Internet Communications Using SIP: Delivering VoIP and Multimedia Services with Session Initiation Protocol (Networking Council) [Hardcover]

Henry Sinnreich (Author), Alan B. Johnston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 31, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0471776572 | ISBN-13: 978-0471776574 | Edition: 2

"This book is like a good tour guide.It doesn't just describe the major attractions; you share in the history, spirit, language, and culture of the place."
--Henning Schulzrinne, Professor, Columbia University

Since its birth in 1996, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) has grown up. As a richer, much more robust technology, SIP today is fully capable of supporting the communication systems that power our twenty-first century work and life.

This second edition handbook has been revamped to cover the newest standards, services, and products. You'll find the latest on SIP usage beyond VoIP, including Presence, instant messaging (IM), mobility, and emergency services, as well as peer-to-peer SIP applications, quality-of-service, and security issues--everything you need to build and deploy today's SIP services.

This book will help you
* Work with SIP in Presence and event-based communications
* Handle SIP-based application-level mobility issues
* Develop applications to facilitate communications access for users with disabilities
* Set up Internet-based emergency services
* Explore how peer-to-peer SIP systems may change VoIP
* Understand the critical importance of Internet transparency
* Identify relevant standards and specifications
* Handle potential quality-of-service and security problems

Editorial Reviews

Review

..."a good book for what it is..." (M2 Communications, 22 April 2002)

..."a very good explanation of an interesting topicthe overview of SIP is excellenta call flow explains the complex sequence of events very well..." (Computer Bulletin, September 2002)

From the Back Cover

"This book is like a good tour guide.It doesn't just describe the major attractions; you share in the history, spirit, language, and culture of the place."
—Henning Schulzrinne, Professor, Columbia University

Since its birth in 1996, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) has grown up. As a richer, much more robust technology, SIP today is fully capable of supporting the communication systems that power our twenty-first century work and life.

This second edition handbook has been revamped to cover the newest standards, services, and products. You'll find the latest on SIP usage beyond VoIP, including Presence, instant messaging (IM), mobility, and emergency services, as well as peer-to-peer SIP applications, quality-of-service, and security issues—everything you need to build and deploy today's SIP services.

This book will help you

• Work with SIP in Presence and event-based communications
• Handle SIP-based application-level mobility issues
• Develop applications to facilitate communications access for users with disabilities
• Set up Internet-based emergency services
• Explore how peer-to-peer SIP systems may change VoIP
• Understand the critical importance of Internet transparency
• Identify relevant standards and specifications
• Handle potential quality-of-service and security problems

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 408 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 2 edition (July 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471776572
• ISBN-13: 978-0471776574
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 1.1 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #345,996 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #54 in Books > Computers & Technology > Networking > Telephony

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disorganized and too shallow, May 15, 2006

By 

a reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: Internet Communications Using SIP (Hardcover)

This books presents SIP, the protocol for Session Initiation. It covers many aspects, including conferencing, security, Internet telephony, user preferences.

The book is not 400+ pages as Amazon indicates but just below 300. Why does this matter? Because, with 17 chapters, this gives an average of less than 20 pages per chapter. As you can guess, 20 pages are not sufficient to explain topics such as Internet telephony, or conferencing. Even the SIP protocol is not presented fully. Only the major messages are listed with a short description of their use.

I was also disappointed by the book organization. The SIP Overview chapter which explains how SIP works is chapter 5. All the preceeding chapters mention SIP before we even know what SIP is. This is most confusing unless you have already some SIP knowledge.

The book tries to cover too much. We get a whirlwind tour of many topics, none of them explained appropriately. The book opens many issues that remain unanswered. If you want a shallow overview of SIP, this book may meet your need. But you are likely to quickly need something more in-depth.

41 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Outstanding Book on SIP, April 27, 2002

By 

Jonathan Rosenberg (Freehold, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Internet Communications Using SIP (Hardcover)

I'll keep it short and sweet. I am one of the authors of SIP and
of many of its related technologies that are discussed in
this book. As such, I am frequently asked by people how they
can quickly understand the benefits of SIP technology, why
it is important to them, and what it can enable. The answer is
simple - read the Sinnreich/Johnston book. The book helps you
understand how SIP, its extensions, and related technologies
all fit together, and why SIP is revolutionizing communications.
This is a fabulous piece of work, written by two recognized
leaders. I highly recommend it.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read -- This book explains the "why" of SIP services, November 16, 2001

By 

Dean Willis (Plano, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Internet Communications Using SIP (Hardcover)

I've been involved in the development of the SIP specification for several years, and currently co-chair the Internet Working Groups overseeing its continued evolution. I'm closely involved with the application of SIP to next-generation mobile phone networks. Between standards work and speaking on SIP frequently at trade shows and conferences I've seen a lot of SIP books and tried to explain SIP to many people. Most of the books on SIP cover the dry technical details of the specification and implementations. This book, "Internet Communications Using SIP" goes into an entirely different realm.

Henry Sinnreich and Alan Johnston are two of the most knowledgeable authorities and notable figures in the SIP world. I expected a lot from them them. They've greatly exceeded my expectations, doing a surprisingly good job of explaining WHY the SIP protocol works the way it does, WHAT sort of advanced services it is making possible, and HOW service providers can use it to enrich their business offerings.

This book is an absolute "must read" for anyone in the industry, especially for people familiar with traditional telephony who are trying to design, market, or implement new telecom services of any kind. If you haven't read this book and Gonzalo Camarillo's new SIP book, don't argue with the old-timers on the SIP mailing lists -- they're likely to just tell you to "RTFB" . . . and this is one of the books they're referring to.