The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has a work group
that is working to standardize the SIMPLE protocol. SIMPLE is
based on RFC 3428, 3265, and 3856 but is being enhanced.
SIMPLE is increasingly used to interconnect with previously
closed public IM networks.
Another protocol called XMPP, or Extensible Messaging and
Presence Protocol, was designed and is currently maintained
by the Jabber Software Foundation. In 2004, the XMPP work-
ing group at IETF published the RFC documents 3920, 3921,
3922, and 3923, to standardize the core XMPP protocol.
Gateways can be used to interconnect XMPP and SIMPLE IM
networks.
As SIMPLE progresses and as companies like Avaya continue
to add versatility features to communications products,
presence will likely give way to rich presence, where commu-
nications are available anytime, anywhere, and through any
application. For example, a company’s materials handling appli-
cation can automatically notify a manager when a particular
shipment has been received; the application can use SIP pres-
ence to make a decision on how to construct and deliver the
notification, depending upon the mode of communication
that is available at the time.
One Protocol, Many Modes of
Communication
Instant Messaging (IM) is one of the most popular modes of
real-time communication. Consumer IM solutions, using pro-
prietary protocols, have been available for some time, but
such systems suffer from security, privacy, reliability, and
functionality gaps. Although the consumer industry has
made some efforts to address these problems with small-
scale Enterprise IM solutions, scalability and business
continuity issues remain.
A SIP-based, open standards implementation of IM enables
interdomain IM via an IM gateway that routes messages to
other popular public domain IM services — even those that
are external to the enterprise. Additionally, SIP also enables
the possibility of sending IMs to next-generation cell phones
and Wi-Fi devices via a Service Provider Gateway.
Part 3: How SIP Transforms User Communications
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