What is SIP – Session Initiation Protocol
An Omnichannel Approach to Call Center Data
October 12, 2022
What is an IP PBX
December 11, 2022What is Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)
SIP, which stands for Session Initiation Protocol, is a signaling protocol that is used to initiate, maintain, modify and terminate real-time sessions that involve video, voice, messaging and other communications applications and services between two or more endpoints on IP networks.
When a SIP-based communication is initiated, the SIP client, which can be a software application or a hardware device, sends a SIP request message to a SIP server, which then checks the availability of the called party and routes the call accordingly. The SIP request message also includes the called party’s address, the desired session details, such as the type of media, the codec to be used, and the desired parameters for the session.
The SIP server then sends a SIP response message back to the calling party, indicating whether the called party is available and providing the necessary details for establishing the session. If the called party is available, the SIP client and the called party’s SIP client will establish a direct connection and the real-time session can begin.
During the session, the SIP clients can exchange additional SIP request and response messages to modify the session as needed, such as to add or remove media streams or to change the parameters of the session. When the session is no longer needed, the SIP clients can use SIP to terminate the session gracefully.
Overall, SIP is a flexible and powerful protocol that enables real-time communications over IP networks, and is widely used in VoIP (Voice over IP) and other real-time communication applications.
