2:06 PM EST | Patty | 34 words added, 25 words deleted |
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Key: Additions Deletions
Nothing drives the adoption of technology more than industry-wide standards. Interoperability means that hardware and software from different vendors can work together in an integrated system. Standards-based platforms and applications give consumers flexibility, greater choice in vendors, and more affordable solutions overall. Such standards are usually developed by a committee which can include inventor, developer, and vendor members. When it comes to VoIP, several organizations are responsible for developing standards (some complementary, some competing).
ANSI (American National Standards Institute):
www.ansi.org
Founded in 1918 by five engineering societies, ANSI is a non-profit membership organization comprised of nearly 1,000 company, government agency, and institutional members. It provides a voluntary standardization system with over 10,000 American National Standards (ANS). ANSI has developed standards for several programming languages, including C, COBOL, and FORTRAN. It also has defined standards for common U.S. telecom transport technologies like T1, T3, and SONET.
ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute):
www.etsi.org
ETSI is a non-profit organization that is officially responsible for the standardization of information and communications technologies, including telecommunications and broadcasting, within Europe. Based in France, ETSI brings together 688 members from 55 countries inside and outside Europe. The membership base includes network operators, equipment vendors, research bodies, and users. ETSI has played a prominent role in speech quality for Voice over IP. They have hosted four VoIP Speech Quality Test Events (SQTE). At these events, manufacturers of VoIP gateways and terminals can test their equipment under various IP network conditions.
IEC (International Engineering Consortium):
www.iec.org
Founded in 1944, the International Engineering Consortium is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting high-quality education in a wide range of technology industries. The IEC provides educational opportunities for industry professional and students alike. It also publishes research reports on important issues for industry executives and managers. You can find a wide range of online tutorials on Voice over IP and other technology topics on their website (http://www.iec.org/online/tutorials/).
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
www.ieee.org
Pronounced “Eye-Triple-E,” this global, non-profit organization is a leading authority on telecommunications and consumer electronics (not to mention aerospace, biomedical, and electric power). The IEEE has more than 365,000 members (including 68,000 students) across 150 countries. Its membership base includes engineers, scientists, and professionals whose interests involve engineering, electrical, and computer sciences. To date, there are approximately 900 active IEEE standards and over 400 in development. IEEE standards generally focus on hardware. RS-232, the well-known serial interface standard, is defined by IEEE.
IETF (International Engineering Task Force):
www.ietf.org
The IETF is an open international community focused on the evolution of Internet technologies, architecture, and operations. The group is comprised of network operators, equipment vendors, and researchers alike, and is open to any interested individual. Working groups are organized by topic areas like security, routing, transport, real-time applications, etc. These groups develop and publish Internet Standards called RFC documents (Request for Comments). Many IETF RFC documents pertain to Voice over IP. Examples include RFC 791 (Internet Protocol, IP), RFC 793 (Transmission Control Protocol, TCP), RFC 3550 (Real-Time Transport Protocol, RTP), and RFC 3261 (Session Initiation Protocol, SIP).
ISO (International Standards Organization):
www.iso.org
ISO is the world's largest developer of standards. It is actually a network of national standards institutes from 156 countries (with one member per country). ISO is a non-governmental organization with central coordination in Geneva, Switzerland. Since 1947, ISO has published more than 15,000 International Standards from areas as wide ranging as the standardization of screw threads to standardized dimensions of freight containers, and the well-known ISO 9000 quality management standard for companies. ISO has also developed the standard for MPEG multimedia compression.
ITU (International Telecommunication Union):
www.itu.org
Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the ITU issues recommendations for global telecommunications networks and applications. The group fosters cooperation between governments and the private sector to advance common global policies and create standards for emerging technologies. The ITU is actually an international organization within the United Nations whose work dates back to international telegraph agreements in the 1860s! The ITU is divided into three sectors: ITU-R (Radiocommunication), ITU-T (Telecommunication), and ITU-D (Telecommunication Development). These three groups produce about 550 new or revised standards each year. The ITU-T has published several crucial standards for VoIP, namely H.323, T.38 (for fax over IP), as well as for the group of codecs (G.726, G.728, G.729, G.23.1).
CCITT (Comite Consultatif International Telephonique et Telegraphique):
www.itu.org
The CCITT is now known as the ITU.
W3C (Worldwide Web Consortium):
www.w3.org
The Worldwide Web Consortium is an international consortium — comprised of member organizations and full-time staff — dedicated to developing web standards and guidelines. They’ve published over 90 web standards called W3C Recommendations. They aim to publish open, non-proprietary standards for web languages and protocols. The W3C is responsible for XML (Extensible Markup Language), among others.
See also:
ANSI (American National Standards Institute):
www.ansi.org
Founded in 1918 by five engineering societies, ANSI is a non-profit membership organization comprised of nearly 1,000 company, government agency, and institutional members. It provides a voluntary standardization system with over 10,000 American National Standards (ANS). ANSI has developed standards for several programming languages, including C, COBOL, and FORTRAN. It also has defined standards for common U.S. telecom transport technologies like T1, T3, and SONET.
ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute):
www.etsi.org
ETSI is a non-profit organization that is officially responsible for the standardization of information and communications technologies, including telecommunications and broadcasting, within Europe. Based in France, ETSI brings together 688 members from 55 countries inside and outside Europe. The membership base includes network operators, equipment vendors, research bodies, and users. ETSI has played a prominent role in speech quality for Voice over IP. They have hosted four VoIP Speech Quality Test Events (SQTE). At these events, manufacturers of VoIP gateways and terminals can test their equipment under various IP network conditions.
IEC (International Engineering Consortium):
www.iec.org
Founded in 1944, the International Engineering Consortium is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting high-quality education in a wide range of technology industries. The IEC provides educational opportunities for industry professional and students alike. It also publishes research reports on important issues for industry executives and managers. You can find a wide range of online tutorials on Voice over IP and other technology topics on their website (http://www.iec.org/online/tutorials/).
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
www.ieee.org
Pronounced “Eye-Triple-E,” this global, non-profit organization is a leading authority on telecommunications and consumer electronics (not to mention aerospace, biomedical, and electric power). The IEEE has more than 365,000 members (including 68,000 students) across 150 countries. Its membership base includes engineers, scientists, and professionals whose interests involve engineering, electrical, and computer sciences. To date, there are approximately 900 active IEEE standards and over 400 in development. IEEE standards generally focus on hardware. RS-232, the well-known serial interface standard, is defined by IEEE.
IETF (International Engineering Task Force):
www.ietf.org
The IETF is an open international community focused on the evolution of Internet technologies, architecture, and operations. The group is comprised of network operators, equipment vendors, and researchers alike, and is open to any interested individual. Working groups are organized by topic areas like security, routing, transport, real-time applications, etc. These groups develop and publish Internet Standards called RFC documents (Request for Comments). Many IETF RFC documents pertain to Voice over IP. Examples include RFC 791 (Internet Protocol, IP), RFC 793 (Transmission Control Protocol, TCP), RFC 3550 (Real-Time Transport Protocol, RTP), and RFC 3261 (Session Initiation Protocol, SIP).
ISO (International Standards Organization):
www.iso.org
ISO is the world's largest developer of standards. It is actually a network of national standards institutes from 156 countries (with one member per country). ISO is a non-governmental organization with central coordination in Geneva, Switzerland. Since 1947, ISO has published more than 15,000 International Standards from areas as wide ranging as the standardization of screw threads to standardized dimensions of freight containers, and the well-known ISO 9000 quality management standard for companies. ISO has also developed the standard for MPEG multimedia compression.
ITU (International Telecommunication Union):
www.itu.org
Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the ITU issues recommendations for global telecommunications networks and applications. The group fosters cooperation between governments and the private sector to advance common global policies and create standards for emerging technologies. The ITU is actually an international organization within the United Nations whose work dates back to international telegraph agreements in the 1860s! The ITU is divided into three sectors: ITU-R (Radiocommunication), ITU-T (Telecommunication), and ITU-D (Telecommunication Development). These three groups produce about 550 new or revised standards each year. The ITU-T has published several crucial standards for VoIP, namely H.323, T.38 (for fax over IP), as well as for the group of codecs (G.726, G.728, G.729, G.23.1).
CCITT (Comite Consultatif International Telephonique et Telegraphique):
www.itu.org
The CCITT is now known as the ITU.
W3C (Worldwide Web Consortium):
www.w3.org
The Worldwide Web Consortium is an international consortium — comprised of member organizations and full-time staff — dedicated to developing web standards and guidelines. They’ve published over 90 web standards called W3C Recommendations. They aim to publish open, non-proprietary standards for web languages and protocols. The W3C is responsible for XML (Extensible Markup Language), among others.
See also:
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