Ever wonder how you’re able to stream music, videos and games, all while chatting online with your BFF? The answer is Session Internet Protocol, also known as SIP. SIP is the signaling protocol that controls the exchange of data through the internet, and allows users to effectively stream content using very little bandwidth. In a nutshell, it allows people to communicate with each other on their computers, tablets, and cell phones. And, communication between SIP users is basically free! There are no long distance charges, communication charges, line charges, or those other mystery charges you see on your phone bill each month.
SIP not only allows every day individuals to stream the latest episode of Game of Thrones on the subway, but it also allows busy entrepreneurs to video chat with potential business partners and clients seamlessly, with little to no lag. To make SIP much easier to understand, we’ve created the infographic below.
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<img title=”Learn About Session Internet Protocol (SIP) Infographic” alt=”Learn About Session Internet Protocol (SIP) Infographic” src=”https://www.specialtyansweringservice.net/wp-content/uploads/LearnAboutSIP.jpg” width=”710″ height=”2589″ />
<pre><em>Image originally posted on <a href=”https://www.specialtyansweringservice.net/learn-about-session-internet-protocol-sip-infographic/”>The SAS Blog</a></em>
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What is Session Internet Protocol?
Session Internet Protocol (SIP) is the signaling protocol that controls the exchange of data. Through the sending of signals, sessions for video chats, conferences, and interactive gaming are established. SIP is the preferred protocol for video sessions because it provides the technology to initiate, modify and terminate sessions between one or multiple users. Initially, the only information that could be transmitted over different computer networks was text based.
SIP’s main purposes are to:
- Make the internet work efficiently and enable transmission of complex interactions
- Make the transmission of video fast and convenient
- Enable smooth viewing of video chat, video conference, and voicemails
- Makes gaming, song listening, and video watching accessible for everyone
Importance of SIP
- It made it possible for video and voice data to be transmitted over the internet
- It made it possible to connect two different networks. Before SIP, your network was shy and would never talk to anyone!
- Skype and iChat would not be possible without SIP
Learn About the Technology Behind SIP
How does SIP work to provide you with video chats and voice exchanges?
- Information is sent through the use of signals between different networks
- For transactions to be carried out, an IP address from the source to the target is connected
- SIP only requires a very small amount of bandwidth to transmit huge amounts of data
- SIP is also responsible for the exchange of info over instant message like AOL
SIP requires a server and needs to connect to a through server to complete data exchanges. The 3 servers required by SIP are:
- A Proxy Server: Offers secure behavior, reliability and vigorous connections. It also acts like a User Agent Clients, sending requests to the clients to make or break calls.
- A Registrar Server: Logical servers which are usually located with proxy servers. The purpose of registrar servers is to accept “REGISTER” requests
- A Redirect Server: A User Agent Server that generates responses for the requests it receives. It enables proxy servers to present and direct SIP session invitations to external domains (URL’s)
A User Agent can be used in place of a server by:
- Receives and sends signals across the networks to coordinate sessions
- It’s job is to accept/receive requests and then responds to them as well as sending requests for establishing calls.