Subject: I-D ACTION:draft-rfced-info-mercer-00.txt

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1998 12:09:42 -0500

A New Internet-Draft is available from the on-line Internet-Drafts directories.

	Title		: H.323 Firewall Control Interface (HFCI)
	Author(s)	: S. Mercer, A. Molitor, M. Hurry, T. Ngo
	Filename	: draft-rfced-info-mercer-00.txt
	Pages		: 14
	Date		: 23-Dec-98
	
   It is becoming clear that next generation telephony networks will be
   built on top of IP-based networks, as opposed to the traditional
   voice technology.  There are several reasons for this, among them
   lower cost and greater flexibility.
 
   While there are several Voice on IP (VoIP) solutions, the H.323 [2]
   standard from the ITU seems to be a major player.  Other solutions
   will probably resemble H.323, even if they do not comply with the
   standard.  This memo proposes an Application Interface to permit
   H.323 devices to open 'pinholes' in an otherwise opaque firewall, to
   permit the traffic necessary for H.323 through, and nothing else.
 
   Since other VoIP solutions resemble H.323, at least approximately,
   the same Application Interface may well be useful for them.
 
   In particular, Real-Time Protocol (RTP), defined in RFC1889 [3], is
   likely to be the underlying voice transport for any VoIP solution.

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