Network Working Group                                            R. Even
Request for Comments: 4597                                       Polycom
Category: Informational                                        N. Ismail
                                                    Cisco Systems, Inc.
                                                              July 2006


                        Conferencing Scenarios

Status of This Memo

  This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
  not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
  memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

  Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).

Abstract

  This document describes multimedia conferencing scenarios.  It
  describes both basic and advanced conferencing scenarios involving
  voice, video, text, and interactive text sessions.  These scenarios
  will help with the definition and evaluation of the protocols being
  developed in the centralized conferencing XCON working group.

























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Table of Contents

  1. Introduction ....................................................3
  2. Basic Conferencing Scenarios ....................................3
     2.1. Ad Hoc Conferences .........................................4
     2.2. Extension of a Point-to-Point Call to a Multipoint Call ....4
     2.3. Reserved Conferences .......................................4
  3. Advanced Conferencing Scenarios .................................5
     3.1. Extending a Point-to-Point Call to a Multipoint Call .......5
     3.2. Lecture Mode Conferences ...................................5
     3.3. Conference with Conference-Aware and Unaware Participants ..6
     3.4. A Reserved or Ad Hoc Conference with
          Conference-Aware Participants ..............................6
     3.5. Advanced Conference Features ...............................6
  4. Scenarios for Media Policy Control ..............................9
     4.1. Video Mixing Scenarios ....................................10
     4.2. Typical Video Conferencing Scenario .......................11
     4.3. Conference Sidebar Scenario ...............................11
     4.4. Coaching Scenario .........................................12
     4.5. Presentation and Q & A Session ............................12
     4.6. Presence-Enabled Ad Hoc Conference ........................13
     4.7. Group Chat Text Conferencing ..............................13
     4.8. Interactive Text ..........................................13
     4.9. Moderated Group Chat ......................................14
     4.10. Text Sidebars ............................................14
     4.11. Conference Announcements .................................14
  5. Security Considerations ........................................14
  6. Acknowledgements ...............................................15
  7. Informative References .........................................15






















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1.  Introduction

  This document describes multimedia conferencing scenarios.  The
  development of these scenarios is intended to help with the
  definition and evaluation of the requirements for the centralized
  conferencing (XCON) working group.  Although this document uses some
  definitions and conventions described in the SIP Conferencing
  Framework document [1], these scenarios are not specific to SIP.  The
  document describes basic and advanced conferencing scenarios.  The
  advanced scenarios assume that the user agents support the set of
  XCON protocols, identified in the Framework and Data Model for
  Centralized Conferencing [3], in order to take advantage of the
  conference functionality.  However, note that many of these features
  can be implemented today by using an interactive voice response (IVR)
  or web interface to control the conferencing application.

  The entities comprising the Conferencing System are the conference
  that is the center point for signaling and the participants.  The
  participant who initiated the conference is called the initiating
  participant.

  The scenarios described here demonstrate different conferencing
  services.  These services can be offered in a multimedia environment
  that benefits from having some support in the user agents that enable
  more robust and easier-to-use conferencing services.  It is up to the
  conferencing system manufacturers and the conferencing service
  provider to decide what services can be built and which services are
  offered to the end users.

  The scenarios describe multimedia examples, but they are applicable
  to audio only as well as to audio and video conferences.

  Multimedia conferences may include any combination of different media
  types such as audio, video, text, interactive text, or presentation
  graphics.  The conference scenarios are similar, but the media
  handling may be dependent on the media type.

2.  Basic Conferencing Scenarios

  These scenarios enable a conference-unaware participant to create,
  join, and participate in a conference.  The participant may use out-
  of-band signaling to participate in a conference, but this is not
  mandatory.  The Conferencing System has all the functionality it
  needs in order to supply the service offered to the participants.
  Typical minimum requirements are that the participant support dual-
  tone multi-frequency (DTMF) tones/signal or provide voice responses
  to an IVR system.




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2.1.  Ad Hoc Conferences

  A participant has a service provisioned to him that enables him to
  start an ad hoc conference when he calls the Conferencing System.
  When the participant wants to start a conference, he calls the
  conference service.  The participant may be identified by different
  means, including request destination, authenticated identity, or an
  IVR system using DTMF.  The conference is created automatically with
  the predefined functionality.  The participant who has such a service
  notifies the other participants how to call the conference via
  external means such as instant message or email.

  The participant may have Conferencing System functionality and thus
  can create an ad hoc conference using his own user agent.  An example
  of such a conference is an audio conference initiated by a
  participant who has a conference service that enables him to start a
  conference when he calls a specific URI.  The conference may be
  created by the first person calling this URI, or it may be created
  only after the owner is authenticated using an IVR system.  In the
  latter case, the other participants may get an announcement and are
  placed on hold if they call the conference before the owner.

2.2.  Extension of a Point-to-Point Call to a Multipoint Call

  This is a basic case.  The initiating participant (PA) is in a
  point-to-point call with another participant (PB).  PA wants to add a
  third participant (PC) to the call.  PA cannot provide the
  Conferencing System functionality on his user agent nor can the other
  participant PB.  PA and PB do not support call transfer.  PA has a
  conferencing service that uses the methods described in 2.1.  PA
  conveys the conference information to PB in the point-to-point call.
  Both participants disconnect and call the Conferencing System.  The
  Conferencing System may support dial-out (for example, via DTMF),
  allowing the initiating participant PA to call the third party PC
  through the Conferencing System.

2.3.  Reserved Conferences

  The reservation for this type of conference is typically done by an
  out-of-band mechanism in advance of the actual conference time.  The
  conference identification, which may be a URI or a phone number with
  a pin number, is allocated by the reservation system.  It is sent to
  all participants through email, IM, etc.  The participants join by
  using the conference identification.  The conference identification
  must be routable, enabling the allocation of a conference with free
  resources at the time when the conference actually runs.  The
  Conferencing System can also dial out to the conference participants.
  The participants may not be informed that they are in a conference,



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  since their User Agent is not conference aware.  The participants may
  know, via announcement from the Conferencing System, that they are in
  a conference and who the other participants are.

3.  Advanced Conferencing Scenarios

  These scenarios assume user agents that support at least call
  transfer service and a way to communicate information on events from
  the Conferencing System to the user agent.  The Conferencing System
  may have the ability to discover the capabilities of the
  participants, for example, whether they support call transfer.  This
  section specifies the dependencies in each scenario.  An advanced
  conference can be initiated only by a user agent that has advanced
  features, but some user agents in the conference may have less
  functionality.

3.1.  Extending a Point-to-Point Call to a Multipoint Call

  The initiating participant PA is in a point-to-point call and wants
  to add a third participant.  PA can start a multipoint call on a
  conferencing bridge known to him.  The extension can be without
  consultation, which means that PA moves the point-to-point call to
  the Conferencing System and then adds the third party (this can be
  done in various ways).  Alternatively the extension can be done with
  consultation, which means that PA puts his current party on hold,
  calls the third party, asks him to join the conference, and then
  transfers all the participants to the Conferencing System.

3.2.  Lecture Mode Conferences

  This conference scenario enables a conference with a lecturer who
  presents a topic and can allow questions.  The lecturer needs to know
  who the participants are and needs to be able to give them the right
  to speak.  The right to speak can be based on floor control or an
  out-of-band mechanism.

  In general, the lecturer is seen/heard by the conference participants
  and often shares a presentation or application with the other
  participants.

  A participant joining this type of conference can get the identity of
  the lecturer and often the identities of the audience participants.

  This type of conference may have multiple media streams.  For
  example, if simultaneous language translation is available, a
  participant has the option of selecting the appropriate language
  audio stream.  Multiple video streams could include the speaker's
  face and a whiteboard/demonstration stream.



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3.3.  Conference with Conference-Aware and Unaware Participants

  A conference can include a mix of participants that are conference-
  aware and unaware.  Conference-unaware participants may be using a
  proxy function that proxies the advanced functionality between the
  different protocols and the Conferencing System.  For example, an IVR
  system or a web page interface can be used to provide additional
  functionality.

3.4.  A Reserved or Ad Hoc Conference with Conference-Aware Participants

  In order to start the conference, the initiating participant calls
  the Conferencing System using, for example, a unique identifier.  The
  Conferencing System may use some authenticating method to qualify the
  participant.  The other participants may call the Conferencing System
  and join the conference.  The Conferencing System is able to find the
  capabilities of the participants.  In case of a reserved conference,
  the Conferencing System starts the conference at the scheduled time.
  The participants may join by calling the conference URI, or the
  Conferencing System may call them.  The conference may have privilege
  levels associated with a specific conference or participant.  The
  privileges are for the initiating participant and for a regular
  participant; the initiating participant may delegate privileges to
  the other participants.  The privileges allow functionality as
  defined in the next section.

3.5.  Advanced Conference Features

  The following features can be used in all the advanced conferencing
  scenarios.  In the examples given in this section, when referring to
  a participant that has a functionality, it means a participant with
  the right privileges.  These scenarios may be available in the
  advanced conferencing scenarios and are common in many conferencing
  applications.  This is not a requirement list, rather some examples
  of how specific functions may be used in a conference.

  o  Add Participants - A participant may add a new participant to the
     conference.  This can be done, for example, by instructing the
     Conferencing System to call the participant or by the first
     participant calling the new participant and pointing him to the
     conference.

  o  Delete Participant - A participant may delete participants from
     the conference if he can identify them.







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  o  Changing User Agent/Modes - During the course of a conference, a
     participant may switch between user agents with different
     capabilities while still remaining part of the conference.  For
     example, a participant may initially join using a mobile phone and
     then switch to a desktop phone.  Or a participant may join with a
     phone, discover that the conference has video streams available,
     and switch to a video phone.

  o  Changing Media - During the conference, a participant may be able
     to select different media streams than the one he had when he
     joined the conference.  An example is a participant that initially
     joined the conference as an audio participant.  The participant is
     unable to understand the conversation properly, and he learns that
     there is also an interactive text available.  He will ask to
     receive the text stream also.

  o  Authenticate participants - A participant can authenticate other
     participants who want to join the conference.  This can be done,
     for example, in a video conferencing session by creating a sidebar
     between the two participants, allowing the authenticating
     participant to talk with the new participant and verify his
     identity.

  o  Authorize participants - A participant can authorize other
     participants in order to allow them to join the conference.  This
     can be done implicitly by assigning a password to the conference
     or to each participant and letting the Conferencing System decide
     if the new participant is allowed to join.  The authorization can
     be done explicitly by directing the entered password to the
     initiating participant who will authorize each participant.  The
     conferencing system may use an authentication mechanism to
     authenticate the participants.

  o  Controlling the presentation of media - During the conference, the
     participant may be able to manage whose media is being sent to
     each participant.  For example, the participant may be able to
     decide that he wants to be the speaker and all the rest to be
     listeners; he may also specify whose media he wants to receive.
     The participant may be able to mute a media stream during the
     conference.

  o  Giving privileges - During the conference, the participant may
     want to give a privilege to another participant.  The assigning of
     privileges may be implicit when requested or explicit by asking
     the participant to grant a privilege.






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  o  Side conferences or sidebars - The participant may want to create
     a side conference that include some of the main conference
     participants.  When the side conference is finished, the
     participants return to the main conference.  A sidebar may have
     the same functionality as the main conference.  There can be
     several sidebar scenarios:

     1.  A basic sidebar requires that two participants have the
         capability to have two calls at the same time, with a point-
         to-point call in parallel to the main conference.  It is user
         agent implementation-specific whether both calls' streams are
         mixed automatically or the participants are allowed to
         manually switch between them.

     2.  A conferencing-system-based sidebar uses the Conferencing
         System to create the sidebar and compose the relevant sidebar
         stream mixes.  These mixes can include the main conference as
         an incoming stream to the mix.  Mechanisms to signal the
         creation of the sidebar, invite participants, and control the
         mixes should be available.

         For example, participants in an audio sidebar may not be heard
         by the rest of the conference.  However, the main conference
         audio may be mixed in the sidebar, but at a lower volume, or
         in a different channel.  As another example, a sidebar can
         have a different media type from the main conference: a video
         call can have an audio sidebar where the other participants
         can see the sidebar participants talking but cannot hear them;
         or an audio or video conference may have a text sidebar.

  o  Conference information - When a participant joins the conference,
     he is announced to the participants.  An announcement may be
     available when he leaves the conference.  The participants may
     query the conferencing system for the current participants of a
     specific conference.  This conference information may include
     other information, for example, the media streams available in the
     conference.

  o  Extending of a conference - Reserved conferences and ad hoc
     conferences may have a time limit.  The Conferencing System
     informs the participants when the limit is approaching and may
     allow the extension of the conference.

  o  Adding and removing a media type to the conference - A participant
     may want to start a data presentation during a conference.  He may
     want to distribute this new media to all the participants.  The
     participant asks the Conferencing System to start the new media
     channel and to allow him to send data in the new channel.



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  o  Audio-only participants - In a multimedia conference, some of the
     participants who want to join may have no way to send and receive
     all the media types.  Typically, they can send and receive audio.
     Such participants join the conference as audio-only participants.
     The general case is that participants may send and receive only
     part of the media streams available in the multimedia conference.

  o  Passive participants - In a conference, some participants may be
     listeners to all or part of the media streams, but may be
     invisible to all other participants.

  o  Recorders - A recorder can be added to the conference.  A recorder
     can record all streams or a subset of the streams.  Recorders may
     be turned on and off during the conference.  Recorders may be used
     for a "role call" scenario in order to record a participant's
     name.  This name can be announced at a later stage automatically
     or based on a participant request.  A recorder is a case of a
     passive participant.

  o  Whisper/Private Message - A participant can send a one-way message
     (text, audio, or even some other media) to another participant
     that is immediately rendered.  This differs from a sidebar in that
     it is immediate and creates no long-lived session.

  o  Human operator - A participant may ask for assistance from a human
     operator during the conference.

4.  Scenarios for Media Policy Control

  During a conference, media streams may be controlled by authorized
  participants using either a media control protocol or a third-party
  application.  This section describes some typical media control
  scenarios.  The conference can be of any size.  Some of the media
  control scenarios are typical of specific conference sizes.  As a
  general rule, larger conferences scenarios tend to be more centrally
  managed or structured.

  The mixing of media in a conference may start when the conference
  starts or when the initiating participant joins.  In the later case,
  early participants may be put on hold and get "music on hold".

  The scenarios apply to audio conferences as well as to multimedia
  conferences.  In the sections below, there is some specific
  information about the mixed video layout and interactive text.







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4.1.  Video Mixing Scenarios

  For video, the participant selects one of a set of predefined video
  presentations offered by the server.  Each video presentation is
  identified by a textual description as well as an image specifying
  how the presentation appears on the screen.  In this scenario, by
  choosing a video presentation, the participant chooses how many video
  streams (participants) are viewed at once and the layout of these
  video streams on the screen.

  The contents of each sub-window can be defined by a conference policy
  and/or controlled by authorized participants.  It may also be
  possible to have multiple mixes per conference, possibly as many as
  there are participants.  (Note that the same flexibility may be
  afforded to audio mixes as well.)

  The following is a list of typical video presentations.  Other
  layouts are available today in commercial products.

  - Single view: This presentation typically shows the video of the
    loudest speaker.

  - Dual view: This presentation shows two streams.  If the streams are
    to be multiplexed in one image (typical of centralized servers),
    the multiplexing can be:

    1.  Side-by-side windows, with no altered aspect ratio.  Thus,
        blanking of parts of the image might be necessary if the
        streams are to be combined as one image.

    2.  Side-by-side windows, with altered aspect ratios.  Thus,
        blanking parts of the image is not necessary.  The mixer
        handles the cropping of the images.

    3.  One window above the other, with no altered aspect ratio.

    4.  One window above the other, with altered aspect ratios.

  - Quadrate view: This presentation shows 4 streams.  If the streams
    are multiplexed into one image (centralized server), they are
    arranged in a 2x2 style.  Note that in this style the aspect ratios
    are maintained.

  - 9 sub-picture view: This presentation shows 9 streams.  If the
    streams are to be multiplexed in one image, they are arranged in a
    3x3 style.  In the multiplexing case, cropping is performed under
    the discretion of the mixer.




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  - 16 sub-picture view: This presentation shows 16 streams.  If the
    streams are to be multiplexed into one image, they are arranged in
    a 4x4 style.  In this style, the aspect ratios are maintained, and
    no cropping or blanking is needed.

  - 5+1 sub-picture view: This presentation shows 6 streams.  If the
    streams are to be multiplexed into one image, then the pictures are
    laid so that one sub-window occupies 4/9 of the screen while each
    of the other five occupies 1/9 of the screen.

4.2.  Typical Video Conferencing Scenario

  This scenario is known as voice-activated video switch.  Every
  participant hears the N loudest participants but does not hear
  himself.  All the participants see the loudest speaker; the loudest
  speaker may see the previous loudest speaker.  This mode is typical
  for a small conference.

  A participant with proper authorization can exclude one or more
  participants from the audio or video mix.  An indication that they
  are not being seen/heard might be displayed to the affected
  participants.

  A participant with proper authorization can manipulate the gain level
  associated with one or more audio streams in the mix.

4.3.  Conference Sidebar Scenario

  An authorized participant creates a sidebar.  The participant selects
  whether the sidebar should include the media from the main conference
  or not and the audio gain level associated with the main conference
  audio.

  A participant invites participants to the sidebar, and upon
  acceptance they start receiving the sidebar media as specified by the
  sidebar creator.  If the new participant is not a participant of the
  conference, but is just a participant of the sidebar, the participant
  only receives the sidebar media without the media of the main
  conference.

  A participant with the right authorization can move another
  participant into the sidebar with no indication, in which case the
  participant suddenly starts receiving the sidebar media.

  Sidebar participants with the right authorization can select to hear
  or not to hear the main conference audio mixed with the sidebar
  audio.




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  A participant can be a participant to more than one sidebar but can
  only actively participate in one.

  A participant can jump back and forth between the main conference and
  one or more sidebars.

4.4.  Coaching Scenario

  This is a call center or a remote training session where there is a
  supervisor who can monitor the conference.  The supervised
  participants may be the call center operators or the teachers.  A
  participant in the conference may be a supervised participant or a
  "customer".

  The supervisor is a hidden participant and is not part of the
  participant roster.

  The supervised participants might get an announcement/tone indicating
  that the supervisor has joined.  The other participants do not hear
  the announcement.

  The supervisor listens to or sees the session but can only be heard
  or seen by the supervised participant.

  The supervisor can become a normal participant, in which case the
  participants see the supervisor as part of the roster and start
  hearing and seeing him.

4.5.  Presentation and Q & A Session

  An example is an earning call scenario in which a group of presenters
  delivers material to a group of people.  After the presentation is
  finished, a Q & A session is opened.

  The conference is created as a panel, and the panel participants are
  identified.  Only their streams are mixed.

  After the end of the presentation, the session chair changes the
  conference type to normal, and now streams from all participants may
  be mixed.  Alternatively, a floor control protocol can be used.  The
  chair can grant the right to speak by adding the participant, whose
  turn it is to ask a question, to the conference mix.









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4.6.  Presence-Enabled Ad Hoc Conference

  A presence-enabled ad hoc conference, sometimes described as "walkie
  talkie" service, is a scenario in which a participant sends media to
  the other participants of the conference after receiving a
  confirmation of the other participants' availability.  For example, a
  participant presses a talk button, which checks the presence of the
  participants to see if they are available for communication.  If they
  are, a confirmation tone is played, and the participant can then
  talk; as a result, the media is sent to the other participants in the
  conference.  These types of conferences tend to be long lived, hence
  the need for presence to ensure that the other participants are still
  available.  The ad hoc nature of the conference means that the
  participant list can be changed at any time.  Floor control can be
  used to allow other participants to speak, as the conference is
  usually half-duplex in nature.

4.7.  Group Chat Text Conferencing

  Group chat is a common scenario for text messaging in which a
  participant joins (or enters) a chat room in which text messages from
  participants are rendered in a single window and attributed to the
  participant that sent the message.  Changes in conference membership
  are often announced in the text window itself (e.g., "Alice has just
  entered the room.  Bob has just departed.").  Note that a real-time
  transcription/closed captioning service can provide a similar window
  in which audio media is converted into interactive text.  "Nicknames"
  or aliases are often chosen by participants or assigned by the
  Conferencing System and used as handles within the room.

4.8.  Interactive Text

  Interactive text uses RTP to carry text one character at a time,
  providing real-time interactivity, as described in RFC 4103 [2].  The
  interactive text session may be the main conference itself, or it may
  be used in conjunction with other media types.  Interactive text may
  be used to represent the audio in the conference using some
  translation services.  There can be more than one such stream where
  each text stream is in a different language.  These text streams may
  be used as subtitles to the audio stream.  The translation from to
  text to speech and back is done by transcoders.  These transcoders
  have similar functionality to transcoders between different audio or
  video algorithms.

  The conference participants should be able to select to receive text
  streams with the conference audio or those without it.





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RFC 4597                  Conference Scenarios                 July 2006


4.9.  Moderated Group Chat

  A moderated group chat scenario for text messaging is similar to
  group chat, but all text messages sent to the group are filtered/
  approved by a moderator.  Note that the moderator can be a human or
  an application.  The moderator also often has the ability to remove
  participants and provide feedback on their submissions (e.g., provide
  warnings before removal).

4.10.  Text Sidebars

  Interactive text or instant messaging sidebars are perhaps the most
  common sidebars in conferences today.  Often the text sessions are
  separate from the conference.  However, there are some advantages to
  having text sessions be a sidebar and as a result a part of the main
  conference.  For example, a conference that is providing anonymity/
  aliases to participants can also provide anonymous/alias sidebars.  A
  text sidebar can also benefit from other security/logging/recording
  services provided by the Conferencing System.

  Another use of a text sidebar is a text-only conversation/discussion
  between two or more conference participants who are following the
  main conference at the same time.

4.11.  Conference Announcements

  The conference moderator may be able to play announcements to all the
  conference participants.  An announcement may be prerecorded or
  composed by the moderator before it is sent.  The announcements may
  be text, audio, or audio-visual.  An example is a conference with
  several audio break-out sessions going on.  At some point, the
  moderator wants to record an audio message like "In 5 minutes,
  everyone please come back to the main meeting" and then play that
  message to all the breakout sessions.

5.  Security Considerations

  Conferences generally have authorization rules about who may or may
  not join a conference, what type of media may or may not be used,
  etc.  This information, sometimes called the conference policy or
  common conference information, is used by the Conferencing System to
  admit or deny participation in a conference.  For the conference
  policy to be implemented, the Conferencing System needs to be able to
  authenticate potential participants.  The methods used depend on the
  signaling protocols used by the conference.  This can include a
  challenge/response mechanism, certificates, shared secret, asserted
  identity, etc.




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  Conferences often require that their content be confidential.  In
  addition, secure authorization of participants is incomplete if
  access to the media can be gained by unauthorized participants.
  Functions for securing the media and for key management and
  distribution to authorized participants need to be provided by the
  Conferencing System.  In some cases, the functions used for
  participant authorization can be leveraged for this purpose.

  Privacy is an important aspect of conferencing.  Users may wish to
  join a conference without anyone knowing that they have joined, in
  order to silently listen in.  In other applications, a participant
  may wish just to hide their identity from other participants, but
  otherwise let them know of their presence.  These functions need to
  be provided by the Conferencing System.

  These conference-specific security requirements are discussed further
  in the XCON framework document.

6.  Acknowledgements

  Thanks to Brian Rosen for contributing conferencing scenarios.

  Thanks to Alan Johnston for going over the document and adding some
  more scenarios; to Keith Lantz, Mary Barnes, and Dave Morgan for
  carefully reading the document.

7.  Informative References

  [1]  Rosenberg, J., "A Framework for Conferencing with the Session
       Initiation Protocol (SIP)", RFC 4353, February 2006.

  [2]  Hellstrom, G. and P. Jones, "RTP Payload for Text Conversation",
       RFC 4103, June 2005.

  [3]  Barnes, M., "A Framework and Data Model for Centralized
       Conferencing", Work in Progress, June 2006.















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Authors' Addresses

  Roni Even
  Polycom
  94 Derech Em Hamoshavot
  Petach Tikva  49130
  Israel

  EMail: [email protected]


  Nermeen Ismail
  Cisco Systems, Inc.
  170 West Tasman Drive
  San Jose  95134
  CA USA

  EMail: [email protected]

































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